FAI lost the plot...

GuanYin

Ok, well they never really had much of a grip on th eplot to begin with but on reading dangerhere today and actually seeing a mates programme from the match I'm beginning to think its some scary americans running the FAI now.

From the programme

"join in the songs and chants (see below)"

"the green card can be rolled and used as a megaphone during the game"

"We want a sea of green to greet our team"


The songs and chants are even worse.....


To be sung to the tune of "Where's me jumper!" by the Sultan's of Ping FC -

Standing on the terraces, bumper to bumper
Wait a minute, where's the Duffer?
There's the Duffer
There's the Duffer



To the tune of "God Save Ireland"

Come on Ireland, hear the fans call,
Come on Ireland, say us all
For we are on the terrace high
And for Ireland, we all cry
So come on Ireland, hear this call



Oh dear.......

ella minnow pea

yeah, when really it should be

Please boo as the team comes out.
Pay special attention to jeering whenever Mark Kinsella, Kevin Kilbane or Gary Breen touch the ball. Suggested chant - "You're sh!t, and you know you are!" (ad infinitim to the beat of a drum).

Alternativly, dont make any kind of noise, until the pub after the game, where of course you may feel free to bemoan the lack of crowd involvment.

Please boo any Rangers players, former players, or players whose uncle's half cousin once went out with a fella who looked like a Rangers fan.

We ARE the best fans in the world!!!

GuanYin

Originally posted by ella minnow pea
yeah, when really it should be

Please boo as the team comes out. Pay special attention to jeering whenever Mark Kinsella, Kevin Kilbane or Gary Breen touch the ball. Suggested chant - "You're sh!t, and you know you are!" (ad infinitim to the beat of a drum). Please boo any Rangers players, former players, or players whose uncle's half cousin once went out with a fella who looked like a Rangers fan. We ARE the best fans in the world!!!

Eaaaaaassssssssssssssyyyyy Tiger!!!!!!!!!

All I meant was, its the events on the pitch that fans react to. Professional players are hardly affected (except perhaps with bemusement) by chants like that! I think the Irish fans are bette rtravelling than at home, mainly because there actually is a prawn sandwich brigade. But surely this isn't the way to go!

ella minnow pea

yeah no im not annoyed @ you, just expressing my contempt with the majority of the lansdowne road clientele in general.

Or something.

mike65

It'll be skydiving cheerleaders next....:rolleyes:

Mike.

Mossy Monk

ahhh. so that's what all those green cards are

therecklessone

Skydiving cheerleaders eh? They'd get my attention...

Emboss

it beats "BABB U DIRTY BLACK BASTARD GET OF OUR GREEN FIELDS OF GOLD YE DIRTY DOGEY BLACK BASTARD" i agree he was dodgey but was there any need for the rest ? maybe i got the wrong tickets.... but
Standing on the terraces, bumper to bumper
Wait a minute, where's the Duffer?
There's the Duffer
There's the Duffer
is classical muscic compared to some of the stuff i've heard.

SprostonGreen

I wish they would stop Ole Ole, that got old about 8 years ago.

p.pete

The FAI would do better to spend their time trying to discourage things like bigotry in the stands. Booing Shota Arveladze for being involved with Rangers is just ridiculous and is always going to detract from anything positive the FAI ever manage to achieve with green megaphones and skydiving cheerleaders.

Was it Arveladze who collapsed on the team bus after the match?

Waylander

I thought that it worked. There semmed to be a very good atmosphere at last nights game, despite the fact we were not at the top of our game for long periods.

All I meant was, its the events on the pitch that fans react to. Professional players are hardly affected

I disagree. Galatassary, and as a knock on effect Turkey became a much tougher team to take on when they were faced at home then away. They went on to build on this and improved their away performances to the extent that Gala won the UEFA cup and Turkey came third in the World Cup. Professional footballers will be effected by the crowd.

p.pete

Originally posted by Waylander
I disagree. Galatassary, and as a knock on effect Turkey became a much tougher team to take on when they were faced at home then away. They went on to build on this and improved their away performances to the extent that Gala won the UEFA cup and Turkey came third in the World Cup. Professional footballers will be effected by the crowd.

Should be interesting when England go there. A draw should be good enough for England so the Turks will really have to go for it.

mike65

After last nights game Turkey may yet be playing that England match behind closed doors....

Mike.

Bateman

>its the events on the pitch that fans react to

Yes, true to a certain extent, but any football supporter should sing and encourage the team throughout the match, from start to finish. From being involved in this inititiative, I can safely say the atmosphere at the two recent games was the best at Ireland internationals for years. Including Portugal and Holland. Roll on Russia.

The Duffer song was appalling, but I didn't actually hear anyone singing it. Ole Ole is crass and should be dispensed with.

Bateman

And just to add, I'd already read the dangerhere article. Thought it was anally ignorant of football terrace culture, fans displays, etc etc.

The reason why some of the language coming from the FAI was patronising is that we as a body of international football fans are really only novices as far as supporting the team is concerned. All this best fans in the world bollocks annoys me when you see row upon row of country daytrippers Man Utd types with the wife and kids clogging up row after row of Lansdowne Road, when real singing and passionate fans could stand behind the goal, like we did recently, and sing for 90 minutes. Anyone who agrees with the dangerhere article, and would try to argue that the initiative had anything other than a wholly positive effect on the atmosphere and games is a fool.

Waylander

So what you are saying is that a bloke with his kids should not be allowed go to the match because he is not a real fan, and they won't sing loud enough ? Also if these people travelled up from the country I would have thought it was definitive proof of their loyalty. Sometimes Bateman you can show yourself to be an awful twat!

p.pete

Originally posted by Bateman
And just to add, I'd already read the dangerhere article. Thought it was anally ignorant of football terrace culture, fans displays, etc etc.

The reason why some of the language coming from the FAI was patronising is that we as a body of international football fans are really only novices as far as supporting the team is concerned. All this best fans in the world bollocks annoys me when you see row upon row of country daytrippers Man Utd types with the wife and kids clogging up row after row of Lansdowne Road, when real singing and passionate fans could stand behind the goal, like we did recently, and sing for 90 minutes. Anyone who agrees with the dangerhere article, and would try to argue that the initiative had anything other than a wholly positive effect on the atmosphere and games is a fool.

Do you actually spend much time reading dangerhere? It generally tends to point towards the funny side of things but often makes some very valid points.

The main point that they make at the end of the article is that they should be concentrating on the game and not the crowd. Granted efforts made to improve the athmosphere are a good thing but the FAI's attempts were laughable. Examples being "wheres me duffer"???, using the green cards as a megaphone and also the fact that all the cards were green lacked a bit of imagination. Most places that employ the use of coloured cards would try to design some kind of pattern with the crowd eg. a shamrock.

They joked that the Genisis report was supposed to be reducing occurences of the FAI making a mockery of themselves - I see this as both humorous and insightful. I'm not sure what you mean by "as a body of international football fans are really only novices". How long have we had an international football team exactly?.

As for us not being the best fans in the world I agree with you but not with the reasons you give.

Tellox

Whats wrong with crowd involvement?
Although that "there's the duffer" chant...

Bateman

Waylander, I believe that there should eb a "family enclosure", mush like there is in many grounds, where family type support can be harnessed and encouraged, but it just galls me to see so many people in Lansdowne for a day out rather than a game of football, and I'm not alone.

Tickets for internationals should by and large be given to schoolboy teams and management, and fans of eircom League clubs. It beggars belief that so many "Ireland fans" can neglect the domestic game at so many levels, and then demand the right to have a smoothly operating FAI. We have the football organising body that the majority of our fans deserve.

I accept that the directions to roll up the green card was laughable, and the Duffer song is obviously one of the worst songs ever penned. But I firmly believe that the effort is laudable, and its been a long time since you could say that about anything the FAI have put their name to. Yes, maybe next time, we can have some sort of pattern with the mosaic, but as a first time effort, the "all green" effect looked well.

http://www.srfcultras.net/pubspy/georgia/mosiac.jpg

With regard to danger here, I read it now and again, and I realise that it is supposed to be a comedy type site. But I honestly think that they have enough bad examples of FAI behaviour to slag, without trying to make a mockery of the good efforts, and ending up looking foolish.

Waylander

I agree with you , and I think that any attempt to boost the atmosphere should be encouraged. I have been making that point throughout this thread. However, I think you saying that people who do not fit into your idea of a football fan should not be allowed into Lansdowne is ridiculous. There is no point in going into the EL v premiership debate now, but you seem to think that unless you support a EL ground regularly you should not be allowed into Lansdowne. That is bullsh*t. Only one member of the squad plays for an EL club, the rest are all foreign based players so these people have as much right as you or I or anyone else to attend matches. I personally do not attend any El matches, although if Rovers ever get around to finishing that stadium I intend to buy a season ticket, by your logic am I not entitled to support my country team? Are you telling me that I am not a rela Ireland fan? In fact worse still I am one of those man utd type fans.

p.pete

Certainly distributing tickets through the clubs works very well for rugby in terms of getting athmosphere into the ground. Perhaps a lot more of the tickets should go to eL teams because they do get a lot of passionate support.

Waylander makes a valid point though - only one player in the squad plays in the eL and would possibly be reduced to 0 with a fit again Morrison. Naturally I think it's a shame that the league isn't better supported (I've been to more pool matches than Irish club matches - I know I'm not helping).

The only merit I can see to your family enclosure suggestion is protecting kids against vulgarities. I really can't see any other reason for an initiative like that.

xlex

Originally posted by p.pete
The FAI would do better to spend their time trying to discourage things like bigotry in the stands. Booing Shota Arveladze for being involved with Rangers is just ridiculous and is always going to detract from anything positive the FAI ever manage to achieve with green megaphones and skydiving cheerleaders.

Was it Arveladze who collapsed on the team bus after the match?

they have done several times!!

p.pete

Originally posted by xlex
they have done several times!!

What did these previous attempts involve - writing it in the program or Announcing over the speaker? Was there any other efforts? (I'm asking out of interest, not out of scorn).

Possibly they need a little more inventiveness with their attempts (not quite along the lines of "where's me duffer" though).

xlex

On the print media, on the radio, for sure.. dunno about T.V. but I presume so...

and what's so bad about the requests on the program and the announcements on the paper...

lastly, I think that the green card was an embarrassment but it's still a push in the right direction...

and if you feel the need to pen a song do and email it to fran.rooney@fai.ie...

p.pete

Never said there was anything bad about requesting it over the tannoy - just don't think it's very effective.

Agreed about the green card, it's a push in the right direction albeit a bit misguided. Hopefully they don't give up there and keep being creative on that front - they may hit on something really good and at worst it will give us something to s****** about - also a lot of people who were at the last two matches are complementary of the athmosphere that was generated.

PHB

Slighty off topic but can anyone tell me why professional football never got cheerleaderes like american football?

p.pete

I think because American Football is a stop-start game and the cheerleaders do their thang in between play, possibly similar reasons for basketball. It helps keep their concentration.

Some clubs do have clubs do have them going around at half time and stuff - I remember seeing them at an Eintract Frankfurt match.

It would soften the blow of Americanising Sawker - adds every fifteen minutes but also cheerleader.

growler

you get cheerleaders at upton park

only thing worth seeing there these days !!

Bateman

>by your logic am I not entitled to support my country team?

Not as such Waylander, no, I just believe that in an ideal world, supporting Irish football should not start and finish with supporting the international team. I know it's a circular argument, but how is the FAI supposed to operate smoothly if the attitude of people is "wait til Rovers open their new ground, then I might start going to a few games"? GO NOW!!! Your assertion that because the bulk of the squad are based in England means that their teams' fans have as much of a right to go to the games as anyone else is laughable. Why not dish out free tickets to the English-born real fans of these English clubs, by that logic?


>The only merit I can see to your family enclosure suggestion is protecting kids against vulgarities. I really can't see any other reason for an initiative like that.


Pete, I thought I tried to explain myself what the reasoning is for this. It is because families bring money and nothing else to games. And money isn't the be-all and end-all. The people in Georgia and Albania have feck-all money for €4.50 programmes and hotdogs for all the family, but they can create a better, more intimidating (for the away team) atmosphere than I see in Landsdowne regularly (and pease don't make facecious comments abour knives; obviusly that's out of order). We should, and can, strike a balance. As regards protecting kids from vulgarities, give me a break.

Bateman

Bray Wanderers have cheerleaders. I think several English teams do as well. Not quite generating an atmosphere though...

p.pete

Originally posted by Bateman


Pete, I thought I tried to explain myself what the reasoning is for this. It is because families bring money and nothing else to games. And money isn't the be-all and end-all. The people in Georgia and Albania have feck-all money for €4.50 programmes and hotdogs for all the family, but they can create a better, more intimidating (for the away team) atmosphere than I see in Landsdowne regularly (and pease don't make facecious comments abour knives; obviusly that's out of order). We should, and can, strike a balance. As regards protecting kids from vulgarities, give me a break.

Kids cheer too, I don't see why you want them seperated from the rest of the crowd (nice gif:) ). There is lots of people with a bit of money who will turn up without the kids just to see the game without screaming their heads off. Are they going to be politely directed towards this family enclosure as well?

I applaud efforts of the FAI to generate athmoshphere (I'll still laugh if their attempts are laughable - I'm just fickle). Knives aside, the people in Georgia and Albania may be able to generate a better athmosphere but how many woman and children are going to their matches? In terms of football crowd standards they are probably where England was in the late seventies.