Linfield v Glentoran

[BleusAvantTout]

The attack on the Linfield bus was carried out in your name if not by the fans themselves.

No one from the wider Linfield family has criticised Derry City fans. As far as we are concerned it wasn't their fans who stoned our buses but wee spides who had congregated outside the ground with one thing in mind - attack the Bluemen. DCFC and their fans aren't IMO in the dock on this one!


As for yesterday there appears to be a lot of point scoring on both sides. I am informed by a prominent Linfield member that trouble was brewing for the last 20 minutes. I didn't see any as I was watching both my watch and the match after glentoran went 2-1 up. Anyone from anywhere who fights or breaks the law at a football game deserves psychiatric treatment and/or the "short, sharp, shock"!

[pete]

Saw some of the highlights on UTV this afternoon. Was hoping they'd show some of the fighting but seemed to censure by skipping it at the end.

Big crowd alright & ground didn't look too bad.

Totally different tactics than any big eL match. No eL team would send 5 people up for corner when 2-1 up in last 10 minutes. Linfields defending for winning goal was disasterous - fullback when awol when should have had a tight back 4 in a line pushing up. no defender within 20 feet of forward tapping in the rebound.

[steveyg2004]

Saw some of the highlights on UTV this afternoon. Was hoping they'd show some of the fighting but seemed to censure by skipping it at the end.

Nope, you must have missed the start of the show because they showed all the trouble which occured at the outset of the show. They then covered today's Gaelic matches before taking a break, the match highlights started after this first commercial break.

I thought that UTV were spot on with their coverage. They didnt gloss over what happened at the end, but they didnt let it take over and dominate the show and therefore spoil what the highlights of what was a great match. The sequencing of it was genius - The trouble shown first and seperated from the match highlights.

If the trouble hadnt happened we would be talking about one of the best days for domestic football in all of Ireland for decades. The crowd was just amazing, the Oval looked amazing again, it was so special, it is now tarnished!

[MariborKev]

In Athlone, we had a very unpleasant experience a few years back when Derry were going for the title at St. Mel's Park. Athlone managed to get a draw as I recall, thwarting Derry's chances. Some of the travelling Derry support acted disgracefully at the end; several of our players were spat upon as they left the field.
The next year we were up at the Brandywell desperately needing a point to stay up and just managed it with a late Warren Parkes goal. Similar scenes were apparently repeated (I remember reading about it in our match programme for the promotion/relegation playoff that followed).

The events in question happened a decade ago. Are you saying that we haven't moved on in a decade? Derry fans don't display tricolours anymore, never mind singing sectarian songs at their players(which happened in the past). If we moved on in that regard, yet you claim we still have a bad element. How come there has been no "incidents" in the last decade?

While the spitting was unacceptable and in no way justified, if we are going to sling mud the behaviour of Athlone players that day was hardly angelic. Goading City fans with "Ah, you Brits f***** it up again" after Curran penalty save and refusing to shake hands with Felix Healy after he went to your dressing room to congratulate them at the end of the game,

The attack on the Linfield bus was carried out in your name if not by the fans themselves. You can't wash your hands of it I'm afraid. I know that inside the ground your fans were mostly a credit but that is not enough.

Carried out in our name? That is the most warped logic I have heard in a long time.Hypothetical situation. Crowd of children stone a Derry City bus a half mile away from St Mels, none of those involved wearing any Athlone gear, rather they are dressed in replica shirts of the "true" Irish club. Ergo Athlone have a hooligan problem? If that is the basis of your argument then we should stop here.

[OneRedArmy]

In Athlone, we had a very unpleasant experience a few years back when Derry were going for the title at St. Mel's Park. Athlone managed to get a draw as I recall, thwarting Derry's chances. Some of the travelling Derry support acted disgracefully at the end; several of our players were spat upon as they left the field.
The next year we were up at the Brandywell desperately needing a point to stay up and just managed it with a late Warren Parkes goal. Similar scenes were apparently repeated (I remember reading about it in our match programme for the promotion/relegation playoff that followed).
Derry are a great club and a great asset to our league but you can't deny that you have a bad element too.

I was at the game in St. Mel`s & remember none of what you mention above, which is not to say it didn`t happen.

What I do remember is being spat at & stoned by some of the lovely kids that reside in that homely estate that surrounds St. Mels Park.

Indeed I`ve encountered similar on a number of visits to the ground. But i`ve never associated it with Athlone Town FC, rather just accepted that its unfortunate that the ground borders a scummy estate in a town that is the ar*ehole of Ireland.

However, having read your enlightening piece on the Derry v Linfield game, I`ve decided to change my mind & I hold ATFC & their "bad element" responsible.

I trust you wouldn't disagree with this view?

[Schumi]

The attack on the Linfield bus was carried out in your name if not by the fans themselves. You can't wash your hands of it I'm afraid. I know that inside the ground your fans were mostly a credit but that is not enough.

Sensible logic. I saw two people fighting in Athlone last year before our game against you. Athlone must have a terrible hooligan problem so.

[holidaysong]

Also seen the highlights on utv yesterday - cracking game, pity it was overshadowed...

[dcfcsteve]

I could have mentioned other clubs than Derry and Rovers but those are the only ones with supporters that I've personally seen causing problems at matches. Here's what I know:

The attack on the Linfield bus was carried out in your name if not by the fans themselves. You can't wash your hands of it I'm afraid. I know that inside the ground your fans were mostly a credit but that is not enough.
In Athlone, we had a very unpleasant experience a few years back when Derry were going for the title at St. Mel's Park. Athlone managed to get a draw as I recall, thwarting Derry's chances. Some of the travelling Derry support acted disgracefully at the end; several of our players were spat upon as they left the field.
The next year we were up at the Brandywell desperately needing a point to stay up and just managed it with a late Warren Parkes goal. Similar scenes were apparently repeated (I remember reading about it in our match programme for the promotion/relegation playoff that followed).
Derry are a great club and a great asset to our league but you can't deny that you have a bad element too.

Libero - if you were any bigger a turkey you could seek EU membership for yourself as an individual....

The stoning of Linfield buses as they drove through the Brandywell area of Derry was NOT done "in the name of the club". You are an absolute feckin' eejit to even suggest that, let alone think that. How exactly was it done "in the name of the club", as opposed to "in the name of blatant yobbishness/sectarianism, unnconnected to football" ? Idiot....

Secondly - I can't comment on the 2 minor alleged incidents you mention, as I didn't see them myself. All I can say is that Derry fans are consistently held-up as being amongst the very best in the league by other fans. Numerous threads over the last year on this very site have concurred with this. Fans spitting at anyone is despicable - but if one or two isolated incidents of this is all you can use to claim Derry fans are up-there with Rovers fans in terms of reputation for having trouble-makers, then you really should sit yourself down in a dark room and continue with your therapy....

[dcfcsteve]

Nope, you must have missed the start of the show because they showed all the trouble which occured at the outset of the show. They then covered today's Gaelic matches before taking a break, the match highlights started after this first commercial break.

I thought that UTV were spot on with their coverage. They didnt gloss over what happened at the end, but they didnt let it take over and dominate the show and therefore spoil what the highlights of what was a great match. The sequencing of it was genius - The trouble shown first and seperated from the match highlights.

If the trouble hadnt happened we would be talking about one of the best days for domestic football in all of Ireland for decades. The crowd was just amazing, the Oval looked amazing again, it was so special, it is now tarnished!

Cracking picture stevey. Great to see a football ground anywhere on the island filled to the rafters without a visiting English/Scottish team having to be involved !

What's the chances of a big crowd for the Setanta Big-2 game at the Oval ? Is there just not the same level of passion for it, or will that change once the real business of the League is over with ?