Bratislava

[eirebhoy]

Myself and four of my mates absolutely loved Bratislava and are planning on goign back soon, I walked around the so called bad part in the suburbs wearing an Ireland jersey and all i got was handshakes. Met loads of locals and went to a party in a ballymun flat type place with all my friends. Maybe its the Irish fans who fell out of the Dubliner and without knowing it (coz they were so drunk) started singing rebel songs in the locals faces, trying to annoy them. They were the ones who woke up with black eyes. Beautiful clean city, cheap drink, great public transport, fantastic looking women! The opposite of Dublin!!

Prague is a sleazy s hit hole! Great buildings though..
Is there anyone that actually liked both cities? :confused:


We were in the karaoke dungeon bar on the friday night.
I think we ended up there most nights in Bratislava. The first night we were there was the best because nobody knew about it. By the Sunday night it was absolutely jammers. Sweat pumping out of everyone.


The hotel we were checked into was a right old s*** hole. It was the 15 storey building around the corner from tesco.
We stayed there too. All you want is a place to sleep anyway. THe staff in there were fantastic though. Really nice.

[Desyf]

We stayed in an apartment block behind Tescos almost in their carpark. It looked derelict from the outside and had been up till quite recently I reckon but they have started renovation work on each floor in turn.

Wasn't bad really.

I enjoyed both cities but then again I didn't have any horrible experiences in either, apart from the f#cking football !!

Prague is way better to visit though, so many places to eat and drink it was unbelievable.

[lopez]

...chelsea (a notoriously anti Irish club)...They have (or did have) some notoriously anti-Irish supporters, but on what basis would you compare the club itself with Glasgow Rangers, which did discriminate against the (Catholic) Irish?

Ken Bates banned Terry Last and co from Stanford Bridge despite them being cleared on appeal in 1989. The attack on the author of the Chelsea Independent Fanzine in Prague, led by the notorious ex C18 gimp Will Browning, followed him actively criticising the loyalism and fascism of certain fans. And I did say 'had' because I'd find it hypocritical of the likes of Last, Browning or their neo nazi associates, following a side now owned and managed by Jews. Oh wait for it, it was owned by a Jew before Bates took over.

In contrast, there are many 2G Irish and blacks that support the club. I suppose they start at an age when the political ideologies of Last and Browning are a bit too complicated to make them choose a less 'anti-Irish' club.

Saying all that: I hate Chelsea. :D

[Green Tribe]

What only 100, we'll need more then that.

Well now you're probably right, more like 10,000

[Green Tribe]

D

Then he thought that I was Schloomps father :eek:
(Usually people think we're brothers!!!)
(We're not related at all btw!!!!)


:eek: heh heh, that's class, actually yous do look a little alike, I'll send yous that pic i took of yous in your matching hats! :D

[Sligo Hornet]

Just getting away from the flag issues for a moment, I just had a funny
flashback to Bratislava ...

Schloomp and meself were having a feed of drink in the Dubliner on the
Friday and ended up chatting to a gang of lads from Dublin. One of them
was the cut out of Staunton so naturally we slagged him off about it for
ages.

Saturday we saw him and he didnt look too healthy and had a fierce shakey
hand. Let a roar over to him "Hey, mini Stan" and he came over to us going
on about 2 drunken cnuts who had been calling him that the night before :D

Then he thought that I was Schloomps father :eek:
(Usually people think we're brothers!!!)(We're not related at all btw!!!!)

Two nightmares in one........poor Ol' Ash!!:eek:

[Superhoops]

However if anyone, no matter where they are from, brings a tricolour with chelsea (a notoriously anti Irish club) to an Ireland game they can expect abuse.

Clear?


KOH

Is this the same Chelsea who John Dempsey, Paddy Mulligan, Andy Townsend, Tony Cascarino and Damian Duff played for?

And the same Chelsea who last year signed the brightest talent of his age group, Conor Clifford?

Real anti-Irish policy in force there :rolleyes:

[NY Hoop]

Is this the same Chelsea who John Dempsey, Paddy Mulligan, Andy Townsend, Tony Cascarino and Damian Duff played for?

And the same Chelsea who last year signed the brightest talent of his age group, Conor Clifford?

Real anti-Irish policy in force there :rolleyes:

Obviously I meant the fans and you dont understand what they're like. What part of london you from then?

Again:

Here's an extract form Patrick West's "Beating them at their own game".

In the late 1970’s and 80’s, the London [Chelsea] club’s fans were notorious not only for displays of hooliganism, but for elements who attached themselves to the far right and indeed the Loyalist cause. When Chelsea’s first black player, Paul Canoville, made his debut in April 1982, coming on as a substitute against Crystal Palace, he was met with a chorus of boos, hisses and racist chants – from his own fans.

During these dark days, many of the team’s supporters, by wearing, “No Surrender” scarves and hats, and chanting anti-Irish slogans, openly aligned themselves with Glasgow Rangers and Linfield with some creating an organisation called the “Blues Brothers”, linking all three clubs.
Songs such as “No Surrender to the IRA”, “Hello, Hello, We Are the Billy Boys” and – neatly combining two prejudices for the price of one “I’d Rather Be a Darkie than a Tim” were sometimes heard.

Unlike Liverpool, Arsenal or Millwall, who had a sizeable contingent of Irish and second-generation Irish fans, and Irish players, Chelsea were regarded not merely as not an “Irish team” but as a positively anti-Irish team.
I remember standing in “the Shed” at Stamford Bridge as a teenager in the late 1980’s and having to listen to the man next to me spend the ninety minutes shouting abuse at Tony Cascarino, calling him a “f__king Fenian *******” whenever the Millwall player (who, incidentally has no Irish blood in him and was later to play for Chelsea) touched the ball.

Until the 1980’s the club’s only Irish-born Republic of Ireland internationals had been Dick Whittaker, who played once for Ireland in 1959, and Pat Mulligan, a defender who spent three years at Chelsea between 1969 and 1972.
On the other hand, Chelsea had always employed the services of Irish northern Protestants, pre- and post-war, from Johnny Kirwan, who turned out for Ireland in 1906, to Sam Irving, wing-half back of the 1920’s and 1930’s, and a moustachioed Kevin Wilson in the 1980’s. Their only Irish manager to date is Ulsterman Danny Blanchflower.



KOH

[supasparx]

Obviously I meant the fans and you dont understand what they're like. What part of london you from then?

Again:

Here's an extract form Patrick West's "Beating them at their own game".

In the late 1970’s and 80’s, the London [Chelsea] club’s fans were notorious not only for displays of hooliganism, but for elements who attached themselves to the far right and indeed the Loyalist cause. When Chelsea’s first black player, Paul Canoville, made his debut in April 1982, coming on as a substitute against Crystal Palace, he was met with a chorus of boos, hisses and racist chants – from his own fans.

During these dark days, many of the team’s supporters, by wearing, “No Surrender” scarves and hats, and chanting anti-Irish slogans, openly aligned themselves with Glasgow Rangers and Linfield with some creating an organisation called the “Blues Brothers”, linking all three clubs.
Songs such as “No Surrender to the IRA”, “Hello, Hello, We Are the Billy Boys” and – neatly combining two prejudices for the price of one “I’d Rather Be a Darkie than a Tim” were sometimes heard.

Unlike Liverpool, Arsenal or Millwall, who had a sizeable contingent of Irish and second-generation Irish fans, and Irish players, Chelsea were regarded not merely as not an “Irish team” but as a positively anti-Irish team.
I remember standing in “the Shed” at Stamford Bridge as a teenager in the late 1980’s and having to listen to the man next to me spend the ninety minutes shouting abuse at Tony Cascarino, calling him a “f__king Fenian *******” whenever the Millwall player (who, incidentally has no Irish blood in him and was later to play for Chelsea) touched the ball.

Until the 1980’s the club’s only Irish-born Republic of Ireland internationals had been Dick Whittaker, who played once for Ireland in 1959, and Pat Mulligan, a defender who spent three years at Chelsea between 1969 and 1972.
On the other hand, Chelsea had always employed the services of Irish northern Protestants, pre- and post-war, from Johnny Kirwan, who turned out for Ireland in 1906, to Sam Irving, wing-half back of the 1920’s and 1930’s, and a moustachioed Kevin Wilson in the 1980’s. Their only Irish manager to date is Ulsterman Danny Blanchflower.



KOH

It's now 2007, let it be ffs. I'm tired of this debate.

[Moscow Mule]

It's now 2007, let it be ffs. I'm tired of this debate.

Echo Supa.

Time to move on and focus on the match as a collective, inclusive set of supporters.

[Superhoops]

Obviously I meant the fans and you dont understand what they're like. What part of london you from then?

Again:

Here's an extract form Patrick West's "Beating them at their own game".

In the late 1970’s and 80’s, the London [Chelsea] club’s fans were notorious not only for displays of hooliganism, but for elements who attached themselves to the far right and indeed the Loyalist cause. When Chelsea’s first black player, Paul Canoville, made his debut in April 1982, coming on as a substitute against Crystal Palace, he was met with a chorus of boos, hisses and racist chants – from his own fans.

During these dark days, many of the team’s supporters, by wearing, “No Surrender” scarves and hats, and chanting anti-Irish slogans, openly aligned themselves with Glasgow Rangers and Linfield with some creating an organisation called the “Blues Brothers”, linking all three clubs.
Songs such as “No Surrender to the IRA”, “Hello, Hello, We Are the Billy Boys” and – neatly combining two prejudices for the price of one “I’d Rather Be a Darkie than a Tim” were sometimes heard.

Unlike Liverpool, Arsenal or Millwall, who had a sizeable contingent of Irish and second-generation Irish fans, and Irish players, Chelsea were regarded not merely as not an “Irish team” but as a positively anti-Irish team.
I remember standing in “the Shed” at Stamford Bridge as a teenager in the late 1980’s and having to listen to the man next to me spend the ninety minutes shouting abuse at Tony Cascarino, calling him a “f__king Fenian *******” whenever the Millwall player (who, incidentally has no Irish blood in him and was later to play for Chelsea) touched the ball.

Until the 1980’s the club’s only Irish-born Republic of Ireland internationals had been Dick Whittaker, who played once for Ireland in 1959, and Pat Mulligan, a defender who spent three years at Chelsea between 1969 and 1972.
On the other hand, Chelsea had always employed the services of Irish northern Protestants, pre- and post-war, from Johnny Kirwan, who turned out for Ireland in 1906, to Sam Irving, wing-half back of the 1920’s and 1930’s, and a moustachioed Kevin Wilson in the 1980’s. Their only Irish manager to date is Ulsterman Danny Blanchflower.

KOH

In the 70's and 80's, at the time when the provisional IRA targetted their campaign towards the UK mainland and largely affecting civilians, anti-Irish factions were not confined to Stamford Bridge, they were rife throughout the UK. Chants of 'No Surrender' and 'I'd rather be a (whatever) than a Paddy/Tim' were common place at many football grounds, as was the hissing, booing and racist chants at black players. However, this anti-Irish feeling was not confined to football grounds, Irish people at their workplaces and in pubs were subject to the same crap.

While there may have been elements at Chelsea who aligned themselves with Glasgow Rangers and Linfield, I would doubt it was the majority.

I spent a few years in London in the 90's during which I did not support any particular team. However, among the Irish guys I knew, knocked about with and worked with, there were as many that supported Chelsea as there were supporting Arsenal and Spurs and I can honestly say I never heard any complaints or comments about anti-Irish tendencies.

I am sure until the 80's there were several clubs who employed the services of more Irish northern Protestants than they did Republican Catholics, that hardly made those clubs anti-Irish.

Finally, the reference to Chelsea having only Irish manager is hardly relevant or evidential. How many Irish managers has any of the other big English clubs had? I don't think you will find many with much more than 1 or 2 and you might even find the odd one with none at all.

As Supersparx commented this is 2007. The 1970's and 80's were a long time ago. Time and attitudes have moved on.

[mypost]

It's now 2007, let it be ffs. I'm tired of this debate.

We're all tired of it.

[Green Tribe]

We're all tired of it.

It'ss now 2:25 int he morning and i;m a bir sklaughtered xcan e leave the debate bplease go on, I've been out on the lassssh in Galway I've ve just had me curry chips :D

[Green Tribe]

We're all tired of it.

Just cos you loved the incestous brother ands sista from athlone :eek: :D

[Saint Tom]

It'ss now 2:25 int he morning and i;m a bir sklaughtered xcan e leave the debate bplease go on, I've been out on the lassssh in Galway I've ve just had me curry chips :D

can i have whatever she's having please?!

[Babysis]

can i have whatever she's having please?!

many many pints of heineken:D We were "merry" last night, but I'm pleased I was the sensible one and didnt go on here :p We had garda escort from one pub to the other last night - us arm in arm with them going down shop street :eek: Could not have done that in Bratislava

[fergalr]

(a notoriously anti Irish club)

You're suggesting the football club itself is anti Irish? Bizarre.


Obviously I meant the fans and you dont understand what they're like.

Ah so you mean the fans. All of them? All of them now in the year 2007? You figure this how?



Here's an extract form Patrick West's "Beating them at their own game".

Ah so you got this from a book. About pre-Premiership hoolies.



Clear?

Nope. As it happens I agree with you on the defacing of the tricolour but I honestly can't figure out why you have a bee in your bonnet about one foreign club in particular. Does it all stem just from reading one book? If its based on anything else then do share.

Whatever it is I think the treatment the 2G guy from London gets is a bit OTT.

[AidoM]

many many pints of heineken We were "merry" last night, but I'm pleased I was the sensible one and didnt go on here :p We had garda escort from one pub to the other last night - us arm in arm with them going down shop street :eek: Could not have done that in Bratislava

Hope no one fell asleep on the job :D

[Green Tribe]

Hope no one fell asleep on the job

:eek: :eek: :eek:

[Colie]

In Bratislava on the afternoon of the game I saw a crowd of young Dubs having a go at some guys from London and Birmingham who I recognised as lads who have been going to matches for years. The usual sh*te about 'no one with english accents had any business following Ireland'. I can't believe this. Fuching d1ckheads, it's people like them that have no business following Ireland. Looks to me that ye get saps like that on the big trips, real fairweathers & ye can pick them out a mile away. Sh1t like this is gonna end up with brawls within the Irish fans eventually I reckon. I prefer the trips againt the bottom 3 teams. Bring on Azerbaijan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan

[gilberto_eire]

lads can anyone help me.....

about a week or 2 ago through a thread in either this section or the ireland section there was a link to a site with pictures from the 2 games of fans etc.... it had pictures from a lot of other games too.... found a few relations in one of the stuttgart pics and am trying to find the site again to link him the page....

i cant remember what thread it was in and there are a hell of a lot of possibilites... can anyone help me?!

[shamrock17]

it wasnt www.awaythelads.com was it??

[gilberto_eire]

it wasnt www.awaythelads.com was it??

PERFECT:D

thanks very much!!

[aidz1]

whats the best way for uploading some photos onto this site (if such funcion is available?)

[pineapple stu]

Don't think it is. You're best off uploading elsewhere and posting a link.

[Cowboy]

Talking of trains, I heard that on the famous 1225 from Bratislava to Prague on the Monday that a young 'Irish gentleman' told a nun to move from the seat he had reserved. Also heard about a group of 10 or 12 comprising of some Dublin postmen and some young Wexford lads in the same carriage who gave a local woman a terrible hard time by constantly swearing and using abusive language when she asked them to stop smoking in the carriage. Although I was on that train I didn't see these myself or don't know if these are true or just stories that have grown legs, but I would not be surprised it they were true.

I met that guy and he asked me where his seat was, I told him but said bad luck as there is a nun sitting in it, could not believe it when he asked her to move. Somebody else then gave up their seat so she could sit down. The postmen and the wexford lads (who were getting free beer from the postmen) spent the whole trip roaring, shouting and cursing all within earshot of the nun. I'm not averse to cursing myself but theres a time and a place. They smoked as well and let loose some serious abuse to a local woman when she asked them to stop. Ran into these clowns outside a restaurant in Prague and one tried to start a fight with us. Have to agree with other posters theres a serious problem developing with more and more of these a**holes coming on away trips.

[Cowboy]

I dont agree with any foreign team names written on the flag but whether it was rangers or not I would not try to pull down or touch another persons flag.

I dont agree with anything at all written on our flag.

[NeilMcD]

Jesus you would be busy at a match if you were to go around challenging everybody so !!!!!

[Sligo Hornet]

Jesus you would be busy at a match if you were to go around challenging everybody so !!!!!


Agreed,....and don't forget you can't touch anyone else's flag!

[Sligo Hornet]

I was beside the woman in San Marino who went and took down the Chelsea flag. She was on a mobile to a pub in Dublin and they were directing her from the TV footage!!


As always...the power of the Media.....eh Tuff?;)

[NY Hoop]

I was beside the woman in San Marino who went and took down the Chelsea flag. She was on a mobile to a pub in Dublin and they were directing her from the TV footage!!

Fair play to her.

KOH

[Réiteoir]

And who says barstoolers aren't useful for something :D

[NeilMcD]

Fair play to her.

KOH

Why for touching another persons piece or property. If its not yours dont touch it would be my view.

[Sligo Hornet]

Why for touching another persons piece or property. If its not yours dont touch it would be my view.

Well done Neil...you've passed another test....fidelity is very important!;)

[Desyf]

Why for touching another persons piece or property. If its not yours dont touch it would be my view.


Is correct.

[NY Hoop]

It doesnt belong at an Ireland game. The fact that there has been two different efforts to take it down is telling.

And no I wasnt involved in either.


KOH

[zenokelly]

Talking of trains, I heard that on the famous 1225 from Bratislava to Prague on the Monday that a young 'Irish gentleman' told a nun to move from the seat he had reserved. Also heard about a group of 10 or 12 comprising of some Dublin postmen and some young Wexford lads in the same carriage who gave a local woman a terrible hard time by constantly swearing and using abusive language when she asked them to stop smoking in the carriage. Although I was on that train I didn't see these myself or don't know if these are true or just stories that have grown legs, but I would not be surprised it they were true.

Ya them Wexford lads were right knobs. They were literally 5 metres away from the smoking part of the carriage but just puffed like chimneys in the non-smoking part just to be arseholes. And I for one was rightly ****ed off with them, seeing that there was absolutely no air on the freakin train (no windows) and the smoke going around in circles above my head eventually gave me a headache ( me being a non-smoker). And I really don't mind them having the craic but be considerate to others when doing it.
But they were young and hopefully they'll grow up and cop on.

[awaythelads]

We managed to claim our booked seats in the 1st class carriage after requesting some very reluctant well dressed Germans to move. We got off in Bruno, spent the afternoon there, then took the next train to Prague. It was empty and we had a choice of seats! Much more civilised than the noon nightmare.
Seems like a lifetime ago now ...

[AidoM]

Thought about starting a new thread for this but decided against it :(

Today, 28th September is Green Tribe's 29th birthday. :confused:

Happy Birthday :)

[stiofain]

Happy Birthday

[Bear Eleven]

Today, 28th September is Green Tribe's 29th birthday. :


Happy Birthday. Are you really 29 ( I thought you were more.)

[zenokelly]

We managed to claim our booked seats in the 1st class carriage after requesting some very reluctant well dressed Germans to move. We got off in Bruno, spent the afternoon there, then took the next train to Prague. It was empty and we had a choice of seats! Much more civilised than the noon nightmare.
Seems like a lifetime ago now ...

Ya I saw a few Irish lads getting off there.

Looked like an absolute kip though!:)

[Cowboy]

Jesus you would be busy at a match if you were to go around challenging everybody so !!!!!

Who said anything about challenging everybody? I've never had a harsh word with anyone about defacing our flag, I take a view (which also happen to be in line with government guidelines) and don't seek to impose it on anyone else. Its for each individual to decide there are no statutory obligations. I do find it ironic though that guys object to certain things on our flag and not others.

"17 The National Flag should never be
defaced by placing slogans, logos, lettering
or pictures of any kind on it, for example
at sporting events."

[awaythelads]

Ya I saw a few Irish lads getting off there.

Looked like an absolute kip though!:)

No! The area around the station was rough, but the town centre was really decent. http://www.awaythelads.com/CzechAway/pages/6576%20Brno.htm
They even had a wine festival on, and we thought it polite to sample a few decent wines. http://www.awaythelads.com/CzechAway/pages/6574%20Brno%20Wine%20Festival.htm
Brno is much smaller than Prague, but there were no busloads of tourists. I'd go back again. Nothing to do with the nice young ladies and very cheap excellent beer ...

[NeilMcD]

Awww I was just having a laugh. I was trying to point out the stupidty of the people who do challenge people for things they dont like at Ireland matches. Sorry if that did not come across.

[Cowboy]

Awww I was just having a laugh. I was trying to point out the stupidty of the people who do challenge people for things they dont like at Ireland matches. Sorry if that did not come across.


No problem, I agree with you it is a fruitless practice.

[CollegeTillIDie]

The young knobs smoking in the non smoking section of the train which had no windows open should have been shopped to the local fuzz. A few hours in a Czech prison might have sorted them out :D

[Cowboy]

it was also older postal guys who should be old enough to know better. I was at the other end of the carriage and me some young guys from Clare who were the complete opposite, great crew.

[Desyf]

It doesnt belong at an Ireland game. The fact that there has been two different efforts to take it down is telling.

And no I wasnt involved in either.


KOH


I thought it was an Ireland flag ??:confused:

[Cowboy]

The fact that there has been two different efforts to take it down is telling.



I agree its telling on the two people who tried to take it down