I have a whole page of pics and articles relating to fans making there way to Belgium for the 1981 game. How can I cut and paste the 4 adobe files on here anyone? Found this old copy of the Herald in the attic.
My Guarantee
Am looking for old Irish matches on VHS, PM me if you have some and I'll upload them here
Noely,I got your message.
That's a good find.
The mice have eaten all my archive clippings in my mothers attic, only JFK's visit survived.
Follow Worms advice and we will all be able to have a gander.
I'd love to see it, remember it like it was yesterday, travelled with Funtrek from Eden Quay via Holyhead, London, Dover,and took in a Utd Everton game at Goodison on the way back.
We were robbed by the ref big time, 4 mins to go, great crowd of Irish at it, I'd say posibly as much as 5,000, fantastic trip.
Fair Play died Nov 18th 2009, Stade Francais.
Would love to see that.It will be good regression therapy to get rid if that childhood pain.First time I ever got deeply upset over a game of football.
That referee should neverbe let forget what he did to us.
Yep, I was at that game. Once again the depths of despair. Another 7 years to wait before we at last made it. I honestly thought it would never happen. We were a cursed football nation - nothing, I mean nothing, ever went for us until.............."oh,.. Mackay!!!".
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
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"It's time for the FAI to grow up." John O'Donoghue, Minister for Sport, RTE , Sunday 7 Nov 2004
Indeed I do. I was watching it. Took the afternoon off to watch the game as RTE were showing it live. The last 5 minutes after Scotland scored were the most tense football minutes I have EVER endured because so much was at stake, aided and abetted by George H counting the chickens before the final whistle was blown.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
I was at it - will never forget it. All of the above is true, particularly about the ref, who if anyone remembers, also refereed us versus Italy at Italia 90. Nazare from Portugal - son of a bitch he was. I'm just throwing this out there as a question, but wasn't he indicted for taking bribes for the Dundee United v Roma European Cup semi-final in which Roma overturned a 3-0 deficit?
Two things I remember about the night in Brussles. There were fully 300 Irish lying prostrate on the ground in the car park at the Heysel Stadium - drunk as skunks and the police with their sub machine guns just looking on in amazment. Also, after the game, a bloke in the toilet, through the most drunken of drunken slurs, said "one day the world will recognise us as a footballing nation." His words proved prophetic.
Raul Nazare was almost certainly bribed. No referee could be that bad. Furthermore Belgium's leading club (at the time) Anderlect were found to have been bribing referees at the time. It may not be definitive proof but if you bribe referees while running a football club you may also do so in your capacity of running the FA.
We deserved to come out of that group. We missed out on goal difference too This was mainly because France got 7 v Cyprus on grass in Limassol while the Dutch , Belgians and ourselves managed narrow wins on sand in Nicosia.
Fair Play died Nov 18th 2009, Stade Francais.
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"It's time for the FAI to grow up." John O'Donoghue, Minister for Sport, RTE , Sunday 7 Nov 2004
No he wasn't that ref either
Some sportfiles photos from that game
Belg v Irl 1981 photos
including Eoin Hands "good game ref"
The "fist fighting" in Ostend mentioned in the Herald article never happened. What did happen was a group of Ireland fans (me included) wandered into a disco/bar in Ostend (one of the few places open). A group of English girls sat at the bar with a couple of Irish fans just chatting away. The place had a "DJ" in a tiny booth. Chatting to the DJ was 2 French speaking Belgians. One of these chaps had a scar from ear to ear and looked like an extra from On the Waterfront. To get a request to the DJ you had to navigate around Popeye and his mate. Popeye made it clear that he didn't like us being in "his" bar and stepped in front of any Irish fans who went up to ask the DJ to play requests. Then about 7 or 8 English guys came in and with the English girls started to dance to whatever music was on. Suddenly Popeye picked up a glass ashtray and flung it at the English hitting one of the girls full in the face. Popeye and his mate legged it and the English chased them up the street. The cops arrived and started to question everyone about what had happened. Nobody from Ireland was involved in what had happened. The story got back to John Feeney and somehow it turned into rivers of Blood.
John Feeney? enough said.
Case dismissed.
You have seen these ones?
Connolly Collection
Bookmarks