It's hard to imagine nowadays, in the middle of the working day that an important football international would take place at 3pm on a Wednesday.
I have fond recollections of tellys being brought into classrooms and classes being suspended for matches - think the last time the school did it was the All-Ireland Euro 96 qualifier in Dublin in March 95 (the beginning of the rot!)
Was the atmosphere better at those matches than the evening kickoffs??? I know it's all dependent on a successful team I guess. Considering the style of football we are currently playing, I wonder what attendances we would get in the middle of the day now???
I remember my mother would write me a note so I could get out of school early to see Jack Charltons Ireland side play, such was their draw in those days. This is a woman who would never let me be off sick, even if I was half dead, I was sent to school. But a mid afternoon midweek Ireland/Denmark qualifier, I could wrangle a note for.
For my first few years at primary school which was a Marist Brother school, we had a principal who enjoyed soccer. He used to put a tv on in the assembly hall and let us all in to watch it. I loved it, sadly it didnt last too long though as he ran off and married a nun, and then one got done for abuse, and then another was "retired" for his temper and hitting. All in all a great primary school though
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
was brilliant getting off school early as a teenager and heading into Lansdowne for one of the big matches during Jacks reign.Originally Posted by Grafter
I think the atmosphere was better back then but more likely due to the success we enjoyed, 50,000 packed into the stadium which had terraces in those days and the garda band pre-match wrm up which played tunes the fans could sing along with! too much nonsense goes on inside the stadium these days with nonsense celebration music etc all contributing to turning the occasion into an entertainment event rather than a sporting one.
Back in the late 80s / early 90s an international match would dominate the city on the day and there would be a big buzz around the place. I had to sleep out on the footpath to queue for match tickets for big matches but i believe the Germany match in 2 weeks is yet to sell out!
Atmosphere not the same at all these days with many of those fans that do turn up too pre-occupied with paper airplane throwing and using facebook on their smart phones during the games.
Last edited by jbyrne; 27/09/2012 at 9:01 AM.
Please no. The rest of us suffer.
No Somos muchos pero estamos locos.
I was never allowed to get off early. I've never forgiven my mother for not allowing me out of school for the 3-0 v NI at Lansdowne. Missed Staunton's goal from the corner as a result.
Grr.
:-(
We had a half-day every Wednesday anyway.
Wasn't the famous France 3-2 at home on a September Wednesday afternoon?
I also remember going to a 1-1 with Belgium (Tony Grealish). Same campaign?
No TV's were brought into my school's classrooms for "foreign games" as my GAA mad principal used to call it.
Ah it was a wet day, your Mam didn't want ya to catch a cold bless her!
Jaysus Andy has a tight grip there - very worried.
Terry looks like he could have been a classmate of yours in that pic BonnieShels
I thought you were off the drink Ronnie?
"No, I drink to help me mind my own business....can I get you one? (c) Ronnie Drew
Phelan wouldn't be out of place in pigtails and a satchel looking at that.
Great days though, great times.
We used to finish primary school at 3pm and had a 20 min walk home.
We had a foreign sport hating Christian Brother principal.
I remember vividly him keeping us back the day of the 3-3 with Spain, missed the whole first half.
"Must you tell me all your secrets when it's hard enough to love you knowing nothing."
http://worddok.blogspot.com
Yeah we used to get half days anytime Ireland played in the early Charlton era and that was a Christian Brothers school. You'd just walk home unannounced. We seemed to get impromptu half days at the drop of a hat like when a school team would win a match. No-one from my school ever won a Nobel Prize though!
I'm from the Saipan/Japan/South Korea generation. The Cameroon game was, of course, played on a Saturday and was a terrific result which really sparked much excitement which was subsequently lived out in the classroom. We watched the Germany game on a small television at the top of the class, our necks strained from staring upwards. Dancing on the desks and kicking the chairs when Keane put the ball in the German's net was pure ecstacy, taking full opportunity to make some noise. Our teacher was a former inter-county footballer so he enjoyed the goal too and the over-zealous celebrations were calmed down after a while, but not too forcefully.
I had a GAA-loving headmaster who would get dead suspicious of anyone who turned up with a note from the parents on match days. There were about four of them in my class of thirty-odd boys who would always mysteriously have a sick note for the days when there were matches. The headmaster started getting wise to it. I even remember one father tearfully showing up at school with a story about a dead grandparent! Now he was a cool father!
My father would never give me a note and I've never forgiven him for it.
You must have been in primary school then? I'm almost sure the leaving cert was on the day of the Germany game, English exam I think.
Let it go man!
Yeah, 6th class and the football knowledge was beginning to take shap, as was the Panini sticker book from the same competition.
The Den used to have to finish early, so they'd do a skit of the RTE panel. Zig would dress up as "Johnny Styles" and draw pictures (back when Giles would draw arrows over the highlights... hi-tech at the time) and Zag would be "Eamon Grumpy" and be miserable. Actually that was a good Dunphy impression thinking about it.
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