Yes, it was just before kick off when the other Irish fans came along, the English fans wouldn't get out of their seats, so the steward was called and he moved them
didn't feel unsafe, but the England fans behind us had some words about my reaction when Long scored. Nothing intimidating, more along the lines of "alright mate, calm down". That was pretty much the time the steward called the other Irish fans out of their seats and we got his attention
Good grief, the English media are really on their high horse about this minor pitch invasion last week.
I turned on the telly and it looked to me to be a spontaneous outpouring of joy from Villa fans, just like a team avoiding relegation on the last day. So, a few morons went overboard but was it really worse than that? I haven't paid much attention to the incident so maybe it was.
Some WBA fans had ripped up chairs and tried to throw them on the pitch so I'm sure some of the Villa fans were looking for a fight. Still, nothing happened. All this talk about scenes from the 1980s is pathetic.
Does Martin Samuel not remember who initiated and sustained the 1995 riot?
Yeah, trips to Dublin have been awash with scenes of crowd trouble forever.
The Mail will be the first paper to continuously highlight the 95 riots though in the lead up.
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
I heard there was a very bad vibe around Dublin the day of the 1990 Euro qualifier also, can any of our golden oldies confirm or deny this?
Yeah, I had a memory of news footage of "fans" charging each on O'Connell Street but I went to check and, sure enough, "Over 100 people were arrested as England and Ireland fans clashed in Dublin after the game" (http://www.independent.ie/sport/vide...-29303997.html)
BTW, thanks for the Golden Oldies comment - I thought I was still in the prime of my life, now I realise I'm actually decaying rapidly and moving inexorably towards a hole in the ground - now if I could just get those damn kids to turn down their "music"!
In fairness, I'm old enough to remember the game pretty well myself. Wouldn't have been attending games at that point though.
There was a very bad vibe in the city that day - if I remember there was an IRA prisoner released on the day of the game so that added to the tension. The Gardai were taking no messing from the English fans and there were stories of them being picked up, beaten up in the Garda vans and dropped off in Fatima Mansions, Dolphin House, Sheriff Street and O'Devanney Gardens etc for the local welcoming committee to meet and greet them. I recall pitch battles the night before the game and on the morning of the game - I was living in England at the time and I was back for the game so I wasn't in work. I think an English fan got stabbed to death as well.
The return game in Wembley was pure evil. There were literally mobs of English hooligans descending on Kilburn and Crickelwood and hundreds of Irish builders and the local London Irish population fighting with them. The pub we were drinking in was attacked. I ended up a few years ago talking to what I though was a pretty decent fella from Bristol at a bar in Spain who then proceeded to tell me that in all his years supporting Bristol Rovers and England, there was nothing that compared to him having it out with the Irish in Kilburn - he reckoned it was the best fighting he has ever seen, as the Irish were well up for it and would never run. He seemed to think I'd be delighted, but I finished my beer pretty quickly.
It's all very pathetic. Could it happen again? Persoanlly, I can't see the trouble coming from the English, unless they somehow get in through the North - the British police will be monitoring their hooligans very closely in the run up to the game. Their support back then was probably 60-70% football hooligan if not higher, whereas now the English fans have a well deserved reputation for good support. Unfortunately, I could see an element of Irish who will look to fight with the English fans. This element is very different to our usual support.
IDK where you are getting that idea Bungle.
The Irish fans are very passive. Look how well behaved they were at the home game with Northern Ireland.
TBH I wouldn't mind if we had more Ivan Bogdanov's in our home support to try and create a better atmosphere.
There will be lots of non-football fans around the place who would jump at the chance to fight with the English. It's more a societal problem that impacts on football. Once, the English bring a very small number of trouble seeking knobheads which I expect they will, then I don't see it being an issue in the city. In 90' and 95', there was mobs of English hooligans running amok. The English police won't allow that to happen this time. Having said that, this isn't Georgia at home, there is always the risk there could be trouble when Ireland play England.
http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-31100778.html
English newspaper says Irish team have "talented players and knackers".
Ridiculously alarmist headline from the Irish Independent's online team after some anti-IRA chanting is heard from an unknown number of England supporters at the Italy-England game: http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-31111250.html
Originally Posted by Irish Independent
Roy Hodgson pleads with England fans to cease IRA related chants.
http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-31113758.html
But what would he know? He's only the England manager and in the stadiums when the chants are being heard. Stop overreacting Roy.
i haven't much interest in this fixture but i suppose it could be good for us to play in a higher than usual profile match ahead of the scottish game against opponents of a similar background.
scotland don't appear to have a friendly lined up as yet.
Anti-IRA chants are not illegal, says English football supporters’ organisation
http://www.the42.ie/ira-chants-engli...27803-Apr2015/
On Tuesday, the majority of those supporting Roy Hodgson’s side were heard partaking in anti-IRA songs during a friendly with Italy in Turin. Afterwards, the England manager said:
“I love the fact that our fans come [and support in numbers] but there’s no way I can justify or be glad about any political chants of that nature. We can only hope we can put that right before we go to Ireland.’’
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