Best fans in the world

Flint Fredstone

osarusan wrote: »

I have no problem with this at all, but do have a problem when people using the 'no affinity, feel like an outsider, too far away' argument are also fans of Man United or Celtic or wherever, and don't seem to have a problem with affinity, distance, or being an outsider.

On the flip side, a lot of people have no problem with someone supporting a team from a different county but do have a problem when it's a different country. Neither team "represent" that fan but one is ok because it's in the league they are involved in.

The double standards work both ways.

jacool

Dozen Wicked Words wrote: »

Surely most decent fans would be looking to move their tickets on, plenty of touts and I'm sure money to be made. Event bandwagoners will stay but I'd have thought not having their team in the game, most other fans wouldn't bother. It's like showing you what you could have won on Bullseye.

Bit sad when your team isn't even playing and your singing your songs.

Its not just as simple as you imply when you say "moving on your tickets". If you've already got flights and hotels paid for then many will travel and just enjoy the experience. Has the potential for 2 cracking semi-finals.
Unlike the natural pessimists who were at the NZ vs France game, these fans will have been the more optimistic ones! Are they allowed sing? I suppose as long as Mr. Joubert doesn't call foul against them, yes!

Dozen Wicked Words

jacool wrote: »

Its not just as simple as you imply when you say "moving on your tickets". If you've already got flights and hotels paid for then many will travel and just enjoy the experience. Has the potential for 2 cracking semi-finals.
Unlike the natural pessimists who were at the NZ vs France game, these fans will have been the more optimistic ones! Are they allowed sing? I suppose as long as Mr. Joubert doesn't call foul against them, yes!

Had a grumpy reply written, but I'll edit it to say I hope they enjoy the semi finals.

Zebra3

Flint Fredstone wrote: »

On the flip side, a lot of people have no problem with someone supporting a team from a different county but do have a problem when it's a different country. Neither team "represent" that fan but one is ok because it's in the league they are involved in.

The double standards work both ways.

You can follow whoever you want.

But just don't embarrass yourself by claiming to be the best fans in the world-which is after all the title of the thread.

Nalz

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

And I'd be willing to bet come the Argentina-Australia semi-final that the Irish will be once again heard singing in the stands.

Oh how marvelous, that will be a joy to hear :rolleyes:

During the Argentina v Ireland rugger game I didn't hear The fields of athenry sung for as long and nowhere near as loud as I heard it at the French v NZ game.

price690

The bottom line is this-

Both soccer and rugby have very small sections of hardcore support. Support for Soccer in the late 80s/early 90s is like the support for Rugby in this generation.

When you strip away all of the hype, drink, and celebrity of it, you are left with small groups of people who love the game.

When the good times are rolling you have vastly larger groups of people who love everything around the game- "ooh the bars were hopping last night with buzz" etc..

Irish folks just love the event, the would gladly not go to mass every week and jump the queue for tickets to get into heaven

I'm not going to slag either sport, the digs by each side are petty. You get the soccer fans (of which I am one, resentful that people have jumped ship to follow something else), and you get the rugby fans preaching about how they are far more classy in defeat (accusing fans of having a soccer mentality for having the gall to question to players after yesterdays defeat). Smugness I suppose you could call it. If I see another "heart warming" message of some irish fans hugging argentinian fans in the pub after i'll scream, Irish rugby fans didn't put the patent on being gracious.

The thing is, the vast majority of fans yesterday were not actually rugby fans. When the dust settles they won't give a sh*te when the party is over. Rugby fans would tend to call these lads "the soccer fans". The thing is they are not soccer fans either. They high tail it when Irish soccer hits a lull period.

They are event junkies, and if ye are all honest with yourself ye will all have known people who went over who hadn't a clue about the sport, but "loved the atmosphere", "loved playing the loyal irishman on the world stage". And if the irish cricket team get popular enough to be spoken about on facebook and if theres a chance of getting your video on joe.ie over that, sure then we will head over there. The same craic happened at the Euros in the football. Ah sure look at us, aren't we brilliant.

Is there anything wrong with being an event junkie? No theres not at all. But call a spade a spade, Irish "fans" don't do longterm support en masse, for anything. Sure why would you emotionally invest in something long term (that doesn't involve sitting on your couch) when you can wait it out for the good times to come and watch something more entertaining on telly in the mean time?

Kudos though to the fans of both sports who do come rain, hail or shine.

osarusan

Flint Fredstone wrote: »

On the flip side, a lot of people have no problem with someone supporting a team from a different county but do have a problem when it's a different country. Neither team "represent" that fan but one is ok because it's in the league they are involved in.

The double standards work both ways.

Like a person from say Galway with no connection to Cork, supporting Cork City instead of Galway?

Boskowski

It seems to me in the Irish mentality there seems a bit of an obsession about something, something of the world.
Doesn't seem to matter much what it is. I remember reading on this very boards some exchange of whether we have the longest straight tree-lined stretch of road in the world.

Magico Gonzalez

Boskowski wrote: »

It seems to me in the Irish mentality there seems a bit of an obsession about something, something of the world.
Doesn't seem to matter much what it is. I remember reading on this very boards some exchange of whether we have the longest straight tree-lined stretch of road in the world.

Ha, it's true. I think because we're a young country in terms of only being independent for 100 years almost, we do seek recognition and exaggerate a little bit. We're no more the best fans in the world than we are the worst. We like a sing song and a rake of beer and we're generally well received by our hosts. Does that make the Irish the best fans in the world? Does it matter?

Boskowski

Whether they're the best or not who cares, but my few experiences with Irish fans were always great. They're there to have a good time, no aggro, just enjoying the trip and enjoying themselves.
I remember being in Cologne 2 years ago for the Germany match and there were thousands in the main squares a couple of hours before the match. The Irish lads (and lassies) were acting the maggot (if you were unsympathetic about it), climbing the sculptures, riding behind Karl the Great or whoever it was, just messing around, but the German police just left them off. They knew there was no harm in them. We had some ride then in the tram to the stadium rocking and singing like mad and the buffled people of Cologne just looked at the cars thinking wtf, but in a good way. Thats just a small example. The whole 3 days were one of the best football memories of mine and I'm sure it was just par for the course for the lads.
I'd take that any day over the sh1t you can experience elsewhere.

price690

Boskowski wrote: »

Whether they're the best or not who cares, but my few experiences with Irish fans were always great. They're there to have a good time, no aggro, just enjoying the trip and enjoying themselves.
I remember being in Cologne 2 years ago for the Germany match and there were thousands in the main squares a couple of hours before the match. The Irish lads (and lassies) were acting the maggot (if you were unsympathetic about it), climbing the sculptures, riding behind Karl the Great or whoever it was, just messing around, but the German police just left them off. They knew there was no harm in them. We had some ride then in the tram to the stadium rocking and singing like mad and the buffled people of Cologne just looked at the cars thinking wtf, but in a good way. Thats just a small example. The whole 3 days were one of the best football memories of mine and I'm sure it was just par for the course for the lads.
I'd take that any day over the sh1t you can experience elsewhere.

so you love a good session? does the sport actually matter at all? Genuine question and i'm not having a pop.

It seems that in this instance the football was only good for bringing like minded revellers into the same sphere. Booze being the common denominator.

Omackeral

This thread on after hours is really heating up. Just wondering if the football people here have had any input into it or if their thoughts have changed/stayed the same since Poland 2012.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057609546


Starts of well mannered and people supporting the fans abroad but halfway through people seem to have enough of these whacky lads on every second video on their social media feeds.

Check out this post!

nehe milner skudder wrote: »

this summers christmas jumper is the novelty tricolour.
it used to be a reindeer with a glitter red nose, now its drake dancing to hotline bling in fairy lights.

each one must be more outrageous than the other. "davey keogh says hello" replaced by " if you can't beat them bang them". incidentally you couldn't beat them....as usual.

having fun is one one thing but the irish self awareness that they are being filmed is unreal. gurning and lampooning for the fomo brigade back home, like leprechaun versions of david brent. telling the gag and then winking at the cameras.

its not enough to have the fun, oh no , you have to dance with your smartphone held aloft. generation "me's" pose ....an anthitesis to the statue of liberty.

the exact same clowns who don't go to one race meeting all year but make sure they are behind ted walsh making sex faces in an ill fitting remus uomo suit on stephens day.

banter actually breaking the 4th wall.

the self proclaimed best fans in the world only have 3 songs "shoes off for boys in green", to be replaced with "sit down for boys in green" as the mood takes.
ole ole ole and "come on you boys in green" which incidentally most of them replace with blue should dublin reach the all ireland final ( another event for the vacuous digital scrapbook ).

man utd have really good inventive songs, liverpool and dortmund a devout proper fanatical support.

these guys are devoid of identity trapped somewhere between the shoreditch man bun and the so-cal top heavy muscle bound empty vessel.

they travel in numbers as we are an economically privileged country with the benefit of a low cost airline and a sense of entitlement. i deserve the annual leave. i have to be there.

lets see how packed the aviva is for the next game against whogivesa****-istan.

there will be a coronas concert on or an episode of the great british bake off to watch , so i hazard it will be empty. because the irish boys only show up to the big dance. they don't do the foreplay. straight to the moneyshot.


this best in the world narrative ( or crapaganda) is rammed down my throat by the masturbating irish media to the point that if you are not part of it you are a begrudger , jealous, have no life of your own and no purpose.

as far as I'm concerned you are just another emerald cloaked shill at the balls.ie gang bang .

https://twitter.com/niallharbison/status/742491365213278208 this tweet today states that nike could not have conceived an ad as impressive as the clip.

this is the same nike who currently have an ad where cristiano ronaldo falls over the advertising boards, collides,morphs into, swaps places with, and then assumes the life of a ten year old black boy.

I'm fairly sure they could ****e out on a napkin a bunch of pasty white knuckle dragging sun shine boys banging on the side of the bus.

get off the road gents. you are in the way of real people.



100 years after michael collins freed us we are self imprisoned in shamrock coloured douchebaggery.


stop the world , i want to get off.








written by the self proclaimed best ranter in the world.

Are the tacky flags tasteless or just fun? Are you fed up with the clips or do you think they're all doing us proud?

Moist Bread

Reading that post gave me a headache. I didn't know what he was on about half the time.

CSF

No way am I getting caught up in an After Hours thread so I'll just give my thoughts here.

It is great that the people who go over to the big tournaments when we qualify (I'm intentionally separating them from the people who go to matches all year round because this kind of thing doesn't happen at our games all year round), I'll have our fans over the English or Russian fans where people have gone over specifically for the purpose of fighting. No question about it.

But I still think when we qualify for major tournaments large amounts of our nation want to draw as much attention to themselves as possible with these stupid flags and banter videos. It is fine that people have a good time, I'm not going to try stop anyone. But that doesn't mean I can't think they're stupid and tacky either.

Arghus

I admire that above After Hours long-winded post for it's flairly vitriol; even if I don't agree with most of it. I don't know much it has to do with football really; it's more a case of indiscriminate carpet bombing of whatever that poster doesn't like in Irish society.

It feels like a rant that's been lying dormant for many years, festering like cancer. It's polished and rehearsed, probably from years of being repeated internally like a mantra inside the head of whoever that fellow happens to be, waiting for it's opportunity to be unleashed on the internet, so we can all cower in awestruck fear, no doubt. Too bad, I guess, that letting something that toxic grow inside you probably strangles your capacity to find joy in life. Maybe someone will plastic hammer all that hate out of him.

Moist Bread

I had to google 'shoreditch man bun' thankfully it was less obscene than some of my imaginings.

Great to see the Irish fans have a great time. There'll always be moaning begrudgers. Such is life.

nehe milner skudder

Moist Bread wrote: »

Reading that post gave me a headache. I didn't know what he was on about half the time.

delighted

nehe milner skudder

Arghus wrote: »

I admire that above After Hours long-winded post for it's flairly vitriol; even if I don't agree with most of it. I don't know much it has to do with football really; it's more a case of indiscriminate carpet bombing of whatever that poster doesn't like in Irish society.

It feels like a rant that's been lying dormant for many years, festering like cancer. It's polished and rehearsed, probably from years of being repeated internally like a mantra inside the head of whoever that fellow happens to be, waiting for it's opportunity to be unleashed on the internet, so we can all cower in awestruck fear, no doubt. Too bad, I guess, that letting something that toxic grow inside you probably strangles your capacity to find joy in life. Maybe someone will plastic hammer all that hate out of him.

nah no festering. i get my shots in early and often.
had a similarly loquacious diatribe in the conor mcgregor v nate diaz thread pre the euros.

need to keep the locals honest.

luckily for vegas this band of miscreants can only be on one bandwagon at a time although they did well to clear the pay day loans already since 2012.

its all arbitrary though as we are only 10 days away from this teddy boy sojourn to be over and for the real football with the proper teams at the business end to begin.

that will be the end of the jingoistic narrative that has been gavaged upon us like some blind patriotic digital foie gras.





drops mic

alchemist33

I posted this in the other thread and I'll stick to it here:

I thought the corresponding thread about this four years ago was a low on boards but it's got competition now. Sixteen pages so far of people banging on about something they're "not outraged" about. And what is it that's getting people so worked up?

Irish people drinking abroad? So what? I don't drink and even I don't begrudge them having some fun as long as they don't harm anyone else.

Posting videos of themselves online? Has anyone looked at the Internet lately. It's full of selfies of all sorts, not just from football fans. It's nothing new, and unlike taking a photo in your bathroom, they're sharing what they're doing at a big event for their friends to see.

They're "event junkies"? In every sport, and every walk of life, people are drawn to the bigger events. How many who were at Bruce Springsteen were supporting their local rock band in their local venue all week? Do you all think to support Irish film-makers showing their wares in niche festivals when you're watching the latest blockbuster?

The media are blowing up the fans' behaviour, calling them the best in the world? Of course they're not the best -- there's no way to measure it, but does it really annoy you that much? It's hyperbole, it's what the media do, and really, it's trivial.

It's all over the media? No it isn't. There have never been more ways to avoid sport. Even if some of your Facebook friends are posting about it, guess what? You scroll past and wheee -- there's a life-affirming quote for you.

And last but not least, they're all stupid because of the sport or teams they follow -- believe it or not, that's not a measure of intelligence, and if you really think it is... you can guess the rest.


People have been saying the fans' behaviour reflects badly on society, but not half as much as the mean-spirited, thin-skinned attitudes here.

whiskeyman

RoboKlopp wrote: »

Great to see the Irish fans have a great time. There'll always be moaning begrudgers. Such is life.

I'd much rather see our fans act the way they are now and opposed to ones fighting and chucking chairs about.

Well done lads (and lassies!)

I hope they all have a great and safe time!


(and I'm jealous as feck of yiz all!)

:pac:

GavRedKing

The original post in After Hours is a poor mans attempt at being Andersonisgod.

2/10, wouldnt read again.

nehe milner skudder

GavRedKing wrote: »

The original post in After Hours is a poor mans attempt at being Andersonisgod.

2/10, wouldnt read again.

Big fan of Anderson is God . Keep fighting the good fight my man.

inforfun

2 days ago, after the 5 o'clock match some (kids?) program started on TV3.
Mind you, the match just finished was Austria - Hungary.

First sentence in the program: "Aren't the irish fans great?"

I dont mind the fans themselves trying and by the looks of it, succeeding in having a good time.
It is **** like the above that is annoying.

(this is from someone who is disgusted by the Dutch fans at tournament, that ****ing Indian for example. We invented speed skating for that)

Nift

We can't compare ourselves to other nations; we don't have a fully functioning Irish league that most Irish people support thanks to the FAI. Our supporters mostly support English clubs. Other nations have groups, tribes even, of people who work and pay to follow their local team be it Lincoln city or Liverpool. They group together with their national sides and alot of them go nuts whereas a huge amount of them don't. In particular the lads following the smaller clubs aren't used to big occasions. So do Germans, Danes etc. Its a culture completely alien to us in football terms. Doesn't make it right or not repellent at times, but we have zero right to judge them. Best fans in the world my arse, lads dancing on buses, the rubbish left behind on streets. They are fans, drinking and having craic. Where are they when football is dying at a league level? Why are they supporting English football but then pretending to hate England. Being the best fans in the world isn't just about boozing, its about supporting everything your country does in football.

Whatever, drinking is good. Following your national side is good. But don't pretend its anything other than that. We go on about being stereotyped..and yet every reference in this tournament about Irish fans is to how the Irish like to drink...without violence, and in fairness its not wrong. Yeah we're not violent but how many right ultras from say Shelbourne or Cork City are there? they're not, they probably can't afford to...in fairness to most "hooligans" in England they are actually working so they can follow their clubs on the weekend. Scum, but working scum. And probably staying sober so they can fight. It's hugely different cultures. And anybody who disagrees, just youtube the documentaries on UK hooligan culture.

We have great fans, but can we please stop all the other tiresome BS. So do other countries.

I love Ireland but as Gabriel Byrne once said, we think we are at the centre of the world, neatly positioned so, but in reality most people of the World couldn't put a pin on us. We need validation and its sad. Lets validate ourselves by winning the bloody thing.

thebaz

yawn - I have been an Irish fan side the Dallymount days - and honestly preferred it so - the happy Leprachaun brigade does little for me

gandalf

One of the links to the Great Irish fans that popped up on my Facebook originated on a Swedish Fan Page and tbh they have reems of similar video clicks of the Swedish Fans having the craic and acting silly and some of them post well our team are crap but at least our fans are world class.

TBH it is monotonous seeing all the videos of lads with too many beers singing Ole Ole Ole all the time but part of my annoyance is also jealousy of not being there. It seems they are doing our reputation no harm and even dour old Shane Ross was singing their praises this morning. Fair play to them, the bastards! (Yes still jealous!).

ShooterSF

Again if we dispose of the silly idea of best fans in the world, there are 2 great fans to me: Those that go to these big events and try and have a good, fun time and make an effort to brighten the event for those around them too, and then the fans that travel to the backend of nowhere to shout for the team in a friendly. Praising one group should not take away from the other and praising Irish fans is not patting oneself on the back unless you are referring to yourself at an event!

Peist2007

GavRedKing wrote: »

The original post in After Hours is a poor mans attempt at being Andersonisgod.

2/10, wouldnt read again.

It's a rant that says a lot more about the ranter than the subjects of his/her rant

nehe milner skudder

Peist2007 wrote: »

It's a rant that says a lot more about the ranter than the subjects of his/her rant

go on

dan1895

Nift wrote: »

Yeah we're not violent but how many right ultras from say Shelbourne or Cork City are there? they're not, they probably can't afford to...in fairness to most "hooligans" in England they are actually working so they can follow their clubs on the weekend. Scum, but working scum.

Are you saying that Shelbourne and Cork City ultras are violent scum and if so what on Earth are you basing that on?

Peist2007

nehe milner skudder wrote: »

go on

Your agenda, and those of your cohorts on the After Hours thread, all became clear by the posting on the same thread of the Irish Times article which painted Irish fans in a less positive light. Here's a hint: there needs to be more than one layer of sublety in hiding an agenda otherwise it is easily made transparent. You and your allies on that thread gave away your positions pretty easily. Amateurs.

briany

ShooterSF wrote: »

Again if we dispose of the silly idea of best fans in the world, there are 2 great fans to me: Those that go to these big events and try and have a good, fun time and make an effort to brighten the event for those around them too, and then the fans that travel to the backend of nowhere to shout for the team in a friendly. Praising one group should not take away from the other and praising Irish fans is not patting oneself on the back unless you are referring to yourself at an event!

At the end of the day, the 'bandwagon' people who join the hardcore when Ireland compete at a major are perfectly welcome because they've never really sullied the good reputation that Irish fans have. The 'Best Fans in the World' thing doesn't really come into it, but it's a good testament to the character of this large group that you never hear any big stories about aggravation caused by it and, if anything, the host country and its people are generally quite happy to have them there. That is unless there's some great media blackout on Irish fans doing a Russian.

Zebra3

The neediness is sad.

Pat drunk Paddy on the head and tell him he's great.

Clear Hearts

I hate when we pat ourselfs on the back as greatest fans, its a little sad, how can you possibly rate that. Iceland fans were amazing, I didnt hear them saying they are the best fans in the world.
I dont see it as a achievement being able to go out drinking without turning into hooligans, that is beyond stupid, we seem to want everyone to think we are just great people when most of us are the exact same sort of fans as the English/French/German supporters

monkey9

I'm enjoying watching all the vids and vines of the fans having a good time over there. Some of them are funny. I admit it is getting a bit grating the click bait sites continiously headlining the videos with 'another reason why we're great'.

I don't really get the stick the fans get. They're just having a good time. Doing what the Irish fans have always done at those tournaments, except now we get to see it because of the availability of camera phones and social media.

monkey9

monkey9 wrote: »

I'm enjoying watching all the vids and vines of the fans having a good time over there. Some of them are funny. I admit it is getting a bit grating the click bait sites continiously headlining the videos with 'another reason why we're great'.

I don't really get the stick the fans get. They're just having a good time. Doing what the Irish fans have always done at those tournaments, except now we get to see it because of the availability of camera phones and social media.

It's begrudgery.

Irish people having serious crack away from home. More power to them.

Deise2016

Lads let's be honest the same people who are constantly calling themselves the Greatest Fans in the World are the people who get themselves in a knot whenever someone on the BBC says England might get to the semi finals.

The Irish fans are well behaved, good fun and create a good atmosphere.

As do the fans of most of most other countries, we're not unique in that department.

What makes the Irish fans different and I know many will disagree is I don't get the sense that the result or the football really matters to many of the Irish supporters.

Sure they'd like Ireland to win but really it's all about the drink and the craic.

Watching Polish fans, Turks, Germans, Dutch, Croatians even England it seems defeat hurts more and winning means more.

For some of our fans it's more important to get on RTE having the craic.

Good fans? Yes without doubt and sometjing to be proud of but let's stop patting ourselves on the back for it to an almost needy extent

Shanotheslayer

Deise2016 wrote: »

Watching Polish fans, Turks, Germans, Dutch, Croatians even England it seems defeat hurts more and winning means more.

I'm going to exclude the Turks here and just go ahead say:

Comparing our football team to any of those is crazy.

All have players much better than ours etc etc. Altho the Dutch didn't qualify that's just mental.

Defeat hurts more for them because they have higher expectations. But trust me, when we lost to Cyprus that time a middow team compared to is, it would hurt every fan.

It would be like Germany losing to us in a big game ( Not counting the one we won as they had qualified)

charkee

Fans are great and don't cause trouble.it reflects well.

But there will be a few idiots as well .Lifting an African man in the air and singing the darts /man city kolo yaya toure song Is it a a bit of fun or soft racism?

There is a smug counter reaction from some who cant take it that soccer is so popular.

weeing in doorways is done by rugby and gaa fans. soccer fans bladders are not any weaker?

but the neediness reminds of when the big names play the 3 Arena and next days radio goes on .....
A Lister called
the Irish crowd the best audience in the world, ..and the presenters believe it.

I wonder who's having the best time.

People in France enjoying the match build up and crack, or people moaning about said fans on message boards across the country?

Cantona's Collars

RoboKlopp wrote: »

I wonder who's having the best time.

People in France enjoying the match build up and crack, or people moaning about said fans on message boards across the country?

The same people will probably be logged in at 2pm tomorrow and still moaning while the rest of us are in the pub having the craic.

niallo27

RoboKlopp wrote: »

I wonder who's having the best time.

People in France enjoying the match build up and crack, or people moaning about said fans on message boards across the country?

I don't anyone minds the fans having a laugh. I go bonkers enough myself. It's just the constant reporting of how great they are is headwrecking. I wish a few of them would smash up some **** or start a riot just so we wouldn't have to hear it anymore

niallo27

niallo27 wrote: »

I don't anyone minds the fans having a laugh. I go bonkers enough myself. It's just the constant reporting of how great they are is headwrecking. I wish a few of them would smash up some **** or start a riot just so we wouldn't have to hear it anymore

Ah yeah, sure that's the media not the fans. They report it because it's going to be read

niallo27

RoboKlopp wrote: »

Ah yeah, sure that's the media not the fans. They report it because it's going to be read

Oh ya not blaming the fans at all. We all enjoy a good piss up but people are seriously getting sick of being told how great they are

Tuisceanch

I think the Irish fans have the potential for greatness but until they rescue a cat from a tree I'm reserving judgement. Also singing a West life song in public is a blot on their copybook. Nobody should have to put up with that tasteless behaviour.

niallo27

niallo27 wrote: »

Oh ya not blaming the fans at all. We all enjoy a good piss up but people are seriously getting sick of being told how great they are

Disable Facebook and go have a pint would be my advice to those people!

monkey9

niallo27 wrote: »

I don't anyone minds the fans having a laugh. I go bonkers enough myself. It's just the constant reporting of how great they are is headwrecking. I wish a few of them would smash up some **** or start a riot just so we wouldn't have to hear it anymore

But that's not the fans fault. They're going over having a good time, like they always did and probably their parents did before them at Italia 90.

This whole 'best fans in the world thing', it's something others from different countries think as well. It's not just a self congratulation thing. A lot of other fans go out of their way to meet up with the Irish fans.

I was having the same arguements on the Euro 2012 thread (maybe this is the same thread actually, i don't know.) But people were moaning about the fans back then.

The Euro's are a big deal. It's a big deal we're there and the fans are part of the story. The fans stories have always been reported upon at these tournaments, but as i said before, we get more exposure to these stories through social media in the 21st century.

I think the fans are great for the tourist trade of this country, the Swedes for example will probably head over here. Some of the fans may head to Sweden at some stage the way a lot have headed back to Poland since 2012 (another country the fans left a positive impression upon back then.

Of course i would prefer if a decent percentage of these fans would go to League of Ireland games and really build our domestic league and of course there's a lot of bandwagonary going on with a lot of those fans not having gone to any of the qualifying games.

But so what. Seriously, so what. Life is short. They're having a ball over there, they're happy and i believe they're seriously creating a good impression of Ireland upon a lot of people of different nationalities.

Zebra3

charkee wrote: »

But there will be a few idiots as well .Lifting an African man in the air and singing the darts /man city kolo yaya toure song Is it a a bit of fun or soft racism?

Casual racism is the appropriate description.

But something something they were having the craic.:rolleyes:

Zebra3

Zebra3 wrote: »

Casual racism is the appropriate description.

But something something they were having the craic.:rolleyes:

Oh ffs

The racism card