Fans of Dublin clubs...

[TheOwl]

...How, when, and why did you start supporting your EL team?

For those outside Dublin there isn’t really a choice I suppose. You just pick your local team? But why did people pick Shels ahead of Bohs, or Pat’s ahead of Rovers?

If we can understand how fans started supporting their teams, then we might get an idea as how best to attract new ones.

My first experience of supporting a team came in 1991 when my Dad starting brining me to St. Francis games in the latter part of their cup run. My dad wasn’t a St. Francis fan per se, but came from the Liberties, and played for St. Francis as a kid.

After that I wanted to support an EL team every week (my dad didn’t), and so a friend and I decided to start supporting Shels as they were the only team that were one bus away.

Everyone seems to say that you should be really pushing to attract families, which is a good point, but the apathy is more likely to come from the parents than the kids.

One of the great things about going to the Shels matches as a teenager, was that it gave you an excuse to do something every weekend, in the couple of years before you could go to pubs and nightclubs.

I think promoting the game to the 12-16 market is a good idea, as these are the type of kids that will go week-in, week-out, but who are also not relying on their parents to bring them along. They will also buy lots of merchandise at that age, and then, of course, grow up to be loyal older fans who will pay the full whack in each week.

[Poor Student]

Hmmm. Hard to say. I used to half look out for Rovers results when I was younger. Simply because I was a Celtic fan and they wore green and white hoops. Stupid, I know. My girlfriend who is Slovenian alway attended her local side Olimpija and it just sort of occured to me "Why had I never attended an eL game?". I had no real reason other than it never really occured to me before. Knowing where Belfield Park was, being a student at UCD, I decided to have a look at UCD v Bohs as Bohs were the best at the time (3 years ago I think). UCD took an early lead but ended up losing. They still impressed me though. I went along to the next home game against Rovers and I can't remember the result but they won me over with their style of play.

I went to some subsequent games against Cork and Drogs but being busy I fell out of it. I still traced UCD's games on aertel from then and the following season that we were relegated and the first 2/3rds of last season. While messing around one day on the fai site and looking at eL club's sites I found foot.ie. Reading the forum got me reinterested in going and from then I've been hooked properly. I think this forum genuinely helps as you just don't come across eL fans in every life that regularly outside of match days.

UCD just won me over I can't quite say why or how other than I enjoyed watching how they played. They are also on a convenient bus route and quite near, though Pat's and Rovers' new ground are about of equal distance too. My brother used to attend Pat's games so I never came from a background of a negative attitude towards the eL.

[EnDai]

Raised into it by the family! I had no choice in the matter

[jfogarty]

a mate kept going on about how great pats were so i went to a game and havent looked back since

i gave up my ST for a premiership team soon after

[Anto McC]

My Family are all from the Pearse St/Ringsend area and they've been going to watch Shels since before the Shams we even a club and it has been passed down

[Colie]

UCD, coz they were my local & I went there for 3 years.

A lot of the el fans in the Dundrum/ Sandyford/ Stillorgan area would consider Rovers their local club coz of proximity to Milltown, but that really pizzes me off. UCD are their local club so tough sh1te. They should support them.

[Gerrit]

Everyone has a choice. I still don't get the "always support the local team" thing. Just support whatever team fits you, dare to look a bit further than the corner of your own street before making the choice



As for myself: Shels were the first ones I've seen, met some nice people, they invited me back, and I rolled into it. I lived in Tallaght the first months when I moved to the island, so guess logics would have commanded Shamrock Rovers. But it just happened to be Shelbourne...

Could have been any club. It could just as well have been a non-Dublin club. I just rolled into it thanks to the need for a social life you can say, if those friends I met happened to be fans of any other team and had invited me to join to games, I could have just as well ended up in Cork or Sligo or whatever.

Though part of the choice was also the nice atmosphere at Tolka, I found it a cosy place from the very start on.

[Dr.Nightdub]

I'd moved into a flat in Rialto in January 1997, I used to go for walks around the general area on Sunday afternoons, just following my nose. One Sunday, I was walking along Emmet Road, heard the noise of a crowd coming from behind the houses and being a curious fúcker, had to go investigate. It was a 0-0 draw against either Derry or UCD but I was hooked.

Contrary to what Gerrit said, them being my local team was a big plus, it added to the feeling. People have said on other threads how Pats are the only Dublin club really rooted in a community, to me that was an additional reason for starting to go regularly.

[Dodge]

From Inchicore. you'll find that most Pats fans are from Inchicore and surrounding areas. One of the things that makes us stand out among the lesser Dublin clubs...

[sonofstan]

From Inchicore. you'll find that most Pats fans are from Inchicore and surrounding areas. One of the things that makes us stand out among the lesser Dublin clubs...

don't want to get into a 'we're more local than you' argument, but our fan base is still pretty D7 centred; I can see the floodlights of Dalyer from my bathroom window, so no choice really

[Anto McC]

I can see the floodlights of Dalyer from my bathroom window, so no choice really

So you can see the Dump when your having a...........

[sonofstan]

So you can see the Dump when your having a...........

well yes, but if I had a similar view of tolka there would always be the danger of watching the water level on the pitch rise as I flushed...

[gypsydownunder]

Mother from Shandon. Father from Dorset St. So the D7 family theory applies. Although I grew up in D9!

Hah the real reason is that the Da used to take me to games in the 60s and once you're Bohs, you never change. Being Bohemian isn't just about a football team, it's about a way of life.

Other teams are predictable, Bohs are poetry.

[Hibs4Ever]

I'm from Ballyfermot and my my dad born and bred on Anner Road in Inchicore, he brought me to my 1st Saints game when I was six, 24 years later I'm still going every week. 500 club member now

Come on The SAINTS!!!!!

[rerun]

Amazing to see how many supporters are following a family tradition. Anyone live in a family with a couple of teams supported in the house? Bohs / Rvrs or Bohs / Shels, I'd say that's fun at dinner time

Being from Tallaght I suppose these days I should be a Rovers supporter, but growing up there wasn't really a eL team close by. Spent four years in UCD so I suppose I should have adopted them, but like many I was sucked in by the better packaging of the Premiership, although not much better, Everton I'm afraid.

Anyway, about four years ago I went to my first eL match with my wife (from Derry), cup game at UCD, ended 1-1, equaliser by Liam from a free, magic. Followed that up with a league cup game in Dalymount, went to extra time, City win, I'm hooked. Lost to them in the next round of the FAI cup though . Despite that Dalymount is my favourite away ground .

One memory I have of the first few seasons was the guy selling coffee/chocolate from a rocket pack thing on his back, where's he gone?

[manic da hoop]

I'm from Sandymount, ten minutes walk from from the RDS. I was eleven when Rovers moved there in 1990, and following on from all the hype surrounding Italia '90 I was just dying to go and watch football. The idea of following your own local team by being able to go and see them every week appealed to me straight away and, while I always liked to watch football on tele, it never quiet compared to the real thing. The irony for me, of course, is that had Rovers never left Milltown I would probarbly have never become a Hoop - so, in a way, I have Louis Kilcoyne to thank for that

[GK for the Town]

My mate has been playing for UCD for the past few years so thats how i started following them, i like the way they play most of the time i've seen them.
I used to go to Richmond quite a bit when i was younger cause a mate's Da was going a lot and i tagged along. A few of my mates still follow them so i keep a keen eye on it.

There doesnt seem to be many BandWagon supporters in the E/L as far as i can see. Has anybody noticed any difference with Shels over the last few years maybe?

[aido_b]

Been supporting Bohs for about 14 years, began going to the games with my uncles and cousins and still do to this day, my whole family are Bohs except for my Brother who's Shels, he gets terrible abuse all the time from the rest of the family!

[Passive]

Same as Manic, although I definitely would have ended up a Hoop had Rovers remained in Milltown because it's only 20 minutes from me and my dad used to go (very) occassionally.

For a good southside boy like me, there was only ever going to be one club



Colie: people in Dundrum / Sandyford etc follow Rovers because that's traditional Rovers area. UCD only got elected to the league in '79 (?) and by that stage Rovers was established in those areas. Of course, with the demise of Milltown and the glorification of the Premiership, most people in those areas don't follow any Irish teams now

[Supersaint3]

Family are all from the James St area, drimnagh, south circular, been going for generations... hasn't changed much!