Ireland's biggest sporting embarrassment?

JaseBelleVie

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I think Mayo have lost enough All Irelands without needing to be given credit for losing one they didn't even play in.

Breffnigolfer wrote: »

You're some man, remembering something that never happened. Mayo were not in AIF'83!

oops... Galway. Meant to say Galway.

But sure it's an easy mistake to make; Mayo lose every final, don't they?!

DeanAustin

Bertser wrote: »

We won, but the manner of the 2-1 victory in San Marino in 2007 was extremely bad. Another Staunton masterclass.

Stan's interview afterwards was comical too. Didn't he say they'd cause other teams problems in the group (and didnt Germany slaughter them 13-0) as well as some bizarre claim about us traditionally not being great in February or some such nonsense.

Felt sorry for Stan but his appointment was one of the few I've ever seen that was completely bereft of common sense and logic. Another bit of Delaney genius.

jas376

Cork hurlers going on strike.

R1_Pete

The lack of coverage and support given to Eugene Laverty is both an embarrassment and missed opportunity imho.. A man competing truly on the world stage week after week.

Next season he will be flying the tricolour in the Moto GP no less and it will probably get less column inches than this year..

Too Tough To Die

'Best fans in the world'

Yamanoto

Stevie Staunton's comically oversized solar protection system, USA '94.

When I saw that hat, I just knew we had fcuk all chance that day.

iDave

JaseHeath wrote: »

oops... Galway. Meant to say Galway.

But sure it's an easy mistake to make; Mayo lose every final, don't they?!

Losing to 12 men was some embarrassment



oh and Mayos AI final record deserves a mention

The Strawman Argument

CrabRevolution wrote: »

I'm not saying we should have just been happy to be there, but losing all 3 games was a fairly probable outcome from the very start.

Yep, if there was anything embarrassing about it, it would've been the Irish people expecting anything more. I was pretty disconnected from it so I wouldn't know for sure if people were like that but it definitely seemed like there was some level of surprise to the results.

S. Goodspeed

sup_dude wrote: »

I'm not a fan of Cian O Connor by any length. In his defence though, that was very unreasonable and not entirely his fault. Cian wasn't the only one who was taken out of the running. They were EXTREMELY strict that year. The trace of the drug found in Waterford Crystal was given to the horse months beforehand by a vet as a treatment and would ordinarily not have affected the results. Although the drug was in the system still, it would not have had any effect of the horse. Like I said, the FEI were very very very strict that year and have since apologised and admitted they made a mistake with the strictness of the drug testing.

I'm not sure it was as innocent as all that in fairness. Whoever stole or misplaced the B urine sample really hit a career / lifetime low.

branie2

The hooligans at the Ireland v Northern Ireland match in early 1995

iDave

Neil Lennon having to retire from international football due to loyalist death threats.

Windsor park 93 in general

CrabRevolution

For the record, I dont mind people supporting English/Scottish clubs-their choice. If the reason is "The quality is better" or "I see them on TV more", or "They are more successful in Europe", then fine, support away.

But what is embarrassing is those who try to justify their support of a British club by claiming "They have an Irish connection". In that case why not support an actual Irish club. If it's "Irish Connections" you're after, then what bigger an Irish connection can a club have than actually being Irish?

emeldc

buyer95 wrote: »

Cyprus 5 Ireland 2. "Who is the gaffer?"

Oct 7th 2006. Woke up after a kidney transplant to hear Eamon Dunphy giving out, so I asked the nurse who was doing her best to keep me alive what the score was.
5-2 she said.
That's great, I said.
To Cyprus, she said.
I went back to sleep.

anncoates

sugarman wrote: »

Croatia, which was part of a Yugoslavia that had a population of 24m.

That's meaningless. They now draw from their own population.

sugarman wrote: »

C
Plus, football is their dominant sport. They don't compete with GAA, Hurling and Rugby.

Football is the most widely played sport in Ireland in terms of participation.

The reason Ireland is lagging increasingly behind nations like Croatia and Spain is because of the disaster of youth development here: there's a split between junior football (only interested in sending players to England where they are getting squeezed out by continental youth) and the domestic league which is ignored and neglected by the FAI and the Irish public meaning there is no actual path from junior to professional football in this country like everywhere else.

We're a football-mad country with one of the biggest junior levels of ratio participation in Europe. Its simply not good enough to say we should be happy to turn up to major tournaments and get thrashed. We should be where Croatia are. A golden generation will come along every few generations for sure but even in fallow years, you have a technically efficient squad that won't win anything but will acquit themselves with dignity.

On a related note, Holland is not massively bigger than us population wise (about 6 or 7 million) or Denmark for that matter.

Any Irish person that accepts the farrago of 2012 is part of the problem but then again the majority of people over there supporting Ireland know as much about the domestic state of football here as they do about the Moldovan league, let's be honest.

fryup

CrabRevolution wrote: »

For the record, I dont mind people supporting English/Scottish clubs-their choice. If the reason is "The quality is better" or "I see them on TV more", or "They are more successful in Europe", then fine, support away.

But what is embarrassing is those who try to justify their support of a British club by claiming "They have an Irish connection". In that case why not support an actual Irish club. If it's "Irish Connections" you're after, then what bigger an Irish connection can a club have than actually being Irish?

totally agree,

but having said that i wouldn't go to see a league of ireland match if it was across the road from me

washman3

irishgeo wrote: »

Saipan

The Irish Management not spotting that the Spanish were down to 10 men for the whole of the 2nd half of extra time.

Neither did the commentators, RTE panel and the countless millions watching.
But hindsight is a great thing....:rolleyes:

P.S. well done for spotting it yourself...:D

Tugboats

Anything involving the 6 nations

jas376

sugarman wrote: »

Croatia, which was part of a Yugoslavia that had a population of 24m.

Like the way the Irish soccer team draws on the population of Britain for some of its players?

emeldc

Tugboats wrote: »

Anything involving the 6 nations

You might want to elaborate on that one.

Breffnigolfer

sugarman wrote: »

Why is it a defeatist attitude? Finishing in the top 16 of 53 nations in qualifying was an achievement in itself. We are not a top 16 nation in Europe or close to it.

Do you mind showing me these players that would have made a difference that we suddenly have available to us now?

.............

Just because Ireland qualified for the finals did not mean Ireland was one of the top 16 teams in Europe. The performances were atrocious. Tactics were non existent and nobody seemed to know what he was supposed to do.

As for players? Seamus Coleman was the glaring example while Shay Given, as one who played, was obviously unfit for the games. Trapp also picked two players who didn't even have a club.

anncoates

fryup wrote: »

totally agree,

but having said that i wouldn't go to see a league of ireland match if it was across the road from me

That's fair enough but if you think a vibrant domestic setup isn't interesting or worthwhile and that our youth development should essentially amount to hoping Jimmy gets a trial at Arsenal, don't bitch when we get annihilated by countries with a real footballing culture and structure. outside of the occasional random golden crop of players that will come along every couple of generations.

foggy_lad

Grandeeod wrote: »

1936.

Irish Free State V Germany in Dalymount park, Dublin.

The German lads do the oul Nazi salute during the anthems and then some of the Irish lads do it aswell for some unknown reason.

With hindsight, its up there with the embarrassment lark.

We won the match!

was that not their salute to Dev?

Aphex

Doherty missing a sitter of a black to make a 147 against Matthew Stevens.
Nice lad in fairness to him.

anncoates

anncoates wrote: »

On a related note, Holland is not massively bigger than us population wise (about 6 or 7 million)or Denmark for that matter.

You'd want to add about another 10 million to that: https://www.google.ie/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=population%20of%20the%20netherlands

16.8 million (2013)
Netherlands, Population

Nib

Aphex wrote: »

Doherty missing a sitter of a black to make a 147 against Matthew Stevens.
Nice lad in fairness to him.

A former World Champion missing one ball having previously potted thirty five without missing. Yeah, a really embarrassment that was. :rolleyes:

Cienciano

The homecoming celebrations after the 2002 world cup hosted by Joe Duffy in the Phoenix Park.
"So Damian, is it true that a lot of defenders came down with a condition know as DDD? Damian Duff Dizziness?"
I wanted to crawl into a hole it was so cringeworthy, the players must have been mortified

CrabRevolution

anncoates wrote: »

That's meaningless. They now draw from their own population.



Football is the most widely played sport in Ireland in terms of participation.

The reason Ireland is lagging increasingly behind nations like Croatia and Spain is because of the disaster of youth development here: there's a split between junior football (only interested in sending players to England where they are getting squeezed out by continental youth) and the domestic league which is ignored and neglected by the FAI and the Irish public meaning there is no actual path from junior to professional football in this country like everywhere else.

We're a football-mad country with one of the biggest junior levels of ratio participation in Europe. Its simply not good enough to say we should be happy to turn up to major tournaments and get thrashed. We should be where Croatia are. A golden generation will come along every few generations for sure but even in fallow years, you have a technically efficient squad that won't win anything but will acquit themselves with dignity.

On a related note, Holland is not massively bigger than us population wise (about 6 or 7 million) or Denmark for that matter.

Any Irish person that accepts the farrago of 2012 is part of the problem but then again the majority of people over there supporting Ireland know as much about the domestic state of football here as they do about the Moldovan league, let's be honest.

The Netherlands have a population of 17 Million, ours is maybe 5 Million if you include a chunk of the North.

Also I think you've highlighted what I feel the problem is in Irish soccer, I always felt that for the most part a lot of it is only skin deep. I gave up soccer a few years ago, but I always noticed a big difference between it and the GAA. In my county there's nowhere without a soccer club nearby and overall there's a greater number of soccer players, and a lot of them were the same players playing Gaelic games and soccer, but the GAA club seemed more life/death to them.

Lads were perfectly happy just turning up week in week out for soccer and playing the games, but there was no greater involvement with the club, getting involved in fundraisers, going to reserve/underage games etc. It seemed the GAA had a greater "hearts and minds" type effect on these lads. They'd give their all during the soccer match, but afterwards would never really look back with regret at a failed season. They seemed to play for the sport in soccer, but for the sport as well as the club in the GAA. This probably helps explain the greater dropout rate of the GAA, its more all-or-nothing.

This was in a town in the country though, obviously in Dublin soccer has a greater penetration and is more closely woven into the fabric of each place. But for my part of the country anyway there's no real feel of the area all being behind the local soccer team. We dont even have a pyramid league system in Ireland sure, where every club tries to push on to its highest level, even the North manages that FFS.

Dirty Dingus McGee

sugarman wrote: »

Croatia, which was part of a Yugoslavia that had a population of 24m.

Plus, football is their dominant sport. They don't compete with GAA, Hurling and Rugby.

We are not the only country in the world who plays a variety of sports but for some reason it seems to be an excuse every time this country fails at an international sport.

anncoates

Deleted User wrote: »

You'd want to add about another 10 million to that: https://www.google.ie/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=population%20of%20the%20netherlands

Apologies. That's my entire, rather long post invalidated so.

IsaacWunder

CrabRevolution wrote: »

For the record, I dont mind people supporting English/Scottish clubs-their choice. If the reason is "The quality is better" or "I see them on TV more", or "They are more successful in Europe", then fine, support away.

But what is embarrassing is those who try to justify their support of a British club by claiming "They have an Irish connection". In that case why not support an actual Irish club. If it's "Irish Connections" you're after, then what bigger an Irish connection can a club have than actually being Irish?

But some clubs in Britain do genuinely have an Irish connection due to the number of emigrants living in the area: Celtic, Hibernian, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal spring to mind.

Omackeral

IsaacWunder wrote: »

But some clubs in Britain do genuinely have an Irish connection due to the number of emigrants living in the area: Celtic, Hibernian, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal spring to mind.

Where are all the Tranmere fans and Crystal Palace fans then?

anncoates

CrabRevolution wrote: »

TWe dont even have a pyramid league system in Ireland sure, where every club tries to push on to its highest level, even the North manages that FFS.

Most LOI clubs have a good volunteer structure as do junior footballer clubs but it's not unified so there's no pyramid as you say.

There's no reason why we can't have that - as well as a strong GAA scene - in this country but it requires a dismantling of the junior club British conveyor belt junket scene and stronger leadership from the FAI.

nice_very

didnt Sonia O'Sullivan leave the track in the middle of a race she was highly fancied to win, with a dose of the runs? IIRC

anncoates

IsaacWunder wrote: »

But some clubs in Britain do genuinely have an Irish connection due to the number of emigrants living in the area: Celtic, Hibernian, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal spring to mind.

You think they'll take Irish lads over superior continental academy imports because Best/Keane/Brady/Quinn once played for them?

jackhammer

S. Goodspeed wrote: »

I'm not sure it was as innocent as all that in fairness. Whoever stole or misplaced the B urine sample really hit a career / lifetime low.

And let's not forget the burglary at the Equestrian Federation of Ireland's offices.

ChunkyLover54

Yamanoto wrote: »

Stevie Staunton's comically oversized solar protection system, USA '94.

When I saw that hat, I just knew we had fcuk all chance that day.

I think he wore his cap the day we beat Italy 1-0.

callaway92

Cienciano wrote: »

The homecoming celebrations after the 2002 world cup hosted by Joe Duffy in the Phoenix Park.
"So Damian, is it true that a lot of defenders came down with a condition know as DDD? Damian Duff Dizziness?"
I wanted to crawl into a hole it was so cringeworthy, the players must have been mortified

PMSL

Mint Sauce

braddun wrote: »

any world cup game

Must be too young to remember Italia 90 and USA 94 then.

Tugboats wrote: »

Anything involving the 6 nations

Erm, 1 Grand Slam, and 2 Championships in recent years, plus THAT game against England at Croke Park.

Ruu

nice_very wrote: »

didnt Sonia O'Sullivan leave the track in the middle of a race she was highly fancied to win, with a dose of the runs? IIRC

Stomach issues in Atlanta 96 and she failed to finish the race (5000m).

Frankie Lee

Rugby's supporting of apartheid in 1981.

washman3

ChunkyLover54 wrote: »

I think he wore his cap the day we beat Italy 1-0.

He did indeed, and played a starring role.
But some posters prefer a rant to suit their agenda.;)
Maybe its because he failed to 'side' with Keano in Saipano.

Letree

DeanAustin wrote: »

John Delaney and the 33rd team debacle.

That was painful its still painful when you reminded me of it.

Nekarsulm

Not our biggest embarrassing, but remember Sonia O S. Being ordered to change her knicks and top before a race,in front of an official, in public, cause our wonderful Athletics organisation had screwed up?

kfallon

Not so much embarrassing as entertaining but does anyone remember Paul Griffin's outburst after his fight was stopped by the doctor in 1992 Olympics. Griffin was actually seen as prob our best fighter going to The Games but the doctor stopped his first fight.

He wasn't best pleased and when he was getting out of the ring he had a go at the officials, a nearby microphone picked up every word he said and in his best Dublin accent he could be heard shouting, "What did ya bleedin' stop it for, I was fcuking alri!!!"

Think he got suspended for it!

Celebrity bainisteoir prob worth a mention too, cringeworthy stuff!

Talib Fiasco

Ryle Nugent and Ger Canning as the main commentators for the two most televised sports here. I'd rather have those Arab "allaaaaaah" boys chatting absolute ring over those two idiots.

kfallon

Talib Fiasco wrote: »

Ryle Nugent and Ger Canning as the main commentators for the two most televised sports here. I'd rather have those Arab "allaaaaaah" boys chatting absolute ring over those two idiots.

Isn't Ryle Nugent the head of RTE Sport too?

Talib Fiasco

kfallon wrote: »

Isn't Ryle Nugent the head of RTE Sport too?

Pretty sure he is yeah. Another bloody farce. The lad probably played tip the can in school while the lads bate the sh*te out of each other with hurleys.

Big Ears

kfallon wrote: »

Isn't Ryle Nugent the head of RTE Sport too?

Yes he is, and he is largely responsible for what is Ireland's biggest sporting embarrassment.
Ireland's 2 most successful sports are amateur boxing and professional boxing and RTE refuse to show either.

Infact there hasn't be a professional Irish boxing show on tv since 2011, and in the mean time we've had 3 fighters Irish fighters win World titles.
The small amount of coverage they gave amateur boxing since the Olympics was pathetic, and thankfully TG4 have taken up the role of showing amateur boxing in Ireland and are doing a much better job.

Strongbow10

In Rugby, celebrating wins in meaningless games (Australia, South Africa and Georgia) like we have achieved something absolutely monumental.

Then when we actually get to the holy grail of the world cup (where the southern hemisphere teams actually give a crap) we end up getting whipped. And when we do turn over a giant, we usually piss it away by losing the following game which is winnable.

Sandwiched in between, we are spoon fed the 6 nations as being the absolute pinnacle of world rugby where we play giants such as Italy and Scotland on a yearly basis.

And also the fact that half the crowd probably have no idea whats going on in general in terms of why penalties are being awarded etc...

Mal-Adjusted

IsaacWunder wrote: »

But some clubs in Britain do genuinely have an Irish connection

What constitutes an Irish connection? I know Celtic was founded by an Irish lad (a priest?) and has connections with Finn Harps. Something similar with Hibs?

I won't say that the soccer teams performance in Euro '12 was an embarrassment, we were never going to beat those teams, but what is embarrassing is many of the Irish soccer supporters expectations of the national team being so out of kilter with reality. It'd be like Carlow fans not understanding why they don't win Liam every year.

Having a football association that wants absolutely nothing to do with the domestic game must be pretty high up the list