Ireland to face Colombia - London, 29th May

**Drumcondra 69er** · 28/02/2008, 11:50 AM

Just booked Aer Lingus, €98 to Heathrow return, not bad.

**el punter** · 28/02/2008, 11:54 AM

I am disgusted we are playing in London. What an absolute snub to the stadia of this country. Just when you think the FAI might be getting their act together...

**carloz** · 28/02/2008, 12:14 PM

I am disgusted we are playing in London. What an absolute snub to the stadia of this country. Just when you think the FAI might be getting their act together...

Im sure it was done to assist Colombia. Face it, hardly any international teams aregoing to come to Dublin at that time of the year. Im sure all the Colombian players will be meeting in London, they play the French the week after and then have 2 massive world cup qualifying matches. If we wanted to play them id guess London was the only option.Its not like the FAI actuallyu want to take the match out of the country

**ifk101** · 28/02/2008, 12:26 PM

Originally Posted by carloz

Im sure it was done to assist Colombia. Face it, hardly any international teams aregoing to come to Dublin at that time of the year.

What??? Why wouldn't they?

Originally Posted by carloz

Im sure all the Colombian players will be meeting in London, they play the French the week after and then have 2 massive world cup qualifying matches. If we wanted to play them id guess London was the only option.

Not at all. It doesn't take that long to get off the mainland to the surrounding islands.

Originally Posted by carloz

Its not like the FAI actuallyu want to take the match out of the country

You'd be surprised.

**tetsujin1979** · 28/02/2008, 12:35 PM

I'm with Carloz on this one, a lot of South American teams have usde London as a base for friendlies in recent years (Brazil, Argentina, and I think Costa Rica), and a game needed to be arranged at short notice. Colombia were available, and if they would only play in London then so be it.
Many people on the board have complained about the lack of away friendlies in recent year, well now we have two in a row. So quit complaining.

**Wolfie** · 28/02/2008, 12:41 PM

Given the short notice, we did well enough to get anyone.

Trapp will obviously use this match to put into practice what is preached on the training ground in the Algarve. The opposition is immaterial in relation to the purpose of the excercise.

**shakermaker1982** · 28/02/2008, 12:50 PM

I'm looking forward to this. No flight costs for once. First time I'll have been at the cottage as well.

**Dr. Ogba** · 28/02/2008, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by el punter

I am disgusted we are playing in London. What an absolute snub to the stadia of this country. Just when you think the FAI might be getting their act together...

what stadia in this country (bar the obvious one) are of international standard exactly?

**ifk101** · 28/02/2008, 1:03 PM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

and if they would only play in London then so be it.

source?

Originally Posted by Dr. Ogba

what stadia in this country (bar the obvious one) are of international standard exactly?

Depends on what you define as "international standard"? Plenty of stadia dotted around the country have hosted internationals, albeit not senior internationals. Remember stadium capacity size does not equal "international standard".

**Torn-Ado** · 28/02/2008, 1:40 PM

Originally Posted by Dr. Ogba

what stadia in this country (bar the obvious one) are of international standard exactly?

Exactly. How is it a snub to the stadia in this country? We only have one stadium.

**Dr. Ogba** · 28/02/2008, 1:52 PM

Originally Posted by ifk101

source?

Depends on what you define as "international standard"? Plenty of stadia dotted around the country have hosted internationals, albeit not senior internationals. Remember stadium capacity size does not equal "international standard".

well this is what i'm getting at, if we were to look at any of the stadia dotted around the country for a senior international they would have to meet several criteria - size being one (you would look for at least 20k), facilities, transport to and from the ground etc etc....and to be quite honest I don't think there are any other grounds in this country (regrettably) that would meet any of the various requirements for a senior international...

**paul_oshea** · 28/02/2008, 2:03 PM

look some people just like to complain, i wouldn't pass any heed and i doubt the FAI will either.

**tetsujin1979** · 28/02/2008, 2:12 PM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

if they would only play in London then so be it.

Originally Posted by ifk101

source?

Retracted.

**ifk101** · 28/02/2008, 2:16 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

look some people just like to complain, i wouldn't pass any heed and i doubt the FAI will either.

Sorry Paul but it's not complaining. It's been suggested that Colombia will only play us in London, that internationals team won't come to Dublin in May

and that the game can't be hosted in Ireland. This is all rubbish.

**ifk101** · 28/02/2008, 2:17 PM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Retracted.

No worries. I'm not having a go at you (if it's coming across that way).

**ArdeeBhoy** · 28/02/2008, 2:45 PM

It was probably done to salve The Diaspora. No harm in broadening the appeal. It's not as if we haven't had our fair share of meaningless friendlies in Dublin over the years. Now away would have been more interesting!

Still Fulham's a reasonable ground by London standards, but how many people will bother for a Thurs.night is anyone's guess?

Have a good contact at Fulham, who said tickets not on sale for a while. But guess, getting in there, won't exactly be a problem.

**scousedub** · 28/02/2008, 3:04 PM

For anyone looking for hotels near Craven Cottage,the two closest are Premier Travel inn Putney Bridge and Jurys Inn Chelsea, both charging about �90 for the night.