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Just got home from the U 21 match at the cross and have to say that John O'Shea was absolutely brilliant.What a player,overall an excellent match.While i was there I saw 2 guys putting up a banner for foot.ie,the person next to me asked if i had ever been on the site and advised me to give it a go, so here i am.
I thought Andy Reid was absolutley outstanding. O'Shea, Butler and Burgess also look very impressive.
Shelly of Bohs also looked very accompished at right back. And Gamble finished off a good second half display with a goal. Nice one!
The CCISA and CCFC banners at the back of the Shed worked nicely. Fair play.
good game nice to see all the floodlight supporters !
a few funny comments:
was asked if you have to pay extra to sit in the st annes and derrynane ends ! shows how many times they were at the cross!
at the end heard prople asking which is the way out! no comment
when we were singing patsy for ireland heard a couple of people ask whose patsy ( noticed them singing city till i die)
:D :D :mad:
IMHO While I can understand people being annoyed by newcomers at games surely the fact that people are going to matches that they would'nt normally go to is a good sign.
fair point but how many of them will you see at a city game:mad: :mad: :mad:
If 10% of the "newcomers" came back for the City games it would be an acheivement. Hopefully some of the hundreds of kids in the crowd will want to go back to the Cross (even if ireland aren't playing).
so the result was
sry but US national tv or radio werent covering the game tonight :)
Report from soccercentral.ie
Great night alright.
'Cross packed to the rafters, with many turned away at the gates. If only that could be a regular event.
Get your tickets early for the U-19's on the 10th.
Caught the goals on the late news on Net2 last night & the cross looked great. People are correct in suggesting grounds look better under lights as can't see the grassy banks or much of the houses behind.
Was hard to judge the quality of the floodlights from the 2mins RTE showed but if they were using a basic enough camera then it showed up well.
Even if the ground was to stay the same do people think a 3k crowd under lights would make for better atmosphere?
I agree that better these new people come to under age internationals than not at all. I;d say a lot of people wouldn't know about the improvement in facilities at the cross in recent years so hopefully it was an eye opener for them.
With a crowd like that, and from what i heard an excellent atmosphere, the Cross would seem to be an ideal spot for International matches (other than senior ones, of course).
,
Don Givens has said this in the past and a crowd of 8,000 is all the proof the FAI need of the potential of the Cork Venue
What more evidence do the FAI need to stop playing underage internationals in Dublin? Dublin already has the senior internationals so theres no reason why they should have other games too. They played the under 21 game against Portugal at Tolka Park last year on a fine night in front of just over 1000 people. They finally copped on, and played the game against Holland in front of 5000 in Waterford and now 8000 for a friendly in Cork. Even when there were games in Longford and Kilkenny they got 2500-3000 at each, compared that to the pitiful amount that turn up in Dublin, a city with a far greater population.
These games need to be rotated around provincial venues, provided the facilities are up to scratch. The Cross should now be a regular on the list with the new floodlights. I know there's rules about a ground being within 70km of the main international airport, but there seemed to be little problem bringing the Dutch to Waterford, and theres been games in Galway before too.
I think the FAI have improved a lot in this respect. credit where credits due...
The 70km rule (or whatever the distance is) would seem to rule out Cork for competitive u-21 games. I think the rule has something to do with distance from senior international game.
Big crowds at Waterford, Cork or wherever would certainly have something to do with the novelty factor & would surely diminish over time. Still crowds are low in dublin for underage games.
I think underage qulaifying tournaments will probably be in either Cork or Waterford as need at least 2 grounds which neither Galway or Waterford possess.
AFAIK if both sides agree the 70km rule does not have to apply, we just have to show the visiting nations that it would be worht their while coming to the Cross!
Sounds like a great night for Irish and Cork soccer. It makes a lot of sense to bring under age internationals outside the Pale for reasons.
From a local point of view nights like last night are invaulable. Thousands of foreign soccer supporters turn up (albeit to see the future stars of the English Premiership) and what do they see to their astonishment.
1. Unrecognisable ground developments
2. Intoxicating intimate atmosphere sitting/standing just yards away from the players (much better then watching Bskyb sports)
3. Feeling of local/national pride
4. Healthy night out for the family
5. Sense of realistic potential of such an atmosphere for local eircom league matches.
I suspect Cork City might have won many potential supporters last night. Brian Lennox must have been inspired by the sight of what is possible for our club.
M.See, are you a city fan? Was this your first time to the the Cross? If so would you come regularly in future?:)
Great picture on that link to soccer central. It's great to see that it's full of people in the stands behind the players.
The atmosphere must have been amazing when Gamble scored in injury time. Did people realise that he is a local lad?
What was the atmosphere like? What chants were being sung and in what parts of the ground?
Did Don Given comment on the venue after the game?
I loved the quote about the "new era in Cork football".
Well Snatch, to answer your question
1. I am a city fan and have been since my dad took me to see the then cork hibs in the late 60's
2. I have been to the Cross numerous times but gave up going when my son reached the age when he wanted to go to matches with me, as I didn't fancy explaining to him about some of the "lovely" chants from the shed.how would I explain to an 8 yr old what the connection is between city and the IRA as in low lie the fields etc. He couldn't understand why they booed when one of the Irish lads touched the ball in the first few minutes last night- the player is black.
3. I will go again but I certainly won't be bringing my son.
:(
That was a case of unfortunate timing. Nobody was booing Mattis.Quote:
Originally posted by M.See
He couldn't understand why they booed when one of the Irish lads touched the ball in the first few minutes last night- the player is black.
These 'IRA' chants were maimly by the little scumbags in their Celtic tops who are not City regulars. Admittedly it used to be a problem with that song but not as much any more for City games.Quote:
Originally posted by M.See
how would I explain to an 8 yr old what the connection is between city and the IRA as in low lie the fields etc.
Bring your son and sit in the other end of the Derrynane. Hopefully Lennox will organise this Family Enclosure ASAP because there are plenty more people with the same issue as M.See (I imagine?).
Here we go again................ :rolleyes: I'm not trying to lay into anyone, but I'm fed up of this! There are as many racists, provos etc in other parts of the ground as in the shed, proportionately at least. If you have a problem, report it to a steward, that doesn't work, a guard and if that doesn't work get on the clubs back! If people just ignore it and don't go to games instead, it will never change! I've done my level best to eradicate this crap, but I'm not getting much help at all. Also, a lot of the people who give out about the "IRA" bit in the fields seem to develop a curious tolerance of it in a pub after a few beers!Quote:
Originally posted by M.See
2. I have been to the Cross numerous times but gave up going when my son reached the age when he wanted to go to matches with me, as I didn't fancy explaining to him about some of the "lovely" chants from the shed.how would I explain to an 8 yr old what the connection is between city and the IRA as in low lie the fields etc. He couldn't understand why they booed when one of the Irish lads touched the ball in the first few minutes last night- the player is black.
I know for a fact that nobody was booing the Black player, the booing may have occured when he was on the ball but it was in fact directed at Bohs Brian Shelly who failed to respond to the sheds call for a wave. it was only a bit of light hearted fun,there was nothing malicious or racist about it. As for the IRA thing, that has nothing to do with the city fans and it was only a few non-regulars that were saying. So please stop trying to put a dampner on what was a great night for ccfc and for Cork soccer in general.
That was certainly a serious problem a couple of years ago M.See. Many people were turned away from attended by those chants.Quote:
I have been to the Cross numerous times but gave up going when my son reached the age when he wanted to go to matches with me, as I didn't fancy explaining to him about some of the "lovely" chants from the shed.
The sooner biggoted and racist chants cease at City matches the better. Eanna certainly has a good point about the responsibilty of the decent fans and the authorities to shut up those young fellas.
I suppose you cant blame M.See as he has given up on Irish football and doesn't know any of the players, he didn't know what team Shelley played for. To be honest alot of the people at the game probably have never been to a game in their lives and the whole thing must be quite new to them, a kind of a culture shock. It is totally different to watching it on telly in the pub with the lads. Players could be two feet from you at some stages. It must be surreal for some people. And the noise level is alot higher.
About the IRA celtic fan chants in the fields, it was good to see the fanzine doing its bit there as well, even though it is not bad at the cross, the united colors of football suppliment was a good read and well worth a look, the issue of the fanzine was very good overall ..... hope to see it next year. (i know it is only three months away)
Racism certainley is not a problem at the cross, it may have been in the past but those days are gone. The sooner the floodlight supporters know that the sooner they may come to city games. As for abusive language and chants, you will get them at every football ground all over the world, its just part and parcel of the game. Im in London for the weekend and I am going to a Chelsea match today, im expecting to experience the samekind of chants and comments as you will hear at the cross. I often feel that people just use this as an excuse to knock City, we will have a very hard jobon our hands converting many of the people who were at the game on Tuesday night.
Racist & IRA chants are certainly a lot less prominemnt at the cross than a few years ago but that doesn't mean they not there either.
The "IRA" bit seems to added by mainly kids as opposed to a few years ago when half the shd would add it.
I would say the racist side of things would probably be individual comments as opposed to actual groups of people chanting. Theres only so much individual fans can do without the stewards getting involved. I'm guessing if the kids saw a steward throw out of their kind out they wouldn't be likely to try it again.
Things have improved a lot but still doesn't mean can't improve further.
We need to remove the excuses people use not to go to the cross & let them experince live football which IMO no slick tv coverage can beat.
From reading all the posts, I can only come to one conclusion. Whether or not you agree with any of the chants, or the accepatability of them, it's clear the stewards aren't doing their job. Hopefully this will change, but I think fans have a duty to hound stewards into acting too.