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

JUST a quick question for the tens of thousands of Irish supporters, 'the best fans in the world', who travelled to Poland to see an Irish team play last June.

Just where were you all at 7.45pm last night? Were you plonked in front of the TV watching Liverpool play in Belarus? Watching the Olympics?

It's a pity, then, that there were so many empty seats at a game in Dublin when St Patrick's Athletic represented this country in the Europa League.

Only 4,236 punters turned up at Tallaght Stadium last night to see Pats lose 3-0 to Hannover. With around 1,000 of those coming from Germany, that left just over 3,000 people who were bothered enough to get off their backsides and come to a real, live game involving a classy looking side who had nine senior internationals in their starting XI, on a night when there was not much else to do of a sporting nature in Dublin.

Last night's attendance at Tallaght Stadium knocks a hole in the theory that we have the best football fans in the world. We don't. If we did, Tallaght Stadium would have been packed to the rafters, if only to see an impressive side like Hannover.

Top marks to the Pats fans, and the supporters of other LOI clubs, who also came along, and kudos to the supporters from Germany, who lustily sang their way through the 90 minutes and more. But Ireland as a nation once again turned its back on proper football, just opened another can of beer and stayed in front of the TV. Shameful, too, that once again the Irish management team of Giovanni Trapattoni and Marco Tardelli snubbed Irish football by not attending last night's game.

Pats had 11 Irish-born players in their team last night. And apart from Dundee United, who had no less than six Irish players involved against Dinamo Moscow, not a single eligible Irish player was involved in any other competitive football of any description last night.

But still no sign of the international team management who clearly had more pressing engagements.

A lazy snubbing of a domestic game would scarcely be tolerated in any other country.