The night I was embarrassed to be Irish
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I remember it well; I was 11 years of age. The year was 1995, it was February 15th and Ireland were playing against England at Lansdowne Road Stadium. I was down in the local indoor soccer hall in Ballinteer training with my team at the time, Broadford Rovers.
One of the parents came in shouting, “its 1-0 to Ireland, David Kelly has just scored”. In that sudden instance, we all just stopped what where doing, looked at each-other and began jumping up in the air and cheering Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole. Even the parents that where there joined in with us.
However, the joy and celebrations were to be short – lived and I will never forget the disgusting scenes and violence that followed by the visiting English supporters. I am sure everyone is well aware of the incident in which I am talking about.
I know it was only a small minority of English supporters that were involved in that incident and I am sure that the violence seen that day would never be repeated if the English visited Ireland again to play a football match. Nevertheless, it is something that will always remain in my mind until history can be re-written.
That game, that night left a bitter, bitter taste in my mouth and I long for the day that Ireland get the chance to play England again at the new Aviva Stadium as there is definitely a game owed. With all that said, I would never, ever support an English team against an Irish team, in any sport.
This brings me to last Wednesday night when the new Aviva Stadium historically opened for business. The very first game to be played at the stadium, arranged by the F.A.I, saw former English Premier League Champions, Manchester United; play against an Irish Airtricity League squad selected by Damian Richardson.
I organised to go the game with my little brother who comes to all my Sporting Fingal games. I am not going to lie; I am a Manchester United supporter and an all round football fan so getting the chance to see some of the best footballers in the world play was an exciting prospect. However, even with that fact, there was only ever going to be one team I was supporting that day and that was the Irish side. Our team!!
Walking from my car in Donnybrook to the Aviva Stadium, I saw a sign of what was to come. All I saw was a sea of Manchester United jerseys and scarves, with the odd St.Pats, Bohemians or other league representative colours. It was obvious, there was only one team that people were there to see, there to support, and it was not the Irish side.
So, as the game kicked off, we took our seats. People either side of us were discussing the Manchester United squad freely; giving their opinions on the likes of Nani, Berbatov, Rooney and co and discussing how well they will get on this season. No mention was given about the Irish Airtricity side at all. One kid even asked if Robbie Keane was playing!!
The first chants I heard was that of the name “Rooney”, heard throughout the stadium. As United got a firmer grip on the game, basically from the 10th minute onwards, more chanting and cheering was aimed at them. The seven goals that they scored were met by huge roars from the 50,000 people within the stadium.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and witnessing. Irish people chanting against their own, roaring on the team from the other country, which happened to be England.
I was so embarrassed to be Irish at that point. I know and understand that most people were there just to have the chance to see Manchester United in the flesh but to cheer against their own and basically cry for more goals against the Irish side is something that I hope I never have to witness again.
It also really does put into perspective what the majority of Irish people think of our own domestic league. And then, when I got home I put on RTE to watch the highlights of the game and the comments made especially by Bill O’Herlihy. His attitude was so condescending towards the Airtricity Irish team and he basically made a mockery of our League here, on National T.V.
Another reason for attending the game was that I was interested like many Airtricity League fans in how we could compete against such a massive world footballing power like Manchester United. Obviously, we all know how the game went and the score line says it all really, 7-1, it was a no contest. The performance by our side wasn’t great at all to be honest.
However, we as a league are better than that and the game was not and is not a true reflection of our league. If we put it all into context, the team never ever really stood a chance. Not only were they playing against one of the best teams in the world, but they were only put together recently and they met each other as a squad for the first time 48 hours prior to kick off.
That kind of amateur organisation and preparation was seen on the pitch on Wednesday night. If the F.A.I are serious about organising any more games like that in the future, they should do it right. They should at least announce a team like that sooner and give them more time for preparation.
Brian Shelley hit the nail on the head last week when he said after the game that his Bohemians team, and Shamrock Rovers or Sporting Fingal for that matter, would have proved a tougher opposition for Manchester United as they are a team that play week in week out for one another and hence, they know each other well and would be better organised as a team.
Back to the title of this article, last Wednesday night I was very embarrassed to be Irish. It was a sad, sad day to be both Irish and an Airtricity fan.
One of the parents came in shouting, “its 1-0 to Ireland, David Kelly has just scored”. In that sudden instance, we all just stopped what where doing, looked at each-other and began jumping up in the air and cheering Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole. Even the parents that where there joined in with us.
However, the joy and celebrations were to be short – lived and I will never forget the disgusting scenes and violence that followed by the visiting English supporters. I am sure everyone is well aware of the incident in which I am talking about.
I know it was only a small minority of English supporters that were involved in that incident and I am sure that the violence seen that day would never be repeated if the English visited Ireland again to play a football match. Nevertheless, it is something that will always remain in my mind until history can be re-written.
That game, that night left a bitter, bitter taste in my mouth and I long for the day that Ireland get the chance to play England again at the new Aviva Stadium as there is definitely a game owed. With all that said, I would never, ever support an English team against an Irish team, in any sport.
This brings me to last Wednesday night when the new Aviva Stadium historically opened for business. The very first game to be played at the stadium, arranged by the F.A.I, saw former English Premier League Champions, Manchester United; play against an Irish Airtricity League squad selected by Damian Richardson.
I organised to go the game with my little brother who comes to all my Sporting Fingal games. I am not going to lie; I am a Manchester United supporter and an all round football fan so getting the chance to see some of the best footballers in the world play was an exciting prospect. However, even with that fact, there was only ever going to be one team I was supporting that day and that was the Irish side. Our team!!
Walking from my car in Donnybrook to the Aviva Stadium, I saw a sign of what was to come. All I saw was a sea of Manchester United jerseys and scarves, with the odd St.Pats, Bohemians or other league representative colours. It was obvious, there was only one team that people were there to see, there to support, and it was not the Irish side.
So, as the game kicked off, we took our seats. People either side of us were discussing the Manchester United squad freely; giving their opinions on the likes of Nani, Berbatov, Rooney and co and discussing how well they will get on this season. No mention was given about the Irish Airtricity side at all. One kid even asked if Robbie Keane was playing!!
The first chants I heard was that of the name “Rooney”, heard throughout the stadium. As United got a firmer grip on the game, basically from the 10th minute onwards, more chanting and cheering was aimed at them. The seven goals that they scored were met by huge roars from the 50,000 people within the stadium.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and witnessing. Irish people chanting against their own, roaring on the team from the other country, which happened to be England.
I was so embarrassed to be Irish at that point. I know and understand that most people were there just to have the chance to see Manchester United in the flesh but to cheer against their own and basically cry for more goals against the Irish side is something that I hope I never have to witness again.
It also really does put into perspective what the majority of Irish people think of our own domestic league. And then, when I got home I put on RTE to watch the highlights of the game and the comments made especially by Bill O’Herlihy. His attitude was so condescending towards the Airtricity Irish team and he basically made a mockery of our League here, on National T.V.
Another reason for attending the game was that I was interested like many Airtricity League fans in how we could compete against such a massive world footballing power like Manchester United. Obviously, we all know how the game went and the score line says it all really, 7-1, it was a no contest. The performance by our side wasn’t great at all to be honest.
However, we as a league are better than that and the game was not and is not a true reflection of our league. If we put it all into context, the team never ever really stood a chance. Not only were they playing against one of the best teams in the world, but they were only put together recently and they met each other as a squad for the first time 48 hours prior to kick off.
That kind of amateur organisation and preparation was seen on the pitch on Wednesday night. If the F.A.I are serious about organising any more games like that in the future, they should do it right. They should at least announce a team like that sooner and give them more time for preparation.
Brian Shelley hit the nail on the head last week when he said after the game that his Bohemians team, and Shamrock Rovers or Sporting Fingal for that matter, would have proved a tougher opposition for Manchester United as they are a team that play week in week out for one another and hence, they know each other well and would be better organised as a team.
Back to the title of this article, last Wednesday night I was very embarrassed to be Irish. It was a sad, sad day to be both Irish and an Airtricity fan.
