Atmosphere in Croke Park

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04/10/2009, 3:57 PM
mjpcc

Atmosphere in Croke Park

Given the bad news re seeding I've been thinking about the athmosphere in Croke Park. Do you think the athmosphere for Italy on Saturday will be special. Can it match the intensity of Lansdowne against Holland, or a key GAA match.

My thinking at this stage - amongst so much doom and gloom - is that a win against Italy would be monumental for us. I know it probably will not get us automatic qualification even if we win both games. But think about it, a win against Italy would definitely worry all the 2nd places teams. They would not like coming to Dublin one bit after that.

If we win both games there is the very remote chance Italy slip up against Cyprus and we top the group or we move up the standing enough to become one of the top seeds - given favourable results elsewhere.

So a few questions:

Will Croker be full for Italy?
Will it be full for Montenagro?

What will the athmosphere be like?.

Come on you boys in Green ...................:confused:
04/10/2009, 4:27 PM
Colbert Report

Definitely full for the Italy match, don't know about the atmosphere. The stands are too far back from the pitch.
04/10/2009, 6:04 PM
tiktok

I've been in Croker for 'key' GAA games, rugby and football internationals and I've yet to experience anything approaching an atmosphere. It'll be full for Italy and maybe 3/4 full fir Montenegro, the atmosphere will be poor for both games, as it usually is.
04/10/2009, 6:28 PM
back of the net

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjpcc

Given the bad news re seeding I've been thinking about the athmosphere in Croke Park. Do you think the athmosphere for Italy on Saturday will be special. Can it match the intensity of Lansdowne against Holland, or a key GAA match.

My thinking at this stage - amongst so much doom and gloom - is that a win against Italy would be monumental for us. I know it probably will not get us automatic qualification even if we win both games. But think about it, a win against Italy would definitely worry all the 2nd places teams. They would not like coming to Dublin one bit after that.

If we win both games there is the very remote chance Italy slip up against Cyprus and we top the group or we move up the standing enough to become one of the top seeds - given favourable results elsewhere.

So a few questions:

Will Croker be full for Italy?
Will it be full for Montenagro?

What will the athmosphere be like?.

Come on you boys in Green ...................:confused:

well i agree that win against the italians will be huge - it will send a strong message out to the other second placed teams

as for the atmosphere - i have to agree with the others - dont think it will be monmental - think it will be good for parts of the game then die down

cant see it being anything like the atmosphere in lansdowne or like the one against the dutch in 2001

the only really good atmosphere i have seen at an ireland game in croker was against slovakia in 2007 and that was only for parts of the game

i agree with colbert - just think the way the stands are affects the noise level also

but all in all i cant wait to get back home to lansdowne road
04/10/2009, 6:33 PM
Crosby87

Why is it taking so long to renovate Landsdowne road? They built 2 freaking new baseball stadiums here with the most crooked unions in the world faster.
04/10/2009, 6:34 PM
**FrOsTy**

Atmosphere will be good from the away section anyway. I've been to 90% of the games since Germany in 06 and never really had a great atmosphere for the full game.

Looking forward to both games.
Italy will defo be full the Montenegro attendance rests on the Italian result. A win against the Italians and it will be full IMO
04/10/2009, 6:48 PM
EastTerracer

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crosby87

Why is it taking so long to renovate Landsdowne road? They built 2 freaking new baseball stadiums here with the most crooked unions in the world faster.

1) Lansdowne Road is being rebuilt not renovated.
2) It will be completed on schedule which is a rare occurence in Ireland.
2) The stadiums in New York did not require any major demolition work in advance as they were built next to but not on top of the existing stadia.
3) Yankee stadium cost $ 1.5 billion (approx EUR 1 billion). Lansdowne Road (even with cost overruns) will cost about half that.
4) Take a look at how long it took to build Wembley.
5) No-one else on here is complaining.
04/10/2009, 7:33 PM
philliyk

I'm sure we could get the atmosphere going if all the EPL + "big game" supporters got off their bee-hind & added to it rather than the usual - "I've paid 50euro for this crap - now entertain me" attitude of some of them(& i do stress some of them). At least the lot of that other forum:rolleyes: are making an attempt to create an atmosphere & good on them!!!

Colbert I think its more the fact the "rowdy, 100%" fans are to far spread around the ground. The Slovak game was good because in my own experience almost everyone around me(lower davin) was p****d as a fart & all were up for having a sing song!!!
04/10/2009, 8:12 PM
SUB of the day

8 o clock in Dublin on a Saturday night, country boys up in the smoke all day,I reckon most of the 70.000 fans will be making a day of it, Croker will be swayin'....literally!
04/10/2009, 11:29 PM
Crosby87

Quote:

Originally Posted by EastTerracer

1) Lansdowne Road is being rebuilt not renovated.

Oh. Well that totally explains why it would take a long time. Thanks. Bloomberg is lucky you are not running against him here. VERY lucky.
05/10/2009, 10:42 AM
John83

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crosby87

Oh. Well that totally explains why it would take a long time. Thanks. Bloomberg is lucky you are not running against him here. VERY lucky.

Oh yeah, there'd be no difference in the time it takes for those two completely different things to be completed. :rolleyes:
05/10/2009, 10:48 AM
Leeside Swagger

Only been there once for a Rugby match, thought the atmosphere was good, had a decent seat though, the first row of the Cusack upper. If you were at the back of the hill on a freezing wet night id say that might take away from it a bit!

Not sure if it will be full for the Italy game though, the way they are selling the 2 tickets together only suits people living in Dublin. I would have went to the Italy game but I cant make the Montenegro match so thats one empty seat anyway....
05/10/2009, 11:53 AM
Claret Murph

Lads just go out with the idea that you are going to enjoy yourself , then leave the rest to the boys on the pitch .

Now as funny as this may sound when we got the second goal againist Greogia the whole place went mental .
05/10/2009, 12:18 PM
EastTerracer

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crosby87

Oh. Well that totally explains why it would take a long time. Thanks. Bloomberg is lucky you are not running against him here. VERY lucky.

You're still under the misapprehension that it is taking a long time.

The new Yankee stadium took nearly three years to complete (August 2006 - April 2009).

Lansdowne Road will take three years to complete (May 2007 - April 2010).
05/10/2009, 1:41 PM
SuperDave

Quote:

Originally Posted by EastTerracer

You're still under the misapprehension that it is taking a long time.

The new Yankee stadium took nearly three years to complete (August 2006 - April 2009).

Lansdowne Road will take three years to complete (May 2007 - April 2010).

and croker took a decade...
05/10/2009, 3:14 PM
Schumi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leeside Swagger

Only been there once for a Rugby match, thought the atmosphere was good, had a decent seat though, the first row of the Cusack upper. If you were at the back of the hill on a freezing wet night id say that might take away from it a bit!

Off topic but the view from the back of the hill is actually pretty good. I was there for the two Six Nations games this year and the Heineken semi and the view was better than from my seats down the other end for the football internationals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperDave

and croker took a decade...

And still only 3/4s finished. ;)
05/10/2009, 4:37 PM
reder

Quote:

Originally Posted by SUB of the day

8 o clock in Dublin on a Saturday night, country boys up in the smoke all day,I reckon most of the 70.000 fans will be making a day of it, Croker will be swayin'....literally!

I feckin hope not. The grabbers will have the begging bowl out looking for compensation from the government. All PAYE workers will have a GAA levy of 0.32% imposed on them. Delighted we only have 2 or 3 games left there.
05/10/2009, 6:17 PM
Arnold Layne

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiktok

I've been in Croker for 'key' GAA games, rugby and football internationals and I've yet to experience anything approaching an atmosphere. It'll be full for Italy and maybe 3/4 full fir Montenegro, the atmosphere will be poor for both games, as it usually is.

Agree with that, Ireland games don't really have a decent atmosphere, certainly nothing to worry an Italian player.

The truth hurts, but the atmosphere at Ireland games is crap.
05/10/2009, 6:28 PM
paul_oshea

HAHA i was waiting for the post from reder, pete, etc etc to come on and take a swipe at the GAA :D on an uncompletely related matter to the title of the thread :D
13/10/2009, 8:56 PM
irishultra

In terms of atmosphere I reckon most international matches have crap ones. There is no cohesion like there is at club level and especially in Irelands case you have the vast majority who never go to football matches unless Ireland are playing or they go to see Manchester United once a year.
14/10/2009, 9:06 AM
Ari Gold

Croke Park has regularly received stick on this site for lacking any atmosphere. While I agree fans are further back from the pitch for football I think this in reality does not take much away from anything. For example if Henry Shefflin, Brian O'Driscoll or Robbie Keane zip down the wing to score an excellent point/try/goal - what difference does it make to a hardcore fan's excitement if there are 2 yards away or 20 yards away.

A hopping atmosphere depends on the fans themselves, what happens on the pitch and the importance of the game and not simply the bricks and mortor of a stadium.

Saturday night pretty much ticked all 3 boxes above for the first time football has moved to Croker. Ireland v England 2007 6 nations also. If people think that the atmosphere for the Serbia, Georgia, Cyprus games would have being much better in the Aviva - they are fooling themselves. Poland and Brazil it was the away fans making the noise.

I was in the SS of the Lower Davin on Saturday night and after the anthem and after the 2 Irish goals the noise was incredible. Louder than I have ever experienced in any GAA game in fairness.
14/10/2009, 10:01 AM
Battery Rover

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ari Gold

I was in the SS of the Lower Davin on Saturday night and after the anthem and after the 2 Irish goals the noise was incredible. Louder than I have ever experienced in any GAA game in fairness.

I usually watch the game from the Lower Davin but for this game was in the Lower Cusack and the noise was as loud as I have ever heard it in Croker. After our second goal with everyone hopping in the stand you could actually feel it moving
14/10/2009, 10:07 AM
Kingdom

The Poland match was the turning point for me. They embarrassed us more in the stands than they did on the pitch. Something needed to be done, and thankfully the SS has come to life. It will take a while to set in, but if the FAI afford it the respect that it deserves and accomodates it again in the South Stand of Lansdowne, then I've no doubt it will go on to be a roaring success.
14/10/2009, 10:12 AM
paul_oshea

nice cheesy entendre there kingdom to finish with.

Was speaking to a fella over here last night at a committee meeting(who coincidentally was just across the steps from me at the game), he said to me there was this old steward there, and when they were leaving, he said to them "Ive been here 35 years, hurling finals, football finals, soccer, rugby, I've never seen anything like the noise when they scored that 2nd goal".

Yes he did say seen and noise., im assuming he meant he never saw anything like the reaction and never heard noise like it before.
14/10/2009, 10:37 AM
gspain

The loss of the Dalymount roar was still being lamented when I started going to Internationals (1975).

I thought the atmosphere on saturday night was very good and certainly better than any other football match at Croke Park. Hopefully we will have an even better atmosphere for the playoff. Still not a patch on the really big ones at Lansdowne - France, Spain and Holland but maybe I'm the likew the oldtimers who used to lament the Dalymount roar..
14/10/2009, 10:41 AM
paul_oshea

You dont get the same rain now as ye used to back in the dailymount times either gspain.
14/10/2009, 2:20 PM
gspain

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

You dont get the same rain now as ye used to back in the dailymount times either gspain.

Never rained in those days. :D

USSR 74 came just too early for me - would have loved to have been at that. Still remember the radio commentary.
14/10/2009, 2:31 PM
blobbyblob

The stadium itself is amazing - I dont think its down to the distance from the pitch. It comes down to the people.

I reckon that 20-30,000 people in Croke Park could at best call themselves match of the day supporters. Thats no offence to them. Just saying that they wouldnt have been regular soccer followers and would rarely if ever have attended games in Lansdowne.

You only have to listen to conversations around you in Croke Park to know it. Its no longer a shock that half of them dont know our own players, let alone the opposition.

50,000 regulars in Lansdowne will do nicely thanks.
14/10/2009, 3:11 PM
Jinxy

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperDave

and croker took a decade...

Where did they play all those All-Ireland finals for the 10 years it took to build it? :D
14/10/2009, 5:49 PM
skimcg

I'm a staunch follower of both disciplines but in fairness socce will always have better atmosphere cos gaa fans don't sing or stand up and secondly Croker will never have a good atmosphere because it's not a closed in ground, very important. Look at any other ground eg I was in stadio D'Olimpico I was there recently it was only half full and the atmosphere was electric, any premiership grounds the same. As one poster alreAdy said international fans lack unity especially at home but when we are on the road we are great, France 9th October 2004 was the last time we really got atmosphere going!!
15/10/2009, 12:26 PM
Beavis

As most people have said it's all about the crowd, I don't buy into any of the excuses. The noise levels at times on Saturday showed that Croker as a stadium, is capable of being very loud as long as the punters are willing.

It was to be expected that Wednesday would be fairly falt with nothing at stake. I was most dissapointed that very few of the crowd stayed in the end to clap off the team after giving us a good campaign where they gave it everything.
15/10/2009, 1:05 PM
SuperDave

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beavis

As most people have said it's all about the crowd, I don't buy into any of the excuses. The noise levels at times on Saturday showed that Croker as a stadium, is capable of being very loud as long as the punters are willing.

It was to be expected that Wednesday would be fairly falt with nothing at stake. I was most dissapointed that very few of the crowd stayed in the end to clap off the team after giving us a good campaign where they gave it everything.

The campaign is far from over.....

Incidentally, how much worse would a bad draw (Russia, France, Portugal) have felt if the draw hadn't been seeded? I'm not saying its a blessing in disguise but at least we have had longer to deal with it and a backs-against-the-wall attitude may yet see us through.
18/10/2009, 5:20 PM
stiffler

Croker should be a sea of green for the play off game..... what is the chances of a green scarf or even sheet placed on every seat before the game?

The italy atmosphere could well be overshadowed by this game!
18/10/2009, 8:48 PM
Yard of Pace

Quote:

Originally Posted by stiffler

The italy atmosphere could well be overshadowed by this game!

I think so. People are incredibley hyped up about the draw. Most likely we'll get a perceived superpower and the feeling will intensify. Unless the 2nd leg is Croker after an absolute drubbing (unlikely) the atmosphere should be superb.
19/10/2009, 5:58 PM
stiffler

Right. France at home, hopefully an evening kick off! lets see a sea of green on croker!

Scare the bejasus clean outta those french ponces!!

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