Herald Says "best fans in the world" a myth * Mod Note #53 *

Paully D

stovelid wrote: »

It's all playstation stats and recycling pundit cliches - often while the fuckiing match is actually on.

My word!

dfx-

This thread is now on a very short leash. I'd remind people to consult the forum charter before they post or face the consequences.

conor360

Tbh its funny how many supporters the national team gets when we play friendlys/qualifiers at home, then when we actually qualify for a major tournament everyone turns into a big Ireland fan and a majority travel to it. Seriously how mny of them supporters even attended a home game throughout the campaign? Now they will go back into their shell till we qualify for another major tournament or massive game....

Son Of A Vidic

CiaranC wrote: »

The average poster on here is ****ing clueless about football, its cringeworthy

Love this 'clueless' business, as if soccer is some complicated sport requiring deep and complex analyse. Like let's say for example, the pursuit of a PhD in particle physics. But unfortunately, it is the one sport that is saturated with an overabundance of self anointed experts. Who are perhaps a bit quick to put themselves up on pedestals.

Richard Hillman

Phelps>LOI team getting hammered in the Europa League

Kirby

The olympics is a big draw as it's one of the few sporting events that non-sporting people will sit and watch. The mammies and girlfriends around the country who watch no sport for the rest of the year sit down and watch it with their families and other halfs.

I would wager a few more thousand would have shown up had it not been scheduled when it was. That was obviously UEFA's call but it is what it is. Ofcourse that doesn't change the LOI's many problems with bums on seats but for this particular match, it might be why a major european club coming to Ireland saw little media attention

LuckyLloyd

Paully D wrote: »

Out of interest, how much were the tickets last night?

Myself and my mate knew someone working there and got in free - I guess that makes me a bad fan too!

Leiva

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Myself and my mate knew someone working there and got in free - I guess that makes me a bad fan too!

Ahh here !

:P

Handsome Bob

darkman2 wrote: »

I find the support of the English game in Ireland embarrassing to be honest. I find it silly when some person who lives in Waterford, for example, when referring to Manchester United refers to them as "we" - i.e I hope we get that player or another player. I am sure Manchester City Boroughs are absolutely delighted with your support for that city in the UK. It's dosh to them. Pitty some don't realise LOI is only ****e because so many prefer to support English teams and defacto England both sportingly and financially. I think it is a hangover from when British rule was in Ireland - an inferiority complex.

Ja, that's what it is.

dan1895

monkey9 wrote: »

I don't agree with this. Hannover 96 are a top German side who finished above so called bigger clubs last season. So where are all the so called football fans???

It wasn't on sky sports so how were they supposed to know?

theteal

dan1895 wrote: »

It wasn't on sky sports so how were they supposed to know?

it wasn't on rte but was on german telly :rolleyes:, which is endemic of the whole situation really

dan1895

theteal wrote: »

it wasn't on rte but was on german telly :rolleyes:, which is endemic of the whole situation really

My point was that the Bundesliga isn't on sky therefore most people know sh*t about unless they go looking for the info, myself included.
But you are right as are the others stating they didn't know about the game as there was little media coverage.

Compare it to 8 years ago when Shels beat Hajduk Split. They made the front page, papers had pullout souvenir posters and their were poster up all around the city. The club said they could have sold 45,000 tickets for the game against Deportivo. None of that hype was around the Pats' game or Rovers last year but I don't know why.

LuckyLloyd

The Bundesliga is shown extensively on ESPN. That isn't a relevant issue here.

born2bwild

eagle eye wrote: »

As regards the LoI and all this stuff that goes on here and that rubbish article.

If you have a product that you want to sell its up to you to sell it. Its not a case of saying that people won't give it a chance or anything like that. You have to go out and make people want to buy your product.

'Product'? Following football is not the same thing as buying cans of beans or paying your direct debit to sky. It's far more than a commodity; it's a way of life, it's a cultural activity, a way of constructing identity, a way of understanding the world and yourself - you cheapen and fail to understand it by thinking of it in these terms solely.

Lord TSC

I'm a life long United fan. My father was too and so was his and so forth.

And ultimately, I couldn't care less what others think of my choice of football support. I don't care that Liverpool or City fans don't like I'm a United fan, so I certainly don't care that some LOI goers think they are superior to me cause they support an Irish team.

Ultimately football should be about personal enjoyment and watching what you want to watch how you want to watch it. I have no intentions of letting others tell me who I should or should not support; I can make my own mind up on that. Likewise, you can watch whatever you want and I won't criticise you and your choices.

Let me watch the football which makes me happy. And I'll let you watch the football that makes you happy. But don't expect me to watch football simply to appease you.

jarvis

conor360 wrote: »

Tbh its funny how many supporters the national team gets when we play friendlys/qualifiers at home, then when we actually qualify for a major tournament everyone turns into a big Ireland fan and a majority travel to it. Seriously how mny of them supporters even attended a home game throughout the campaign? Now they will go back into their shell till we qualify for another major tournament or massive game....

I go to all the Ireland matches and it is depressing seeing the empty seats but when you check the newspaper the next day, you see that this isn't just an Irish thing. International stadiums all around the world are half empty for matches, our attendances are still a lot higher than most other European countries.

I would have thought Pats had more than 4,000 supporters!!! I'm a bit shocked to see that's all they have! It's sad really, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it.
And this whole best fans in the world lark; Irish football fans and fans of the Republic of Ireland soccer team are two completely different groups, I can't understand why people keep mixing these two groups up and I honestly don't think that people do mix them up, I think people prentend to misunderstand the differences just to bring back this old and rather boring debate.

Guy:Incognito

eagle eye wrote: »

I never even knew it was on. .

I live in Tallaght and didnt know it was on, let alone on in Tallaght until I was listening to the radio at some stage on Thursday afternoon.

Couple of the European games in the past were fairly heavily advertised iirc.



I wont defend my position for not going to games any further than"I dont want to". I can do what I like and wont be brow beaten to go to somethign I dont want to.

Adamcp898

born2bwild wrote: »

'Product'? Following football is not the same thing as buying cans of beans or paying your direct debit to sky. It's far more than a commodity; it's a way of life, it's a cultural activity, a way of constructing identity, a way of understanding the world and yourself - you cheapen and fail to understand it by thinking of it in these terms solely.

I think the point he's trying to make is, excluding the die hard/all weather fans, in order to attract the casual football fan, the man who doesn't share any identity with any LOI club, whether he has a local one or not, then you have to try and make it seem as attractive as possible to get him in the gate. And in that respect a football match can be viewed as a product to be sold.

Despite how much people love to look down on casual fans you can't ignore their money. There's a reason why every week, every team in the world sells more seats to fans who aren't there for each game than they do to season tickets. Yes the die hard fans who would be there if their team were playing in a car park are the bed rock of a team and yes there isn't an abundance of them either in this country, but you have to do as much as possible to entice the casual man into your ground in order to thrive, whether this means swallowing your pride or not.

It's the reason why the Barcelonas and Uniteds of this world are referred to as 'brand names', they're things people want to be associated with, whether they've a connection with them or not, they want to be there. It does come back to the chicken and the egg argument that 'in order to generate support you need success, and in order to generate success you need money i.e. a bigger fan base' and it's by no means as simple as I've put it but as other people have said in this thread you're not going to get them past the gate by scoffing and lording your own support over them.

Look at it this way, any casual fan who's read this thread, one that may or may not support an English team, but who is on the fringes of football in Ireland i.e. isn't associated with any Irish football club (LOI or lower) but who may have thought a few times they wouldn't mind going to see a game just to see what it's like. All they've seen from the LOI and it's fans here is complaint after complaint and criticism after criticism about how much more of a 'real' fan they are just for going to a ground and standing on a terrace in the wind and rain as part of a crowd of ~200 odd people, and how his casual interest in the football that is most accessible to him, i.e. MOTD on his tele (yes it is, it doesn't matter if he lives next door to his local ground), doesn't matter in the slightest and that he should feel ashamed for even thinking it does. It's human nature for people to think they're doing something that makes them better than the majority, but at least feign some sort of desire for the casual man to come with you every week as opposed to putting him down for not.

I know I'm going to get slated for what I just said, and no not every LOI fan I know is like this, but like it or loathe it it's a reality.

Oat23

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

I live in Tallaght and didnt know it was on, let alone on in Tallaght until I was listening to the radio at some stage on Thursday afternoon.

Couple of the European games in the past were fairly heavily advertised iirc.



I wont defend my position for not going to games any further than"I dont want to". I can do what I like and wont be brow beaten to go to somethign I dont want to.

Have you ever gone to a game or two? You have the current league champions on your doorstep, the least you could do is try it and see what you think. If you went and didn't enjoy it then fair enough.

frankled

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

I'm a life long United fan. My father was too and so was his and so forth.

And ultimately, I couldn't care less what others think of my choice of football support. I don't care that Liverpool or City fans don't like I'm a United fan, so I certainly don't care that some LOI goers think they are superior to me cause they support an Irish team.

Ultimately football should be about personal enjoyment and watching what you want to watch how you want to watch it. I have no intentions of letting others tell me who I should or should not support; I can make my own mind up on that. Likewise, you can watch whatever you want and I won't criticise you and your choices.

Let me watch the football which makes me happy. And I'll let you watch the football that makes you happy. But don't expect me to watch football simply to appease you.

Spot on. Personally, I was brought up following Liverpool and Dublin GAA. When I was 18, I decided to go to a Shels game with a Shels-supporting mate, to see what it was like. I enjoyed watching live football, same as any other game I've been to, but I didn't really care that Shels won or lost. Since, Rovers have moved in around the corner and I thought I could be a bit more interested. Again I tried. I appreciate the fervent support as I know what it feels like to be part of such a group, but I wasn't a Rovers supporter. Going to the games doesn't convert you.

I made conscious attempts to like the league but I can't. I dunno if this will ever change but I just don't have an affinity to ANY club. I was hoping Pats would do well the other night but that was it.

I love supporting Liverpool, but I do understand the difference between supporting a team far away and one which is local. I'm a Dublin GAA fan first and foremost (and no, not barstool etc. I have a season ticket) and I know what it feels like when it's your own locality. The same was felt singing Fields of Athenry in Gdansk.

If you don't have an affinity to a club you can't just go to a game and be converted. Especially if you already follow other teams. I also respect someone's choice to who they want to support, whether it's Monaghan United or Boca Juniors.

It's unfortunate, I really wish LOI was much stronger. But it's unfair to blame the average supporter. And I was there in Gdansk, those fans spent a lot of money to be there, did us proud, and to suggest that they're barstoolers or big-occasion fair-weather supporters is bang out of order. (I go to international games too by the way)

Guy:Incognito

Oatesy23 wrote: »

Have you ever gone to a game or two? You have the current league champions on your doorstep, the least you could do is try it and see what you think. If you went and didn't enjoy it then fair enough.

Havnt been to any Rovers league games, been to a good few European games over the last few years.

Grew up in LOI grounds every week when my dad played in the reserves league. I may well have been to more games than a lot of people here.:)

LuckyLloyd

The argument, as always, is that every football fan should feel obliged to go to LOI games. That it is something they should do because that's real and everything else is fake.

Setting barriers to entry or attempting to define in strict terms what is or is not enjoyable about sport is pretty silly. Are people who don't play or coach football regularly themselves "real" football people? What about those who never played it as a kid? Or those who never played any sport of any kind at the highest level they could play it at. Are you a real sports fan if you don't (or have never) actively participate (d) in some form of it yourself?

Like it or lump it, football is a form of entertainment. By all means choose to get high and mighty about the fact that you "get" it and participate in it "properly" as opposed to the "barstooler". But the dude who enjoys relaxing with a few midweek CL games or Super Sunday after a hard week's work doesn't give a **** what you think. If you make this into a contest, you will be forever bitter - because you have already lost.

Just chill out and enjoy football how you enjoy it imo.

Omackeral

I'm not one for this barstool this and best fans that...

But seriously, whoever thinks the St Pat's vs Hannover game would have drawn 1000+ more people to Tallaght last night had the Olympics not been on tv, is just delusional. The best excuse in a long line of them!

monkey9

Omackeral wrote: »

I'm not one for this barstool this and best fans that...

But seriously, whoever thinks the St Pat's vs Hannover game would have drawn 1000+ more people to Tallaght last night had the Olympics not been on tv, is just delusional. The best excuse in a long line of them!

I'm actually laughing at this one myself. We've had it before, the facilities are bad, the football is awful etc etc. Then, when a team who finished fourth in the Bundesliga and reached the quarter finals of the Europa League last season only to lose to eventual winners Atletico Madrid, come to town, the new excuse is 'ah but Michael Phelps is swimming.' :pac:

jarvis

monkey9 wrote: »

I'm actually laughing at this one myself. We've had it before, the facilities are bad, the football is awful etc etc. Then, when a team who finished fourth in the Bundesliga and reached the quarter finals of the Europa League last season only to lose to eventual winners Atletico Madrid, come to town, the new excuse is 'ah but Michael Phelps is swimming.' :pac:

Exactly, that's how badly people view LOI, that's how dis-interested people are in LOI. As a brand it's suffering because it cannot appeal to a mass audience and the hostility of the "genuine LOI football supporter" is counter productive. People are watching archery and judo in preference to itand I can see why.

Xavi6

jarvis wrote: »

Exactly, that's how badly people view LOI, that's how dis-interested people are in LOI. As a brand it's suffering because it cannot appeal to a mass audience and the hostility of the "genuine LOI football supporter" is counter productive. People are watching archery and judo in preference to itand I can see why.

People aren't watching the Olympics because they don't like the opinions of League of Ireland supporters and are afraid they'll cop some more abuse.

They're watching the Olympics because hype tells them to. As I already said, event junkies. If the media and/or television made two bald men fighting over a comb accessible via remote control viewing figures would be massive.

LuckyLloyd

Xavi6 wrote: »

People aren't watching the Olympics because they don't like the opinions of League of Ireland supporters and are afraid they'll cop some more abuse.

They're watching the Olympics because hype tells them to. As I already said, event junkies. If the media and/or television made two bald men fighting over a comb accessible via remote control viewing figures would be massive.

You ****ing people are beyond belief.

They're watching the Olympics because it is ****ing awesome and it happens once every four years. Jesus.

Xavi6

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

You ****ing people are beyond belief.

They're watching the Olympics because it is ****ing awesome and it happens once every four years. Jesus.

Exactly. Day to day stuff like the League of Ireland, internationals against smaller sides and GAA national league games don't fall into the same glamorous category as the Olympics, the Premier League and the Heineken Cup Final.

You've just backed up my point, nice one.

applehunter

Sad thing is that this was only played in Tallaght and not the Aviva and Pats fans still couldn't fill the place, nevermind non Pats supporters.

Omackeral

jarvis wrote: »

Exactly, that's how badly people view LOI, that's how dis-interested people are in LOI. As a brand it's suffering because it cannot appeal to a mass audience and the hostility of the "genuine LOI football supporter" is counter productive. People are watching archery and judo in preference to itand I can see why.

No, it's because it's on the telly and therefore only requires you to scratch your nutsack while watching:D Archery is not a sport by the way, its just not! And I caught a bit of that Judo yesterday, its just two blokes trying to dis-robe each other, not like in the movies at all

That hostility doesn't apply to LOI fans everywhere pal. I'm an ardent follower and am only happy to speak of all football to whoever will listen. I do bring up LOI at times and it's favorably(sp?) received by lots of colleagues and mates who dont attend or follow it but are interested to hear about the craziness that goes on in their country, a lot are none-the-wiser to it. Funnily enough,the foreign guys seem genuinely very interested of our heated rivalry against Shamrock Rovers and say 'I would love to go to this!'. I've brought non LOI dudes and girls to games and they've enjoyed the spectacle that happens on the terraces i.e. the chanting, banners, humour that you wouldnt see on tv, as well as the likes of a James McClean or Chris Forrester on the pitch.

I dont slate non LOI heads, I just genuinely feel they are missing out on some good fun (and heartache too, tbh!) but that's just the way it is. In a silly way, it makes our clubs all the more our clubs, if that makes sense.

elefant

Xavi6 wrote: »

You've just backed up my point, nice one.

To be honest your point doesn't need backing up. To say almost everyone would be more interested in watching an event with the the cream of sportspeople competing against each other, that happens only once a year/once every 4 years, rather than watching League of Ireland matches is like saying the sky is blue.

But it's hardly because hype tells them to, it's just a whole lot more entertaining.
I wouldn't stay home and watch an Olympic event instead of going to see Pat's because of hype, I just have no interest whatsoever in seeing Pat's play, and nothing I've seen, heard (or certainly read by LOI backers here!) has made me change my view on that in the slightest.

Xavi6

elefant wrote: »

To be honest your point doesn't need backing up. To say almost everyone would be more interested in watching an event with the the cream of sportspeople competing against each other, that happens only once a year/once every 4 years, rather than watching League of Ireland matches is like saying the sky is blue.

But it's hardly because hype tells them to, it's just a whole lot more entertaining.
I wouldn't stay home and watch an Olympic event instead of going to see Pat's because of hype, I just have no interest whatsoever in seeing Pat's play, and nothing I've seen, heard (or certainly read by LOI backers here!) has made me change my view on that in the slightest.

Is it? If archery is more exciting than a European tie in the flesh to someone who is generally a football fan then there's something wrong imo.

Also the Olympics goes on for two and a half weeks, not like it was a once off game clashing with the Pat's game. That would be much more understandable.

All I'm saying is that the Olympics is a piss weak excuse.

LuckyLloyd

Xavi6 wrote: »

Is it? If archery is more exciting than a European tie in the flesh to someone who is generally a football fan then there's something wrong imo.

Also the Olympics goes on for two and a half weeks, not like it was a once off game clashing with the Pat's game. That would be much more understandable.

All I'm saying is that the Olympics is a piss weak excuse.

I went to the game myself, but I can absolutely see how it is more entertaining.

And contending that it's a choice between Archery or the Pats / Hannover game is very:



of you, and I think you know it. The BBC red button offers the most ridiculous feast of sporting entertainment I've ever witnessed.

Same old **** arguments. Keep losing fellahs, maybe it's good for the soul.

antomorro-sei

Xavi6 wrote: »

Is it? If archery is more exciting than a European tie in the flesh to someone who is generally a football fan then there's something wrong imo.

Also the Olympics goes on for two and a half weeks, not like it was a once off game clashing with the Pat's game. That would be much more understandable.

All I'm saying is that the Olympics is a piss weak excuse.

Agree. The Olympics is on all bloody day for two weeks. The Pats game is two hours on a thursday night. And using a ten second swimming race with some American geezer in it isn't an excuse to not go to an LOI game.

Not gonna post again on this as its utterly pointless.

LuckyLloyd

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

The argument, as always, is that every football fan should feel obliged to go to LOI games. That it is something they should do because that's real and everything else is fake.

Funny enough looking at Dundalk's home attendances so far this season and a couple of summer league matches in Dundalk I wouldn't be surprised if there's more going to the summer league than the LoI in Dundalk on a week-to-week basis. Obviously though they aren't real fans because they choose it over LoI. :pac: Also when I have a glance through the league standings it's great seeing teams my dad mentioned playing for and against 35 years ago still going, if only the LoI had that kind of stability. :pac:

Oat23

F*ck the Olympics. I don't like Judo, Swimming or any of that other stuff at any other time of the year, so why in gods name would I watch it now?

It's like when Ireland were doing well in the Cricket, everyone was a cricket expert then. Same goes for all the other sports we do well in. That is the way people act when the Olympics are on. Everyone is a f**king ping pong expert.

LuckyLloyd

Oatesy23 wrote: »

F*ck the Olympics. I don't like Judo, Swimming or any of that other stuff at any other time of the year, so why in gods name would I watch it now?

It's like when Ireland were doing well in the Cricket, everyone was a cricket expert then. Same goes for all the other sports we do well in. That is the way people act when the Olympics are on. Everyone is a f**king ping pong expert.

Good for you bro, I can feel the realness dripping out of your post. Hardcore!

Meanwhile, the rest of us are transfixed. What small minds we have to be so easily entertained!

Lord TSC

Xavi6 wrote: »

Is it? If archery is more exciting than a European tie in the flesh to someone who is generally a football fan then there's something wrong imo.

See there's these things called "differing opinions".....

darkman2

jarvis wrote: »

Exactly, that's how badly people view LOI, that's how dis-interested people are in LOI. As a brand it's suffering because it cannot appeal to a mass audience and the hostility of the "genuine LOI football supporter" is counter productive. People are watching archery and judo in preference to itand I can see why.

How is the brand suppose to improve if they don't have the money? They don't have the money due to attitudes like yours and others.

Alot of football supporters don't get (and I have said before football fans are not the brightest generally) that if you support Liverpool or Man U you support fcuking England and it's league. Therefore the league here can NEVER compete. Don't say the LOI is sh!t unless you understand why it is sh!t. It is like that because people in Ireland won't support it. Alot of football fans in Ireland don't get that. All I tend to hear is "it's crap so I won't watch it":rolleyes:

Attendance figures for LOI games are low but if they could be just be doubled I reckon there would be a marked improvement in standards in the medium and long term.

Leiva

First the Premier League.
Then the GAA.
Then the national team.
Now the Olympics.

Why can't LOI fans just stop ramming some trivial crap down the throats of other fans of other leagues/sports and accept the fact that not everyone gets the LOI or likes it .

It's no big deal just get over it .

Helix

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

You ****ing people are beyond belief.

They're watching the Olympics because it is ****ing awesome and it happens once every four years. Jesus.

they're watching it because it's hyped up to the balls, and because it's got blanket media coverage. a tiny fraction of a percent of these people have an interest in the sports they're watching. they know who a handful of names are (you guessed it, the media darlings and hype machines) and that's about it. they don't know the rules for half the things they're watching (even though they'll be "experts" for a few days) and if track and field events were shown any other time they'd change the channel in disgust

Lawrence1895

Don't know, but I think, the attendance would have been better, if the match had been played in Richmond. It was not the home ground for Pats in the end

Ferris_Bueller

The LoI/barstooler debate always raises the same points, but the people arguing their point are so 100% sure their opinion is correct that there really is no point in having the debate. I am a LoI fan, but online LoI fans really don't do themselves any favours by going on as if they are superior, we should be trying to encourage others to get down to games or take up a bit of interest in the league rather than slate them for supporting teams from abroad. I really do wish more people followed the league, I don't particularly support any individual club, I am just a fan of Irish football in general from grassroots to LoI to the national team, but at the same time I am still a fan of the EPL because of the higher standard, so I can see the attraction.

Why is it made into such competition? Why can't people just support both? Matches rarely clash and it is very rare for these teams to meet in Europe. I think anyone who doesn't follow a LoI team would be pleasantly surprised if they went to a few games, you could get addicted quite easily, and you can still get your fix of higher quality matches on the telly

Xavi6

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

Why is it made into such competition? Why can't people just support both? Matches rarely clash

Matches rarely clash alright but the Olympics does and so do plenty of other sports so there will always be an easier out.

The idea of supporting both is the best that can be hoped for but, just as there a LoI militants, there are plenty of anti LoI heads who wouldn't even entertain that notion.

Bounty Hunter

stovelid wrote: »

Got to love Irish people.

Casually disregarding a foreign club (ranked 65th in 453 European clubs) from one of the top European leagues as 'mid-table'.

It's actually like we have genuinely hallucinated ourselves into a country with one of the 3 top-ranking leagues in Europe.

Unless, of course, Ireland are playing and then we become the plucky alcoholic underdogs clashing swords with countries we **** over in the pub every weekend.

The majority of the people on this forum are fucking morons when it comes to football, let's be fair. It's all playstation stats and recycling pundit cliches - often while the fuckiing match is actually on.

Mod Warning: I don't care how popular a post is (this one was thanked numerous times) posting what i've highlighted can be considered abuse and could cause an unwanted response from someone offended by it. This post for instance has been reported already so please leave the insults out of it, they are unnecessary and if they occur again a mod may not be as lenient.

Omackeral

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

Why is it made into such competition? Why can't people just support both? Matches rarely clash and it is very rare for these teams to meet in Europe. I think anyone who doesn't follow a LoI team would be pleasantly surprised if they went to a few games, could get addicted quite easily, and you can still get your fix of higher quality matches on the telly

He's clearly a Pats fan though, despite saying otherwise...

In all honesty, some great points made. Its rare to see it without venom,snide remarks and a holier than thou attitude. Fair play.

L'prof

I'd be a massive Arsenal fan myself and all my friends from home are very obsessive about their own favourite premier league clubs too. This season (I genuinely don't know why it took so long, some of the lads have gone before) we decided to start going to our local Longford Town games whenever we're home and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I've seen them playing here in Galway this season too.

It's a pity Galway United went bust, I reckon I would have went to see them this season too as one friend is a massive fan. He has no interest in going to see Mervue or SD Galway though, so I've only gone to a couple of their games.

Before now, I thought I wouldn't enjoy the football at all, but I genuinely have. I have to say though, Ive always found reading posts on here from diehard LOI fans very off putting. No, my support will never be good enough in your eyes, I know that much.

Back on topic, best fans in the world? Certainly not, but the fans at the Spain game had the hairs standing up on the back of my neck. Fair play to them.

Helix

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

Why can't people just support both?

they can

the problem is that they dont

AgileMyth

batistuta9 wrote: »

and expecting fans of the other LOI clubs to go along is stupid as well i think, not that you said that but some people think they should. Why? you'd hardy expect a load of everton fans to go to the liverpool - gomel game at anfield

I'm a Sligo Rovers fan and I was at it. I happened to be in Dublin on Thursday and, as a football fan, wouldn't turn down the opportunity to go to a Europa League game when it was only across the city.

Nothing to do with supporting LOI in Europe, if I'd been in Belfast and Linfield or someone were playing I'd have gone to that too. I'd have though anyone pronouncing themselves a 'football fan' would do the same.

AgileMyth

L'prof wrote: »

Before now, I thought I wouldn't enjoy the football at all, but I genuinely have. I have to say though, Ive always found reading posts on here from diehard LOI fans very off putting. No, my support will never be good enough in your eyes, I know that much.

You're going to games and want to go to more. Thats a football fan, thats good enough for anyone..

Can't understand how someone would be put off from attending a game based on comments on an internet forum.

You'll be spoilt for choice next year if Galway are back and the Town are back in the premier!