Sundays croke park pitch invasion

Táck

from watching this at home it all seemed ok. i think they'll need to tighten security at the next game becasue a tighter scoreline could be a major problem if this occurs again.

however, i was talking to my friend today who said that the dublin fans on the pitch were hurling missiles, bottles, basically anyhting they could at the GARDA who were trying to keep them contained.

this wasn't shown on the tv. did anybody here see anything of the sort? i found it hard to believe considering there has been no reports of it in any of the media.

its bad enough the whole country is against us, now these summer dubs could increase the problem.

conor-mr2

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054959630&page=3

Yup I was on hill and there was just some scum doing exactly what your frined described!
I wasnt happy!

Táck

sorry i looked but couldnt see another topic with it mentioned...

Nalced_irl

I didnt see anything being thrown when they ran on the pitch but there were several incidents during the game of bottles ect being thrown at Gardai followed by a chant of "Lets go f*cking mental, lets go f*cking mental". Thankfully nothing too major kicked off tho apart from that one incident in the Lower Cusack. Another referee could easily have decided the match hadnt ended when the fans came on and abandoned but thankfully not. As you say "The Summer Dubs" tend only to turn out for a final anyway and probably get their tickets through ticketmaster so hopefully they will not be there for the next game.

Lemlin

And people asked why country people like to see the Dubs lose....

Hashbrown

Very hard to get Hill tickets so were these shower get them i dont know. Having said that dont see to many attempts to stop fans from the North invading the Pitch at the end of big games or even other counties. sure its part of what we are and all that!!!!. Also noticed that the 2 big screens started flashing PLAN B on the video screens, whatever that meant as most of the security seem to be lost as to what to do next or just looked like they were fecking off home.

Lemlin

Hashbrown wrote:

Very hard to get Hill tickets so were these shower get them i dont know. Having said that dont see to many attempts to stop fans from the North invading the Pitch at the end of big games or even other counties. sure its part of what we are and all that!!!!. Also noticed that the 2 big screens started flashing PLAN B on the video screens, whatever that meant as most of the security seem to be lost as to what to do next or just looked like they were fecking off home.

There's nothing wrong with fans going onto the pitch, happens everywhere and is just part of the celebrations.

What's wrong is the way that some of these fans acted.

whassupp2

Lemlin wrote:

There's nothing wrong with fans going onto the pitch, happens everywhere and is just part of the celebrations.

What's wrong is the way that some of these fans acted.

Quote= Táck:

the dublin fans on the pitch were hurling missiles, bottles, basically anyhting they could at the GARDA who were trying to keep them contained.

Breezer

Didn't like the early pitch invasion: there was only 30 seconds left and the game was over to all intents and purposes, but I wouldn't like to see it becoming a tactic to end tight games early. Still, I had to laugh at the "Plan B" thing, pretty sure it was meant as a joke

seamus

Lemlin wrote:

There's nothing wrong with fans going onto the pitch, happens everywhere and is just part of the celebrations.

What's wrong is the way that some of these fans acted.

The game wasn't over, for a start. Regardless of how much you think you've won it, if they had any respect for the sport they'd allow the game to play itself out.

There are a lot of dubs who head along to these games purely to get pissed. Two guys in the row in front of me moved up a row and sat beside me purely so that the two howyis that they scored during their half-time beers could sit near them. They were no more interested in watching the game.

Hashbrown

What's wrong is the way that some of these fans acted

SOME of the fans not all, their was 82,000 at the match the vast majority from Dublin, I been to lots of GAA matches seen troublemakers from all counties, this stuff is always rolled out as soon as the Dubs start to do well.
Its up the GAA to sort out security issues inside the ground and ban anyone who causes trouble from croke park , just find were they get the tickets from, most Hill 16 tickets can only be got from clubs as far as I know for dublin matches anyway, so it should be easy to trace known troublemakes. All teams attract hangers on as soon as they start to do well, fact of life and I am afraid just the way the world is. either way up the Dubs and roll on september PG

Wishbone Ash

Hashbrown wrote:

this stuff is always rolled out as soon as the Dubs start to do well.

Yes, you rarely hear it about when it occurs with other counties. I was at the Ulster final last week and was sitting in the extreme right lower tier of the Cusack Stand. I had an excellent view of the bottom of the hill and I was shocked at the antics of Armagh supporters trying to get onto the pitch. Many of them punched and kicked security men and some Gardaí in their attempts to gain entry.

mchurl

Does anyone know what happened in the Lower Cusack during the 2nd half? I seen a bit of commotion there.

Nalced_irl

Lower Cusack was some fan threw a full mineral bottle at a garda and caught him in the face apparently and was dragged out by gardai and stewards.

Id say there were about 10 incidents involving bottles. thats 10 out of possibly 75,000 odd Dublin fans. You get the odd fool that will do this kind of thing but painting Dub supporters to be all like this is the same as saying all muslims are terrorists or something like that which they obviously are not. I was right in the middle of the Hill and also have video of the fans before they ran onto the pitch. At that point there was very little trouble. I didnt see anything thrown, not that this means nothing was but you certianly could not describe it as a barrage of missiles. If the few that throw things and cause trouble were booted out of Croker for good, i think everyones view of Dublin fans and the general atmosphere would change and the stewards job would become far easier plus i dont think it would take much to do it as there are very few to boot out.

smurph

I have been a Dub Fan all my life, followed them through the 80's and 90's, and I was ashamed by some of the scenes I saw before the game, and at the game. If you add the heat into things, the scum bags, were extra scummy on Sunday. Throwing bottles at people, they should ban the little knackers, and be done with it. Yeah we won, but a bit of humility would go along way.

I saw Offaly people leaving, but not because of shame for their team or anything like that, there was fear in their eyes as they held their children closer to them while Dubs chanted "Cheerio, Cheerio, Cheerio" while waving two fingers at them.

FFS it was a brillant sporting occasion, the pace and strength of the Dublin team shone through in the 2nd half, unlike their supporters, who im afraid did not have their best day.

I will be there for the next match, if I can get a ticket, with a new jersey, cause the "Bud" sitting beside me decided to put his cigarette out in the sleeve of my jersey while saying "These culchie bas**rds just wont lie down", hey sister. He is no brother of mine or any bud of mine either.

I went up to Na Fianna after the match, a club that I am a member of and so are alot of country people, and enjoyed a few beers and a bit of "craic".

Hopefully the scum element won't be able to get tickets for the next game.

SonOfPerdition

I was sitting in row A lower hogan directly behind the Offaly selectors. A bottle sailed over our head about 5 minutes before the end of the game and landed on the touch line . . thankfully it didn't hit anyone. The hill wasn't the only area containg drunken idiots.

Every team including offaly have their fair share of idiot supporters, but the sheer number of dubs at the game on Sunday meant that their was a far higher number of scumbags at the game. It's a real pity, because the atmosphere was electric and it was a real thrill to be at a packed croke park on a beautiful day like sunday. Despite the loss i enjoyed the day and having the banther with some genuine dublin fans before the game. The samesort of fans you'd meet in o'conner park or parnell park.

But, i can see how many people whould develop a hatred for Dublin if the genuine fans of other counties are subjected to that sort of abuse in croke park.

The Rooster

There was a guy on the Hill, who had 4 bottles of Miller and a nagin of vodka in his pockets as he walked in. He was walking up the aisles and he was about 2/3rds the way up when a steward spotted him and confiscated them. He must have passed at least 20 stewards and guards to get as far as he did.

The stewarding and policing in Croke Park is scandalously bad. It must be heaven for scumbags, as they can do pretty much whatever they want. There are 60,000 plus Dublin "supporters" in Croker on a day like last Sunday. This generated a magnicient atmosphere at the ground. However, the negative side is you could easily have 30 or 40 of the purest type of scumbag among them, and each of them will have a handful of gob****e hangers-on to aid them. They have free reign to cause mayhem, and if 4pm throw-ins are persisted with, there'll be a serious incident sooner rather than later.

Hashbrown

The security arrangements for big games would want to improve dramatically
before the Euro qualifiers start next year. I don’t think UEFA would be too impressed with pitch invasions of any sort, or objects being thrown into the field of play.

cournioni

It will be grand for the Euro qualifiers next year I'm sure... Any little hint of trouble and they'll be thrown out. You know why? Because its soccer, and with the reputation the soccer fans have, none of the security will be taking any chances.

The problem with the stewards at GAA matches is that people have the preception that the GAA crowd doesn't cause any trouble, and if there is anyone causing any trouble "sure its only a bit of craic". I believe this is the problem, the stewards don't want to make a scene at what is precieved to be a family day out. They should take far more action, especially in regards to drunken supporters.

We shouldn't be singling out Dublin supporters for this either. I've seen many different supporters from different counties causing trouble. I've seen objects (coins and plastic bottles) thrown at the referee at Cavan vs. Down in Breffni in 2003 after he gave a decision against Cavan in one corner of the pitch. I've seen a firework thrown at the dugouts in Pairc Tailteann for a Meath vs. Cavan match, and I've seen Tyrone supporters causing all sorts of trouble over the years.

It is a minority of supporters, if you could call this minority "supporters". No county should be tarred with the same brush, but there needs to be more action taken to stop it.

sgarvan

GAA warn of pitch invasion action
Tuesday, 18 July 2006 10:36

The GAA have warned that they may have to erect security fences around Croke Park to avoid future pitch invasions.

Two stewards had to be taken to hospital as exuberant Dublin fans rushed onto the pitch before the final whistle last Sunday, after they beat Offaly to claim the Leinster title.

Stadium director Peter McKenna has warned that the pitch invasions must end and if supporters cannot restrain themselves, then drastic action may have to be taken.

'What happened on Sunday was unacceptable. It's fine to say that coming onto the pitch at the end of games adds to the pageantry of the occasion but it's a different matter when innocent people get caught up in it,' McKenna told the Irish Independent.

'Blind exuberance is not a great spectacle. This is an accident waiting to happen unless people start to act responsibly. This is a health and safety issue and if anything goes wrong it will be taken out of our hands.

'We could be instructed to erect security fences that would make it impossible for anybody to get onto the pitch. That would change the whole complexion of Croke Park and take away part of its great charm but safety has to come first.'

He added: 'We have to think very carefully about where we're going on this because it's too dangerous to allow a repeat of what happened.'

http://www.rte.ie/sport/2006/0718/crokepart.html

thegills

And people asked why country people like to see the Dubs lose....

The same happens at any final. The winning fans always jump over the barriers and crowd around the steps up. I have seen Meath, Laois and Kildare fans do the same thing; it;s just that they don't have as many fans.
I was in the Hill on Sunday and it wans't a pitch invasion. The fans waited patiently until the end and when the Ref blew up for a free with seconds to go the stewards at the Hill end waved the fans onto the pitch thinking it was the final whistle.

the dublin fans on the pitch were hurling missiles, bottles, basically anyhting they could at the GARDA who were trying to keep them contained.

Whilst on the pitch there was no throwing bottles at Gardai and it was a pleasure to stand on the pitch and watch the cup being raised.
There was about 5 bottles thrown during the game but that was when the Gardai stood in front of the Hill and tried to point out some young lad to the stewards.

Breezer

thegills wrote:

There was about 5 bottles thrown during the game but that was when the Gardai stood in front of the Hill and tried to point out some young lad to the stewards.

So in other words they got bottles thrown at them because they were doing their jobs? This kind of thing has turned me off even trying to get Hill tickets for the quarter-finals.

The GAA have warned that they may have to erect security fences around Croke Park to avoid future pitch invasions.

I think a better, albeit less profitable solution, would be to restrict drinks sales at matches. Were two new bars not opened on Hill 16 recently? At the time of the year when the bandwagon gets rolling and people who've never been to a match in their lives suddenly appear, out for a bit of craic that might happen to involve football?

Speaking of which, there were two lads in front of me in the Upper Cusack who didn't cause any trouble as such but were smoking joints the whole way through the match. One had a Dublin jersey on but I doubt either was a big football fan or sports fan of any kind. The wind kept blowing the smoke right back in my face, it was disgusting. Anyway these two kids from Offaly that were sitting beside me took exception to it and started blowing those horn things right in the lads' ears - I've never seen two ten year olds look angrier

thegills

So in other words they got bottles thrown at them because they were doing their jobs?

There was no reason why the Gardai were pointing into the crowd other than to create an environment. You can't condon throwing empty plastic bottles but if the Guards spend 5 minutes standing right in front of the Hill pointing at young lads for no apparant reason then what do they expect.
Funny enough - As I was walking down onto the pitch after the game one of the stewards actually held up the ropes for me to climb under - must have been part of "Plan B"
thegills

Nalced_irl

thegills wrote:

There was no reason why the Gardai were pointing into the crowd other than to create an environment. You can't condon throwing empty plastic bottles but if the Guards spend 5 minutes standing right in front of the Hill pointing at young lads for no apparant reason then what do they expect.
Funny enough - As I was walking down onto the pitch after the game one of the stewards actually held up the ropes for me to climb under - must have been part of "Plan B"
thegills

The thing is they do let you onto the pitch afterwards but expect fans to wait until the final whistle. Of course they will try to look like they are stopping you at the start but once your not sprinting on before the match ends they normally allow it. Some poeple here really do need to get over their Anti-Dub mentality tho. This happens at every match in Croker. Not to the same degree but Dublin have alot more supporters and obviously have the select bad few that will try to cause trouble. I dont think you can blame the Gardai for simply standing in front of the Hill but they should know that it does tempt the few scum to throw things when they are standing there. Its no excuse for what happened but im sick of hearing this "and people wonder why country people want Dublin to lose?" bull****. Its starting to sound like Glasgow Rangers supporters that would prefer to see Celtic lose rather than their own club to win. It is down to the GAA to sort these scumbags out from all counties that throw things and cause trouble, and the only way is to ban them from all grounds.

sgthighway

Reality will hit home when they go to look for tickets for the next match if it is a double header becasue the tickets will go to the clubs and very few if any will go to Ticket Master. There is never a hint of trouble out of the true Dubs. As bad as we are this year and taking it for granted that we will beat Westmeath; I would much prefer to be playing the Dubs than anyone else.

And if we are losing we will just invade the pitch to get a re-match:p