New To Eircom

**Mattblade** · 03/10/2003, 10:00 AM

Hi

I'm moving to Dublin to live and work on a permanent basis, and being a huge footy fan, was wondering which team to follow.

I know very little about the league or the clubs, which would people say had the friendliest (or least friendly) fans, where would an English infidel get the best welcome? Who has the best atmosphere?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

**pete** · 03/10/2003, 10:50 AM

Might depend on where you end up living.

Bohemians & Shelbourne (northside), St Patricks (southside) & Shamrock Rovers (depends).

**Macy** · 03/10/2003, 10:53 AM

Check out a few games and see which suits best....

**Mattblade** · 03/10/2003, 10:57 AM

I'm going to be on the southside, probably Sandymount or Ballsbridge. Looks like St Pat's then.

I'm not the "shopping around" kind, like to pick one and stick to it. Probably explains why I've been a Sheffield United fan all my life!

**wws** · 03/10/2003, 11:33 AM

jaysus conor i dnt know where to start!

just on the manager thing (how'd you guess!)

i want my manager known for winning things (1 out of 3 ...so far)not for being a trashy gossip columnist in a low rent tabloid!

haha

**Mattblade** · 03/10/2003, 11:43 AM

Thanks Conor. Plus St Pats play in red and white, means I won't have to change my scarf ;-)

And no, a Blade would never support Leeds or W*******y. Especially the way the leagues are going at the moment!

**gspain** · 03/10/2003, 12:25 PM

UCD would be your local team in Ballsbridge but probably Pats or Shels would be better - no fans at Belfield- go to a few game sand see what you think.

**ger121** · 03/10/2003, 1:47 PM

You should go to the Bohemians v's St Patricks Athletic FAI Cup semi final at Dalymount on Sunday at 3pm. It will give you an idea what to expect at a match. There will be a good crowd at the game and you can have a look at two of the Dublin teams.For ticket details and directions visit,

www.bohemians.ie

Well worth a visit I'd say

**Mattblade** · 03/10/2003, 1:51 PM

Unfortunately I'm stuck in England until the 17th.

**Slash/ED** · 03/10/2003, 2:58 PM

Originally posted by Conor74
Shels - big club, great ground, good football, poor attendances.

Our attendences have been as good as any of the Dublin clubs this year, and Bohs biggest league attendence was against us. I wouldn't mind if what you were saying is true but looking at the other clubs your comparing us to it plainly isn't.

But, living on the southside, I'd say you'd be best going to Pats. Their support can be very good even if their ground isn't great and their style of football seems to be improving alot, plus you could well be attending a cup final in Lansedown Road this season too.

**Mattblade** · 03/10/2003, 3:00 PM

What date is the final?

**Slash/ED** · 03/10/2003, 3:06 PM

Sun 26 Oct, I could very well be wrong so I'm open to correction on that one, but that's what it has on a fixture list I've seen.

**John83** · 03/10/2003, 3:40 PM

Originally posted by pete
Might depend on where you end up living.

Bohemians & Shelbourne (northside), St Patricks (southside) & Shamrock Rovers (depends).

**Enda M** · 03/10/2003, 4:07 PM

friendliest fans definetly not shamrock rovers

**A face** · 04/10/2003, 2:54 PM

Originally posted by pete
& Shamrock Rovers (depends).

TheRealRovers · 04/10/2003, 9:08 PM

If you don't want to labelled a scum bag then don't support Shamrock Rovers

**crc** · 06/10/2003, 8:22 AM

If you really want to fit in - a lot of people in Ireland support teams in a different country.

I suggest Viktoria Zizkov of Prague

- Ryanair should be able to take you there, just like all the other s***h**ds!!!!!

**crc** · 06/10/2003, 8:24 AM

...seriously though, you can choose one of the big four based on info given above - but don't choose Dublin City!

**pete** · 06/10/2003, 11:12 AM

As a Sheffield Utd fan i think you should just support all the visiting teams i.e. don't support those capital city teams. Its alwayts better being an away fan anyways.

**incident** · 06/10/2003, 2:23 PM

Having been in roughly the same position, here's my experiences:

I moved (from england) to Dublin in Jan 2001. I ended up living in Phibsboro, about 2 minutes walk from Dalymount Park, so the only choice for me was to follow the mighty bohs.. I moved back to blighty for a while a couple months ago..

anyway, here's some (i hope) useful stuff -

Accent:
An english accent can be a really bad thing in dublin.. while the vast majority of people are fine, you'll meet some idiots who automatically hate you for your accent.
Luckily, EL fans on the whole are a great bunch. The only eircom league fans who I've ever had any hassle with are the Shamrock Rovers fans.
It's entirely possible they just hated me cos I had a Bohs shirt on, and the accent gave them more ammunition, but I'd recommend staying away from them anyway as they've by far the worst thug element in the league.

anything from here on is my opinion only, others will disagree

Football:
I'd reckon that Bohs play the best (ie passing) game, followed by Shels. UCD are doing badly in the league, but whenever I've seen them, I've been quite impressed with them.
Rovers can play, a bit, and finally St Pats are the single most boring team ever. TV3 showed Cork vs Pats live on the first weekend of the season, and it was so dire that (I think) they haven't shown another live match since.

In comparison to England, I'd say Bohs and Shels would be about Div 2 level, with the rest of the league around Div 3.

Grounds:
I wouldn't worry about this too much, fact is there's no decent grounds. The best are Tolka (shels) and Dalymount (bohs) and they'd both be considered poor by, say, Div 3 standards. Most of the grounds would be about Confrence standards.

Geography:
As others have said, UCD are easily the closest club to you, but only have about 20 fans. St Pats would be next nearest, but ask yourself: can you really bring yourself to watch long balls and set pieces every week?

Hope this helps

Chris