Find it hard since I changed job; only got to the Italy game this time.
The Cyprus roll call was very quiet; maybe the recession, maybe the fourth trip there this decade, maybe YBIG stealing custom.
Not much activity after the away games on here. Is there many from the site going to the away games. If so how would you rate the away trips so far.
In Trap we trust
Find it hard since I changed job; only got to the Italy game this time.
The Cyprus roll call was very quiet; maybe the recession, maybe the fourth trip there this decade, maybe YBIG stealing custom.
Yeah I was a bit wary of going to this one as I was there in 2005 and did not have a great trip, probably my only bad Ireland trip. Had a ball there with lots of people who are known to this site. Great craic and a great trip. Glad I stayed in Aya Napa, I think when there is over 10,000 going to a Cyprus Aya Napa is a disaster but when it was only about 2.500 then Aya Napa was a good spot to be based.
In Trap we trust
All them, bar Cyprus, this campaign.
All them, bar Cyprus, last campaign(can you see a pattern here......)
I haven't been to an away trip this campaign (well Fulham doesn't really count) but have 'travelled' to all our home games. Buying a crazy labrador has limited my away game voyages. Fingers crossed I can make the away play off game if we qualify.
Didn't get to any this time , TBH not bothered anymore since Paris maybe its cause I am getting older now and have a family that I don't care about the away trips anymore expect its just a phase and might get interested again in a few years time.I think another factor might be that beacuse everyone else is older and more senisible now there isn't much new crazy stuff happening and you get sick of the same old stories.
63.00
Best thing to do is to think of it as a holiday (often to somewhere different) with a football game thrown in, instead of a week-long p!ss-up.
It's easy enough to get away from the Irish crowds at an away game for a couple of days if you want.
Only missed Bari and Sofia this time around.
All the activity seems to have transferred to ybig.
San Marino are going to be a handful as the group goes on." - Steve Staunton reacts to performance against San Marino.
That's my attitude exactly Stu.
I've no interest in sitting in an Irish bar in <insert City here> with leprechauns and the usual stories.
This attitude has seen us end up at an Italian tupperware convention in Bari(Richard Dunne was also there, but that's another story),meeting Marco Tardelli and Manuela at the Ski Jump in Oslo, dunno who was more surprised there and the conversation that ensued. Or the visit to the military museum in Sofia that saw us get our photos taken with MIG fighters and inadvertently end up on an actual army base.
Ireland trips give me the excuse to go somewhere I wouldn't otherwise, the Faroe Islands being the perfect example.
Due to a temporary reloaction to Amerikay they are all away trips for me at the moment but have made it to Bari, Sofia and all the home games. I think Bari was the highlight - Robbie's late goal and the 20 minutes singing in the ground (and on the tram/bus) afterwards were reminiscent of Ibaraki.
I will be at the last two home games and, assuming we make it, at both playoff games.
It does look like ybig has much more focus on the away trips, photos and stuff but I do find foot.ie to be better for analysis and debate. It's a bit like watching a game on Sky (for the glitz, hype and HD) and then switching back to RTE to see what the grumpy 'oul lads have to say about things.
"There's man all over for you, blaming on his boots the fault of his feet" - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
Obviously when you say grumpy oul lad you cant mean youngirish.
In Trap we trust
Made Sofia + Bari, couldn't make the first 2 cause was on a weeks hols the week before(seriously bad planning cause booked a lads hol well before the qualifying draw was even made). Couldn't make cyprus cause couldn't get time of work but I have met one or two of here on the trips - just generally have that 1 shandy to many lots of the time - I did meet loads of you in Cardiff but couldn't remember names now at all.
As its only me & my mate that go away we generally latch on to some crowd of fans(always seems to be dubs or nordies for some reason) + he usually takes the pics + posts on ybig cause for some god damn reason I can't get logged in to it - i know its my PC but can't fix the problem!!
When we go back to Lansdowne & I lose my home tickets as on the WL I think i'll mainly just go to away matches as can't stand the 'home' fans that go along sit there & moan cause they expect to be entertained as though they where at the Bernabeau or Camp Nou - at least on away trips everyone is always up for supporting the team!!
Spot on. I've always said football is an excuse to travel, not the other way round. No point in sitting in a generic Irish bar the whole time when you can go and see the sights, try something different on your dinner plate, sample the local beer, even chat with the locals (9 times out of 10, they're happy you are visiting). Often in places you wouldn't normally visit like Podgorica or San Marino.
Me? Cyprus last week was the first game I missed this campaign (didn't go in 2006 either after a horrible journey there in the previous year). Was hugely relieved about the win because the only matches Ireland have lost under Trapattoni (v Poland and Australia) were games I didn't attend.
There is no right way to to the trips, there is just whatever way you fecking want. I love seeing new countries, trying new beers, having good food, meeting locals, generally local girls to be honest and having the craic with the friends that I have met from a lot of the games over the last year or so. Must say Cyprus in 05 I was just with my brother this time I was with about 12 people from this site and what a trip. Power in numbers etc esp if you get a sound buch of people and Sligo Hornet.
In Trap we trust
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