UEFA Cup final for Lansdowne 2011

Zebra3

Draupnir wrote: »

I've been on holiday since 1150 AD, did I miss something?

Yes. 3 in a row Eurovision in the 90s-1990s that is.

shane86

LeixlipRed wrote: »

Yes, every Celtic loving twat in the country is over it. Wouldn't boo Peter Lovenkrands if he wasn't even on the pitch they wouldn't. Oh, hold on a sec...

Im getting pretty tired of this one.

Football is a game where, traditionally, fans will boo individual players in order to put them off. For a variety of reasons, though usually it is to get under the skin of one of the most talented squad members. Was it straight after the Croatia match, Newky fans booed Gerrard on his every touch of the ball to both put him off and register their feelings about what they saw as his below par national team performance. Ashley Cole and Ronaldo, two talented players, often booed on every touch to put them off due to their attitudes which are seen as cocky. Current or ex Gers players are booed for their association with a club that has a strongly anti Irish racist tradition. Fans regularly come up with chants regarding any criminal cases a player may be involved in.

I dont know whether I would bother booing Gers players myself, for a start I like to see the Scots national side do well, but go on ahead to whoever does. If it puts a player off his game, great. I thought the way the Barca fans filled their stadium with tricolours for the Gers visit was gas, fair play to them It is pretty embarassing that Spaniards can see Celtic as having a proud Irish link yet certain fans in Ireland cannot.

because a lot of people in Ireland
- hate protestants
- hate the English

Do they? Just because we like to see Ingerland crash out of a tournament doesnt mean we hate the players or the people. Yes, there are people in Dublin who hate the English. They also hate the Poles, blacks, cops, culchies, yanks, college students, anyone who did their leaving cert, people who can read, Chinese, the lads who went to a different school in the area, anyone from the estate across the road, people who drink at the pub they are barred from, people from the other side of their own estate.....I could go on.

We just hate the media getting too uppity in the build up, we cringe at the fans saying the tourno will be a walk in the park, we despise the pot bellied twats getting hosed down by water cannon in European town squares (while the last severe violence was afaik in Euro 2000, there was still trouble at all following tournaments bar WC 2002. Presumably because the knack contingent couldnt afford to get to Asia)

One thing I can never fathom however are Irish Man U fans who support AnyoneButEngland in a tournament because they regard the England fans as too cocky :pac:

I love the smell of irony in the morning.

dreamers75

IvySlayer wrote: »

This will be great for local businesses! Looking forward to it, might even buy myself some tickets, no matter who's playing. It will be momentous for Ireland. If this goes well, give it 5 years for a Champions League Final.

Where?


CL finals have to be in a certain type of stadia and Lansdowne isnt one of them, 70,000 odd seats or so and thanks to liverpool ticket scanning.

News of Dublin payday hides more sombre reality


By Paul Hyland

Friday January 30 2009

GOOD man John. The Europa League final in Dublin in 2011. Who would have thought? UEFA Blazers in full flower all over our capital.

"This is a magic day. It is probably our greatest achievement in football off the pitch," said CEO Delaney and as one, we all pushed our chests out with pride.

Imagine the committee meetings, the fact-finding missions, the conferences and seminars -- all the event-critical admin that only Blazers understand. Heaven.

Imagine the preening, the tie-wearing and a five-day splurge of dining and wining before the actual football happens. In decades to come, they'll credit the FAI with lifting Ireland out of the Great Depression of 2010.

The potential 'take' for the local economy ratcheted up like the bidding on a Dalkey semi-d in those heady days of mad money just a few short years ago.

First it hovered around £30m and then leaped to "between €30m and €100m". By the time the quotes were doing the rounds, escape velocity had been reached.

"It will bring much-needed revenue of over €100m to the local economy and boost our standing in international football," said John, and once again, our chests swelled with emotion.

A cheeky and slightly manic grin chased across Delaney's lips, first on Sky where he single-handedly shouldered the credit for a stadium built so far with our money, on a plot of land owned by the IRFU, and then on RTE where he pluckily attempted to lift the whole nation out of the gloom created by the global financial Armageddon with his great news about the UEFA Cup.

This credit crunch is a great thing for some collateral PR and in both directions. If the news is bad, blame it on the downturn and run for cover. If it's good news, make a play for the title as a national icon of good times.

That's what Delaney pitched for yesterday and if he grabbed a momentary eye blink of good press for the FAI, it was quickly submerged under an avalanche of marginally worse news than we've been having of late and that's saying something.

Delaney did manage to avoid a very direct question about ticket sales put by Tony O'Donoghue and chose not to say whether all his 10-year tickets would be sold for the new Lansdowne Road by 2011, though he did say that sales had "gone into four figures".

See, John wants us all to believe that we are just a Trapattoni away from endless days of Olé Olé, but the reality is somewhat more sombre. There's no money out there and by the looks of things, there won't be for some time to come.

Whatever initial surge of sales happened during the very expansive and expensive campaign to sell 10-year tickets, the word is that it has slowed to a trickle.

So, underneath the cloud of sparkle created by the announcement that the 40th UEFA Cup will be decided at Lansdowne Road, the same problems remain, so Delaney should enjoy his moment. It won't last long.

The confirmation that Capital Grants have been axed will kill development and remove a hugely valuable source of funding from the FAI.

The next phase of Campus Ireland has been long-fingered, which it must be assumed, also means that Academy facilities and the pitches promised for Abbotstown have been mothballed.

Next Tuesday, a gathering in Abbotstown to discuss items of interest to schoolboy football, most notably the troublesome area of Training and Compensation.

Time will be devoted to a review of the scheme imposed on many unwilling clubs by the FAI this time last year and which is, as far as they are concerned, neither fair nor ratified by the key stakeholders.

The League of Ireland is in rolling crisis and examinership has become just another survival device.

There is one great certainty about the League of Ireland. It will expand to absorb all available resources and blow everything before dusting itself off for another grab at whatever is on offer.

It is remarkable that while the rest of the nation was on a massive expansion programme, the LOI managed to contract. The biggest brand in the country, Shamrock Rovers, almost went bust while the Celtic Tiger stalked the countryside with diggers and planning applications.

But none of that matters. John's brought home the Cup and he has Giovanni and Michel on side. Wanna buy a 10-year ticket?

- Paul Hyland

Hylands take on it is odd, fai have done well to get it.