St. George's Flags at LOI Grounds

[SunderlandBohs]

I was talking to two friends of mine from Sunderland a few weeks back about tricolours at EPL grounds. One of the lads told me that they went with a few friends to a hurling match in Croke Park just for the laugh when they where in Dublin. They displayed a St. Georges flag with SAFC-Durham on it. The stewards told them to remove the flag or they'll be ejected from the ground. About a year later they went to see Rovers play in Tolka and got a few heckles from a couple of hoolies but most seemed not to notice. But this reminded me of the time Bohs v Shels in Tolka a few years backwhen a few Lincoln City fans were told by the Gardai to remove a St. Georges flag or else they'll be kicked out.

Would anyone mind if a group of English lads started following a LOI side and displayed a English with their team's name on it? how would people feel if they were told to remove a tricolour from an EPL ground because it was offensive?

[Mr A]

I couldn't give a toss what happens in an EPL ground.

On the other hand- my enemy's enemy is my friend.

[Rovers1]

I wouldn't give a monkeys! They'd be giving money to the club their following! Makes a difference from the barstoolers going over to England, giving their money to British clubs. I suppose with it being a Gah match, the guards might feel it might cause 'offence' to the straw hats and hang sangwiches????

[Sheridan]

Only minnows bring national flags to club games. That said, I wouldn't notice/care if someone brought a George's Cross to an LOI game and I think most Irish football fans, being inherently more intelligent than Gah folk, would be similarly indifferent.

how would people feel if they were told to remove a tricolour from an EPL ground because it was offensive?

I fully support the removal, confiscation and/or jizzing on of any tricolours displayed at English grounds.

[brianw82]

It is a bit hypocritical alright. We expect the English to be comfortable with our flags yet make a big deal of it when they bring theirs over.

[Dodge]

Pats fans had a flag a few years with the national flags of all players in the squad, including the England one.

Don't think anyone cared.

[SunderlandBohs]

Most LOI fans I ask didn't really care. But the barstoolers have a totally different opinion. Funny because most won't dare enter a LOI ground!

[brianw82]

Most LOI fans I ask didn't really care. But the barstoolers have a totally different opinion. Funny because most won't dare enter a LOI ground!

Funny that, coz they're the ones bringing the tricolours to English grounds.

[Scram]

I was talking to two friends of mine from Sunderland a few weeks back about tricolours at EPL grounds. One of the lads told me that they went with a few friends to a hurling match in Croke Park just for the laugh when they where in Dublin. They displayed a St. Georges flag with SAFC-Durham on it. The stewards told them to remove the flag or they'll be ejected from the ground. About a year later they went to see Rovers play in Tolka and got a few heckles from a couple of hoolies but most seemed not to notice. But this reminded me of the time Bohs v Shels in Tolka a few years backwhen a few Lincoln City fans were told by the Gardai to remove a St. Georges flag or else they'll be kicked out.

Would anyone mind if a group of English lads started following a LOI side and displayed a English with their team's name on it? how would people feel if they were told to remove a tricolour from an EPL ground because it was offensive?

SAFC Durham OBVIOUSLY has little to do with any hurling game. If it was a St. G Cross with one of the hurling teams actually playing on it then fair enough, the same for any supporting a LOI team.

Union Jack, now...that's a different story!

It does seem like your mates are being childishly provocative though and are doing this for no other reason.

[sligoman]

I would have no problem with it but I know plenty would. I even asked about bringing an England flag(signed by our English players) to hang up in the Showgrounds on here before and the response was not good.

Ireland flags are offensive in the Brandywell too

[EalingGreen]

It does seem like your mates are being childishly provocative though and are doing this for no other reason.

I wouldn't dare to presume those guys motives, and neither should you (imo).
In my long experience, English people are usually FAR less hung up about flags and emblems than Irish people (esp in NI).
My guess is that those guys are actually advertising that they are from Sunderland, and have chosen an England flag since it is also the club's colours. In which case, they probably also bring it with them to concerts, or on holiday etc.
Therefore, I feel the appropriate response at Croke would have been a quiet word to the effect that England flags have a particular resonance at that stadium, so that they could simply fold it up and get on with watching the game. Unless they were being abusive etc, to threaten to kick them out is way over-the-top imo, especially since they have paid their admission fee like everyone else, and I would be prepared to bet there was no mention of such flags either on the ticket or anywhere else.
Anyhow, it doesn't surprise me in the least, what with the parochial and small-minded attitudes which pervade Gaelic games. Their loss, I'd say.

As for Tricolours at EPL games, in my experience these are very common, esp at clubs with ROI players. Indeed, one sees flags from just about every nation these days and no-one gives a stuff - which is just as it should be (imo).

[SunderlandBohs]

SAFC Durham OBVIOUSLY has little to do with any hurling game. If it was a St. G Cross with one of the hurling teams actually playing on it then fair enough, the same for any supporting a LOI team.

Union Jack, now...that's a different story!

It does seem like your mates are being childishly provocative though and are doing this for no other reason.

True, but look at the games at EURO 08. There was tricolours and St.Georges flag there. Last season a Dublin GAA flag was on display at the SoL and no one cared. I've brought a Bohs flag to the Nou Camp for a game. Don't know why just did.

Spot on Ealing Green. They bring this to flag to cricket matches. They just want go and see a hurling match just like some people who go to a bull fight in Madrid. They didn't see the harm in it.

[dcfcsteve]

True, but look at the games at EURO 08. There was tricolours and St.Georges flag there. Last season a Dublin GAA flag was on display at the SoL and no one cared. I've brought a Bohs flag to the Nou Camp for a game. Don't know why just did.

I suspect we all know the fundamental difference. Let's be realistic here - 800 years of history explains why some people wouldn't welcome English flags in certain Irish places. That doesn't make it right - but it does make it more understandable than most here seem to be letting on.

An English flag would be no more welcome at many football grounds in Scotland or Wales, I can assure you. For the same reasons.

And the reason why Irish/Welsh/Scottish flags don't provoke a similar reaction in England is, well, for the very same reason in-reverse. The 800 years of history in Ireland is largely perceived to have been a negative experience for one side not the other.

I agree that anyone displaying a triclour at games in England - particularly ones with Chelsea written on it - should be ejected from the grounds, have all their money, documents and clothes taken off them, and made to make their own way back to Oireland with nothing but the flag to protect their clearly limited dignity.

[EalingGreen]

I suspect we all know the fundamental difference. Let's be realistic here - 800 years of history explains why some people wouldn't welcome English flags in certain Irish places. That doesn't make it right - but it does make it more understandable than most here seem to be letting on.

Dear oh dear. Those guys are hardly responsible for "800 years of oppression etc", indeed I'm sure they're hardly even aware of it. Indeed, if they were prejudiced and antagonistic towards Irish people etc, I'm sure they wouldn't want to visit Ireland in the first place, never mind give their money to an organisation like the GAA.
They were just a group of lads who were in town for a break and they fancied going to a local sports event. As such, they would be positively welcomed in any other country (with a quiet word about the flag etc, where appropriate). But here, despite being happy enough to take their money, the GAA then threatened to kick them out for what was a simple misunderstanding. Pathetic.

An English flag would be no more welcome at many football grounds in Scotland or Wales, I can assure you. For the same reasons.

Sadly, you're probably correct. Doesn't make such petty-mindedness any more acceptable (imo). People need to grow up and live in the present, not the past - especially when we're talking about a simple football match ffs!

And the reason why Irish/Welsh/Scottish flags don't provoke a similar reaction in England is, well, for the very same reason in-reverse. The 800 years of history in Ireland is largely perceived to have been a negative experience for one side not the other.

And a football stadium is the correct venue for perpetuating such disagreements then, is it?
You know, considering you're a fan of a club which is notably successful in "managing" such a sensitive subject in far more difficult circumstances, I find it hard to believe that you appear to be defending clubs which ought to be in a position to avoid it altogether.

I agree that anyone displaying a triclour at games in England - particularly ones with Chelsea written on it - should be ejected from the grounds, have all their money, documents and clothes taken off them, and made to make their own way back to Oireland with nothing but the flag to protect their clearly limited dignity.

I appreciate that your prescribed penalty is exagerrated for effect (at least I hope it is! ), but I still think you are over-reacting drastically to what is generally a pretty harmless gesture.
For example, there is a family of season-ticket holders who sit next to my usual seat at White Hart Lane. When the dad occasionally brings his teenaged daughter, she always brings a Tricolour with her, to wave whenever Robbie Keane scores (He's her favourite Spurs player).
Although she may be 1st or 2nd generation Irish, she is clearly English-born and bred.
What on earth harm is there in her waving her flag?

[Da Real Rover]

St Georges cross no problem.
But the Union Jack is a no no.

[crc]

As it happens I saw this flag at the Cork v Bohs game in Turners Cross earlier this season. There didn't appear to be any bother and I think it was displayed for the whole game.
P5290023-1.JPG

[Happy shamrock]

As long as they pay at the turnstiles, i'd have no problem with them

[Straightstory]

St Georges cross no problem.
But the Union Jack is a no no.

We shall only reach full maturity as a proper nation when people can fly whatever flag of whatever country they wish in any ground in the country and nobody will be bothered in the slightest. But I suspect there will always be bitter, insecure, prejudiced bigots whose views are firmly stuck in the 19th century.

[celticV3]

We shall only reach full maturity as a proper nation when people can fly whatever flag of whatever country they wish in any ground in the country and nobody will be bothered in the slightest. But I suspect there will always be bitter, insecure, prejudiced bigots whose views are firmly stuck in the 19th century.

The union is not the flag of any country though? People having objections to a flag such as the union flag and what it represents is not bigoted and to brush it off as such is just ridiculous as people are entitled to object to what the flag represents.

[Umberside]

There's no similarity between a tricolour at an EPL game and a Union Jack/St George's flag.

The reason there's no problem with a tricolour at an EPL game is because the Premier League has an international fanbase, and flags of any country would be permitted.

Whereas the LOI has only a small (not even a national) fanbase and a Union Jack would cause mayhem (possibly).

If someone unfurled a tricolour at a Crawley Town or Accrington Stanley match then they would most likely be told to move it.