Crowd trouble in Paris

[razor]

Well if we are bringing 35,000 to Paris the it stands to reason that we are going to get some knuckle draggers along too.
Witnessed a few of them in Heathrow and in Paris.
They really were an embarrassment to a civilised society such as ours.

[4tothefloor]

There were too many people in Paris who didn't know how to behave themselves. Not real football supporters in my opinion, just rowdy lads who were on a weekend bender with the match thrown in for good measure. Definate first-timers regards following Ireland abroad.

I saw plenty of Irish fans rocking cars and buses as they passed O'Sullivans. Alot of them were also throwing full pints of beer\guinness into any car that had its window open, thus soaking the driver in the process. They were also doing this to cyclists and guys on motorbikes\scooters. The €8 a pint didn't seem to bother this lot. There were also a few idiots right outside O'Sullivans who were spraying champagne bottle after champagne bottle on top of the crowd around them. Doing it once was funny, doing it 15 times took the ****. Very messy and childish stuff. I also saw one or two Irish throwing bottles, although in fairness, the second guy that did it was boo'd and ticked off by his friends.

I'm by no means a seasoned away traveller, but already I can see that the bigger games attract this type of crowd. These are the sunshine supporters that only go to the big games that appeal to them, such as Paris, and probably won't be seen again until Germany 2006 if we qualify. At times I was cringing outside O'Sullivans, and I often wondered was it England or Ireland that were playing in the Stade de France with the behaviour of some "fans".

[Peadar]

There were too many people in Paris who didn't know how to behave themselves. Not real football supporters in my opinion, just rowdy lads who were on a weekend bender with the match thrown in for good measure. Definate first-timers regards following Ireland abroad.

I agree with you on this.
The tradition with Ireland supporters at away games has been to self police ourselves. In Paris there were more new kids on the block than old timers so the yob factor was more difficult to control.
I was just grateful that no one followed that guy onto the roof of the bus.
One person doing it was bad enough.
Many of these people won’t bother travelling if it's too much hassle and the fixture isn't very attractive.
When I went to my first away game I followed the lead of the stalwarts and learned the tradition of being part of the best supporters in the world.
You have the craic and the banter but you always respect the country you're in, its laws and its people.

At times I was cringing outside O'Sullivans, and I often wondered was it England or Ireland that were playing in the Stade de France with the behaviour of some "fans".

We're not that bad yet.
I've seen "trouble" first hand and it aint pretty.
The worst I've seen and where I genuinely feared for my safety was the Dutch supporters in Amsterdam after they got knocked out of Euro 2000.
Pl de Clichy was a picnic by comparison.

[razor]

I agree with you on this.
The tradition with Ireland supporters at away games has been to self police ourselves. In Paris there were more new kids on the block than old timers so the yob factor was more difficult to control.

While I agree to an extent, some of the knuckle draggers I saw were no spring chickens either.
I'm not necessarily on about violence but just giving the human race a bad name never mind just Ireland.

[Peadar]

While I agree to an extent, some of the knuckle draggers I saw were no spring chickens either.

I wasn't suggesting that the culprits belonged to any age bracket.
I made a distinction between people who had been travelling for years and people for whom this was their first trip.

[Junior]

Its doesn't seem to be a coincidence that all this type of crap was happening outside O'sullivans - glad I never went near it.

Roll on the faroes - 1,000 max fans, plenty of banter & craic without too many eejits.

[razor]

I wasn't suggesting that the culprits belonged to any age bracket.

Of course I meant spring chickens in terms of supporting Ireland.

I made a distinction between people who had been travelling for years and people for whom this was their first trip.

My point was that I reckon neanderthals exist within both of these groups.
But having said that I mostly met salt of the earth folk.

[Peadar]

My point was that I reckon neanderthals exist within both of these groups.

Which ties in with my point about the fans policing themselves before.
Of course there's always a clown in every group but he was always kept in check by the others. That task became very difficult in Paris.
Given the increased numbers of Irish fans, you inevitably had an increased number of clowns. Some of these managed to come together in Place de Clichy. Thankfully the consequences weren't so serious.

[p_o_r]

Of course there's always a clown in every group but he was always kept in check by the others. That task became very difficult in Paris.
Given the increased numbers of Irish fans, you inevitably had an increased number of clowns. Some of these managed to come together in Place de Clichy. Thankfully the consequences weren't so serious.

More clowns in the crowd could be the way things are going. In the past few years the youth in this country have become more agressive when 'out on the town', just look at any town in Ireland on a Saturday night, as agressive behaviour becomes more common place it could seep into the traveling football support and incidents like what happened outside O'Sullivan's could be common occurences.

[Docboy]

i think that whenever people travel in large numbers together whether it be for footy or anything else there is going to be a small minority who look to stir ****. In Japan in 2002 me and my group of pals got stick off a couple of lads in their 40's for not joining in with some RA songs,when we told them to **** off,we were serenaded with"go on home D4 boys go on home".Glad to say that that night they were the ones sent on home.Misplaced patriotism,although I'm starting to see some hooligan influence in the younger Irish/EL support.

[SuperDub]

I prefer the less glamorous games like bursa belgrade Skopje to name a few because you can trust theres very few muppets travelling to these places. I myself got hit by a plastic bolttle in staide de france thrown my an irish fan aimed at a steward who was asking a few lads to move a flag a wee bit. The same individual spent most of the game ranting off anti english crap etc.This so called irish fan was a skin head with an english accent sitting with a bunch of lads wearing roissc jackets who spent there time trying to shut the muppet up.

[4tothefloor]

I think what happened was the first-timers got a bit carried away with the whole build up to the game. Most outside O'Sullivans were ****ed by 4pm. While I have to say the atmosphere regards singing and banter was excellent, the few muppets who had too much to drink, and couldn't stop, were the ones who were rocking the cars and throwing the pints etc. There's a fine line between what is good banter and what is acceptable behaviour, and on this occasion too many crossed that line.

Having said that it was a unique occasion, everyone was up for it, and this was replicated in the stadium where the atmosphere from the Irish fans was electric. I don't think we'll see an occasion like it again for quite a while, so we needn't worry too much about it.

[Peadar]

I think what happened was the first-timers got a bit carried away with the whole build up to the game.

I think a lot of them went over with the attitude, 'We're the greatest supporters in the world. Everybody loves the Irish.'
It was as though they felt they were untouchable!
Our reputation was earned and we need to work hard to maintain it.
Thankfully the next away game is in a location obscure enough to deter the booze brothers on a bender.

[Superhoops]

Our reputation was earned and we need to work hard to maintain it.

Good shout Peader, there were times in Paris, especially in that Harp, Corcorans, O'Sullivans stretch where the only thing that distinguished our lot from English Sc*m was the colour of the shirts and the lack of Burberry caps!

[gspain]

We do need to protect our reputation. Iy will take one flare up to throw years of good work down the drain.

Fine at games but there is a young thug element looking for trouble after a few pints. Encountered some in Tokyo after england v Argentina on TV. A group of us arrived in at half time incl a few england fans direct from watching Sweden v Nigeria in Kobe and a group were clearly spoiling for a fight. Just got out of their way.

they won't go to Israel or the Faroes but they will go to Cyprus.

[oconghc2]

agree about the yob element thats appearing - you see it at lansdowne! they havnt got a clue! - `remember at the romania game three lads - ben scherman shirts, hair gel ready for a night in town - obviously sstopped by at the match! whole game was spent slagging romanian team/people about passports etc

romanian bloke with irish girlfriwnd right beside them - they could have cared less! ****ed off with myself that i didnt say anything! hopefully have more bottle to next time - but hard enough ehn you've got bout 20 people around thinking these goons are hilarious!!

remember another time minute silence for 2 gardaí killed in crash - boos coming from schoolboy section!!

could get out of hand in few years when these lads start earning money for these trios away!! especially cyprus!!

[lopez]

When I first went to watch Ireland in Rotterdam in 81, it was just like being at an English league game. At a pub in the city centre, two skinheads with what was left of their hair dyed white, green and orange abused a black bloke causing a big Dutch bloke to come out of a house and help the bloke when he started wading into the fascists. Next came the minutes silence for Bobby Sands which ended prematurely in uproar with this London accent old drunken bird not knowing what day it was, walking straight through the weekend provos observence. The icing on the cake was when some London Irish decided to rip down a Dutch flag and set it on fire: It seems the colours resembled another flag not exactly one of their favourites. It seemed to go along similar lines like this until Jack took over. I don't think it was the team's success that helped but Heysel and a realisation that we were just imitating the Scum. The terrace brawl in Berne - which I heard was seen on TV in Ireland - was the last of the trouble, Tan games excepted.

Ireland's drinking culture has changed for the worst, IMO. I wouldn't say it was always paradise, but eighties Dublin was never any problem having a drink at night. You couldn't say that now. Sadly this will be reflected on the Irishman abroad. I read recently somewhere that the Irish are second to the tans in being the top ar*eholes in the Costas. The price of a successfull economy.

[Closed Account 2]

Personally I think the game shouldnt have been held that late on a Saturday. As has already been said a lot of people seem to have got themselves pretty into a pretty legless state with too much drink etc. Had the game been at 3.00, 5.00 or even 6.00pm then the chances of trouble on the Saturday would have been slim. Also if it had been at 3.00pm some of the people might have been less inclined to get so ****ed on the friday night, knowing that they would have to be in a decent state by around midday on the Saturday.

I myself didnt have any booze in Paris as by the time I found my hotel on the Saturday afternoon it was around 5pm and I was knackerd after getting up at 7am, and then spending the afternoon walking around northern Paris. But there is clearly a problem with some of our fans not knowing when theyve had enough. This coupled with the location of the people in question (i.e. in a part of Paris which has a pretty shoddy reputation for saftey compared to the rest of the city), and the fact it was on a saturday night meant there were problems. However we need to bear in mind that in the past few years there have only been 2 incidents of that nature involving our fans (Paris and Moscow) and both of these (tho i dont know that much about the 2nd) have been fairly low-key. Many fans including undesirables (for want of a better word) have gone to places like Switzerland, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Scotland etc and not there has not been any bother at all.

[4tothefloor]

However we need to bear in mind that in the past few years there have only been 2 incidents of that nature involving our fans (Paris and Moscow) and both of these (tho i dont know that much about the 2nd) have been fairly low-key. Many fans including undesirables (for want of a better word) have gone to places like Switzerland, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Scotland etc and not there has not been any bother at all.

Yeah, but the worry is that these are both fairly recent events. Overall, the Paris trip was deemed a huge success by most, if not all, fans, and those connected with the Irish team, FAI etc. The people who aren't regular travellers will have come back thinking: "Great Weekend, great craic, must do it again as soon as possible".

Thinking that what went on is acceptable behaviour, they will no doubt bring the same sort of behaviour to the next big game that they go to. And as gspain said, that will probably be Cyprus away, as Israel is out of the question for most sensible people, while the Faroes is out of alot of peoples league regarding time & money. Unfortunately for these muppets, Cyprus = nice winter break in the sun, chance to get absolutely stupified for the week.

However, it already appears that all the package holidays for that week in Cyprus are gone already. I enquired today, and there is next to nothing available. The only dates I could get don't suit the timing of the game, and the Swiss game the following Wednesday, regarding flight dates\times etc. Ray bosco Treacy has them all booked up already! So hopefully this will put the Beer Boys off of going, as it will be a lot harder to budget your way to Nicosia, than it was to get to Paris.

[4tothefloor]

BTW, could someone elaborate on what happened in Moscow? I heard stories of Taxi drivers ripping off fans (and also frightening the living $hit out of them in some instances). Also stories of fans being robbed and things thrown at them, and something to do with Russian mafia scumbags causing trouble. Does anyone know the whole story? No doubt there was at least one Algerian\Moroccon involved!