So how did we all get on on our travels?

Horrible trip to be honest.

I didn't like the atmosphere in the the Irish end with some people booing the team and giving 2 fingers to them. Too much tension then with other fans telling them to support the team and the fight between 2 guys over this.

Shocking performance - probably the 2nd worst ever.

Good enough night in Rimini on the Tuesday but very quiet for an away trip. Very few fans around until the evening of the game.

Flew into Rome which was a mistake - 5 hour drive up on the Tuesday. Took almost as long to get back after the game. Huge number of trucks on the road. I remmebered the Italian motorways as being great from Italia 90 but they haven't changed since.

On the positives

San Marino was lovely. People very friendly. Their football team is awful but were worth at least a draw.

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Originally Posted by gspain

Horrible trip to be honest.

I didn't like the atmosphere in the the Irish end with some people booing the team and giving 2 fingers to them. Too much tension then with other fans telling them to support the team and the fight between 2 guys over this.

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Was this the side where the dugouts where or the other side of the pitch. I was on the opposite side of the dugouts.

My first away trip. Some pretty crappy and unexpected surprises, but hugely enjoyable nonetheless.

Wouldn't rent a car again but would use trains (having had to catch one after we left the hire car back to ancona airport only to find out our flight was cancelled). Just Irish experience of train transit had put me off, but the italian ones were superb. Only flew in on wednesday morning having left the house at 4am. Wouldn't do that again either but would fly the day before. Rimini was a lot of craic.

Just a pity our flight to stansted was cancelled and we had to travel 400km from ancona to treviso (on a fast and fairly cheap train) to fly home (that, and pay €95 :eek: in the off season for a twin room. Next time I'll get travel insurance). Would definitely agree about the absolutely huge number of trucks on the autostrada as well as the crazy drivers (example: on narrow two way street with traffic coming the other way, impatient driver behind overtakes when he can obviously see nothing. another: when turning left at a junction another impatient driver completely outflanks us and turns left across in front of our car).

I'd also agree about the booing, which I felt was out of place. However, the atmosphere and singing were ten times better than you get at home games.

In short: my first away trip and a very enjoyable trip at that, despite everything that went wrong.

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Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Was this the side where the dugouts where or the other side of the pitch. I was on the opposite side of the dugouts.

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Who is this "Doug " fella....why do we want him out?.....is he Stan's "fall-guy"?:D

I was right behind where the 2 eejits had a row, it was opposite the dugouts where the majority of Irish were.
One fella threw something onto the pitch after SM goal and the other lad runs 20 yards to throw a punch. A lot of hand bags after this.
Don't know which punch was worse, that one or R Keane's fists in the air after we struggled to beat the mighty San Marino.

On a brighter note, arrived in the Bounty with my mate on the Monday evening to be told by Julianno that we didn't have to pay for a thing while we were there! These reccie missions will defo be happening again.
So free food and booze till we left for Rome on the Thursday.
Great craic in the bounty and met some legends as well, some of who, literally, didn't leave their seats in the bounty from the Monday till Thursday!

I was opposite the dugouts in the main body of the Irish fans. We sat in the back row almost on the halfway line.

I didn't see the row starting but it was an ugly sight.

personally i felt that fans after going to such an extent to follow the team have the right to boo a team that couldnt care less.

thought the atmosphere was quite strange too, but it always happens when you get disjointed places to stay bologna, rimini and san marino itself

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Originally Posted by Mento

Great craic in the bounty and met some legends as well, some of who, literally, didn't leave their seats in the bounty from the Monday till Thursday!

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I did get up to go to the loo once :eek: :D

Bounty was great crack.I even got a job handing out a certain (Mento) publication which by the way was excellant.Free drink for every 100 handed out.The only negative thing was those Foot.ie stickers.An awful habit of falling off.Kept banging my head off the tables everytime i bent down to pick it off the ground.

yeah I found the same thing with the sickers but they were a good idea and its always good to put faces to handles.

Bear, ya bleedin loved hanlding them out.
And you kept banging your head cause you were fallin all over the place drunk!
Fair play to ya!

mento , get yer fcking shine box

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Originally Posted by Mento

Bear, ya bleedin loved hanlding them out.
And you kept banging your head cause you were fallin all over the place drunk!
Fair play to ya!

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Not from the drink you were buying anyway.Glad to see you got home safe.

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Originally Posted by RogerMilla

mento , get yer fcking shine box

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How do you say it in Slovakian and Czech, will have to find out!

you need it in welsh and slovakian for the next games !!

another 2 hectic nights in rome bear, still wrecked.
ill get ya a drink in croker!

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Originally Posted by gspain

Horrible trip to be honest.

I didn't like the atmosphere in the the Irish end with some people booing the team and giving 2 fingers to them. Too much tension then with other fans telling them to support the team and the fight between 2 guys over this.

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Definite tension down in our end also (section E, far side of the dougout and on your left facing the pitch). It seemed to be split between the front (who were booing, giving the fingers and singing 'what the f*ckin' hell was that') and the back (who were annoyed by their conduct). At one stage a very loud 'there's a load of f*ckin w*nkers down the front' chant came from the back and it was probably the most divided I've seen the crowd since Swiss 02(with Keano chants and booing and others reacting against them).

We stayed in San Marino, parked oursleves for 2 days in Pub Gulliette, great spot. Place itself was nice, can't say I'd go back, but great scenery etc..

Match itself at the end was a bit ugly, haven't seen an atmosphere at an Ireland match like that before, but I think it was totally understandable. People paid good money, and you expect 100% from the players, manager etc, which we did not get. As I said on a previous post, fair play to Robbie Keane, he came over at the end to applaud the fans, even though he got dogs abuse. The rest of them ran like the wind, best movement from them all night!

We are going backwards at an alarming rate..

Lads if yee think that booing the team won't do them any harm I don't know what kinda fan yez are. The lads are hardly out there for a laugh. The problem is at the top. I was in a rage with the pr1cks booing. I was over in section E too & I swear I never saw so many bad fans (clearly I've decided to hold back there) at a match. I even heard that Duffers told some guy to "fuch off ye fat cnut" after he was gettin abused. Damo "play for Ireland till I drop" Duff. How could anyone do that? Youes aren't no Ireland fans. I wish yez weren't going, but I know yez are, to the away double header. If the FAI has a change at the helm by then we'll be going in the right direction but regardless we're there to supprt the team through thick or thin so if yez are the boo brigade yez aren't welcome in my opinion.

On the topside the trip was great craic. San Marino town on match night was a laugh; loadsa singin songs & that till I think it was 6am the bar stayed open till. Fair play to the barman drinkin with us & lettin us put on the music & all. Another team I wouldn't mind drawing in future qualifiers though hopefully the FAI will be a different animal by then.

It was totally understandable people booing, it was an absolute disgrace, shambles, embarassing, you cant call people bad fans because out of passion for the team and cause get very upset and emotional, granted some was over the top and out of hand, but lets get real,,,

they deserved it and the booing was a gesture towards the current mgmt setup and how disillusioned we are as fans at the situation, its not like it was constantly during the match, it was after it and at half time. The same people giving out shiit and booing were the same people singing for nearly the whole match..

The FAI are taking the foocking cuunt out of us fans, so dont dare question anyones merits as a fan for voicing our concern at it.

What ya want people to clap them off, for an honest nights work, get real..

Keane fisting the air, what a disgrace....he embodies what is fundamentally wrong with the current irish setup...the genisis report what a foockin waste of money..