Last international at current Lansdowne

[OwlsFan]

I remember when we first moved our games from Dalymount to Lansdowne. I felt disappointed that the special atmosphere that was Dalyer wouldn't be repeated at Lansdowne. For many games it wasn't as the team played in front of a half empty stadium (1-0 vs USSR and empty terraces and seats in view).

However, I do have some wonderful memories of packed houses and great games:

Ireland 3-2 France but we eventually don't qualify on goal difference I think.

Ireland 1 0 Spain and Ireland 1 0 Portugal were similar games where both the Irish team and the crowd were up for it and we steam rollered the opposition.

Ireland 2 Bulgaria 0 - the game Brady was sent off but we had at last put one over on the diving Bulgars and were rewarded later with the Gary McKay goal in Sofia (the highlight of my years following Ireland and I still get goosebumps thinking about it).

But for home games to beat them all it has to be Ireland 1 Holland 0. Fantastic atmosphere. Our arch nemesis the Dutch (Anfield, Orlando, Gelsenkirchen) also playing for their lives. Keane clattering Kluivert. Jason's wonder goal. The sending off. The non Given penalty. The 7 Dutch forwards on the field. The victory. The celebrations. Will we ever see a day like that again?

Thank you Lansdowne.

[harpskid]

Well said that man!!

Let's give the aul place a good send off this evening - one last hurrah from the Green Army before the redevelopment.

COME ON IRELAND!!! :ball:

[drinkfeckarse]

Haven't been to a game in Lansdowne in a few years but happy memories alright. I remember going to my first International - the Spain game in 89 I think and thinking it was a hole then nevermind now!

Hope the atmosphere is good tonight though.

[Dr. Ogba]

Haven't been to a game in Lansdowne in a few years but happy memories alright. I remember going to my first International - the Spain game in 89 I think and thinking it was a hole then nevermind now!

Hope the atmosphere is good tonight though.

Yeah it'll be interesting, I'm hoping its as good as the Czech match but have a bad feeling it'll be back to the usual subdued atmosphere of late....Is there anything special going on tonight to commemorate this? i.e special appearances of some of the great players to play there over the years??

[drinkfeckarse]

Doubt it Doc. Good idea though. I doubt the FAI would have had the slightest inkling to do something like that.

[Dr. Ogba]

Doubt it Doc. Good idea though. I doubt the FAI would have had the slightest inkling to do something like that.

was just thinking a quality idea would be to recreate some of the most famous goals scored there....McAteer against Holland, Stan/Aldo/o.g against the Portugeezers, Brady against Brazil etc etc
Would be great pre-match/half-time entertainment and would really get the crowd clued in to the sense of occasion....

But as you said its the FAI we're dealing with here so thinking outside the box is frowned upon....:rolleyes:

[Kingdom]

If there was some sort of pre match entertainment organised how many people do you think would come early, ie leave the boozer and head down to the ground say 20/30 mins earlier than normal? Not many me thinks.

[Dr. Ogba]

If there was some sort of pre match entertainment organised how many people do you think would come early, ie leave the boozer and head down to the ground say 20/30 mins earlier than normal? Not many me thinks.

OK maybe not pre-match entertainment but hopefully there's something at half-time to mark the occasion...would be a pretty poor show if the FAI didn't organise anything...

[Billsthoughts]

Highlight for me was Shane Doran singing his Eurovision smash " love is a lovely thing" at half time during one of the games. It really spoke to me and proved that the FAI is an association totally in tune with its fan base.
One of the saddest things about leaving the old lansdowne however will be the PA announcer will be different in Croker. Manys the time he managed to capture the thoughts and feelings of the whole crowd with a few words that would ease our collective pain. PA Anouncer man - We salute you!

[wws]

last game at Lansdowne will be the cup final - celebrate/commorate the occassion than - AFAIK they plan to introduce some legends on the day

personnaly lansdowne holds no special memories for me - holland game was about teh best of it - but i also recall a half empty lansdowne for teh visit of Brazil in the charlton glory days....

fairweatehr or wot?!?

[Billsthoughts]

last game at Lansdowne will be the cup final - celebrate/commorate the occassion than - AFAIK they plan to introduce some legends on the day


they have that dog that was running round the pitch for UCD(?) v Shamrock rovers final in da eighties lined up....

[Peadar]

It's a kip! Wont shed a tear over it.
I never remember the games for being in Lansdowne, just whether the football was good or not.

[wws]

they have that dog that was running round the pitch for UCD(?) v Shamrock rovers final in da eighties lined up....

that's the same dog that does the Compromise Rules series

[Billsthoughts]

The Pooch Cooper?

[OwlsFan]

I suspect the PA Announcer will travel to Croker so don't despair ;)

[wws]

Owls fan are you the man?!

God he's terrible - injury time in a crucial qualifier - Ireland desperately chasing a goal that would give them some hope - this clown gets on the PA
"and now just a rundown of some forthcoming events that you may be interested in.....


we must be the only nation in the world that announces the "man of the match" - the fecking attendance figure! -and morons actually applaud the attendance figure!

[Billsthoughts]

Only the real PA announcer would be so sure of that..........
Finally its all becoming clear.....

[elroy]

The place although a kip has a special nostalgia to it and will be missed. It would be a good idea if they did a little piece at half time, erected a big screen etc but as mentioned above its the fai and if they had anything planned, its probably cancelled now cos of the rain!

[stickyjoe]

Nostalgia? Nope,none for me. Favourite game was the Holland one and also the N Ireland one from 89 but never ever liked going to Landsdowne because of the ground itself. It is and always has been a kip which I hated.

Can`t wait for the new one :)

What about the worse games ? There has been a fair few in my time, for me it would probably be the Greece one back in 2000 I think. Beaten 1-0 and I doubt there was even 15,000 at it

[OwlsFan]

Owls fan are you the man?!

God he's terrible - injury time in a crucial qualifier - Ireland desperately chasing a goal that would give them some hope - this clown gets on the PA
"and now just a rundown of some forthcoming events that you may be interested in.....


we must be the only nation in the world that announces the "man of the match" - the fecking attendance figure! -and morons actually applaud the attendance figure!

The comment was tongue in cheek ffs. That guy drives me bananas. I remember after we had failed to beat the Swiss and the silence was deafening, he announced the answer to some trivial question he had asked earlier.

And the thanking us for our good behaviour....don't get me started.

[OwlsFan]

What about the worse games ? There has been a fair few in my time, for me it would probably be the Greece one back in 2000 I think. Beaten 1-0 and I doubt there was even 15,000 at it

The worst game: Ireland 0 0 Iceland. Horrendous.

If you think the current Lansdowne is a kip, you must be a child of the new generation. Us older supporters remember standing in the shed behind the goal at Dalymount with a couple of hundred people above us sitting on the corregated iron roof wondering will the shed collapse on top of us:eek: And the funny thing is we thought it was a great stadium (ground).

Ah the youth of today with their all seater stadiums....

[NeilMcD]

Do you remember wurthers originals now there was a sweet. Ahh corruption, child abuse, ahh those were the days.

[Billsthoughts]

how could anyone look back on corruption and child abuse with nostalgia? That post beggars belief.:mad:

Worst games....take your pick of any non roy keane games under macarthy and add in the 4-0 drubbing by holland and the non event of ireland v swiss under kerr...

[OwlsFan]

Do you remember wurthers originals now there was a sweet. .

Wurthers Originals - just a marketing ploy. Don't remember them. Give me bullseyes, lime, lemon and acid, spangles and acid drops.


take your pick of any non roy keane games under macarthy

Why do you have to bring everything back to Keane? Do you sleep with a picture of him held close to your chest (or elsewhere:rolleyes: ). As it happens the worst game I mentioned above (Iceland), Keane was playing, albeit at centre-back.

[Billsthoughts]

we always see in others the faults we have in ourselves...read your sig....
and they just were all crap.....swiss at home? andorra at home? Lichenstein at home? a rake of crappy freindlies I have erased from my memory... its just the way it was....

[OwlsFan]

and they just were all crap.....swiss at home? andorra at home? Lichenstein at home? a rake of crappy freindlies I have erased from my memory... its just the way it was....

All crap - one competive defeat at home (his last game) against the Swiss you mention. No doubt you were one of the boo boys at the game or perhaps you prefer the barstool. All crap! Liechtenstein at home 5-0. Crap!

Sorry if the friendlies bored you. Did they excite you more under any other manager?

[pineapple stu]

they have that dog that was running round the pitch for UCD(?) v Shamrock rovers final in da eighties lined up....
Henry, our mascot. Pi$$ed on the ball and ended up on Question of Sport, I think.

[Billsthoughts]

All crap - one competive defeat at home (his last game) against the Swiss you mention. No doubt you were one of the boo boys at the game or perhaps you prefer the barstool. All crap! Liechtenstein at home 5-0. Crap!

Sorry if the friendlies bored you. Did they excite you more under any other manager?

my mistake I got confused between Lichenstein and Lithuania.
as I said before I never booed macarthy as I dont agree with it.
what is this barstool accusation you keep throwing out?
have been going to Ireland matches for years. and I dont like watchin football down the pub.
on a side note I see you had another great game last nite. "lets hear it one last time for the old lansdowne"
would you ever just announce the teams and leave it at that?

[NeilMcD]

Yeah that guy who announces stuff and LR annoys the F*ck out of me. Dont believe for a minute its Owls Fan though. Lets hope he does not make the trip to the Northside.

[Jerry The Saint]

we must be the only nation in the world that announces the "man of the match" - the fecking attendance figure! -and morons actually applaud the attendance figure!


My favourite Lansdowne memory. "The attendance tonight is thirty-four thousand" Hooray!

The fact that the attendance announced was almost always exactly divisible by 1,000 led to suspicions that the guy was talking through his hoop. Last night he rounded off in style by giving the attendance as 34,000 again, despite a large chunk of the North Terrace being closed with plenty of empty seats around.

Whenever someone is introduced to the crowd, BEFORE THE APPLAUSE IS EVEN FINISHED, he says "and let's have one more round of applause...". Last night again, "let's have one final Lansdowne Road roar". YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME, PA GUY! :mad:

:D

[geysir]

Wurthers Originals - just a marketing ploy. Don't remember them. Give me bullseyes, lime, lemon and acid, spangles and acid drops. A bit heavy on the acid, Owls?

[OwlsFan]

on a side note I see you had another great game last nite. "lets hear it one last time for the old lansdowne"
would you ever just announce the teams and leave it at that?

:D :D

And what about when someone is introduced to the crowd. We are asked to give not one, not two but three rounds of applause (when they come on, stand in the middle and leave the field). "Let's hear it once again....."

I squirm whenever he opens his mouth.

Was that you doing the semi-streak? Pretty poor physique - too much bar stooling.

[OwlsFan]

A bit heavy on the acid, Owls?

Tell me about it. Used to love going to Kavanaghs on Camden Street which had every selection of "rot gut" as my father used to call the sweets. Now the shop is all moderised and doesn't stock the old favourites and my annual dentist bill is halved - probably becuase I've no teeth left ;)
-

[pineapple stu]

My favourite Lansdowne memory. "The attendance tonight is thirty-four thousand" Hooray!
Reminds me about the Swiss and French games last year, when the FAI had to accommodate the eL section in "extra" seats after we dared to kick up a fuss for our tickets being cut. The attendance was announced both times as "another full house!", presumably because they couldn't call out the actual attendance as it'd be over the legal limit.