Are LOI Fans West Brits?

Count Dracula · 11-09-2022 10:27am #1

I lived in the UK many times over the centuries and have developed a glowing interest in their national game, soccer. Now as a spectator sport I find it very unenjoyable and bland. It is littered with screaming wimpish Primadonna's rolling around the floor in feign agony. However, as a sporting vehicle and topic of discussion I find it enthralling. I love the tribalism it has developed, especially in Britain whereby the real genuine fans all support their local team, buy the jersey and get involved in all its' domestic offer. I find that noble and quite honest, it must give British people a great sense of national pride and identity.

I had the misfortune of watching the distasteful clips of Rovers fans acting like British soccer fans whilst mimicking the world renowned terrace chanting during the week. Chanting and singing from the terraces is a resounding British pastime, used to berate and antagonise your opponents fans from across the field. I first witnessed it during medieval times when it was common for opposing British armies to sing and chant at each other across the field of battle.

Why do Irish soccer fans act like British ones? Are they West Brits ?

Danzy · 11-09-2022 10:28am

Most are just normal people, the West Brit acting is just during games.

minikin · 11-09-2022 10:35am

Utter classless drunken violent troglodytes, dragged up on English soccer… who only understand the pub in republicanism.

MakersMark · 11-09-2022 10:39am

Long term unemployed???

griffin100 · 11-09-2022 10:45am

Brought my young son to a Shamrock Rovers match in Tallaght a few years ago. Once was enough, he doesn’t need to listen to 90 minutes of racist and homophobic comments. To be fair it was slightly less tribal than a premier league match we went to in Anfield. Thankfully he’s outgrown soccer now.

Fr Tod Umptious · 11-09-2022 10:52am

Was only at one LOI match in my life and that was 20 years ago.

Galway v Waterfront

What struck me was that the Waterford fans beside me kept chanting in English accents.

I found it very weird.

dxhound2005 · 11-09-2022 10:58am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119602469#Comment_119602469

He had a good film career back in the 1970's but things have gone a bit quiet since.

EmmetSpiceland · 11-09-2022 11:15am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119602503#Comment_119602503

Has the English imitation chanting been going on that long?

I assumed it was a recent development that had “sprung up” with the sheer number of fickle ex-Manchester United fans who have stopped supporting their club, due to them not being very good anymore, and taken to supporting LoI teams, mostly either Rovers or Bohs.

I know the league had done a lot of work attracting new fans, hipsters got into it, but nothing could compare to the boost they got when ex-Man United fans started making up lame excuses to avoid the “banter” of Liverpool fans, who were in their ascendancy.

Hopefully Man United will continue to stutter so the LoI attendances will stay relatively high as a result. But you’d have to worry with such fair weather “fans” propping it all up.

Fr Tod Umptious · 11-09-2022 11:24am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119602577#Comment_119602577

Probably been around since Sky and the Celtic tiger.

One brought more soccer to our media and gave people the chance to hear more chanting.

The other gave people the money to travel to games in the UK and hear the chanting for themselves.

tastyt · 11-09-2022 12:16pm

I see this thread didn’t get the snobbish and sneery amount of responses you were hoping for . Pity for you

Irish fans following Irish teams instead of English or Scottish ones ? Yea , huge problem that

Count Dracula · 11-09-2022 12:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119602794#Comment_119602794

I am not sure that you understand the sentiment of my opening comment.

I have no issue with Irish people supporting any sport. It is the behaviour of Irish soccer fans acting like British ones that I find intriguing.

Why do they behave and act like British people when they attend matches is my question?

It is a contrasting irony imo. Especially considering they spend their time and money and what is essentially global pastime. I have been to soccer games all over the planet, I have witnessed a variety of crowd behaviour. But none of them copy British culture like your average LOI fan.

Why?

eggy81 · 11-09-2022 12:41pm

All soccer fans in all countries chant.

riffmongous · 11-09-2022 12:42pm

I don't quite get the OP, you love the tribalism but it's bad when the Rovers fans did it? The Rovers chants might have been distasteful alright but they still pale in comparison to Hillsborough or Munich chants imo

Songs and chants arent just limited to English soccer anyway, you'll find them in all kinds of sports all over the world. One interesting thing though is how it's noticeably absent from GAA

tastyt · 11-09-2022 12:44pm

A few teenage drunken scumbags does not define the supporters

you will often see groups young lads pissed and annoying people at GAA matches . Is that what I think of when I think of a GAA fan ? No it’s not . And it’s not what I think of when I think of a Sligo rovers , Derry City or Dundalk fan either . It’s just local people supporting their local team

11-09-2022 12:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119602864#Comment_119602864

Always taught the singing was to give entertainment to paper over the poor quality offered on pitch particularly in premier league

The LOI being different in that teams tend to be reasonably well matched,and can on an entertainment level be quite pleasent .......fans chanting in English accents is weird though

growleaves · 11-09-2022 1:23pm

@Count Dracula 'I first witnessed it during medieval times when it was common for opposing British armies to sing and chant at each other across the field of battle.'

Time traveller or immortal being?

Greyfox · 11-09-2022 1:35pm

Every genuine football fan knows that chanting and singing from terraces happens all over the world. Also the word West Brit is a very childish slur.

pgj2015 · 11-09-2022 1:43pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7BKkLXe98g

LOI fans are real fans, most don't support British teams and if they do, they come second after their LOI club.

StupidLikeAFox · 11-09-2022 1:46pm

What I want to know is who writes the chants, who decides what catchy tunes are the best and who distributes the lyrics?

I know the chants aren't very complex but surely you have a lot of guys learning off these little poems before the matches so they can sing them on the terraces

CGI_Livia_Soprano · 11-09-2022 1:49pm

I enjoy watching soccer but I absolutely despise Irish soccer “culture.” It’s like a bad facsimile of British hooliganism from the 80s, complete with chanting in broad English accents and racist and homophobic slurs a mile long.

The worst thing is that it crept into the GAA over the past ten years, with the aforementioned chanting and “Hill 16” appropriation for Dublin GAA à la The Kop. I think it’s because so many of the big Irish clubs are in Dublin, where “West Britishness” has been rampant for centuries (the Pale, the Crown’s home in Ireland being in Dublin and so on).

Count Dracula · 11-09-2022 1:50pm

I can understand a LOI fan having a love for the game.

Why do they also support a British club though?

Why not Ajax, Barcelona or AC Milan?

Lots of LOI fans I know also wear British soccer jerseys. Is this why they sing and chant in British accents?

bad2thebone · 11-09-2022 1:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058262881/are-loi-fans-west-brits

Lucky you, I love your opening line. Lol I myself am an intrepid shape shifter here since before when they built the Poulnabrone Dolmen. It's amazing isn't it, living throughout the centuries observing how history repeats itself. How people fall for the latest thing.

Do you remember the witch trials? They were brutal,same as what's happening now with the cancel culture and people identifying as what ever they like.

I don't mind people enjoying sport,at least there's not as much blood drawn as there was before, better than kicking someone's head around a dirty field. Men can't settle their differences the old fashioned way, instead it's all about scoring a few goals by fancy footwork and two opposing sides who aren't even from the geographical location their garments suggest.

Football does attract a few knuckle draggers.

I don't think they're west Brit's, they're just people looking for a sense of meaning through tribalism.

Oh how I miss the old days, brutal and eye opening.

bad2thebone · 11-09-2022 1:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603024#Comment_119603024

There can only be one lol I don't feel alone now :D

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 11-09-2022 2:14pm

Do people still use the phrase "wesr Brit"....? In 2022?

Went through a phase where I watched LOI - found it boring and over-priced. Never attached to a team, but went to every Dublin venue a few times and Bray. I do "follow" a premier league team, but have never been to a fixture, so I'm not sure if "follow" is the right word. As to the reason? Quality of the product.

Plus, I don't see why nationality has to do with liking a certain product. Am I "west Frenchie" because I drink a glass of champagne?

riffmongous · 11-09-2022 2:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603133#Comment_119603133

That depends on the fans and how they are organised.. in mainland Europe it will be the Ultras groups, I don't know about England. The Ultras will often have a captain who acts as DJ and picks out the setlist

Count Dracula · 11-09-2022 2:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603344#Comment_119603344

Ultra Groups?

riffmongous · 11-09-2022 2:36pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603144#Comment_119603144

Pat's and Bohs are actually copying European soccer fan culture rather than British, the flares, the choreo, the fan groups.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 11-09-2022 2:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603367#Comment_119603367

Not all team have ultra groups, but I've seen a lot of not-so-well-known teams have a "cheerleader" - usually a guy on a platform with a megaphone.

Pic taken at Babelsburg 03 (German 4th division) about 5 or 6 years ago.

11-09-2022 2:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603367#Comment_119603367

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Brigade

several far right ones too

Count Dracula · 11-09-2022 2:46pm

Well I can absolutely fathom the concept of cheerleading, it is prominent across most team sports.

No harm imo.

EmmetSpiceland · 11-09-2022 2:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603372#Comment_119603372

I don’t think St. Pats have been involved in too much crowd “trouble” of late, have they? Well, they’ve been attacked by Bohs supporters before a cup final recently but they can’t be blamed for that.

Wasn’t there also some “drama” involving Shamrock Rovers fan setting off fireworks at an away game too?

No, I wouldn’t be lumping St. Pats fans in with Bohs at all. It’s clear the troublemakers are, almost exclusively, within the ranks of Rovers and Bohs supporters.

Both of whom’s ranks would have swollen in recent years with a large number of, fickle, ex-Manchester United fans, possibly bringing with them a more English “flavour” to their support.

riffmongous · 11-09-2022 2:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603367#Comment_119603367

Like organised fan groups, and pretty fanatical compared to the average fan, but not necessarily violent or hooligans (plenty are though). Because they are so organised they can organise huge displays, flags and banners during a game or will sing all match long regardless of the score.

They bring a lot of atmosphere but it's not always a good thing as it's can be separated from the actual game itself.

Things like this (which I was lucky enough to see live)

https://youtu.be/My1BZhMxK_o

riffmongous · 11-09-2022 3:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603415#Comment_119603415

No, no, I dont mean in terms of violence now Emmet, rather in how parts of the fans organise themselves. When I was there years ago there was a group of young lads with a drum, songs, banners, flares etc. The Shed End Invincibles I think?

dxhound2005 · 11-09-2022 3:19pm

Summer football doesn't suit the Count.

EmmetSpiceland · 11-09-2022 3:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603581#Comment_119603581

Apologies, Riff. When I think of Ultras I automatically think of the Italian “types” who stab each other in the arse cheeks and attack club board members.

HalloweenJack · 11-09-2022 3:32pm

If LOI fans are West Brits then what does that make all those Celtic/Liverpool/Man U fans?

Football chanting is not a strictly British thing. There are very few original football chants. They are practically all copied from popular songs with the words changed or heard at one place and then adapted by fans for their own teams. The fact that England is the biggest English-speaking football market means Irish football fans are going to copy them most, especially when English football gets so much exposure here and there are so many Irish people who support English teams.

Fan behaviour in the UK itself has been influenced by fans from other parts, look a few seasons back to when several clubs fans started doing the 'Poznan' or there were attempts to get that Iceland clapping thing going.

Dyr · 11-09-2022 3:33pm

Spivs and cornerboys mindlessly aping their british counterparts

Unsuprisingly, the FAI requires welfare payments to survive.

CGI_Livia_Soprano · 11-09-2022 4:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603692#Comment_119603692

The FAI should be stripped of its responsibilities and disbanded with a new association in its place. It’s one of the worst run organisations I have ever seen, and the rot runs too deep to be salvaged.

Greyfox · 11-09-2022 4:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603148#Comment_119603148

It makes perfect sense to have a local team and a foreign team, they offer different experiences and are unlikely to play each other competitively. English football has always been the most popular football in Ireland as it has been a great product for decades. Their is too much money involved these days but once you support a club you support them for life

Greyfox · 11-09-2022 4:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603415#Comment_119603415

Your actually the only person in Ireland who thinks that Manu fans have switched from their club to a LOI club

EmmetSpiceland · 11-09-2022 5:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603991#Comment_119603991

Ah now, that’s a fair bit of a stretch. You can’t tell me you don’t know anyone who used to be a big United fan who no longer “support the English premier league”.

I’m actually surprised that more, real, United fans aren’t more píssed off with the lads who’ve “jumped ship” or come up with lame excuses for not following them anymore.

growleaves · 11-09-2022 5:28pm

Have to agree with EmmetSpiceland here, who I don't usually see eye to eye with.

I was at a BBQ a few weeks ago when Man Utd had lost 4-0 to Brentford and my mate's mate said (joking but serious) 'I'll have to stick with Bohs!'

A few Man-Utd-turned-LOI-supporters in office I worked in a few years ago during the heyday of Moyes and Van Gaal.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 11-09-2022 5:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119604111#Comment_119604111

They're starting to play well again - watch out for the u-turn....!

Count Dracula · 11-09-2022 5:30pm

English football has always been the most popular football in Ireland as it has been a great product for decades

I would have thought Gaelic Football was a more popular, but I stand to be corrected.

Don't get me wrong I used to spend hours of my summers kicking ball around the fields using jumpers for goal posts, soccer is a very enjoyable game.... to play.

But do you think the chanting in British accents is a direct mimic, or is it a nod to British Tribalism having a succinct and possibly latent influence on LOI fans behaviour? Is there a correlation between them?

I just cannot escape of the irony of LOI fans jeering the death of the monarch of the country, from which they have derived so much passion and enjoyment in their lives?

nullzero · 11-09-2022 6:06pm

The distaste for soccer continues in Ireland it seems.

All the waffle about fan violence being the preserve of Rovers and Bohs is nonsense of the highest order, I remember being pelted with bottles trying to exit Richmond Park some years ago by the supposedly we behaved St Pat's fans.

In truth the number of supporters engaging in violence is small and spread evenly amongst most clubs (well apart from UCD).

As for the west brit element of the discussion, pure nonsense. Soccer fans are always seen as less Irish than the people attending GAA and Rugby grounds. It's always going to be that way I suppose.

EmmetSpiceland · 11-09-2022 7:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119604134#Comment_119604134

Yeah, the new manager “bounce”. But how long will it go on for? Would take a major final or close tilt at the title, followed by a win, to turn the heads of these fickle, fair weather, ex-United fans.

I would have serious concerns for the attendances at LoI games, particularly the ones at Bohs and Rovers, should the glory hunters dust off the old United jersey, stretching over their protruding bellies, and heading back to the pub to roar “Oo arr ya?!” at the big screen.

EmmetSpiceland · 11-09-2022 7:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119604130#Comment_119604130

Haha, a stopped clock and all that, G! I’ll let you decide which one us is the clock.

Funnily enough, I noticed the same in my work. Previously vocal United supporters got more and more quiet. Then when Liverpool won that champions league, a few years ago, a couple of Liverpool fans in the office came in looking for a bit of revenge on the United fans who’d been shoving it down their throats for years.

Surprise, surprise, they weren’t up for it at all. They no longer followed the English league. What can you do? I, personally, as a Leeds fan, was disgusted and those people went down in my estimations. And they weren’t the only, previously vocal, United “fans”, I’ve encountered who’ve ditched them by the wayside.

I admire any United fan who is sticking by their team and hoping they will get back on top. That there is a true fan.

Donald Trump · 11-09-2022 7:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119602485#Comment_119602485

Once was enough, he doesn’t need to listen to 90 minutes of racist and homophobic comments.

Well, to be fair, it wouldn't have killed you to tone it down a bit for the hour and a half

11-09-2022 8:56pm

Bohs seem to attract an unmerciful amount of wánkers as fans. That’s my main observation of LoI.

corner of hells · 11-09-2022 9:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603024#Comment_119603024

I think the name gives it away.

Danzy · 11-09-2022 9:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119602864#Comment_119602864

There is a significant trendy activist type following some Dublin teams.

Football is so working class, don't you know. They are taking their ques from what they see working class fans in England do, it's not West Brit mentality, it's that they have no idea what they should do.

Are LOI Fans West Brits?

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