Barstooler face offs?

**GavinZac** · 02/04/2008, 2:49 AM

Originally Posted by Bottle of Tonic

At least some LOI fans on here have a balanced opinion but not all unfortunately.

A few things strike reading this thread and others on foot.ie
For many LOI fans its all about 'local'.
They prefer it being small and a niche market.
There is a real 'anoraky' superiority complex.

I'm from rural Roscommon and been living in Scotland 7-8 years. Celtic season ticket holder this past season. Regular at games season before. Mainly barstooler with the odd trip previous to that.

I kind of follow Longford in the EL as I went to school there, have been to a couple of matches when home over the years, but can't imagine been able to support them outright or as much as some of the EL fanatics on here and their respective clubs. I'm from Roscommon not Longford. Athlone, while just over the bridge in Westmeath is like a different planet to me!

I'm probably moving back to Ireland soon, possibly Dublin, and would be interested in going to see some live football. even though I'm one of these "celtic" "fans" (seriously what's with the bitterness GZ) I would have nothing against the EL. However from reading this forum and the views of some of its fans the last year or so I really don't know if I want to go along.

You aren't a barstooler, why are you complaining?

I won't be local to any team, they won't be 'mine', so I won't be part of it and get the same enjoyment as the other real fans do. I'm not sure if I'd want to mix with the other fans either, especially if I revealed I was a "celtic" "fan" thus laying bare my inferiority as a football supporter. I'd probably also have to do some research on the Queens tax rates on match tickets so I wouldn't look redfaced and silly in front of some sneery real fan who happened to be born in his local clubs catchment area.

I wasn't born in any catchment area. Shame I just can't be as genuine a football supporter as some of ye. I really never knew it worked like that.

Sod it, I'll see where I end up living and try a few games at the nearest side. I'll probably just go back to watching local GAA though.

your local club doesn't have to be in the eircom league. I don't know if you'll surprise me but i'd give very long odds on there not being an intermediate/junior club in your area.

**dortie** · 02/04/2008, 9:02 PM

I remember many a late Sunday night (Sunday games) arriving back into the Metro in Derry from Dublin wearing Derry colours, myself and a few others ended up in quite a few 'brawls' with the local premiership lovers, nothing to do with constant 'what you doing watching that rubbish etc'...or the beer mind you.

Way before the first Kenny era when we just survived the winding up order.

Lets just say, things have changed alot in the past 7 years or so, you dont hear it or see it as often as back then, there seems to have been a certain turn-around with the majority of the Derry public, ive noticed it big time. Better interest in their local club thankfully.

**Bottle of Tonic** · 02/04/2008, 9:24 PM

Originally Posted by GavinZac

You aren't a barstooler, why are you complaining?

Because of your and other posters attitude toward Celtic supporters(and followers of EPL teams), the obvious disdain you hold towards them,and the idea that is put across that they are inferior football supporters and/or morons.

Don't generalise so much in this kind of debate. Everyone has a different story and reasons.

[/QUOTE]your local club doesn't have to be in the eircom league. I don't know if you'll surprise me but i'd give very long odds on there not being an intermediate/junior club in your area.[/QUOTE]

When I left 7 years ago there was no soccer club in the vicinity. no hurling no rugby either. Only Gaelic football. I think there are some now, but i doubt above the level of a few of my peers from the boozer. Should I be supporting them now, in the Roscommon and district league? Or what about they lads from the pub across the road here where I am in Edinburgh? They have a team. Follow them?

**sligoman** · 02/04/2008, 9:26 PM

Originally Posted by Bottle of Tonic

across the road here where I am in Edinburgh?

So you're in Edinburgh and still over looking the local team by supporting Celtic

.

**GavinZac** · 03/04/2008, 1:55 AM

Originally Posted by Bottle of Tonic

Or what about they lads from the pub across the road here where I am in Edinburgh? They have a team. Follow them?

Hibs? go on, you might aswell

**depor** · 03/04/2008, 4:58 AM

[QUOTE=michaelguineys;907994]Thank god that wasn't the case in the City v Sundireland game last summer.
Because of the way the tickets went on sale (Munster Senior League were in charge of their distribution) and some people in our city's obsession with Roy Keane and sunderland, i was half dreading the game to be honest.
I thought it was going to be full of barstoolers cheering for sunderland.
How wrong was i??
Now there was a lot of barstoolers around, don't get me wrong, but the amount of city fans that managed to get their hands on tickets was unreal.
The atmosphere was unbelievable, chanting "Support your local team" from start to finish. I was so proud to be a city fan and a LOI fan that day.
When Denis scored and we went 1 up it was unreal
It was a big 2 fingers to all those barstoolers who say our league is sh*t.
It might have ended 1-1 but every single cork city supporter did their club and league proud that day.

true, it was a good game and the city support were out in force. i enjoyed it.

**hedderman** · 03/04/2008, 5:50 PM

[quote=depor;912322]

Originally Posted by michaelguineys

The atmosphere was unbelievable, chanting "Support your local team" from start to finish. I was so proud to be a city fan and a LOI fan that day.

"Support your local team" is an excellent chant.

I originally supported Man Utd up until I was about 15 or 16 when my friend brought me along to a Derry match. The atmosphere was amazing, the last season in the Jungle, and it got started from there.

I must have stopped supporting Man Utd some time after that.

I was walking behind a man near Croke Park yesterday wearing a Dublin GAA rucksack with a Man Utd badge attached. That's probably your average Dub in terms of supporting teams.

**Erstwhile B�z** · 03/04/2008, 7:31 PM

Originally Posted by hedderman

I was walking behind a man near Croke Park yesterday wearing a Dublin GAA rucksack with a Man Utd badge attached.

Sounds like something you could buy in Carrolls on Westmoreland Street.

**viagogo** · 03/04/2008, 7:53 PM

Originally Posted by Jinxy

Why did you go if you aren't a big GAA fan?

A day out on a quiet Saturday.

**NavanBohs** · 03/04/2008, 9:47 PM

Originally Posted by Erstwhile B�z

Deadly. There was a group of five or six English lads on the 10 I got back into town. From the snatches of conversation I got, agus m� ag c�l�isteacht, they were delighted with themselves for getting up and doing something and not wasting another evening of their holiday in the boozer; they were freezing their nuts off (they were wearing the de rigeur English lads gear); and they loved the bars in Dalymount. Three goals and a sending off helped, too.

Couldn't ascertain how they found out about the match, though.

Probably the same lads behind me at half-time at Burdocks, from what I gathered they were Norwich fans, they were on about the Mirror girls during half-time and how you wouldnt see anything like that at Carrow Road

**bennocelt** · 04/04/2008, 10:22 PM

Originally Posted by Joey Killester

One thing Premiership fans don't seem to understand is that the quality of football is probably the least important thing in supporting a team. Obviously we all want our teams to do well, but no matter how ****e Shels are I would never stop following them and going to matches, ect, and Im sure its the same for most of you. I like watching football played well like every football fan but that doesnt mean I have to support an English club to see it. Most big Leagues in Europe are avalible to watch somehow now a days for watching good football.

Rambelled on a bit there, but one last thing, you often get barstoolers from parts of the country who dont have an eircom League team near them, and they say thats the reason they dont support an eircom League club. My cousin from Cavan is like this and he supports Liverpool. I tried telling him Monaghan is closer to Cavan then Liverpool, but he wasn't listening of course.

Def agree here
I really hate when people use the excuse that the LOI (or EL) is "****e so why bother". If you truely love football (and its not "soccer"!) then it doesnt matter if a game is rubbish or great it should get your attention 100% all of the time. Its not as if football is in great shakes at the moment anyway (its **** poor now in my opinion)

Im also from an area that doesnt have a LOI club or even a leinster league team, and my local team is ran like a dictatorship, but that hasnt stopped me from supporting our own Irish league. This season i have gone to sligo, longford and ucd to see games and would really love to get to see all irish clubs in action (very doubtful at the moment what with the bank balance).
I used to support celtic, way back when no one followed them. I find it really amusing now that there are so many celtic fanes around and now i cant stand the club (corporate greed). It took me a while to see the light, that supporting our own league is the real thing a true football fan living here should do.
I have also taken a break from supporting the irish national team so i guess I need the LOI games to give me a bit of a fix. cant wait for the ufea/cl draws for the i5rish teams so i can book a few foreign holidays

But you know the irish love a party, and the bandwagon is always on the go

**boovidge** · 05/04/2008, 6:05 PM

it's pretty embarassing when you're watching a Premiership game on Sky and you see an Irish flag pinned to the stands.

**Sheridan** · 05/04/2008, 6:14 PM

My favourite encounter involved the 2003 UEFA Cup final; I was watching it in someone's living room and reacted to a Porto goal, at which point one of those present turned to me and asked disbelievingly if I was supporting Porto. When I answered in the affirmative, he shook his head and said "You're a real Brit, aren't you?" I responded, "You're the one sitting here supporting a British club." "They're an Irish club!", came the indignant rejoinder. "Which part of Ireland is Glasgow in?" elicited nothing but silence. You could practically see the steam billowing from his ears. Man, was I glad Porto won that night.

**sullanefc** · 06/04/2008, 11:20 PM

Originally Posted by joey4ireland

Yeah that's true alright and in some cases those flags are only there when the team they are supposed to be supporting are winning. The small one with chelsea across the tri colour is a bit silly imo given thaqt a percentage of chelsea's support is anti-irish. I don't honestly know how anyone from Ireland can support them tbh

Its probably an upside-down Ivory Coast flag

**boovidge** · 07/04/2008, 1:14 AM

Originally Posted by joey4ireland

Yeah that's true alright and in some cases those flags are only there when the team they are supposed to be supporting are winning. The small one with chelsea across the tri colour is a bit silly imo given thaqt a percentage of chelsea's support is anti-irish. I don't honestly know how anyone from Ireland can support them tbh

wasnt there a bloke getting stick for taking one of them to an Ireland game?

Liverpool was formed as a protestant, anti-irish club too and it has masses of Irish fans.

The ultimate irony in all of this is that alot of these "fans" will go off on one about "Brits" or have some sort of anti-British sentiment whilst wearing their replica shirts.

**gilberto_eire** · 07/04/2008, 1:52 AM

Originally Posted by boovidge

wasnt there a bloke getting stick for taking one of them to an Ireland game?

Liverpool was formed as a protestant, anti-irish club too and it has masses of Irish fans.

The ultimate irony in all of this is that alot of these "fans" will go off on one about "Brits" or have some sort of anti-British sentiment whilst wearing their replica shirts.

Ya but that's in the past now, i doubt any Liverpool fans now hate the Irish while Chelsea currently have links with Rangers.

The Merseyside one is a funny old thing, Everton(everyone in Wayne Rooney's area are Evertonians, and from an article i was reading the place he's from is an Irish populated area) are meant to be the ''Irish'' club but i've only ever came across one fan round Galway from my encounters with ''Football'' fans, but then Ireland is just full of Liverpool ''fans''. Goes to show how much the ''fans'' here know about the clubs they follow abroad, they ended up supporting a Prod' club over a Catholic one

Observation: Why are the ''Liverpool'' fans the most likely to get tattoo's and wear gear ALL the time?!. Most of my friends support one or the other and i notice the ones who follow United are less likely to have jersies and additional gear, while Liverpool supporters are covered in gear from tracksuits to tattoo's

Most scumbags too seem to prefer Liverpool!!

**boovidge** · 07/04/2008, 2:34 AM

Originally Posted by gilberto_eire

The Merseyside one is a funny old thing, Everton(everyone in Wayne Rooney's area are Evertonians, and from an article i was reading the place he's from is an Irish populated area) are meant to be the ''Irish'' club but i've only ever came across one fan round Galway from my encounters with ''Football'' fans, but then Ireland is just full of Liverpool ''fans''. Goes to show how much the ''fans'' here know about the clubs they follow abroad, they ended up supporting a Prod' club over a Catholic one

I think all they need to know is the size of the trophy cabinet and how often theyre on sky to be honest

**aidz1** · 07/04/2008, 9:50 AM

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=OOfJjHozCEc

quite relevant for this thread i think...

**thischarmingman** · 07/04/2008, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by aidz1

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=OOfJjHozCEc

quite relevant for this thread i think...

That's terrific! Have had that experience many times. People saying 'We' when it's a club across the water they have no connection with always makes me cringe.