Opening weekends fixtures

[Crosshead]

The Cork fans were also causing trouble in the Black Lion.

That's news to me, I was in the Black Lion from 6 up until about 15 minutes to kick off and didn't see any hassle. Heard a bit of singing.

As for the CCTV, it could be a case that the gardai have it for a criminal investigation, but if it's available to the club I'd hope they'd get it, identify who is involved, and ban them.

[El-Pietro]

So you think that two groups arranged to meet for a fight inside a packed pub?

I wasn't there but I've heard a very similar story from different people who were, the similarities and the fact that the people I spoke to wouldn't know each other, so wouldn't have had concocted the story between them.

From what I can gather, a group of cork fans 6-10 walked into McDowells started giving it the big one verbals etc this was met with verbals back from a group of fans at the back of the pub. Cork fans started throwing glasses/bottles, Pats fans and Cork Fans then both sets of fans tried to get at each other but as the pub was packed this obviously caused a bit of a crush/stampede.

Thankfully there were plenty of Gaurds around and it didn't last too long.
The Cork fans were also causing trouble in the Black Lion.

Smashing bus windows is an idiotic scumbaggy thing to do IMO what the cork lads did was far worse.
I believe the Gardaí are investigating both incidents so hopefully those involved get bans.

I must add I was very surprised at this as I have never seen any hassle with Cork fans before or trouble like that in mcDowells there would always be away fans drinking in there without an ounce of hassle including plenty of our Dublin rivals supporters.

Do you think the Pats fans in there that the City fans started on were completely random? Or do you think the City fans knew who they were expecting to see in there? I think both sets of fans were hoping to bump into each other at some point. If it didn't happen in McDowells it could easily have happened on the street.

For the record, I was in the smoking area in McDowells three or four years back and some random Pats fans starting throwing chairs around. I have no idea if these are the same people. It was very bizarre, started out of nowhere, I didn't even see most of it as I had my back to the door and it was over in seconds. This isn't whataboutery. I think all these individuals are scum and should be banned, I just don't think the Pats fans involved in McDowells are angels and shouldn't get a free pass. I hope the CCTV footage shows exactly what happens and everyone involved gets banned.

I'm also not referring to anyone caught in the crossfire.

[D24Saint]

That's news to me, I was in the Black Lion from 6 up until about 15 minutes to kick off and didn't see any hassle. Heard a bit of singing.

As for the CCTV, it could be a case that the gardai have it for a criminal investigation, but if it's available to the club I'd hope they'd get it, identify who is involved, and ban them.

I was in the black lion I saw no trouble.

[marinobohs]

One thing I forgot about Dalymount on Friday was that we had to get our hot food from behind a caged fence because the FAI said so,but after the match we walked out mingling with those we couldn't buy chips with!!!!!

The Des Kelly Stand is usually only used for teams with big visiting support and when used food outlets are brought in.In the case of last weeks game it was opened on relatively short notice due to the bigger than expected crowd (including a larger than expected Harps contingent).There was some Harps supporters in the Jodi and indeed in the bars before and after the game, as is usually the case with away fans. I believe they all got out alive not aware if the FAI were involved (or even AGS) I thought it was just crowd size, anyway the queue for chips and the bars was dreadful

[marinobohs]

Why don't Cork request the CCTV from the pub and identify those involved?

More to the point why don't Gardai request the CCTV (if they haven't already) and do us all a favour by removing these clowns* from society


*denotes any fans involved irrespective of club, religion, gender or race

[marinobohs]

Do you think the Pats fans in there that the City fans started on were completely random? Or do you think the City fans knew who they were expecting to see in there? I think both sets of fans were hoping to bump into each other at some point. If it didn't happen in McDowells it could easily have happened on the street.

For the record, I was in the smoking area in McDowells three or four years back and some random Pats fans starting throwing chairs around. I have no idea if these are the same people. It was very bizarre, started out of nowhere, I didn't even see most of it as I had my back to the door and it was over in seconds. This isn't whataboutery. I think all these individuals are scum and should be banned, I just don't think the Pats fans involved in McDowells are angels and shouldn't get a free pass. I hope the CCTV footage shows exactly what happens and everyone involved gets banned.

I'm also not referring to anyone caught in the crossfire.

Rampaging gangs 'hoping' to bump into each other I think someone has been watching 'The Football factory' again.

[patrickccfc]

Fingers crossed that the goings on in McDowell's on Friday don't end up with City fans, that are there to have a drink and mingle with pats fans, being banned from there for future games. I've been there many times and have always looked forward to chatting with a few pats fans before the game. Obviously it's a quite convenient location too.

[El-Pietro]

Rampaging gangs 'hoping' to bump into each other I think someone has been watching 'The Football factory' again.

I don't think exaggeration helps anyone here. Neither does brushing this under the carpet and hoping it goes away.

[Mr A]

It's weird that you tell us about a Pat's fan kicking off out of nowhere but can't accept that Cork fans may have kicked off without there being two sides in it.

[El-Pietro]

https://twitter.com/WilloRyan/status...34299443113986

https://twitter.com/WilloRyan/status...51516968763392

https://twitter.com/WilloRyan/status...69132136198145

This guy seems very happy that Cork fans "get smashed". He "answered with slaps". These are not normal tweets from someone who was attacked randomly. If someone threw a glass at me I probably wouldn't be tweeting about it but if I did tweet then I would be calling out the gob****es for ruining LOI football for the rest of us.

So its very likely that City fans started it, but going on this guys twitter feed I don't think he was too unhappy with the situation. He seems to be revelling in it.

These guys are all scumbags, should all be banned. I hope the footage is clear and everyone involved is banned, but from all the stories here, on twitter and on the city forum I think the most likely situation is these guys knew each other and while they may not have had an exact plan they were definitely on the lookout for each other.

I am absolutely sick and tired of these lads at City games. They are embarrassing and bring our club down and then play the victim and say they are being unfairly singled out. I'm sure the Pats lads here are doing the same, "Sure they started it, we were only defending ourselves". Yet at least with Cork City it always seems to be the same group who find themselves in these situations.

This topic has been discussed on talk radio in Cork the last two days and will likely lead to a reduced crowd at the Cross on Friday.

I am not here to defend them. What I want to point out is the people on the other end of this are not angels and shouldn't get a free pass. I'd like all of us to root all of these groups out of all of our clubs. I don't know how we do that but I know that ignoring it, or saying your fans are terrible and my fans do nothing wrong doesn't do anything to solve it.

When I was in the McDowells and chairs were thrown I can only assume they thought we were someone else. Like I said it ended in seconds and I don't think anyone was hurt. Or maybe it was one or two people off their heads. I don't know. It was all over very quickly.

[Jack B]

They haven't been given a free pass though is the point, outside of the children present nobody has been viewed in the way it's being spun that Pats fans have been made out to be.

Even the two lads (who were completely uninvolved in the commotion) that ended up in A&E said on Twitter that the people on both sides were idiots ffs, Pats fans are very aware that there's a small group of gob****es that go to games and revel in this stuff, nobody is giving them a pass but it doesn't mean that it was a small number of Cork fans that instigated the whole thing.

There's a real eagerness from a few Cork fans to push against a narrative that doesn't exist for some reason. Noting that a small number of fans caused the grief in McDowell's isn't writing off that what happened in retaliation also wasn't on and using one of the Pats fans directly involved isn't the greatest example to attempt to prove it.

[Ezeikial]

When we played Linfield, no Dundalk fans were allowed attend the game unless they got official buses from Oriel and we got a police escort (about 20 big police vans from Sprucefield into Windsor. Was the same for Glentoran aswell, Cliftonville we were in the bar alright

So Nesta don’t make stuff up that you were drinking in Linfield Supporters Club before the game

You tend to be pretty quick to accuse people of stuff, just because you don't understand or are in the dark

If you have a moment to read the linked article you may get to understand about Dundalk fans on a goodwill trip to Windsor Park prior to the Setanta Cup match - having drinks and the craic with Linfield supporters on the Shankill .

They have also been invited by Linfield Supporters Club to be their guests to socialise afterwards, with a view to establishing links and sporting friendships between the two sets of supporters in advance of the Setanta Sports Cup matches.

https://www.independent.ie/regionals...-26950539.html

[D24Saint]

Fingers crossed that the goings on in McDowell's on Friday don't end up with City fans, that are there to have a drink and mingle with pats fans, being banned from there for future games. I've been there many times and have always looked forward to chatting with a few pats fans before the game. Obviously it's a quite convenient location too.

it will all blow over should be no problem for the next game.

[Nesta99]

When we played Linfield, no Dundalk fans were allowed attend the game unless they got official buses from Oriel and we got a police escort (about 20 big police vans from Sprucefield into Windsor. Was the same for Glentoran aswell, Cliftonville we were in the bar alright

So Nesta don’t make stuff up that you were drinking in Linfield Supporters Club before the game

Dundalkfc10 my good chap you know there are a number of Linfield SCs and the bars they frequent and you are only talking about 1 specific game. Dundalk have played Linfield plenty of times, not just that single Setanta Cup match or the infamous 1979 European Cup. There was a period of time that we played Linfield almost annually preseason. There was the regular Dunfield contact where club officials, supporters (and youths though not taken in to the bar) attended games and had pints in old Windsor as guests of Linfield FC (I have yet to get to the revamped ground). I dont believe there is a rule that someone cannot attend games that doesnt involve your own team especially with friends and associates of teams that are involved!? I'm not talking about the GRSC on flipping Sandy Row, even hardcore Linfield fans dont bother in the same way that many LoI fans wouldnt be bothered with a Celtic SC pub - though Cheers used to be good for a laugh occasionally! Dundalk supporters certainly did travel independently of the official buses for that Setanta Cup game, organised with the club albeit, for those who were based in the North or for other reasons couldnt take the club coaches. I have no need to make anything up and I'm sure there are planty of other LoI fans that have also been welcomed by Linfield Supporters Clubs too.

My point though was that I have not personally seen trouble to the extent that is often reported, these days usually on social media with whistles and bells. Im not saying that it doesnt happen as a quick youtube search will show it has. But when something does happen and is reported one apologist is one too many irrespective of who instigated or retaliated! What I did challange above was the comment that not a single Cork person hasnt condemned the incident on Friday night and that is just not true. Both here and on the CCFC forum there are some who have attempted to explain away what happened, diminish responsibility, even claim that there was no logic to a small number going in to a bar where there was a larger number of opposition fans, as if these people work on logic!! I should add that it is equally disgraceful what happened to the Cork team coach! How that was allowed happen...well I hope Na Gardai have a proper debrief on that!

There should always be outright and complete condemnation of any incident like this no ifs or buts and Ive included my own club support on this, indeed i'd be much more vocal in criticism on any incident involving Dundalk FC support. Comments that Cork fans are being demonised on this occasion or targeted over decades specifically are ridiculous. If any club support that has been demonised it has been Shamrock Rovers and they have done sterling work on ridding themselves of a reputation.

Crosshead I never claimed there wasnt unequivocal condemnation of this incident on your club forum but not not every single poster was as unequivcocal as yourself. As for logging on to other clubs fora, I dont see much issue there, hands up who hasnt browsed other clubs fora? Maybe there isnt the need for too many Cork fans to visit Orielweb as Tigger does a grand job at reporting on whats being said! I do find the the whole mutant, 6 toes, f*ck Dundalk, type posts as quite amusing in both its childish nature and that it is just a rehash of the Drogheda stuff mid 2000s and tbh it is/was a slight worry that some Dundalk gob****e would take it personally and turn a bit of petty name calling in to an excuse to lob a pint glass in to a crowd or something and injure someone!

What is it with these seeming link ups with LoI supporters and those from England. Whats the connections? Pats/Sheffield United, Rovers and Bohs and Cardiff/Swansea? I vaguely remember some English lad thinking it was great that here the police just draw batons and there isnt the same liklihood of prosecution or league wide bans.

As an aside, one of the goodwill days out that Ezeikial mentioned above was the visit prior to that Setanta match of the Linfield delegation to Oriel Park. They were genuinely surprised to note that the tricolour wasnt emblazoned all over the place and one chap believed that there must be a bar that they werent being shown with all the republican ephemera. That it was all just Dundalk FC football stuff on the walls etc was a surprise and explained that the Irish flag was usually only flown for European games or just not taken down after- just a small insight in to the different cultures on symbolism between North and South and the benefits of those trips and the Dunfield project in general. On a similar trip late 90's it was revealed what Soupy Campbell was paid at Linfield and there was supposedly a few grumbles among the Dundalk board members as they had been convinced he was on a lot more at Linfield and could have signed him on a lot less than they did. The earlier days of the Dunfield project the kids always got on great, it was the coaches that nearly came to blows. When Co-operation Ireland were pulling the plug on funding it was Billy Hutchinson who lobbied to keep the funding going. I know thats well off topic but to me it shows what can be achieved on serious social issues and division - in contrast to the minor squabbles that we can break in to, myself probably more than most on this forum. With this in mind it is completely nuts that any football fan has to run the gauntlet around match nights with, depending on who is playing, mounted police or dog units are needed on standby. Healthy rivalry is what football is all about but none of the serious animosity that rears up!!!

[dundalkfc10]

The little scum that follow us, have Barnsley lads that come over once or twice a season and vice versa.

[Charlie Darwin]

The little scum that follow us, have Barnsley lads that come over once or twice a season and vice versa.

Ours are Manchester City, as seen in the famous documentary on BBC. There are groups from Hammarby and Cliftonville a couple of other clubs who somehow manage not to indulge their Green Street fantasies when they come over. Unfortunately there seem to be a few groups of tourists from the UK who've met some likeminded eejits in clubs over here. I don't have anything in principle against lads thumping the head off each other but some seem determined to involve normal people in it.

[Nesta99]

The little scum that follow us, have Barnsley lads that come over once or twice a season and vice versa.

Really? Its pathetic!! What is the point and where have they picked up these connections?

[Nesta99]

Ours are Manchester City, as seen in the famous documentary on BBC. There are groups from Hammarby and Cliftonville a couple of other clubs who somehow manage not to indulge their Green Street fantasies when they come over. Unfortunately there seem to be a few groups of tourists from the UK who've met some likeminded eejits in clubs over here. I don't have anything in principle against lads thumping the head off each other but some seem determined to involve normal people in it.

I agree although they can ill afford to lose many more braincells, but when other people get dragged in to it and a club name is dragged through the (gutter) press and damaged too its bad form. Do they travel over to games in England also and actually get to a game? Club fans linking up with eachother is a good thing or should be a good thing like Drogheda and Trabzonspor where the friendly was organised even if it didnt actually happen in the end. I'm a Watford fan after Dundalk so wouldnt mind some connection there really as long as it wasnt for scumbaggery although Watford are not so bad with the troublesome type - a couple of promotions by Luton might rekindle the more serious hassles of past. Getting a train from West London to Watford when Milwall was at Vicarage Road was an experience mind!! I went to as many games as I could particularly in the south east of England just enjoying the different club experiences and often wore a Dundalk shirt and it was great to meet fans who often took an interest when seeing a jersey they werent familiar with (always had a jacket to cover up just in case but never needed). Even at Leyton Orient it was worth a few beers 'down the boozah' after a game as you werent Arsenal, West Ham, Spurs etc. Far more entertaining and fun than getting something wrapped round your head - I just dont get it...travelling to a Dublin derby or the like hoping to get yer head cracked open or a lump taken out of ye by a police dog!? Anyway hopefully what happened in Inchicore Friday is it for the season, there has been a drop off of these sort of incidents in the last couple of season imo.

[Charlie Darwin]

I don't know if our scrotes go to England or not but I wouldn't be too worried about the name of clubs being dragged through the mud as, like I said, I'm not against lads having organised fights away from people. I don't think any club has these people on the scale there was maybe 15 years ago when the casual thing was huge, and certainly not the scale there was in the 70s and 80s. Clubs are well able to distance themselves from it and any attempt by the Evening Herald or TV3 to make it out to be bigger than it is will pass as it has in the past. It's something like what happened in Dundalk a few years back (which was blown out of proportion but still shouldn't have happened) that I'd be a bit more vigilant on, but I think in general LOI clubs don't have much of a hooligan problem.

[Ezeikial]

The little scum that follow us, have Barnsley lads that come over once or twice a season and vice versa.

News to me.

Are you saying that there have been problems around these Barnsley little scum
scum fan exchanges?