Away support in Bari

[back of the net]

i could not be in Bari tonight but i just wanted to say"Well done" to the the crew that were there in the stadium representing us. i thought ye were fantastic, so fantastic that ye deserved a seperate threead, Well Done guys , ye did us proud.

[Crosby87]

Agree was nice to see the reaction from behind the net. Hope some stories about the experience are posted soon.

[Hibernian]

i agree with back the net...

all i can say is ye fans were just unreal. from start to finish ye kept on singing and chanting and never gave up the cause when most of us did..thats why we have the best fans in world full stop..

YES WE DO HAVE BEST FANS IN WORLD...come on you boys in green

[strangeirish]

Yes, well done to all who made the trip. Could hear them, all during the game. Estimating 5 to 7 thousand Irish there?

[antrimgreen]

Magic and well done to all those who travelled, a credit to the nation!!!

[gufcfan]

YES WE DO HAVE BEST FANS IN WORLD...come on you boys in green

Any chance of some of these fans showing up at a LOI game? :rolleyes:

[bananarepublic]

Did the Italian fans give a huge round of applause to our fans after our national anthem? Seemed like it on the telly. Nice touch if so. Thats rare although we do it at home.

[RogerMilla]

Any chance of some of these fans showing up at a LOI game? :rolleyes:

would you like them all to mob one particular game or just go back to supporting their own LOI team ?? :mad:

[Duggie]

our fans = best in the world
come on traps green army......:ball:

[eduardo]

our fans = best in the world
come on traps green army......:ball:

in fairness there always good away support - but I cant remember the last home game when there was any kind of decent atmosphere too many ole ole merchants who sing when they re winning - bring back lansdowne

[DubinLondon]

Great performance from our supporters last night came through loud and clear.

[back of the net]

Any chance of some of these fans showing up at a LOI game? :rolleyes:

maybe they do.....or are you just assuming they dont?? :rolleyes:


anyway this thread is about Ireland supporters not LOI supporters

[Dunny]

Seen a Dundalk jersey on RTE news yesterday so there was one anyway!:D

[Mad Moose]

Any pictures available from among the Irish support there?

[pineapple stu]

Did the Italian fans give a huge round of applause to our fans after our national anthem? Seemed like it on the telly. Nice touch if so. Thats rare although we do it at home.
Didn't think so. Though I'm pretty sure we got booed for clapping our way through theirs.

[eirebhoy]

Any chance of some of these fans showing up at a LOI game? :rolleyes:
None of the fans in Italy were LOI fans? Any chance some of them fans showing up at Ireland away games? :rolleyes:



In case anyone didn't notice my post is sarcastic but you get my point. It runs both ways.

[co. down green]

This guy (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g4bb7GQrXIkYH3Zby6taFAcXy0hg) must have had a good night :)

[gspain]

A few Shamrovers shirts, Bohs flag, Dundalk shirt, Cork city shirt, overheard 2 guys on my flight home tIalking re Shels albeit lapsed fans. One of our crew in his Cork city shirt and I wore a Limerick shirt on Tuesday but an Ireland shirt on match day. A couple of Cliftonville shirts too from the Irish league.

Liverpool, Chelsea, Man Utd, Celtic and Tottenham among the British clubs on view albeit mainly on Tuesday and Thursday.

While the atmosphere and support was great I thought it was nowhere near 5,000. Disappointing numbers wise imo but not in quality. 3,000 max imo.

As for the alcohol ban? Great idea. Never easier to get beer on a matchday and no bag searches so plenty of fans got cans into the game (I didn't try). Just about every local was selling cans and bottles in the streets.

[irishultra]

A few Shamrovers shirts, Bohs flag, Dundalk shirt, Cork city shirt, overheard 2 guys on my flight home tIalking re Shels albeit lapsed fans. One of our crew in his Cork city shirt and I wore a Limerick shirt on Tuesday but an Ireland shirt on match day. A couple of Cliftonville shirts too from the Irish league.

Liverpool, Chelsea, Man Utd, Celtic and Tottenham among the British clubs on view albeit mainly on Tuesday and Thursday.

While the atmosphere and support was great I thought it was nowhere near 5,000. Disappointing numbers wise imo but not in quality. 3,000 max imo.

As for the alcohol ban? Great idea. Never easier to get beer on a matchday and no bag searches so plenty of fans got cans into the game (I didn't try). Just about every local was selling cans and bottles in the streets.

i just wish they allowed alcohol be sold at games...i just hate seeing cans..yukk

[paul_oshea]

ya ultra it looks nackery all right.

i saw NeilMcd singing the anthem with gusto before the game started.

[jbyrne]

the 20 min post final whistle sing song in the stadium was incredible! id say 3,500 of us there but sounded like twice that. class trip!

[Drumcondra 69er]

Any chance of some of these fans showing up at a LOI game? :rolleyes:

Very snidey post, there were loads of LOI fans there including myself.

Cracking trip, the locals were class it has to be said, made it worth the 13 hour trip there and back, very envious of those who paid the extra couple of hundred for the charter, yesterday morning was utterly horrific, the Irish support in Bari airport at 7 for the 8.15 flight looked like extras from Dawn of the Dead!

[Sligo Hornet]

ya ultra it looks nackery all right.

i saw NeilMcd singing the anthem with gusto before the game started.


You were lucky Paul.......I was close enough to HEAR him:eek:;)

[Ash]

I was there with my hi-vis green Athlone Town 'keepers jersey :D

[Newryrep]

the 20 min post final whistle sing song in the stadium was incredible! id say 3,500 of us there but sounded like twice that. class trip!

Have to agree, although throat was absolutely parched by the end -

[humpmeister7]

Could have stayed there all night! Best performance i've witnessed by both players and fans alike.

Bring on Sofia!!

[Sligo Hornet]

I was there with my hi-vis green Athlone Town 'keepers jersey :D

I thought you were one of the stewards!!:D

[edinho]

best away match i've been to. the bus out to the stadium was just pure class. we were staying about 20km south in Molla di Bari. we were trying to find the train station in to Bari on wed and took a few wrong turns. we didn't have the energy or intelligence to stop and discuss the situation so just carried on walking, ended up in some Esso garage in the middle of nowhere and some sound local guy took pity on us and gave us a lift in to Bari. probably the best week of my life!!

[Conormack]

got back this morning.. support was class in the ground before, during and after the match... even though had no accomadation and had to sleep on the floor of the airport it was still totally worth it and up there with some of the classic away games

[Cowboy]

As for the clapping during the anthem bear in mind that the band playing were very difficult to hear as they were not miked up, no Italian I spoke too had any problem with it.

[magnumpi]

yeah, couldn't hear the band for either anthem, so don't think the booing was aimed at us.

[rambler14]

Just returned this morning after 4 fantastic days in Italy which ranged from visiting the leaning tower of Pisa at 3am Tuesday night, to the craic in the square and onwards to the match.
A fantastic performence in a game where we outplayed the World Champions.

[Beavis]

the 20 min post final whistle sing song in the stadium was incredible! id say 3,500 of us there but sounded like twice that. class trip!

It was a suprisingly low attendance given we were playing a team of the same claibre of France where we had over 30,000 just 3 years ago and we're having a good campaign. Will we have even fewer in Sofia?

It hardly mattered though, we sung our hearts out. A great couple of days.

[Drumcondra 69er]

It was a suprisingly low attendance given we were playing a team of the same claibre of France where we had over 30,000 just 3 years ago and we're having a good campaign. Will we have even fewer in Sofia?

It hardly mattered though, we sung our hearts out. A great couple of days.

1. Big difference between a mid week and a saturday game.

2. Paris was far easier to get to then Bari, took me 3 flights and 13 hours to get there and 2 flights and 13 hours to get back.

3. Hell of a lot more money around 3 years ago!

Great effort by so many to get there for Wednesday night, you can't compare it with the Paris crowd.

Fcuk the recession, we're having a session!

[Dr. Ogba]

was fierce ould craic altogether alright, the bus before the match was brilliant...was waiting to get on for a while behind one of the lads with half a palm tree who was trying to stuff it onboard, surreal stuff!

the throat is still raw after all the singing and the day hanging around Pisa on Thursday was not very pleasant (having been up at half 5 that morning) but all in all a fantastic trip. And i must say the Italians were fantastic, we'd be making our way in from the suburbs and would have locals coming out of their shops and also stopping their cars to wish us good luck, i've never seen that before on any other away trip so fair play to them

[superdubs]

unbelievable trip, the square,the footballs,the palm tree,the locals..... the 20 minutes in the stadium after the game will never be forgotten

[rambler14]

the palm tree,

The most famous palm tree in Bari. It managed to make it to and from the stadium!:D

[NeilMcD]

You were lucky Paul.......I was close enough to HEAR him:eek:;)

Thats what its about. The amount of texts I got but sure what can you do. A proud night to support our team. what a trip and what a goal and what a night

[SUB of the day]

Great trip, 6 flights in two days a bit rough but worth it.Of all the trips, the freakout for the goal was up there with the best.Craic on flight from Bologna to Bari unreal.Magic moment on bus back into Bari after match,bizarre swopping of hats and jersies with lads on bikes , through narrow windows, one of our crew passed out his ROI jersey, expecting azzurri equivalent in return, he got a Bari Fc scarf and had to go topless for the night....classic.BTW, great to hear "on the one road" getting an airing.

[Superhoops]

The most noticeable thing about Wednesday was the familiarity of the faces, even those who you don't know but recognise as regulars for away games, particularly in the bars along the Corso Vittorio Emanuele.

The response of the bar owners to the two cops (Little and Large) walking about, one with a clipboard, handing out fines to those who wouldnt close down appeared to be 'fu*k them' as beer was lorried in from all directions. One of the bar owners told me they could only be fined once a day and that with amount of beer he was selling he could easily afford the fine.

Playing in Bari was a blessing in that because is was a bit more awkward to get to and booking hotels wasn't as straightforward, it kept a lot of the messers at home.

As someone posted earlier, great crack going out on the the buses from the main Station to the stadium and even though it took a lot longer getting back into town, there was good crack with the locals most of whom were in cars.

Don't know about anyone else but I thought the Italian fans were good. They hated Lippi, they loved Trap. Despite the sh*te band on the field many of them clapped our national anthem, as we clapped theirs.

The only downside for me in Bari was the thieving taxi drivers. Heard one good line from a Dub who, when negotiating a fare told the driver 'I only want to to hire your cab, I dont want to buy the fuc*in thing'.

As far as the game was concerned, there were some real plusses:
- a point away against the World Champions
- Trap coming out of his defensive mode and making the changes early
- Another good game for John O'Shea (at this rate I'll soon be a fan :D)
- the fighting spirt and passion of the team which was never on show against Bulgaria a few days earlier.

Hopefully we can kick on for the Bulgaria game which is now the key game in the group, we need at least a point.

It will be interesting to see if McGeady and Duff are fit for that game and how Trap will play it, especially with Hunt having played so well. You certainly can't play all three of them, I have reservations about playing even 2 of them which has not worked well in the last 4 games, prior to Italy.

I would love to see Lee Carsley brought in for the Bulgaria game. I'm sure he would revel in breaking up the Bulgarians midfield game.

[NeilMcD]

well said superhoops great trip. I gave a taxi driver 7 euro for a taxi he wanted 15 for. every night it had been either 6 or 7 back to the hotel and he wanted 5 euro each from us.

[MariborKev]

I was there with my hi-vis green Athlone Town 'keepers jersey :D

Aye ye ******, ignored me!

Anyways the normal mix of "big game" away support
- The faces you always see there
- The "one trip a campaign" brigade

I thought the later kick off meant a lot of people got really twisted. I though the support was great, but there are still issues between the older generation and the younger generation. As some who travels with me da and me mates I can see both sides of the argument.

I'm lucky enough to have decent Italian and we have great craic for the three days. We were in the team hotel and had mad craic. The bar men were amazing craic and told us that ourselves and the FAI delegation had put through the same on the bar as 500 Italians had over a weekend the week before.....

[SkStu]

I thought the later kick off meant a lot of people got really twisted. I though the support was great, but there are still issues between the older generation and the younger generation. As some who travels with me da and me mates I can see both sides of the argument.

any chance you could explain whats going on? Just interested as i had no idea there was any sort of issues

[NeilMcD]

What issues were they out of interest. Just curious, is it in relation to standing up at the game etc.

Snap, I had that typed before I saw your post.

[MariborKev]

Aye,

A lot of the "older generation" want to sit at the game, whereas whippersnapper such as myself are happy to stand. Both sides are valid as people have paid their money, and there has to be a happy medium. That is normally grand when free seating is in operation but when people start standing at the fences at the top of stairs etc.

It wouldn't be an issue but a lot of support of our age don't have the cop on to realise when to stop drinking. Hence you get a sizeable number of people who are completely buckled at the game and are a complete disaster to deal with. If you ask them to sit down or to move etc you get a volley of abuse. Other lads decide that they want to crowd surf over the fence and down into the lower section of section. Cue people getting hit with shoes and limbs.

Same as on the buses on the way back in(I got a taxi out so can't comment). Kids and teenagers were coming up alongside the buses and asking to swap/get scarves. Hurling abuse at them for no reason. When people on our bus had the morals to call people on it, they got verbals for it as well.

Lads ****ing off the top of the stadium as they couldn't be bothered going down to the toilet.

Again, a minor thing but it is definately still there in the away support. Great trip though.

[Superhoops]

There was no problem on Wednesday with seating, you could virtually sit where you liked. The one annoying thing though is those who choose to stand and lean on the barriers at the top of the steps by the stairwells. That's nothing to do with older/younger generation, it is just fuc*in ignorance.

[Crosby87]

I noticed a few times on TV, it looked like there were lots of empty seats. Am I crazy?

[Superhoops]

I noticed a few times on TV, it looked like there were lots of empty seats. Am I crazy?
No you were not seeing things. The Lower Tier of the Curva Sud was not even open. The Upper Tier was at best only two thirds full. When it started raining, we moved back up higher and there were any amount of seats.

Never heard what the official Irish attendance was but I would have said 4000 tops.

[Bottle of Tonic]

Would echo the above sentiments about the trip to Bari. Mighty craic for the best part of a week. Tuesday night especially the main square was mental, the bus out to the game complete with crowdsurfers going up and down the isle, and then the celebrations for Keane's goal were the highlights. Had a bloke in front of me celebrating the final whistle bollock naked lepping around like a lunatic. Unreal craic. Locals were very friendly, even the Bari Ultras, only downside was aforementioned rip-off taxi drivers, bar owners and the ****e expensive food in the restaurants.
Had great craic over the course of the few days with the owners of the 'sono il capo' flag and the 'Diamond Bar Ennis' flag among many others.

Will live long in the memory.

[magnumpi]

have to agree with what is being said here. i'm more than fond of a few pints, but to see lads who didn't even realise italy were down to ten men, too ****ed to watch the game and then acting like dicks outside the ground annoys me.

we've an excellent reputation to maintain. its always been said that we police ourselves and never cause any trouble. i'd like to think that would never change. - especially seeing as the fans in bari were incredible, really congratulating us after the match etc.