Excellent Article about Barstoolers.

Töpher

inforfun wrote: »

Just wondering sometimes how Irish wearing Man Utd/Liverpool/ Arsenal/ Chelsea etc kits see themselves compared to people in Japan or China doing the same thing?

Only real fans watch Monday night football @ 03.00 on a Tuesday morning - now that's hardcore.

RGDATA!

first i would say that the idea that 98/99 people will be routing against england is a fair bit off. i would imagine you'd be looking at 2:1 against, but 99% is a definite exaggeration.

i am a barstool premiership fan. i like football, but it only suits me to go to a few live games a year so i go to the odd ireland game and a maybe 2/3 league of ireland games. i don't feel bad about not going to more live games, i enjoy those that i do go to and i enjoy watching the premiership on tv.

i don't worry about whether i'm morally inferior to those who regularly follow irish teams. i won't mind if england do well in the world cup. i would certainly love to see them trounce france if they happen to meet.

i think some league of ireland fans have a bit of a chip on their shoulder about people watching the premiership. football has been a life-long interest for me, but is far, far from the most important thing in my life, so i find the idea of someone judging me based on the fact that i watch more soccer on tv than live sad.

there are all sorts of ways you could take the basic argument to ridiculous extremes - for example, if it's really so important to support your local team wouldn't watching your local GAA team,where every lad on the team is from your parish, be more authentic in this regard? Your "local" soccer team likely has lads of a number of different nationalities and irish lads from different parts of the country.

flahavaj

Ye should all be supporting your local GAA club anyway instead of watching soccer.





:pac:

OhNoYouDidn't

CiaranC wrote: »

OP, you are wasting your time posting the likes of this article here in Barstooler HQ.

You might as well have titled your post "Please post a list of excuses why you arent like football fans anywhere else"

Agreed.

The only thing of interest in this thread is how aggressively defensive the barstoolers are. Rather than just say 'yes, it is a bit strange that I ignore a very good professional league on my doorstep to exclusively watch foreign football' and get on with it, a whole plethora of random excuses are given to us.

My favourite is 'there is no team local enough to me so I follow Liverpool'. Thats clinically mentalist. An appaling excuse. Why not just say 'I took the easy option'?

Most LoI fans have foreign sides. Many head across to Britain or further afield to watch them. Thats not the issue. The issue is anyone who claims to be 'football mad' while not even keeping an eye on their domestic professional league is simply not 'football mad'. They are consumers of hype, not fans of the game. The quicker that fact is acknowldged the quicker we can all get on with life.

OhNoYouDidn't

RGDATA! wrote: »

i think some league of ireland fans have a bit of a chip on their shoulder about people watching the premiership. football has been a life-long interest for me, but is far, far from the most important thing in my life, so i find the idea of someone judging me based on the fact that i watch more soccer on tv than live sad.

They don't. They just have a problem with being spoken down to by people who aren't, as you say, huge fans of the game

RGDATA! wrote: »

there are all sorts of ways you could take the basic argument to ridiculous extremes - for example, if it's really so important to support your local team wouldn't watching your local GAA team,where every lad on the team is from your parish, be more authentic in this regard? Your "local" soccer team likely has lads of a number of different nationalities and irish lads from different parts of the country.

The issue isn't parochial like the Gah. The issue is that if 1/10th of the Irish football public spent a few quid here rather than there, we would have a far stronger domestic game which lifts all boats.

Its quite a bizarre streak in the Irish sporting psyche that guys will spend a fortune on foreign football yet wonder why we aren't producing any decent midfielders anymore. Compare and contrast with rugby.

If I had a euro for everytime I have seen some joker in a Man U or Liverpool jersy abusing the English side and cheering the opposition with no hint of irony.... People even show up for Irish games in these shirts. Its simply idiotic.

Optimalprimerib

the reason i started to watch english soccer was the fact that i was an ireland fan before anything else and wanted to see how the national players were doing.

The fact that the international team management all but ignored the talent in the national league made me and others look at the league as inferior and as i am such a coinesseur of football i will only look at the best :-)

There is nothing wrong with not supporting england for the world cup either. We look at them as our rivals and always have. In gaa you worship a player that plays for your county but when he is up against you at club level, you hate him. It is sport not politics

RGDATA!

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

They don't. They just have a problem with being spoken down to by people who aren't, as you say, huge fans of the game

well there is condescension on both sides then. some league of ireland fans see themselves as superior because they support the domestic game first and foremost. some barstoolers will condescend towards the quality of the domestic game. to be honest, i'd say the issue is far more on the radar of the fans of the domestic game than the barstoolers though.

i agree that people showing up to irish international games wearing english club side jerseys is idiotic, but actually i've seen very little of that over the years. it's certainly dwarfed by the number of people who turn up in celtic tops (also idiotic imo).

if you're going to compare with rugby - which i have virtually no interest in - one major difference is that you have irish teams competing at a top level, and if anything the example of rugby shows that had one or two irish teams competing in a "british isles"/euro league similar to the rugby, and playing teams from the premiership/championship then you would, over time, see these teams supported much better than domestic league teams currently are. i'm not criticising the standard of the domestic league, but you can't really compare it directly to rugby in that regard.

OhNoYouDidn't

Optimalprimerib wrote: »

The fact that the international team management all but ignored the talent in the national league made me and others look at the league as inferior and as i am such a coinesseur of football i will only look at the best :-)

Yet I haven't seen you post on many Spanish football threads...

That excuse doesn't wash. Our generation started following football where Milan and Italian football were the best club sides by a country mile.

OhNoYouDidn't

RGDATA! wrote: »

well there is condescension on both sides then. some league of ireland fans see themselves as superior because they support the domestic game first and foremost. some barstoolers will condescend towards the quality of the domestic game. to be honest, i'd say the issue is far more on the radar of the fans of the domestic game than the barstoolers though.

But we are superior. Like it or not, its true.

RGDATA! wrote: »

i agree that people showing up to irish international games wearing english club side jerseys is idiotic, but actually i've seen very little of that over the years. it's certainly dwarfed by the number of people who turn up in celtic tops (also idiotic imo).

Celtic are at least green and white and have an Irish link. Far more justification than some random Nothern English dump that happen to be competitive this season

RGDATA! wrote: »

if you're going to compare with rugby - which i have virtually no interest in - one major difference is that you have irish teams competing at a top level, and if anything the example of rugby shows that had one or two irish teams competing in a "british isles"/euro league similar to the rugby, and playing teams from the premiership/championship then you would, over time, see these teams supported much better than domestic league teams currently are. i'm not criticising the standard of the domestic league, but you can't really compare it directly to rugby in that regard.

But the point is that Irish rugby fans see the top level player in Ireland because they get off their holes and go and see the provinces in numbers, sustaining the setup. Are you telling me that if even twice as many went to LoI games that a few fringe international players couldn't be attracted and it snowball? Rugby are the perfect example of what can happen when you can attract 15,000 to every game - only twice Rovers crowds.

Stuff your franchise idea. Its bone idle - wanting your cake on your doorstep.

RGDATA!

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

My favourite is 'there is no team local enough to me so I follow Liverpool'. Thats clinically mentalist. An appaling excuse. Why not just say 'I took the easy option'?

Most LoI fans have foreign sides. Many head across to Britain or further afield to watch them. Thats not the issue. The issue is anyone who claims to be 'football mad' while not even keeping an eye on their domestic professional league is simply not 'football mad'. They are consumers of hype, not fans of the game. The quicker that fact is acknowldged the quicker we can all get on with life.

can i not just say that I am a barstool fan of the english game and leave it at that? do I have to feel bad about that fact? I don't go to english games or spend any more money on it than my sky subscription. I would say there are a lot of people in this boat, I don't really see many of them thrashing the irish game though or feeling superior for following an english team. it's just a lifestyle preference at the end of the day.
I like to think I can watch a game of football and have opinions about the players and teams I watch, but really beyond the one or two games I watch on the box each week I don't think too much about it or worry about it. Is that ok, is that allowed?

doncarlos

Optimalprimerib wrote: »

the reason i started to watch english soccer was the fact that i was an ireland fan before anything else and wanted to see how the national players were doing.

Why do you support Ireland? Why not support Brazil, France or Italy they are much better and play in the best competitions

stovelid

RGDATA! wrote: »

there are all sorts of ways you could take the basic argument to ridiculous extremes - for example, if it's really so important to support your local team wouldn't watching your local GAA team,where every lad on the team is from your parish, be more authentic in this regard? Your "local" soccer team likely has lads of a number of different nationalities and irish lads from different parts of the country.

Not really.

The point in the OP was about "football-mad" Irish people ignoring (and denigrating) the domestic game.

If you used the Gah as an analogy, the only valid one would be if somebody from x County claimed that the X county team were shit and preferred to support a hurling team based in London.

Or perhaps an example that best encapsulates the bizarreness is if somebody from, say, Clare supported a Kilkenny club over a club from Clare yet still supported Clare and abused Kilkenny whenever they played.

One thing I give the GAA: locale is paramount and non-negotiable which is really admirable.

Prufrock

I don't want to support a league were my local team wants to move 4 miles away but can't as they don't even own their entire stadium. Can you imagine any team in a professional league being told "oh yeah, hey you don't own the north end of Old Trafford sorry about that. " "I'm sorry the Kop is partly owned by a KFC." :pac:

The administration of the LOI is just plain bad.

Seriously though I used to see Bohs play when I was younger and enjoyed it.... Then went to a Shamrock Rovers game and decided that football on tv was safer. :P

L'prof

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

Yet I haven't seen you post on many Spanish football threads...

That excuse doesn't wash. Our generation started following football where Milan and Italian football were the best club sides by a country mile.

Most people start following the premiership between the ages of 5 and 10. They do so because their parents/family do or their classmates do and it is easily the most accessible league to everybody because of it's coverage on tv. At the moment, I don't really have time to try and build up an interest in the LOI. I had an opportunity when I was living at home in Longford, I just had no interest. I have an opportunity now living in Galway but, at the moment I really don't have the time and I think if I did start, I'd prefer to try and follow Longford Town anyway (even though I've been to a match in Terryland and not in Flancare, that's bad ). Regardless of all that, I really don't feel I could ever become as attached to the Town as I do to Arsenal, maybe if I ever had kids, that's something that I could try and instill in them but, I'm afraid it's a bit too late for me!

OhNoYouDidn't

jasonorr wrote: »

Most people start following the premiership between the ages of 5 and 10. They do so because their parents/family do or their classmates do and it is easily the most accessible league to everybody because of it's coverage on tv. At the moment, I don't really have time to try and build up an interest in the LOI. I had an opportunity when I was living at home in Longford, I just had no interest. I have an opportunity now living in Galway but, at the moment I really don't have the time and I think if I did start, I'd prefer to try and follow Longford Town anyway (even though I've been to a match in Terryland and not in Flnacare, that's bad ). Regardless of all that, I really don't feel I could ever become as attached to the Town as I could to Arsenal, maybe if I ever had kids, that's something that I could try and instill in them but, I'm afraid it's a bit too late for me!

An honest answer. At last.

OhNoYouDidn't

RGDATA! wrote: »

can i not just say that I am a barstool fan of the english game and leave it at that? do I have to feel bad about that fact? I don't go to english games or spend any more money on it than my sky subscription. I would say there are a lot of people in this boat, I don't really see many of them thrashing the irish game though or feeling superior for following an english team. it's just a lifestyle preference at the end of the day.
I like to think I can watch a game of football and have opinions about the players and teams I watch, but really beyond the one or two games I watch on the box each week I don't think too much about it or worry about it. Is that ok, is that allowed?

Of course it is, knock yourself out. But you aren't one of these twerps on here who professes to be an encyclopedia on football despite never having been to a game.

Do you watch LoI games of a Friday night?

UnitedIrishman

Also a point about the '99% of fans wouldn't want England to win the WC' - there is a high number of Liverpool/Man Utd fans from the North of England that don't like England for the way they treat their players and make scapegoats out of them i.e. Carragher, Scholes, Beckham etc. The treatment of England fans towards the likes of Neville (booing him in Wembley because of who he plays for) also shows what they're like. I'd prefer if none of the English contingent from United played for them.

So it's not just because we're from Ireland.

Optimalprimerib

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

Yet I haven't seen you post on many Spanish football threads...

That excuse doesn't wash. Our generation started following football where Milan and Italian football were the best club sides by a country mile.

If you actually read my whole post i said i supported the irish team first, in which the majority of that team played in the english league. That is why i came interested in it and chose a team to support.

Also the part you did quote was tongue in cheek. I am by no means a coinesseur. I enjoy watching the game as a form of entertainment but rarely take it too seriously. If i am not enjoying what i see i will switch and if i am not interested in the teams playing i will not watch.

Optimalprimerib

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

Yet I haven't seen you post on many Spanish football threads...

That excuse doesn't wash. Our generation started following football where Milan and Italian football were the best club sides by a country mile.

If you actually read my whole post i said i supported the irish team first, in which the majority of that team played in the english league. That is why i came interested in it and chose a team to support.

Also the part you did quote was tongue in cheek. I am by no means a coinesseur. I enjoy watching the game as a form of entertainment but rarely take it too seriously. If i am not enjoying what i see i will switch and if i am not interested in the teams playing i will not watch.

RGDATA!

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

Do you watch LoI games of a Friday night?

only when sligo rovers are on to be honest. if i am in and they are on i will certainly watch it

edit: i don't really "follow" the eircom league as much as the premiership, but i do go to a few eircom league games per season with friends who are a lot more in to it.
i don't go to premiership games.
i am a barstooler and, if not proud, certainly not bothered by the fact

Davidth88

On the OP

They will never feel the jubilation of a real fan as he runs onto the pitch to celebrate with his heroes after his side have just won the league.

If you did this in England , you would be arrested.

As for the anyone but England thing .

I can see where the OP is coming from , the only time I have encountered nastyness towards my nationality is when England play, I remember clearly getting dogs abuse from a twit in a Man U shirt with Beckham on the back !!

As for the live vs TV debate , there was an interesting chat about this on Newstalk at the weekend. Along the lines that the LOI need to make themselves a little more connected to the local community, also presently its very dominated by the ' greater Dublin area '

I did go to a number of LOI games , enjoy the buzz of a live game .

I am not sure how fans that ' visit ' are viewed . I do find it a little strange when people talk about ' We ' when they have never been to the place concerned and possibly doesn't even know where 'We ' are based, let alone any traditions / folk lore surrounding the club concerned.

Paul Tergat

I do find it quite funny how some cant separate the English leagues from the English national team.

therecklessone

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

Our generation started following football where Milan and Italian football were the best club sides by a country mile.

You really should speak for yourself.

Gavin "shels"

Davidth88 wrote: »

If you did this in England , you would be arrested.

Because the few thousand Newcastle fans who went onto the pitch at the weekend all got arrested? You mean if you done it in the EPL you'd be arrested, not England in general.

_blank_

Gavin shels wrote: »

Because the few thousand Newcastle fans who went onto the pitch at the weekend all got arrested? You mean if you done it in the EPL you'd be arrested, not England in general.

There was a pitch invasion at Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend. I don't all the people got arrested.

therecklessone

Gavin shels wrote: »

Because the few thousand Newcastle fans who went onto the pitch at the weekend all got arrested? You mean if you done it in the EPL you'd be arrested, not England in general.

Encroaching on the pitch is an offence regardless of the league, my best guess as to the lack of arrests at the weekend was that it was related to the logistics of arresting thousands of fans.

Ush1

p_larkin99 wrote: »

I do find it quite funny how some cant separate the English leagues from the English national team.

Indeed but people supporting an English club have an affinity to English football, clearly.

Davidth88

Gavin shels wrote: »

Because the few thousand Newcastle fans who went onto the pitch at the weekend all got arrested? You mean if you done it in the EPL you'd be arrested, not England in general.

Ok let me fix that

If you did this in England , you run the risk of being arrested because it's against the law .

Paul Tergat

Ush1 wrote: »

Indeed but people supporting an English club have an affinity to English football, clearly.

But not the national team. They support an English team, not England.

gustavo

UnitedIrishman wrote: »

Also a point about the '99% of fans wouldn't want England to win the WC' - there is a high number of Liverpool/Man Utd fans from the North of England that don't like England for the way they treat their players and make scapegoats out of them i.e. Carragher, Scholes, Beckham etc. The treatment of England fans towards the likes of Neville (booing him in Wembley because of who he plays for) also shows what they're like. I'd prefer if none of the English contingent from United played for them.

So it's not just because we're from Ireland.

Keep telling yourself that!

OhNoYouDidn't

p_larkin99 wrote: »

But not the national team. They support an English team, not England.

But why, thats the point. Why cream your bags over Rooney on Saturday and hope he breaks his leg on Wednesday? Its schitzophrenic.

Ush1

p_larkin99 wrote: »

But not the national team. They support an English team, not England.

Yes, but they have an affinity to English football. Hating the national team would seem a tad ironic.

Iago

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

But why, thats the point. Why cream your bags over Rooney on Saturday and hope he breaks his leg on Wednesday? Its schitzophrenic.

wait what? You seriously know United fans who hope Rooney breaks his leg while playing for the English team??

I find that very hard to believe tbh

Ush1

Iago wrote: »

wait what? You seriously know United fans who hope Rooney breaks his leg while playing for the English team??

I find that very hard to believe tbh

Pedantic. His point stands. Alot of Irish Man. United fans certainly don't wish Rooney well with the NT, or any of the other NT players.

Iago

Ush1 wrote: »

Pedantic. His point stands. Alot of Irish Man. United fans certainly don't wish Rooney well with the NT, or any of the other NT players.

It doesn't really, wanting a team to fail and wanting an individual to fail/get injured are very different things, and have very different motivations.

I also don't subscribe to the theory that "most" Irish fans of EPL teams want the English team to fail miserably either, I certainly don't. I'm not bothered whether they win it or not, but I don't wish them bad luck either.

Galvasean

It's attitudes like that in the article in the OP that put me off LoI. A few years ago I tried to get into LoI. Started supporting Shels, but as soon as people found out I was also an Arsenal fan I started getting chasticised for being a 'barstooler'. I gave up on Shels as it's no fun going to games where your fellow fans hate your guts just because you like an English team aswell. So I defected and started supporting Bohs. Unfortunately the very same thing happened there too so I gave up on LoI since the fans of my two closest LoI teams basically ran me out of it with their prejudice.
If more LoI fans were a bit more open minded to new fans and not so stuck up their own holes about what consitutes a 'real' fan the league would be a heck of a lot more successsful.

Paul Tergat

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

But why, thats the point. Why cream your bags over Rooney on Saturday and hope he breaks his leg on Wednesday? Its schitzophrenic.

I assume you are just exaggerating here looking for a point thats not really there. As has been said nobody in their right mind would hope for their player to break a leg while on international duty, England or not.

Ush1 wrote: »

Yes, but they have an affinity to English football. Hating the national team would seem a tad ironic.

Ah now you see this has changed. Hating the team is completely different to supporting them. I reckon you will find that most are just indifferent. The affinity lies with the English league and not the national team. If you can't see how they are separate then I guess we'll just be going round in circles.

doncarlos

Galvasean wrote: »

It's attitudes like that in the article in the OP that put me off LoI. A few years ago I tried to get into LoI. Started supporting Shels, but as soon as people found out I was also an Arsenal fan I started getting chasticised for being a 'barstooler'. I gave up on Shels as it's no fun going to games where your fellow fans hate your guts just because you like an English team aswell. So I defected and started supporting Bohs. Unfortunately the very same thing happened there too so I gave up on LoI since the fans of my two closest LoI teams basically ran me out of it with their prejudice.
If more LoI fans were a bit more open minded to new fans and not so stuck up their own holes about what consitutes a 'real' fan the league would be a heck of a lot more successsful.

That sounds like a load of crap to me. I am the only one out of all my friends that supports Dundalk that doesn't support another team. I have never heard or heard of anybody getting abuse for supporting another club. I see plenty of PL jerseys at LOI games all over the country. None of these people seem to be getting the abuse that you claim to have suffered. Strange.....

Ush1

Iago wrote: »

It doesn't really, wanting a team to fail and wanting an individual to fail/get injured are very different things, and have very different motivations.

I also don't subscribe to the theory that "most" Irish fans of EPL teams want the English team to fail miserably either, I certainly don't. I'm not bothered whether they win it or not, but I don't wish them bad luck either.

I don't think he meant actually get a broken leg as that would possibly effect the clubs asset. If he did mean that then it's a different arguement, if he didn't, it's just pedantic.

Well I don't think it's theory as much as a borderline stereotype, but anybody in their local has seen it for years.

v3ttel

Galvasean wrote: »

It's attitudes like that in the article in the OP that put me off LoI. A few years ago I tried to get into LoI. Started supporting Shels, but as soon as people found out I was also an Arsenal fan I started getting chasticised for being a 'barstooler'. I gave up on Shels as it's no fun going to games where your fellow fans hate your guts just because you like an English team aswell.

If more LoI fans were a bit more open minded to new fans and not so stuck up their own holes about what consitutes a 'real' fan the league would be a heck of a lot more successsful.

Hit the nail of the head. They damage their own league and put off supporters with this ridiculous childish drivel.

And regards the England national side, I'd be amazed if you find any Irish United fan who wishes any ill-harm to any United player, no matter what country they are playing for.

For the record, I'm really not bothered by how England do. I don't wish them any ill-harm but I won't be supporting them either. If they do well, fair play to them. Actually, I know quite a few English people who were shouting for us in 2002. In this WC, I'd quite like to see Uruguay do well!

Ush1

p_larkin99 wrote: »

Ah now you see this has changed. Hating the team is completely different to supporting them. I reckon you will find that most are just indifferent. The affinity lies with the English league and not the national team. If you can't see how they are separate then I guess we'll just be going round in circles.

No it hasn't changed the op addressed Irish EPL fans wishing bad to the English NT. I don't reckon I will find most indifferent and I haven't found that personally at all. I'm not saying every EPL fan is like that but I've met a hell of alot that HATE the English NT with a passion.

Of course I can see a difference, but I also see an affinity with English football. Not sure why you'd be indifferent if that were the case. Why support the team at all if don't have an affinity to the country or place where they play?

_blank_

Galvasean wrote: »

Started supporting Shels, but as soon as people found out I was also an Arsenal fan I started getting chasticised for being a 'barstooler'.

I don't believe you.

I am a regular in Tolka Park with a bunch of lads (my brother included) who sit in their local on Saturday/Sunday rooting for Liverpool or Man Utd.

In fact, I'd love to know in what part of the ground you were, and what exactly lead to this conversation you had with these people "finding out" you support Arsenal.

Did you wear an Arsenal shirt into the ground or something?

Or was it normal match-day banter that got you confused.

Honestly, I've brought Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd fans to Tolka Park with me, and never have I seen them being "run out of the ground".

Paul Tergat

Ush1 wrote: »

No it hasn't changed the op addressed Irish EPL fans wishing bad to the English NT. I don't reckon I will find most indifferent and I haven't found that personally at all. I'm not saying every EPL fan is like that but I've met a hell of alot that HATE the English NT with a passion.

Of course I can see a difference, but I also see an affinity with English football. Not sure why you'd be indifferent if that were the case. Why support the team at all if don't have an affinity to the country or place where they play?

No, I think you responded to a post where I said I dont see why they should SUPPORT the English team if they support an EPL team. Thats all my point is.

On the flip side, of course those who say they hate the English team are pretty stupid but which club they support should have nothing to do with it.

Ill say it again to ya, if you cant see a difference in the EPL and the English national team then, as we are now, it will just go round in circles. If theres nothing else to add then theres just no point in replying... (not meaning to be an ass)


oh, and on the indifference thing I guess we just have encountered different people. My mates wind me up telling me they want the England team to lose but when theyre being serious theyre very indifferent to it.

applehunter

Galvasean wrote: »

I gave up on Shels as it's no fun going to games where your fellow fans hate your guts just because you like an English team aswell. So I defected and started supporting Bohs. Unfortunately the very same thing happened there too so I gave up on LoI since the fans of my two closest LoI teams basically ran me out of it with their prejudice.

I really find that hard to believe.

The average LOI supporter just goes to the game and has no agenda. I think maybe you are imagining what a LOI fan is like based on a few radicals on internet message boards. Most people don't have those hang ups.

And if it is true...well I think it says more about you...

OhNoYouDidn't

p_larkin99 wrote: »

No, I think you responded to a post where I said I dont see why they should SUPPORT the English team if they support an EPL team. Thats all my point is.

On the flip side, of course those who say they hate the English team are pretty stupid but which club they support should have nothing to do with it.

Ill say it again to ya, if you cant see a difference in the EPL and the English national team then, as we are now, it will just go round in circles. If theres nothing else to add then theres just no point in replying... (not meaning to be an ass)

Ole Ole'ers cherry pick shocker.

If you can't see why following English football in part but not other bits is quite strange, then we can't help you.

Paul Tergat

Des wrote: »

I don't believe you.

I am a regular in Tolka Park with a bunch of lads (my brother included) who sit in their local on Saturday/Sunday rooting for Liverpool or Man Utd.

In fact, I'd love to know in what part of the ground you were, and what exactly lead to this conversation you had with these people "finding out" you support Arsenal.

Did you wear an Arsenal shirt into the ground or something?

Or was it normal match-day banter that got you confused.

Honestly, I've brought Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd fans to Tolka Park with me, and never have I seen them being "run out of the ground".

On this, I went to Dalymount to watch a match with a Utd shirt on and one of the fans asked me why I was wearing it. I explained I was a Utd fan and just wanted to sample some LOI action as there was nothing else on. Chatted away to the lad and he was sound once he knew I just wanted to watch some footie.

OhNoYouDidn't

Iago wrote: »

wait what? You seriously know United fans who hope Rooney breaks his leg while playing for the English team??

I find that very hard to believe tbh

Its a figure of speech. I've seen guys with Gerrard on their Liverpool shirts booing him playing for Engerland in the pub. Idiots, but not in a minority, that is the problem.

Paul Tergat

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

Ole Ole'ers cherry pick shocker.

If you can't see why following English football in part but not other bits is quite strange, then we can't help you.

Well personally mate im English and obviously support my country. Again though, try separating the league and the national team (you see, circular argument)


The one point I think you are missing though is that we dont want or need your help or approval and a good few of you seem to think we do. Its quite funny really.

Ush1

p_larkin99 wrote: »

No, I think you responded to a post where I said I dont see why they should SUPPORT the English team if they support an EPL team. Thats all my point is.

On the flip side, of course those who say they hate the English team are pretty stupid but which club they support should have nothing to do with it.

Ill say it again to ya, if you cant see a difference in the EPL and the English national team then, as we are now, it will just go round in circles. If theres nothing else to add then theres just no point in replying... (not meaning to be an ass)

Of course I see the difference but my point is if you support an English team, you have propensity for the countries football. It would seem strange NOT to have at least a passing interest in the NTs well being.

Aside from that, circles it is.

_blank_

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

If you can't see why following English football in part but not other bits is quite strange, then we can't help you.

I can understand it.

I support an Irish team, but fúcking hate the national team.

p_larkin99 wrote: »

On this, I went to Dalymount to watch a match with a Utd shirt on and one of the fans asked me why I was wearing it. I explained I was a Utd fan and just wanted to sample some LOI action as there was nothing else on. Chatted away to the lad and he was sound once he knew I just wanted to watch some footie.

This would be my experience too.

I just don't understand anyone wearing a jersey into a ground in which the team who's jersey they are wearing aren't playing. I just think it's a little strange, but no skin off my nose.

I actually don't wear jerseys myself, of any form.

Worse though, are people who wear British jerseys to Ireland games, that is absolutely mind boggling to me.