LOI fans: do you support the national team?

**adamd164** · 29/05/2013, 8:49 AM

With tonights #morethanjustafriendly #plasticpaddyinvasion in Wembley, I'm curious to know how many actual Irish football fans (i.e. LOI fans) support the national team? Not even just tonight but generally.

Personally, I used to as a kid but have long since become disillusioned with how removed the national team is from the reality of football in this country, not to mention how sickening the FAI blazers are with their big-day-out mentality.

Just to spite Delaney and co. I'd like England to give them a tonking.

(sorry, a bit off topic for this forum but I wanted to post it here to get feedback from LOI fans specifically)

**White Horse** · 29/05/2013, 8:56 AM

My cynicism has not yet spiralled enough to stop me supporting the national team.

However, it is nothing like supporting my club. That is serious business.

**Mr A** · 29/05/2013, 8:59 AM

I support the national side wholeheartedly. At games whether home or abroad there are always large numbers of LOI fans around as well.

If nothing else, the fortunes of the national team dictate the cash flows into Irish football.

Don't really get the logic of not supporting them because of people in the FAI. There have been plenty of people involved in our clubs that weren't too popular and it hasn't stopped us!

**dejadem** · 29/05/2013, 9:09 AM

Originally Posted by White Horse

My cynicism has not yet spiralled enough to stop me supporting the national team.

However, it is nothing like supporting my club. That is serious business.

Same, support the national team but club comes first.

**Charlie Darwin** · 29/05/2013, 9:53 AM

I support Irish football at all levels. Seeing the national team still gives me goosebumps no matter how unimportant the fixture or dispiriting the football.

**gufcfan** · 29/05/2013, 10:54 AM

I'm not saying I don't support Ireland, but I would probably sooner attend most European games of LOI clubs than Ireland games, 95% of the time. I would watch them on tv all right but wouldn't be bothered going to Dublin. I have no interest in going to an away game either.

Pretty much all of us here actually attend football matches, exiles excepted, so in that sense, I don't consider myself a "real supporter" of the national team. I've only bothered with one Ireland match since the move to the Aviva and it was as much to nose around the new digs than anything. FAI Cup finals are the only thing that will bring me there tbh.

**colonelwest** · 29/05/2013, 12:32 PM

Along with heading to LOI, I've been going to national team matches since before Delaney and I'll be going to them long after he's gone. Well, hopefully, once he doesn't do a Blatter! The gang I've been heading with since I was knee high are considering sacking off our ST's though and picking and choosing from August on. There's about 20/25 of us going back three generations, some of whom have been going 40/50 years. We're waiting to see how much they're looking for for the renewal but with only three competitive games and the fact they switched the ST's from a whole campaign to match the English season, coupled with a lot of other BS over the last few years (not even getting into the football on show on the pitch/ Trap) means a lot of rank and file are at breaking point at this stage.

**CuanaD** · 29/05/2013, 12:49 PM

No.

I used to be a typical armchair NT supporter decades ago - went to the odd game & shouted & cheered as if they were 'MY' team, but over time I realised that I was never going to see our LOI players picked regularly for the NT.

My opinion is that there are a good bunch of players here who are at the same level as the 'filler' players in the NT squad, but they are never picked. I'm still not sure of the reason - could be that the managers agree with the FAI blazers that players aren't worth looking at unless they play abroad, or it could be that they are dissuaded/discouraged from looking at them by the Blazers. I know for certain that the Blazers want the best players playing abroad (preferably in their own favourite team) so they can justify their own expenses in traveling to watch foreign matches all the time.

I shall stay away & continue to try to persuade others to do so also; until this situation changes & I can hope to see LOI players (who we all know are worth watching - we do it every week) regularly making up a reasonable number of the NT squad.

**Macy** · 29/05/2013, 1:26 PM

I don't actively hate it or anything, I just don't care anymore.

I used to go, and organised the Longford tickets when Rooney had that initiative, but I stopped going when Delaney stopped it (initially) and then spread everyone around the ground in the rubbish seats. That broke the connection with going. The greedy players over the player pool/ bonuses stopped me even being arsed (essentially the increase in money they got took away from the development of the sport in this country). I also find "the best fans in the world" thing pretty embarrassing to be honest, especially at the euro's. Players who don't seem to really care about the jersey, with fans that don't seem to care about results and perfomances - what's not to love?

**Closed Account 2** · 29/05/2013, 3:30 PM

Originally Posted by adamd164

Just to spite Delaney and co. I'd like England to give them a tonking.

That's a great attitute.

**Jofspring** · 29/05/2013, 10:36 PM

I support the national team but not actively. I haven't been to a game since Ireland vs France in 2007. I wouldn't spend good money to travel to dublin for a game and I think a lot outside of dublin would feel the same.

I do find the whole irish fans sitting in pubs wearing Man U jerseys annoying but at this stage it is fighting a losing battle so it doesn't bother me much anymore.

Limerick FC for me is the be all and end all when it comes to football.

At the moment it is €10 into a state of the art stadium to watch live football and have a great laugh and no matter what anyone says that can't be beaten at the moment by anyone in my eyes.

**trevy** · 30/05/2013, 12:41 PM

Yes I do. I always used to watch the games on tv since I was a child and now I go to a few home games in last few years and was at all 3 in Euro 2012. There seems to be a good mixture of fans following the national team and some go just for the craic and the trip abroad but there are plenty of dedicated football fans too.

**Raheen** · 30/05/2013, 12:42 PM

Ahem, even us exiles regularly go to games..just not so many in Ireland. Personally, I prefer club football of any kind to international football.

Originally Posted by gufcfan

I'm not saying I don't support Ireland, but I would probably sooner attend most European games of LOI clubs than Ireland games, 95% of the time. I would watch them on tv all right but wouldn't be bothered going to Dublin. I have no interest in going to an away game either.

Pretty much all of us here actually attend football matches, exiles excepted, so in that sense, I don't consider myself a "real supporter" of the national team. I've only bothered with one Ireland match since the move to the Aviva and it was as much to nose around the new digs than anything. FAI Cup finals are the only thing that will bring me there tbh.

**nigel-harps1954** · 30/05/2013, 1:37 PM

Nothing would please me more than to see Ireland do well.

But like a few others here, I just feel completely detached from the international team. It just doesn't feel like my own team. Despite numerous players actually coming through the League of Ireland, it sort of felt like England v England reserves last night.

Watched about 10 minutes of the game.

I wholeheartedly admire those who put heart and soul into supporting the national team however. I know many people who travel to every home game and get to a few away games too. Takes a lot of money and effort to do this in a crippled economy and I tip my hat to them.

Never been to an Ireland home game myself, and I just have no particular interest in doing so apart from a day out to Lansdowne Road.

I'll take a trip to Salthill, Mervue, Wexford, Cork, Tallaght or anywhere else supporting Harps over it.

**MariborKev** · 30/05/2013, 4:13 PM

I'm lucky enough to be able to follow both. Currently replying to this from Stansted, after last night's game, awaiting my flight back to Derry.

Then it's on the road to Blarney tomorrow, before leaving straight after the game to come back up on Saturday night so as to get to the Ulster Championship game on the Sunday. Ah sport you couldn't beat it.

If it came to it would be club before country, thought I have sacrificed a few Derry games for Ireland away trips when it has been impossible to get back for the club game.

**De Town** · 30/05/2013, 4:17 PM

Where were Northern Ireland playing last night Kev? Don't remember seeing their name mentioned in any fixture list yesterday.

**MariborKev** · 30/05/2013, 4:20 PM

No game, not an "official" international fixture date, which was the reason Keane had issues with Galaxy.

**SkStu** · 30/05/2013, 7:28 PM

why would people not support the Irish team? It makes no sense. You have to put your disagreements with the administration to one side for 90 minutes. With the number of ex-LOI players in the team, the excuses for not supporting the team are less and less.

**TonyD** · 30/05/2013, 8:32 PM

Originally Posted by adamd164

With tonights #morethanjustafriendly #plasticpaddyinvasion in Wembley, I'm curious to know how many actual Irish football fans (i.e. LOI fans) support the national team? Not even just tonight but generally.

Personally, I used to as a kid but have long since become disillusioned with how removed the national team is from the reality of football in this country, not to mention how sickening the FAI blazers are with their big-day-out mentality.

Just to spite Delaney and co. I'd like England to give them a tonking.

(sorry, a bit off topic for this forum but I wanted to post it here to get feedback from LOI fans specifically)

That's kind of my attitude too. I was a kid in the seventies and would have given anything to see Ireland qualify for a major tournament. I remember being gutted in 82 particularly, when a very good team went so close in an incredibly strong group. Strangely though, once it actually happened I started to care less and less. I enjoyed Euro 88 and Italia 90, but the disillusionment started around the mid point of the Charlton era, continued through the McCarthy era and the treatment of Brian Kerr was the final straw for me. I should mention too that I started supporting Pats regularly in 94/95 and this coincided with starting to lose interest. The more I started to care about Pats the less the national team meant. Now I can't stand Trappatoni, Delaney, (most of)the media, the FAI and a lot of the supporters, who all think that Irish football begins and ends with the national team. Shamrock Rovers achievement in reaching the group stages of the Europa League was a more laudable feat than anything the national team has ever done, and I say that as a Pats fan (who is now off to have a shower

)

**A N Mouse** · 30/05/2013, 9:03 PM

Originally Posted by SkStu

why would people not support the Irish team? It makes no sense. You have to put your disagreements with the administration to one side for 90 minutes. With the number of ex-LOI players in the team, the excuses for not supporting the team are less and less.

Sure, why would you want to watch that shoite!!