Quote....... and it was cold out ........and it looked like rain.Originally Posted by Macy
It's attitudes like this that make people not support the league.
If you attack me with stupidity, I'll be forced to defend myself with sarcasm.
....... and it was cold out ........and it looked like rain.
No it's not, but it is another nice handy excuse for them to use.
They always cheat, they always lie
**** Delaney and the FAI
I didn't get what I wanted out really in my first post. Although Dublin has a strong identity and tradition now, it's been made with fibres that are undeniably English in their roots. And as Dublin has been at the fore of setting what's "Irish" in life, of course there's going to be some pull.
But, what makes someone Irish nowadays? What's peddled as Irish around the globe doesn't tally to what is at the essence of a 21st Century Irish person.
I'm glad this topic has come up. I have been thinking about this for a few years now. Im a Dublin guy with 28 years of living in this country. 8 of which is a regular at Tolka Park.
My faith in Ireland and the Irish people are at an all time low. I have seen the EL grow and remember saying to myself in August 2004 at the Riazor in Deportivo that a "EL team will have a team in the champions league within 5 years".
Well...... 5 years on and how wrong was I!!!! This has to be one of the most pathetic leagues in Europe. We have teams going under every other day, 1970's grounds and facilities. Attendances at very low levels!!
Yet, I still have friends spending €300 every month going to England to support their beloved teams!!!
I honestly think we are a joke of a country and to a extent, people. Dublin is one of the worst cities to live in, and I travel Europe for a living so maybe I see the comparisons.
Counting down to days to my move to Germany.
€3 a pint
Beautiful women
€11 into a BL game
Good transport system
No junkies on every street corner
No scumbags stabbing people for nothing
No GAA
No Rugby
No Dublin D4 heads telling me how much they love "THEIR" team Man U.
Anyway, thats my rant!!!!
I think in this day and age a lot of "Identities" are being diluted. Being Irish or UK isnt as pure as it used to be. Soon enough half the population of UK and Ireland with be decendants of immigrants who do not align to Irish/UK etc so wouldnt get too hung up on it
Unlike the leagues in other similarly-sized countries, which are positively booming??
Where are you going in Germany?
Jesus, this is a depressing thread. I know I live in England but the complaints seem to be:
Irish people dont support the Eircom League. They also dont support local basketball teams but that doesnt mean they are bad people does it.
Irish people do support English club sides. This is odd for a European country (though not world wide), the Premiership is more popular in India that the Indian league. I think its the combination of these two factors that annoy people but most people think that there is no worthwhile football played in Ireland and thats hard/impossible to change.
A heavy underlying element of anti Englishness. Now I celebrate England's failures as much as the next man but you have to be realistic. Our relationship to Britain is like Canada's to America. There is a huge cultural exchange and we share many interests. It doesnt make people less Irish if they watch EastEnders. Are we really looking for some DeValera like state of cultural isolation.
Fiinally, theres a bit of we have crap politicians. This is a factor of size. I always remember a comment about the Northern Irish peace process when someone said that in any other country these guys would be runnign local councils at best but were being asked to resolve an international conflict. Putting aside corruption how many world class Finance ministers would you expect Ireland to create. It's for this reason the Euro is probably a good idea!
Oh also some people dont like Rugby whcih I guess is an anti Dublin/anti middle classes thing. I cant really comment except to say I quite like Rugby, Ireland are really quite good at the moment as are our 'clubs' and it would do Irish football clubs no harm to learn some lessons.
Like it
I'm thinking of maybe Canada?
One thing that I hate is the idea of "Irishness" - that we like to sell to the world - the blarney, the rebel, the fighting irishman, the pub culture, the craic -------------------------where is all this, i certainly dont see much of it around here. All I see is people whinging everyday.
The LOI is an embarrassment, simple as. They're run poorly, clubs fold every season, the best players can't wait to jump ship and run to some mediocre championship team, the style of play is defensive, boring and horrible to watch. There's simply no pride in supporting a LOI club and its unfair to expect people to support them out of compulsion because of where they live.
I do agree though that people who support Man United, Liverpool or Celtic because they feel they have some sort of affinity with this country are idiots. But equally so the folk who can't fathom why somebody would rather watch Barcelona play than Bray Wanderers. It should be crystal clear why the LOI is as undersupported as it is.
Ireland is the largest country in Europe never to have had a team in the Champions League.
Check out this map (on the right).
Smaller and similarly sized countries who HAVE had teams include: Cyprus, Norway, Slovenia, Croatia, Scotland, Slovakia, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland.
Wow. One of the most ignorant posts on the forum.
Clubs fold every season? Not true.
The Championship is better than the LoI; you think it's bad that some players want to play at a higher level?
The style is defensive, boring and horrible? What a ridiculous sweeping generalisation. I haven't seen much of that this season, and there's plenty of videos linked in the UCD forum to back that up.
You think people who support Man U or Liverpool are idiots, but it's OK to support Barca?
Please, please engage your brain before posting, otherwise you're liable to be dismissed as a common troll.
Iceland, Azerbaijan, Serbia and Kazakhstan are bigger than Ireland. Latvia and Lithuania are bigger than the Republic of Ireland. Kazakhstan, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Georgia are more populous. But an interesting graph all the same.
Last edited by pineapple stu; 16/11/2009 at 4:35 PM.
Funnily enough it's not just football this happens in....
When Munster were playing a few weeks back my Grandmother was watching at cheering them on, i pointed out that we have Connacht at this level, to which she said she has no interest and she follows Munster
Think i'll pack in the footballers for Kerry, the hurlers for KK, the national squad for Spain, Connacht for Munster, New Zealand for the national team and Chelsea for GUFC
...all we can hope for is Liverpool and United to go the same way as Leeds, i'd love to see a few more Arabs come in and buy clubs in England and push the ''Irish'' clubs down the table and into obscurity
There's the right way, the wrong way.... and the Max Power way!! :-D
Calling someone ignorant then dragging their points out of context to sensationalise the story like a common rag doesn't exactly reflect well on you.
Clubs don't literally fold every season, but for the last few seasons financial troubles has caused some clubs to fold and some to be on the brink of it with a quite a few getting forced relegation at this stage.
Yes the championship is better than the LOI, but from a fans point of view the best players being happy to jump ship to a second tier in another country isn't exactly an appealing trend or one that would entice you to support them.
Rather than tell me about whatever amazing videos UCD has, why not show me the goals per game ratio in the LOI compared to other major leagues. I'd guarantee it's lower than most.
I said it's silly to support a foreign club out of a false sense of association with Ireland, not if you simply enjoy their style of play.
Also "engage your brain" is a direct flame at me, I'm trying to raise topical points on the topic at hand and I don't need to insult people to do it. Go me!
And this happens nowhere else in the world, yeah? Someone posted recently that 80-odd clubs in England have been in administration this decade. They don't count, no?
Nonsense. I for one am delighted to see our players move to a higher level. I'm sure others are too.Yes the championship is better than the LOI, but from a fans point of view the best players being happy to jump ship to a second tier in another country isn't exactly an appealing trend or one that would entice you to support them.
If your post is ignorant, I've no problems calling you up on it. If you can't see why people would support Bray ahead of Barca, you've no business posting in this forum, to be honest.
Surely that's the topic of the conversation PS? You might disagree with him (and I certainly do), but he's entitled to his opinion without being condemned as a troll for it.
Again you're missing the point, how many of those clubs that fell into administration are well supported here? You might have a point if Leeds or League 2 sides were heavily supported here at the expense of LOI clubs, but reality check. They ain't so no they don't count within the context of my point, it's completely irrelevant.
People follow English teams and not Irish clubs because they see it as a more attractive league and more attractive football. If you ask certain people if they're going to e.g the Rovers game on Saturday, they'll say no, if you ask why they'll most likely reply with 'because its sh!te'. I love watching Sligo Rovers, over the last 2 seasons we've been lucky to see some very attractive style of football, id been following Rovers beforehand, the atmosphere of being at a game rather than sitting on your hole at home watching a game between 2 teams who you'll probably never go to see at a game either is what does it for me! I also wouldn't be surprised there are die hard football fans in this country who live within a stone throw of their local LoI ground, but would sooner go see a team in England, i'd say people here have met these kind of people.
Coleman for Ireland
And I can understand why somebody would support their local club over all others. I can also understand why someone would rather watch the game played at its finest and support a side like Barca. It's personal preference and I don't think the guy who chooses Bray or Barca should be condemned for their decision, what I don't like is this negative portrayal of people who would choose to support Barca as "bad fans" or people who don't have a clue about the game or whatever. I'd respect your opinion a lot more, pineapple if you were more open to other peoples views and didn't just shrug your shoulders because other people hold different values in the game than you.
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