EL Support in Ireland

**cavan_fan** · 06/08/2007, 3:26 PM

Having just been home to Ireland on hols, I was as always struck by the English premiership jerseys. To be fair though there were an equal number of Barcelona ones on kids (is this the acceptable foreign team to support). However the numbers were dwarfed by GAA jersies.

It struck me that one thing GAA has over soccer is that everyone has one and only one team to support. You'd be surprised to see a kid in one county wearing the jersey of another even if they live in a county with a sh*t team, let's take Cavan as an example!

The difference with soccer is that even if you leave in an area with a soccer team, it doesnt represent an area. I don't know this but I'm sure there are many people in Galway county who dont identify with Galway Utd.

Is one option to have county teams in soccer too. Admittedly there would be a great discrepancy in skill but that doesnt stop Fermanagh people supporting their GAA team. I'm not excusing Clare people supporting Man U but they are not likely to support Limerick and who else are they going to support?

**BohsPartisan** · 06/08/2007, 3:28 PM

Originally Posted by cavan_fan

= I'm not excusing Clare people supporting Man U but they are not likely to support Limerick and who else are they going to support?

Why not? There are a fair few Meath men supporting clubs in Dublin and Louth.

**cavan_fan** · 06/08/2007, 3:29 PM

Originally Posted by BohsPartisan

Why not? There are a fair few Meath men supporting clubs in Dublin and Louth.

Yeah but if you're going to go across the county boundary to pick a team it's not a huge step to going overseas. I'm fairly sure no Meath man supports Dublin's Gaelic team.

**Torn-Ado** · 06/08/2007, 3:31 PM

Originally Posted by cavan_fan

Having just been home to Ireland on hols, I was as always struck by the English premiership jerseys. To be fair though there were an equal number of Barcelona ones on kids (is this the acceptable foreign team to support). However the numbers were dwarfed by GAA jersies.

It struck me that one thing GAA has over soccer is that everyone has one and only one team to support. You'd be surprised to see a kid in one county wearing the jersey of another even if they live in a county with a sh*t team, let's take Cavan as an example!

The difference with soccer is that even if you leave in an area with a soccer team, it doesnt represent an area. I don't know this but I'm sure there are many people in Galway county who dont identify with Galway Utd.

Is one option to have county teams in soccer too. Admittedly there would be a great discrepancy in skill but that doesnt stop Fermanagh people supporting their GAA team. I'm not excusing Clare people supporting Man U but they are not likely to support Limerick and who else are they going to support?

I'm from Galway county and support Galway United. However a lot of what you say is right.

The amount of Ireland jerseys to be seen around the streets of Ireland is dwarfed by premiership jerseys. Yet in England, the home of the premiership, the main shirt to be seen on the streets is the England national shirt.

**osarusan** · 06/08/2007, 3:35 PM

Originally Posted by cavan_fan

Yeah but if you're going to go across the county boundary to pick a team it's not a huge step to going overseas. I'm fairly sure no Meath man supports Dublin's Gaelic team.

Yes, but thats because Meath has a team of its own, in direct competition with the Dublin team.

I'm from Clare and support Limerick, as do a few others I know. I think that if you have a genuine interest in live local football, you will find a team to support.

And the arguement that "There was no team near me, so I couldn't support one. So I chose a foreign team instead" has never made sense to me.

**biscuit** · 06/08/2007, 3:40 PM

it all goes back to the ideology alot of people have - that things non-irish are always somehow better....we go on about bational pride, and "ara its great to be a paddy, isnt it", yet somewhere there there is this sub concious feeling of inadequacy..it ****es me off too in regards football...we buy into this product that sky have designed (and make no mistakes about it, sky have made this) - the premiership, and neglect what is on our doorstep....it gives you immense pride when YOUR team does well, a team you regularily support financially, and that you can actually go and see live every week. I pity the fools who travel over like addicts to a clinic every few weeks to see that glamourised bullsh!t....

**cavan_fan** · 06/08/2007, 3:49 PM

Originally Posted by biscuit

it all goes back to the ideology alot of people have - that things non-irish are always somehow better....we go on about bational pride, and "ara its great to be a paddy, isnt it", yet somewhere there there is this sub concious feeling of inadequacy..it ****es me off too in regards football...we buy into this product that sky have designed (and make no mistakes about it, sky have made this) - the premiership, and neglect what is on our doorstep....it gives you immense pride when YOUR team does well, a team you regularily support financially, and that you can actually go and see live every week. I pity the fools who travel over like addicts to a clinic every few weeks to see that glamourised bullsh!t....

But with Rugby you don't get people supporting English clubs, again that's because of the regional base. There are loads of people in e.g. Clare supporting Munster Rugby even though in reality its mostly a Limerick/Cork team. Would they support Garryowen as readily?

**BohsPartisan** · 06/08/2007, 3:50 PM

Originally Posted by cavan_fan

Yeah but if you're going to go across the county boundary to pick a team it's not a huge step to going overseas.

There's a big difference. If you are from Meath, your nearest professional (sic) football club will be either Bohs, Pats, Shels, Drogheda, Kildare or Athlone (Leaving anyone out?). County boundaries are abitrary English creations anyway.

**Mental Man** · 06/08/2007, 3:50 PM

Did anybody read the back of the Sunday Independent yesterday on the sports pull out, McSweeney i think was the guys name, he wrote 1 hell of a piece practically giving out about the barstool mentality in this country and why is it people here support premiere-****e teams?
He went through the whole scenario and basically he called the supporters of the domestic league here that follow their team through thick and thin -HEROES !!!
I never enjoyed reading a piece so much, fair play to him.

**Lim till i die** · 06/08/2007, 3:51 PM

Originally Posted by cavan_fan

I'm not excusing Clare people supporting Man U but they are not likely to support Limerick and who else are they going to support?

Limerick have always drawn fans from Clare, North Tipperary and North Kerry aswell as Limerick

**sligoman** · 06/08/2007, 3:52 PM

Originally Posted by Mental Man

Did anybody read the back of the Sunday Independent yesterday on the sports pull out, McSweeney i think was the guys name, he wrote 1 hell of a piece practically giving out about the barstool mentality in this country and why is it people here support premiere-****e teams?
He went through the whole scenario and basically he called the supporters of the domestic league here that follow their team through thick and thin -HEROES !!!
I never enjoyed reading a piece so much, fair play to him.

Here it is.

**biscuit** · 06/08/2007, 3:52 PM

yeah i know what you mean...but would it be beacause theres maybe a different mindset between rugby and soccer supporters? tis a strange one!

I think the glamour and glitz of skys premiership only appeals to a certain person...unfortunatly that sort of person seem to be in the majority here!and us poor fools go and watch LOI! wouldn trade it for the world tho!

**cavan_fan** · 06/08/2007, 3:53 PM

Originally Posted by osarusan

And the arguement that "There was no team near me, so I couldn't support one. So I chose a foreign team instead" has never made sense to me.

The problem is that with non regional teams you are asking people to choose someone to support. Once people have a choice they might exercise it to pick a foreign team. In GAA and now provincial rugby they don't have a choice to make.

It's actually the same issue in England. The reason kids from Surrey support Man U is because they are choosing their team.

**cavan_fan** · 06/08/2007, 3:58 PM

Originally Posted by BohsPartisan

There's a big difference. If you are from Meath, your nearest professional (sic) football club will be either Bohs, Pats, Shels, Drogheda, Kildare or Athlone (Leaving anyone out?). County boundaries are abitrary English creations anyway.

They may be arbitrary boundaries but for most people (outside possibly Dublin) they are a huge part of their identity. You have an in built loyalty their which could be exploited. I take the point that a small proportion of people in Meath support e.g. Drogheda but if you want to get the rest to support an Irish team you need to use existing loyalties.

I've said it before I could feel no loyalty for Monaghan Utd and any loyalty I did create would be as fake as supporting Reading/Sunderland. On the other hand despite being no huge fan of GAA I do feel an emotional attachment to the Cavan team. Why doesnt soccer use this attachment to it's benefit.

**Lim till i die** · 06/08/2007, 4:06 PM

Originally Posted by cavan_fan

Why doesnt soccer use this attachment to it's benefit.

How??

Create a team in every county so the narrow-minded can support with a clear conscience??

**sligoman** · 06/08/2007, 4:11 PM

Exactly, you'd need 26 teams for that to happen and the EL couldn't sustain that.

**Dave77** · 06/08/2007, 4:11 PM

thanks for posting that article sligoman, first really positive thing i have read about LOI for a long time. Unfortunately most people will never read aything positve about LOI, and views will not change.

Was i a taxi on Sat night and the driver asked was into football, said i supported Shels and his response sure "EL is sh!t!". And that is the opinion of most "real" man u liverpool chelsea etc irish football fans.