My first European football experience

Even though the Saint Patrick’s Athletic suffered a disappointing 0-2 loss and 1-4 aggregate defeat on Thursday to Skonto, it was still an exciting occasion and an evening I thoroughly enjoyed as this was my first ever taste of European club football.

Being a Grimsby Town fan, the closest we get to playing in Europe is an away day in Wales so opportunities for me to attend a European club match as a supporter have, thus far, been non-existent. Indeed, even my forays in to Scottish and French football failed to provide any opportunities as Hibernian, Paris Saint-Germain and Saint-Étienne all missed out when I was a regular on their respective terraces.

Saint Patrick’s Athletic, however, have provided two opportunities for me. I missed last season’s match up with Legia Warsaw due to work but this year I have changed jobs and I was able to attend Richmond Park for the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round second leg (yes, that is a mouthful!) tie.

Thursday night had all the hallmarks of a big European tie; Richmond Park was packed to the rafters, there were people sat out watching from the balconies of the flats overlooking the ground, kids clambering up the fence separating the aforementioned flats and the Shed End, and lots of people wondering why Keith Fahey wasn’t in the starting line-up.

The evening got off to a flyer too – in a hilarious few minutes Killian Brennan shanked a practice shot high and wide over the bar into a rather voluptuous fans’ midriff and then the PA announcer struggled through the pronunciations of pretty much all of the Skonto squad to the merriment of the crowd.

Finally, the match kicked off, and we had a good game on show. Pats dominated the opening exchanges and you got the feeling a goal was on its’ way. What we didn’t expect was that it would be in favour of the Latvians. They took the lead and their manager provided the next great moment of the evening.

As Skonto manager, Tamaz Pertia, turned towards the bench following his celebration, he saw a young Pats fan hanging over the hoardings in the front row. He walked up to him and put his hand in the air for a ‘high five’. After some momentary deliberation the young supporter decided it was ok and slammed his hand into Pertia’s palm.

Pertia had made the kids’ night and his sheepish grin was a little bit of joy on what was turning out to be a glum night for Saints’ supporters. Shortly after half time Skonto scored from a dubiously awarded penalty and my dreams of 2-1 score line on the night, followed by an extra time winner were shattered. Pertia remembered the young fan though, and gave him another high five, doubling the size of his grin.

As I we trudged out of the ground I lamented to my friend that our final ball had not been good enough, and from the reports, it sounded it like the opportunity had been there to kill the tie in Riga. Nevertheless, my debut in Europe was a great evening out for a mere €15 and I’d recommend other Irish fans to get behind Shamrock Rovers, UCD and Dundalk – all of whom are still very much riding high on their respective European adventures.