Todays game

**RedX** · 05/05/2003, 8:09 PM

Two years ago a Bohs fan pulled a knife on myself and a couple of friends at Dalymount Park.It was one of the scariest moments of my life.I honestly beleive we were lucky to get out of there without anyone getting hurt.I am well able to handle myself without sounding like a hard man but when someone pulls a knife on you its a bit frightening.I have been to a couple of City-Rovers games in Dublin over the last few years also and as many of the lads above describe it is just pure 100% intimidation once you get within the vicinity of there ground.We all love banter but thats not the way it is with these guys at all.Now for any decent Rovers fan reading this dont reply criticising City fans because yes we do know there are PLENTY decent Rovers fans but i am asking you and City fans that travel up to Dublin to do something right now about this.Now Anto in fairness some of your points are good but just because you support Rovers dont defend some scumbags ruining the name of your famous club.We go to Dublin in big numbers and drink and have great banter with Pats fans and Shels fans so lets make our games with you like this.But you asked earlier why wasnt there that many City fans at the game?..well your answer is there isnt it.We are sick of it.Rovers and Bohs fans are a disgrace to the league.God help away fans that travel when you move to Tallaght.There will be people hurt out there.What a shame......

**Colm** · 05/05/2003, 9:14 PM

Originally posted by oddboy
As I asked earlier, Colm, do you reckon that the Gardai would back up what you said?

I honestly don't know, a steward picked up this knife/bottle opener and one of the lads said a steward commented on the bottle and stone throwing incident so they were certainly aware of what was going on. As were the Gardai, who had to remove Rovers fans from our section and had to give the lads getting the train a police escort.
All security/police personnell were fully aware of what was happening, whether they would back up any of our reports now is another matter. Rovers officials seem to prefer to just brush this kind of thing under the carpet. I know some of the lads are writing to the FAI about it, we'll just have to hope they take action.

**TommyT** · 05/05/2003, 11:05 PM

I was at the Inchicore end for most of the Second Half, until I moved cos I had a 'feeling' about a last minute winner so I missed most of the missile throwing however it should be pointed out that the kids throwing stones from behind the shed are likely to be Pats fans. Not passing the buck but people who live around Inchicore are unlikely to follow Rovers.

Lads a Rovers fan was seriously injured at Rovers last game in the Cross, this probably meant that yesterdays game was going to be more 'hair trigger' than any other (non-Bohs) game this year. The idiot making throught slitting gestures at Rovers fans from the front of the City crowd won't have helped.
Maybe some lads were at the game in November and were there yesterday, did they find a change in the atmosphere ?
Thankfully no-one was hurt this time and there's unlikely to be a repeat of the same circumstances.

KOH

**UCD_4_Life** · 05/05/2003, 11:09 PM

Originally posted by TommyT
I was at the Inchicore end for most of the Second Half, until I moved cos I had a 'feeling' about a last minute winner so I missed most of the missile throwing however it should be pointed out that the kids throwing stones from behind the shed are likely to be Pats fans. Not passing the buck but people who live around Inchicore are unlikely to follow Rovers.

Probably.

I know two Drogheda fans who were attacked by Pat's fans outside Richmond after the Rovers game a few weeks ago.

Neil · 05/05/2003, 11:16 PM

They could be fans of Newells Old Boys for all I care.
The fact is, they are at a Shams game so it's up to Shams to make sure they have security sorted to stop these cretins carrying on the way they are.

**tiktok** · 05/05/2003, 11:43 PM

i agree with tommyt that there was going to be a lot of intimidation after the incident in the greyhound last year, but to be fair, the intimidation when you go to rovers (and bohs) preceeded that incident. it's been going on for a while, but it's getting worse (or at least seems to be as more people come out with stories).

**shedite** · 06/05/2003, 8:56 AM

2 things

1) We were talking to the stewards after the game and they were Pats fans. Also there was one guard who was walking into town with us who said he was waiting for rovers to start something.

2) I found the weird thing about the game to be that normally when you're shouting "homeless" or "you are a jackeen", you're just shouting at a group of fans but on sunday we were so close you could actually look at individuals and the abuse seemed more personal.

**NorthoftheLee** · 06/05/2003, 8:58 AM

Tommy and Anto, why won't ye just admit that there is a sizeable portion of your fans that are scum. At the game on sunday, second half....the actions of some of rovers fans was pathetic...

ye have been going on about the one or two guys doing a slit throat action, well what about the 20-30 rovers fans doing the same throughout the 2nd half...some didnt even look at the game and were more interested in pointing out people and doing the said action to them. even at the end of the game when the rovers "fans" were leaving the shed and the city fans were singing still, they were pointing up and doing the same. Now these included guys who were between 30-40. That in my mind is absolutley pathetic....

As for the guys who came into the city end....Now full praise to city fans here for not reacting. These f*ckwits have about 1 brain cell amognst them...they should have been thrown out for behaviour likely to cause a riot. The second two were completely ****ed.

As for the knife "bottle opener" incident, your man was about 30, seriously a smack head, and invaded the pitch twice. Should have been thrown out after the first time.

If the 3 pitch invasion incidents are reported to the FAI then rovers will face a 1500 euro fine...

"Oh they're all very angry over there over there" just about summed it up.

**niamh** · 06/05/2003, 12:50 PM

Originally posted by Anto
NOTHING HAPPENED.

NO-BODY HURT.

2-1

GET OVER IT.

Nothing happened because nothing was let happen by the Gardai.
I am a football fan, I don't want trouble when I go to matches. All of Rovers are not scum, but surely you guys acknowledge that there are some tossers among your support.
I doubt most of you want any trouble either, but trying to forget about the problem is not the right way to go either.

**dejan** · 06/05/2003, 1:46 PM

Its up to home fans to intimidate the opposition, team and fans.

It happens EVERYWHERE else in europe, think Milan- Napoli, PSG- Marseille, Bayern-Bremen/hertha/Dortmund etc...

Security is there to prevent it getting nasty and by ALL accounts it worked.

The culmination of the work of a couple of idiots on the ultras board and the serious incidents in the cross last year ensured that it would be high tension. what did you expect??

As for stuff being thrown into the stand from outside, what are rovers supposed to do, its up to the garda to sort public order outside the ground. I am not 100% sure but I think that some pats fans had this happen to them before too, some local kids actinig the boll*x.

The experience of the cross is not dissimilar for us when we go there but we're not up in arms about it, the home fans would not be doing their job if they just sat there.

The intensity though of the rovers crowd can be elevated at times, and thats why i support the hoops, no other club can give the range of emotion provided by the hoops.

If you cant handle the intensity stay at home or go and watch keano in eurpoe next year.

Those who travel, well, welcome to hell in 18 weeks time.

**niamh** · 06/05/2003, 2:44 PM

The person injured last year was not hurt in the stadium on their wat to or from the ground. Every club is entitled to make it intimidating.
When two crowds are singing at each other the the whole place benefits, but we should not have to leave the ground looking over our shoulder and wondering if we'll have our heads cracked open.
Some of us have not been stirring **** and like supporting a football team.

**A face** · 06/05/2003, 6:37 PM

Dejan .... i actually though i had the make of you, i got the impression that you were a level headed guy. You are not coming across like that right now.

**TommyT** · 06/05/2003, 9:36 PM

Originally posted by Neil
They could be fans of Newells Old Boys for all I care.
The fact is, they are at a Shams game so it's up to Shams to make sure they have security sorted to stop these cretins carrying on the way they are.

True, don't deny that for a second.

**�anna** · 06/05/2003, 9:41 PM

Originally posted by Anto
The lad who sat beside yous (what is wrong with that) is in his early twenties. He also sat infront of the two lads who were giving ALL of us Rovers fans the slit throath gesture.

As I said Anto, i was right there and didn't see it. If he was doing that he should have been kicked out- it was inexcusable behaviour.

**A face** · 06/05/2003, 10:22 PM

Originally posted by �anna
As I said Anto, i was right there and didn't see it. If he was doing that he should have been kicked out- it was inexcusable behaviour.

Do we know who it was ??

**TommyT** · 07/05/2003, 5:34 PM

Originally posted by NorthoftheLee
Tommy and Anto, why won't ye just admit that there is a sizeable portion of your fans that are scum.

We're not arguing about that, or about the incidents that took place, we're just wondering what all the fuss is about ?
I've experienced far worse atmosphere's in the Cross and as a visitor to Inchicore, I've even seen Cork treated far worse by Rovers. I also remember hearing about a Cork bus being attackd in Inchicore around the time you were both going for the League head-to-head 2 seasons in a row.

Basically we suspect that at least some of those posting hate Rovers and see this as just another stick to beat us with.

**dejan** · 07/05/2003, 10:59 PM

Yeah noone should be afraid of their head being smashed after any game.

maybe the garda should have herded you lot out before us.

as it is the hoopers all go to the h&j which is just next to the ground, probably the gards just being sensible, remember they read our message boards too so they would have been worried by the kak being posted by certain cork keyboard warriors on the ultras board.

I dont think you have a leg to stand on about intimidation and song singing, its par for the course. get used to it.

it has been repeatedly pointed out that rovers had nothing to do nor could do anything about a few scangers who threw a couple of stones at you, It even happened to pats before, its just bored local junkies.

**Dricky** · 08/05/2003, 7:32 AM

Originally posted by dejan

it has been repeatedly pointed out that rovers had nothing to do nor could do anything about a few scangers who threw a couple of stones at you, It even happened to pats before, its just bored local junkies.

That is true that rovers don't have the responsibility for the scangers throwing stones, I believe Pats do. It is the same as litter laws, injury laws etc, there is an area outside their ground which the are responsible for and if anyone is injured within that area and decides to sue if it wasn't prevented by the land owners they are liable.

So once somebody sues, the premiums will go up and clubs will find it more difficult to cover the insurance because as is the way in Ireland once one person sues everybody wants to fall off the band wagon just to sue.

It's something that needs to be tackled at a club and fan level. every club has or has the potential of having this problem, the FAI should be made by the club and fans deal with this, Rovers have a bad name but I've seen my share of scum over the years at many a match our own included.

Clubs should hand out postcard, printed letters to fans so they can post them in to the FAI to highlight their concern and request action.

But there is no point in fooling ourselves all clubs need to tackle this.

If the time we spent writing on these boards giving out about each other was used to correspond with the clubs and FAI I think you'd find that this element of trouble could be removed from the EL.

IF someone writes stuff about CCFC we are up in arms, most of the rovers fans on this board are the same with their clubs.

Could you imagine beer being sold in bottles at the matches????

Well here they do sell beer at the matches (except for internationals when they swap it for non alcoholic beer I kid you not) you can sit watching your match with a beer or two with no hassles, (granted the footie is awful but stil)

Every club has let this become a problem but the fans need to get them to act.