Why do we support English teams??

[trevy]

A lot of it is to do with lack of media coverage of our league.I support the local Eircom League club but also Liverpool since I was young. When kids are growing up they see Man Utd,Arsenal,Chelsea and Liverpool on tv every week but rarely see live Irish football or even highlights of it so they are going to go for the glamour and success of the Premiership.I also agree that Irish people tend to come out in big numbers when teams are doing well and for big Championship games like the Gaa but numbers fall for unglamorous games or when their teams are not doing well.

[BohDiddley]

Same way as people who support soccer i.e 'the foreign game' ahead of GAA aren't either.....

I think you've put your finger on it.
Here, uniquely, football is seen as 'foreign', even if it is Irish teams playing Irish football on an Irish pitch in front of an Irish crowd. So we're caught in a pincer that doesn't apply anywhere else in the world.
French or Italian or Spanish football supporters aren't seen as supporting a foreign game. But I would say that if someone from Madrid decided to become a Liverpool or a Milan fan, they would get short shrift from their compatriots.

[superfrank]

A lot of it is to do with lack of media coverage of our league.I support the local Eircom League club but also Liverpool since I was young. When kids are growing up they see Man Utd,Arsenal,Chelsea and Liverpool on tv every week but rarely see live Irish football or even highlights of it so they are going to go for the glamour and success of the Premiership.I also agree that Irish people tend to come out in big numbers when teams are doing well and for big Championship games like the Gaa but numbers fall for unglamorous games or when their teams are not doing well.

Point well made. I myself am a Chelsea fan first then a Bray fan simply because I could always see how Chelsea were doing. Although in recent times there's been more advertising around the town for matches at the Carlisle then there were when I was younger.

P.S. before I receive any gloryhunter taunts, I'd been a Chelsea fan for a long time before Abramovich came in!

[dancinpants]

Can you imagine the confusion amongst bar stoolers in Ireland after last night? "Do we support the Premiership Champions or the Champions League champions now? "

[-lamb-]

someone mentioned lack of local telly coverage, and thats true.
add into it (for us older fans anyway) the fact that almost every english team has had irishmen from north and south in their teams to a greater or lesser extent and hence gave us someone to cheer for.
for example, i've supported arsenal since the mid 70s.....reason? twofold, my uncle brought me to see them when i was over visiting him as a kid and because arsenal had lots of players from this side of the irish sea all through the seventies in particular.
we could see them do us proud on match of the day every saturday night, something we couldn't do with our local teams.

[dancinpants]

This "media coverage" excuse is balls - the reason people support English and Scottish clubs is pure unadulterated f**kin' laziness with a very healthy dose of ignorance thrown on top of it. Too many people in Ireland just couldn't be bothered to shift their fat @rses of the sofa (or haul there @arse off the bar stool for a couple of hours) and take a walk, bus, drive down to their local football stadium - lets face it everyone knows they are there (media coverage or not). I bet you if you took half of the eejits to Manchester of London and told them to find Old Trafford or Highbury without directions they wouldn't have the gumption to get further than the airport bar!!! Gobsh!tes the lot of them!!!

[TonyD]

someone mentioned lack of local telly coverage, and thats true.
add into it (for us older fans anyway) the fact that almost every english team has had irishmen from north and south in their teams to a greater or lesser extent and hence gave us someone to cheer for.
for example, i've supported arsenal since the mid 70s.....reason? twofold, my uncle brought me to see them when i was over visiting him as a kid and because arsenal had lots of players from this side of the irish sea all through the seventies in particular.
we could see them do us proud on match of the day every saturday night, something we couldn't do with our local teams.

I've always found the "Irish Players" reason for supporting English teams particularly amusing. There are plenty of Irish players with teams here if people are so interested. And on the Match of The Day factor, you could see your local teams live, which is a far better experience. I tend to agree with Dancinpants, a lot of it is down to laziness, that and saturation Media coverage. Whenever there's been a bit of hype about a "Domestic game" the crowds usually increase noticeably, the prime example was Shelbournes euro games last summer.

[superfrank]

Whenever there's been a bit of hype about a "Domestic game" the crowds usually increase noticeably, the prime example was Shelbournes euro games last summer.

Yeah that's true and hopefuuly they'll show more European matches this year but one good thing is that this season there'll be alot more eircom football on the telly and another which should help support for eircom teams is the summer league format we've had forthe past few years as it doesn't coincide with the English and European seasons so if people want football it's not on the telly, you have to go your local ground.

[A face]

I've always found the "Irish Players" reason for supporting English teams particularly amusing. There are plenty of Irish players with teams here if people are so interested.

No you're wrong .... it is Irish players who play outside of the country who lend the reason to support other league to this argument, i.e. it doesn't matter a fúck where they are from .... it is an excuse for them because they knows is not normal.

And on the Match of The Day factor, you could see your local teams live, which is a far better experience. I tend to agree with Dancinpants, a lot of it is down to laziness,

Well i'd have to say there is a culture for in now adays ... you cant pass most bars now and the have bigs screens, happy hours and crisps in the shape of ManU crests.

that and saturation Media coverage. Whenever there's been a bit of hype about a "Domestic game" the crowds usually increase noticeably, the prime example was Shelbournes euro games last summer.

This is correct ..... and wont change until it is forced, ...... it hasn't changed by people sitting on their hands ..... another approach has to be adopted .... Sky should be allow to broadcast here without compensation .... never contested .... RTE should be allowed show 'foreign played sports' over domestic ones ..... The sports council shouldn't get a red cent of the tax payers money while they allow the above to happen .... eircom League fans shouldn't be allowed give out unless they actually do something about it .... Eamon Dunphy should be shot at dawn ... Irish football served him well .... he just doesn't serve !! ...... we could go on for ages here .... the main thing ... it wont change until people do something about it !!

[-lamb-]

I've always found the "Irish Players" reason for supporting English teams particularly amusing. There are plenty of Irish players with teams here if people are so interested. And on the Match of The Day factor, you could see your local teams live, which is a far better experience. I tend to agree with Dancinpants, a lot of it is down to laziness, that and saturation Media coverage. Whenever there's been a bit of hype about a "Domestic game" the crowds usually increase noticeably, the prime example was Shelbournes euro games last summer.

by "people" i assume you mean "old enough to go by themselves"? by which stage kids will already have a fav from across the water due to the reasons i gave.
i think thats the problem really. it takes parents/relations to bring kids to local games when they are young so they have some sort of feelings/memories/attachment to their local club as they get older.
a lot of people are talking about adults here, and an adult's reasons for not supporting local football...i'm talking about kids and their reasons as they grow up. you can't really blame a kid for not knowing much about their local football - they never see much about it and not too many are dragged to the games. all they get is epl, spl and cl.

[stevieontour]

Why couldn't the FAI organise a TV Advertising Campaign before the league kicks off each year with a player from each team, saying something like "It's our League, It's your league etc." Every other organisation in the world using Nationalism to further their interests these days. Why the hell can't the FAI????

I'm in Sydney at the moment and a few weeks ago I was out and a Scouser asked me who I supported. When I told him Shels, he said I was the first Irish person he had talked football to that actually followed an Irish team. He found it bizarre. If these bar stool fans realised what their fellow supporters of English teams thought of them, they'd think again of following Premiership teams.

[drinkfeckarse]

Just noticed your signature Slash/Ed, had to laugh. Not bad at all (for a Dub)

[Ash]

Just got this from a lad in work. Dunno where it originated from...

"The problem with Irish people is that they are convinced that football is one
big aesthetic spectacle and they forget the underlying social dynamics that
people in the stadium come to love. This is simply because they rarely if ever
go to games and when they do they tend to be one-offs, internationals, trips
to England, whatever. The outcome is that they have this expectation of
what football is all about which jars with the reality of people who are at
games week in, week out. As such the idea of loving fast flowing, fast
passing, dribbling, look Mum no hands football is all the rage in Ireland. But
this is what happens when TV selects the best game to show, then normally
they see the highlights and forget that while, as Brian Clough used to say, 'it
only takes a second to score a goal', it takes 89 minutes and 59 seconds to
do everything else. Whilst Real and Barce are playing beautiful football in
Spain, what about Malaga versus Albacete? That's football too and whilst
not very interesting for the likes of yourself is really just as important as
every other Spanish league game.

For the vast majority of football fans, the quality of the football is besides the
point. Most teams have cycles and rarely dominate over the long-term
(unless its Celtic and Rangers and that's even more boring) so over the
course of supporting a team, you eventually see them play bad football in
some armpit of the country, desperately defending to earn a 0-0 draw, whilst
it is raining and freezing cold. It isn't the football that keeps the fans warm, it
is the love of being there. Then when your team does produce great football
and achieves at the highest level, it is a glorious feeling that the people there
will remember for the rest of their lives.

So yes football is being raped but not by negative tactics of Greece and
co. but by the armchair brigade, the prawn sandwichers and the band
wagoners who drive (or are driven by) the BSKYB agenda of football where
it is all transcendent, all of the time. Well it isn't about that, its about being
part of a club and a community of people with shared values and dreams, its
about going to football matches on your wife's birthday, its about telling all
your house guests to be quiet whilst you listen to the results on the radio, its
about booting down motorways in a foul temper because you are about to
miss the first five minutes of the game which is a mid-table clash, its about
blowing all your money on traveling to games.

We believe in all this ****** that we are the best supporters in the world -
let me tell you a truth - we are the worst. Why did Ireland exceed other
countries in looking for World Cup match tickets? Because football supporters
in other countries spend all their money to games week in, week out -
traveling up and down their country watching bad football games but loving
every second of it whilst we sit here and sneer at our own game which
incidentally is getting better all the time despite the smug eliteness of the
Anglophiles who live in our little island.

So all of you Anglophiles who are so worried about the state of English
football and to a lesser extent the upper echelons of the Champions League
participants, please remember that domestic football is available on your
doorstep. It will no doubt be a bad football game in the aesthetic spectacle
idea that impresses you all but in the wider existence of football for those
clued in to the spirit of supporting games, it is what the weekend is all about."

[The Dublin Red]

This "media coverage" excuse is balls - the reason people support English and Scottish clubs is pure unadulterated f**kin' laziness with a very healthy dose of ignorance thrown on top of it. Too many people in Ireland just couldn't be bothered to shift their fat @rses of the sofa (or haul there @arse off the bar stool for a couple of hours) and take a walk, bus, drive down to their local football stadium - lets face it everyone knows they are there (media coverage or not). I bet you if you took half of the eejits to Manchester of London and told them to find Old Trafford or Highbury without directions they wouldn't have the gumption to get further than the airport bar!!! Gobsh!tes the lot of them!!!

I don't know about that at all and I think its way too easy to blame 'bar stool' supporters for all the ills in the league of Ireland. I think you'll find many committed Man Utd and Arsenal supporters.

I know from supporting a club like Nottingham Forest that those of us who have got involved and travel over regularly feel a certain ownership of what is our club. We have a healthy membership in our branch and for those without access to the internet or without credit cards we ensure that match trips are available for those who want to go. Our trip at easter has always been successful as we could fit a home and away match in on the long weekend.

The Nottingham weekends are also very social orientated in that its a weekend away and we've made many friends in England. There is a pre season tour of Denmark coming up in July and I am considering going, its not for the football but for the craic with the lads who are going.

We're also holding an end of season dinner in Mallow with Tommy Gaynor being our guest of honour. I'm delighted by the fact that 20 people from Nottingham are making the journey over to support our event. They value our support and friendship that we in the Irish branch give and when we go to matches we're treated like Kings.

[deco_kh]

One of the main reasons that they wont support the El that i get off people is
' ah but the grounds are crap ,and they've no good players'
Perfect response i find is that , the reason why they have good players and good grounds is that you's thick ****s buy their jerseys and spend a fortune going over to England every so often

The lack of TV coverage doesn't help either
You get these barstoolers crying about how good Steven Gerrard is but when he stick's on an England Jersey he becomes a '****in English scum bag' ( No offence to english people) and everyone hates him, it's an absolute joke.

[The Dublin Red]

One of the main reasons that they wont support the El that i get off people is
' ah but the grounds are crap ,and they've no good players'
Perfect response i find is that , the reason why they have good players and good grounds is that you's thick ****s buy their jerseys and spend a fortune going over to England every so often

The lack of TV coverage doesn't help either
You get these barstoolers crying about how good Steven Gerrard is but when he stick's on an England Jersey he becomes a '****in English scum bag' ( No offence to english people) and everyone hates him, it's an absolute joke.

You're always going to get the idiots, fools and glory hunters I suppose thats the nature of life, people are like sheep.

However I still think both the EL and support for English clubs can exist happily. I think the biggest threat to Irish League football is the agressive marketing of the GAA. English football is played in the Winter and on mainly Saturday's and Sunday's. Irish football is played in the Summer and with most games on a Friday. The two can exist easily.

If people aren't bothered well then thats another thing. I can support Forest and still make it to Bray because its not going to break the bank!!!

[kevincronin2000]

seeing the way the game is marketed poorley here the only way to get people to come to the games is to start bringing your kids to the games at a very early age. (belive me it works).

Warning. some away games are not recommended for young children as you are limited to the amount of alcohol you can consume.

[patsh]

A lot of it is to do with lack of media coverage of our league.I support the local Eircom League club but also Liverpool since I was young. When kids are growing up they see Man Utd,Arsenal,Chelsea and Liverpool on tv every week but rarely see live Irish football or even highlights of it so they are going to go for the glamour and success of the Premiership.I also agree that Irish people tend to come out in big numbers when teams are doing well and for big Championship games like the Gaa but numbers fall for unglamorous games or when their teams are not doing well.

Good point but then we are back to why our national broadcaster, funded by ALL OF US, is allowed to pump so much money into supporting and promoting the already financially bloated Premiersh*t, while treating our own league like sh*t.
They will say that the audience is there for the Premiersh*t, but which comes first, the audience or the hype?

If RTE, or anyone, set aside serious money to advertise, hype up and promote our league, we would get an audience soon enough.

[The Dublin Red]

I still think the emphasis should be on promoting the League of Ireland and forget looking over your shoulder at English and Scottish football. We can all co-exist. What I would say is that there ahve been improvements and Shels doing so well in Europe was a huge boost for the League. Obviously there is work to do in terms of improving facilities and marketing the the game but it can be done. We're a small nation and the sport we love is the 2nd support, we have to accept that. However we can build the game and it cvan become attractive.

What I won't accept is people knocking those who support teams that are in the island next to us. We do no harm and enjoy our football as much as anyone. I for one put alot of time into organising a supporters club and although the rewards haven't been on the playing field for a while it is still very rewarding.

In terms of the bar stool brigade.... well to be blunt do you really want them at your games? Sure they'd only annoy you anyway!!! They're happy in what can be said is shallow support, let them off!!!

Finally I come back to it again, Football in this country will always be the poor relation of GAA. The GAA have the bulk of support and youth outside Dublin and they will continue to aggresively hold their domination. Premiership football and Manchester United are the least of our worries.

[Poor Student]

by "people" i assume you mean "old enough to go by themselves"? by which stage kids will already have a fav from across the water due to the reasons i gave.
i think thats the problem really. it takes parents/relations to bring kids to local games when they are young so they have some sort of feelings/memories/attachment to their local club as they get older.
a lot of people are talking about adults here, and an adult's reasons for not supporting local football...i'm talking about kids and their reasons as they grow up. you can't really blame a kid for not knowing much about their local football - they never see much about it and not too many are dragged to the games. all they get is epl, spl and cl.

Very good points. There is no medium which provides good access to young kids for eL football. No magazines and the only programme is on when even most adults are in bed! No eL player is a household name amongst children and they will certainly not be going to eL games by their own initiative from before the age of 12 unless living in highly close proximity to the club's ground. Unless living dead close or blooded in by a family member most clubs miss kids in that crucial young period where a bond with the favourite club is fostered.