Limerick Man banned for hugging Wayne Rooney

osarusan

colly10 wrote: »

The quality isn't the same, pretty much none of these guys are good enough to be internationals, it makes sense that people want to watch the best.

Quite right that the quality isn't the same, but quite wrong that people want to watch the best. Attendances from all over Europe will tell you that fans all over Europe will watch their home team (don't get me wrong, every country has some glory hunters). Tranmere, in the shadow of two premier league teams in Liverpool and Everton, and despite being in the lower half of League 1, attract a higher average attendance than any team in Ireland.

It is far more complex than simply saying that people want to watch what's best. Why would anybody travel to watch Celtic or Sunderland (which people do, every week) if that were the case?

Icky Thump

unfortunatly the LOI are a bunch of amatuers. the way the league is run, the waqy the clubs are run. its a joke. i refuse to watch LOI until the FAI have no power over it.

LOI cant develop because of the FAI. the FAI are tring to run the league in the same fashion as the GAA. look at the case of Limerick FC vrs Barcelona in Thomond park. the Fai stated that a game with an addendance of over 15,000 cant be sanctioned outside the aviva stadium as cash made for these games would be better to go towards the league rather than individual teams..................... i wonder what the cash from the united match or the real madrid went towards. but of course they will claim it ent into the league.

i am a premier league fan. i have no "gaa" mindset where everything english is evil. i have no "i hate foreign sports" atitude. after all we come from a city that supports one of the biggest english sports.

Irish football/soccer fans will always support the premier league. the LOI is our equivalant to the sunday league games in the UK.

if the LOI wantour support they need to break from the FAI and get some proper sponsoring. maybe without the FAI they can get some tv revenue.

why doesnt RE show LOI and first division games on RTElate at night. i know they sho a select few games but no reason why they shouldnt show most of the games really really late at night. im sure alot of us would watch even on the sky+

MyKeyG

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

I agree 100%. Have an avid Gaa man workin with me.All this foreign sports ****e when we talk soccer. But when Munster play he suddenly becomes the greatest, most knowledgeable rugby man of all time. The irony is lost on him. And to make matters worse, I know more about rugby than him. (and probably gaa too since he bull****s so much)

A bit off topic but I have a better one for ya. I was working in Satelite sports before it went to the wall and a woman game in one day looking for a Rugby jersey for her young lad. He gave her strict instructions that the jersey was to represent anyone but an English club. I cheekily asked her if he owned any football jersey's. 'Oh god he does, Liverpool. Jerseys, shorts, jackets, hats, LOVES Liverpool' and even more cheekily I said 'but sure they're English'. The look on her face was priceless.

MyKeyG

gustavo wrote: »

Attitudes like that don't help either

Sorry my friend a negative attitude but a true one. As the old expression goes 'I didn't invent the game but I do know the rules' soccer is a third sport and it's one of very limited quality.

MyKeyG

Icky Thump wrote: »

unfortunatly the LOI are a bunch of amatuers. the way the league is run, the waqy the clubs are run. its a joke. i refuse to watch LOI until the FAI have no power over it.

LOI cant develop because of the FAI. the FAI are tring to run the league in the same fashion as the GAA. look at the case of Limerick FC vrs Barcelona in Thomond park. the Fai stated that a game with an addendance of over 15,000 cant be sanctioned outside the aviva stadium as cash made for these games would be better to go towards the league rather than individual teams..................... i wonder what the cash from the united match or the real madrid went towards. but of course they will claim it ent into the league.

i am a premier league fan. i have no "gaa" mindset where everything english is evil. i have no "i hate foreign sports" atitude. after all we come from a city that supports one of the biggest english sports.

Irish football/soccer fans will always support the premier league. the LOI is our equivalant to the sunday league games in the UK.

if the LOI wantour support they need to break from the FAI and get some proper sponsoring. maybe without the FAI they can get some tv revenue.

why doesnt RE show LOI and first division games on RTElate at night. i know they sho a select few games but no reason why they shouldnt show most of the games really really late at night. im sure alot of us would watch even on the sky+

I couldn't have but it better myself.

colly10

d.anthony wrote: »

I do. It's glory hunting.

So if you support Blackburn your a glory hunter, bragging about another year of consolidating your place as a mid table premiership team.
Ok maybe I don't speak for everyone when I say i'd rather watch quality but many do. I don't support Arsenal but am sitting here enjoying watching them play, I certainly wouldn't sit down and watch a LOI game with the same interest, I just don't find it as good to watch.

This bull**** about real fans etc.. is tiring. Just cause I don't head out to Dalymount to watch a game doesn't make me some sort of glory supporter with no interest in football, I played the game most of my life

MyKeyG

colly10 wrote: »

So if you support Blackburn your a glory hunter, bragging about another year of consolidating your place as a mid table premiership team.
Ok maybe I don't speak for everyone when I say i'd rather watch quality but many do. I don't support Arsenal but am sitting here enjoying watching them play, I certainly wouldn't sit down and watch a LOI game with the same interest, I just don't find it as good to watch.

This bull**** about real fans etc.. is tiring. Just cause I don't head out to Dalymount to watch a game doesn't make me some sort of glory supporter with no interest in football, I played the game most of my life

Yep me too, watching the Arsenal game and there's no doubt it's easier on the eye. I don't think the real fan concept is bull****. I don't see anything wrong with somebody taking pride in supporting their local team exclusively so long as they don't laud it over people who choose one across the water.

diol07

MyKeyG wrote: »

Sorry my friend a negative attitude but a true one. As the old expression goes 'I didn't invent the game but I do know the rules' soccer is a third sport and it's one of very limited quality.

Sorry to rain on your parade but Rugby is the third sport in Ireland, and by a country mile. Actually it's the fourth sport as it's well behind Soccer, Gaelic and Hurling. Soccer is the most played sport in Ireland, with the most registered players and most clubs. Soccer is the only sport in Ireland that can match the GAA in terms of having representation in almost every Parish/Town in the country. Rugby is a middle class game played in pockets around the country and also in a few exclusive schools. Apart from Munster where things are more down-to-earth, it's a game played and run by people who believe their own hype. If you think Rugby is somehow ahead of Soccer or GAA in this country you're deluded. It is not the game for the common man. Even in Munster, just take a look at how empty Thomand Park is for Magners League nights - huge hardcore following there alright :rolleyes: Fairview Rangers and Pike Rovers were pulling in bigger crowds than Shannon and Young Munster in the FAI cup a few years ago, and they're only local junior clubs!

MyKeyG

diol07 wrote: »

Sorry to rain on your parade but Rugby is the third sport in Ireland, and by a country mile. Actually it's the fourth sport as it's well behind Soccer, Gaelic and Hurling. Soccer is the most played sport in Ireland, with the most registered players and most clubs. Soccer is the only sport in Ireland that can match the GAA in terms of having representation in almost every Parish/Town in the country. Rugby is a middle class game played in pockets around the country and also in a few exclusive schools. Apart from Munster where things are more down-to-earth, it's a game played and run by people who believe their own hype. If you think Rugby is somehow ahead of Soccer or GAA in this country you're deluded. It is not the game for the common man. Even in Munster, just take a look at how empty Thomand Park is for Magners League nights - huge hardcore following there alright :rolleyes: Fairview Rangers and Pike Rovers were pulling in bigger crowds than Shannon and Young Munster in the FAI cup a few years ago, and they're only local junior clubs!

Oh come on you know the point I'm making. Statistics are like the bible you can make anything you want out of em. You can have half a million soccer and rugby clubs in Ireland it doesn't mean squat. Funding and media stand very much in favour of GAA. I'm in Ennis and soccer was frowned upon in two primary schools and banned in one. I've worked with the FAI at regional youth development (couple of talented lads from up ye're way) so I'm not anti-soccer. You're not raining on any parade because TBH under fourteens marbles could be the primary sport in the country for all I care.

When the FAI cup final draws a bigger media and public interest than the All Ireland Final I'll take your point.

And sorry you'll have to remind me where I said Rugby is somehow ahead of Soccer or GAA. I know it's the fourth sport.

liammur

Brian010 wrote: »

Rooney is on 200k a week. He should pay the fine lol !

Absolutely.

liammur

diol07 wrote: »

Sorry to rain on your parade but Rugby is the third sport in Ireland, and by a country mile. Actually it's the fourth sport as it's well behind Soccer, Gaelic and Hurling. Soccer is the most played sport in Ireland, with the most registered players and most clubs. Soccer is the only sport in Ireland that can match the GAA in terms of having representation in almost every Parish/Town in the country. Rugby is a middle class game played in pockets around the country and also in a few exclusive schools. Apart from Munster where things are more down-to-earth, it's a game played and run by people who believe their own hype. If you think Rugby is somehow ahead of Soccer or GAA in this country you're deluded. It is not the game for the common man. Even in Munster, just take a look at how empty Thomand Park is for Magners League nights - huge hardcore following there alright :rolleyes: Fairview Rangers and Pike Rovers were pulling in bigger crowds than Shannon and Young Munster in the FAI cup a few years ago, and they're only local junior clubs!

It all depends on how you measure them - in many ways rugby is THE top sport in the country - very fast growing, enjoying huge success at provincial level, big tv €.

MyKeyG

At least two lads invaded the pitch when Arsenal scored their fourth. It must be catching on.

osarusan

Icky Thump wrote: »

unfortunatly the LOI are a bunch of amatuers. the way the league is run, the waqy the clubs are run. its a joke. i refuse to watch LOI until the FAI have no power over it.

LOI cant develop because of the FAI. the FAI are tring to run the league in the same fashion as the GAA. look at the case of Limerick FC vrs Barcelona in Thomond park. the Fai stated that a game with an addendance of over 15,000 cant be sanctioned outside the aviva stadium as cash made for these games would be better to go towards the league rather than individual teams..................... i wonder what the cash from the united match or the real madrid went towards. but of course they will claim it ent into the league.

i am a premier league fan. i have no "gaa" mindset where everything english is evil. i have no "i hate foreign sports" atitude. after all we come from a city that supports one of the biggest english sports.

Irish football/soccer fans will always support the premier league. the LOI is our equivalant to the sunday league games in the UK.

if the LOI wantour support they need to break from the FAI and get some proper sponsoring. maybe without the FAI they can get some tv revenue.

why doesnt RE show LOI and first division games on RTElate at night. i know they sho a select few games but no reason why they shouldnt show most of the games really really late at night. im sure alot of us would watch even on the sky+

I appreciate the sentiment, but the LOI was seperate from the FAI until a few years ago, and it has improved since it has been under FAI management. However bad you think the FAI are, the LOI run by the clubs was even worse.

Regarding TV coverage - the FAI made a deal with RTE where the FAI insisted that if RTE wanted to broadcast the competitive international games, they'd have to agree to show a weekly LOI show (MNS at 9 on Monday is the result of this) and a certain amount of live games a season, increasing each year of the contract. In order to secure this deal, the FAI accepted 4 million euro less than RTE were willing to pay for rights to the international games alone. In other words, the FAI had to pay to get the league the coverage it gets.

Think about that when you wonder if the LOI would get better sponsorship if independent from the FAI.

Will I Amnt

d.anthony wrote: »

At least we Scots support teams in our own league:D

If all the Irish supporters of Premiership clubs put half as much effort into supporting LOI clubs then maybe that league wouldn't be as sh!te as it is.

Care to explain why the Scottish league is so sh!te then??

diol07

MyKeyG wrote: »

Oh come on you know the point I'm making. Statistics are like the bible you can make anything you want out of em. You can have half a million soccer and rugby clubs in Ireland it doesn't mean squat. Funding and media stand very much in favour of GAA. I'm in Ennis and soccer was frowned upon in two primary schools and banned in one. I've worked with the FAI at regional youth development (couple of talented lads from up ye're way) so I'm not anti-soccer. You're not raining on any parade because TBH under fourteens marbles could be the primary sport in the country for all I care.

When the FAI cup final draws a bigger media and public interest than the All Ireland Final I'll take your point.

And sorry you'll have to remind me where I said Rugby is somehow ahead of Soccer or GAA. I know it's the fourth sport.

You said soccer "plays third fiddle in this country", my point is it does not. Third fiddle to me is saying it's behind the GAA and Rugby, is this not what you were saying? Soccer and GAA are at the very least neck and neck, I'd go as far as to say Soccer is the biggest sport in this country right now. GAA attendances have been abysmal for about 5 years now and are getting worse every year. If youi disect it further, Hurling is only strong in Munster and about 5 more counties. Rugby, while making ground in recent years, is the poor relation but is backed by wealthy middle classes and corporate sponsorship. I've seen 3 Football World Cups involving Ireland where the whole country has shut down to watch the games and it's fever pitch in the media - the Rugby World Cup and team just does not have the same appeal to the Irish public, and never will have IMO. It just isn't there. The Thierry Henry handball incident in the play-offs invoked more emotion from the Irish public than Ireland winning the Six Nations!

Judging soccer in this country is hard because there are so many factors in doing so. The facts put Soccer on top at grassroots level here at home. Then you have the Premiership/Celtic/Foreign team fans, of which there are literally hundreds of thousands. A lot of people bash the LOI but there were over 30,000 at the FAI cup final just gone. The only other domestic finals that could better that are the All-Ireland finals. So overall you could make an argument for soccer or GAA being number one. It certainly isn't third fiddle to anyone.

liammur wrote: »

It all depends on how you measure them - in many ways rugby is THE top sport in the country - very fast growing, enjoying huge success at provincial level, big tv €.

I don't see rugby clubs popping up left, right and centre. It's the same old clubs all the time. I don't see rugby expanding like that. Rugby is very well run and it's recent success is down to the foundations it has laid in developing players and keeping them here. It has always had big corporate sponsorship and always will have as the games support traditionally comes from that area of society. The true test of Irish rugby in terms of public popularity will be when it hits a tough patch - i.e. the Irish, Munster and Leinster teams not doing so well. Irish rugby has in the last few years had its purple patch in the same way that soccer had it's period in the late eighties/early nineties. It'll be interesting to see how it stands up when Brian O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell are no longer there to carry their team mates and the results ain't so good. If you judge it by attendances at Magners League games, it doesn't bode well.

Anyway, regards the Rooney incident, a bit harsh I thought. Happens all the time but they're probably more sensitive to it in Glasgow because of security concerns. Not something they'd want to take hold on a regular basis with the sectarianism that's there

MyKeyG

diol07 wrote: »

You said soccer "plays third fiddle in this country", my point is it does not. Third fiddle to me is saying it's behind the GAA and Rugby, is this not what you were saying? Soccer and GAA are at the very least neck and neck, I'd go as far as to say Soccer is the biggest sport in this country right now. GAA attendances have been abysmal for about 5 years now and are getting worse every year. If youi disect it further, Hurling is only strong in Munster and about 5 more counties. Rugby, while making ground in recent years, is the poor relation but is backed by wealthy middle classes and corporate sponsorship. I've seen 3 Football World Cups involving Ireland where the whole country has shut down to watch the games and it's fever pitch in the media - the Rugby World Cup and team just does not have the same appeal to the Irish public, and never will have IMO. It just isn't there. The Thierry Henry handball incident in the play-offs invoked more emotion from the Irish public than Ireland winning the Six Nations!

Judging soccer in this country is hard because there are so many factors in doing so. The facts put Soccer on top at grassroots level here at home. Then you have the Premiership/Celtic/Foreign team fans, of which there are literally hundreds of thousands. A lot of people bash the LOI but there were over 30,000 at the FAI cup final just gone. The only other domestic finals that could better that are the All-Ireland finals. So overall you could make an argument for soccer or GAA being number one. It certainly isn't third fiddle to anyone.

Ok fair enough I made it seem that way but I meant GAA as two sports Hurling and Football, apologies. But as a rebuttal, and I may be linched for this, the Thierry Henry incident did not evoke passion. It evoked a typical good old Irish moan. We did everything we could to avoid winning the group and putting away a poor France and we got our just deserts for a lazy performance over two years. We played hoping a bit of luck would take us through and the luck went to someone else. That's just my opinion I don't intend opening that old can of worms.

Your statement about the passion during three world cups and if you want to include Euro88 is the typical bandwaggoning I've been talking about.

I was working in Lifestyle sports in 01 and we had loads of Ireland jerseys in the back store. We couldn't sell the yokes for love nor money. Then Ireland qualify for the World Cup and we couldn't keep up with demand. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you but the 'passion' you're so proud of is an illusion, nothing more.

diol07

MyKeyG wrote: »

I was working in Lifestyle sports in 01 and we had loads of Ireland jerseys in the back store. We couldn't sell the yokes for love nor money. Then Ireland qualify for the World Cup and we couldn't keep up with demand. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you but the 'passion' you're so proud of is an illusion, nothing more.

That's just poor stock management, Johnny Courtney at Umbro probably loaded ye with jerseys :P My point about the World Cup was not based on jersey sales, not everyone buys jerseys. My point was a Rugby World Cup would not light a candle to a soccer World Cup involving Ireland in terms of public interest and media frenzy. Ireland is involved in every Rugby World Cup by default and not once has it come close to a soccer equivalent. I would dispute your take on the Henry incident. You're right that we should have qualified before that, but regarding the incident, I've never seen such a public response on a sporting incident on that scale in this country before. The Six Nations was forgotten about a fortnight later. This country would go bananas if Ireland won a European Championship or World Cup, and well you know it

MyKeyG

diol07 wrote: »

That's just poor stock management, Johnny Courtney at Umbro probably loaded ye with jerseys :P My point about the World Cup was not based on jersey sales, not everyone buys jerseys. My point was a Rugby World Cup would not light a candle to a soccer World Cup involving Ireland in terms of public interest and media frenzy. Ireland is involved in every Rugby World Cup by default and not once has it come close to a soccer equivalent. I would dispute your take on the Henry incident. You're right that we should have qualified before that, but regarding the incident, I've never seen such a public response on a sporting incident on that scale in this country before. The Six Nations was forgotten about a fortnight later. This country would go bananas if Ireland won a European Championship or World Cup, and well you know it

Well you were the one trying to promote soccer on the basis of passion during the world cup. The fact is the last time Ireland qualified for a World Cup people didn't give a brown lump until they actually qualified. The jerseys were in the back store because they weren't being sold, we couldn't have given em away. When Ireland qualified for the world cup they flew out the door. Not everyone buys jerseys??? They do when we qualify.

And yes we would go bananas...until the next All Ireland Final. Oh and I'd prefer if you didn't mention Fairview lol...

elspecia

The lad who got onto the pitch is a neighbour of one of my mates and it was crazy to see him on the pitch.

Mars Bar

He says he has no regrets!

zuroph

diol07 wrote: »

Sorry to rain on your parade but Rugby is the third sport in Ireland, and by a country mile. Actually it's the fourth sport as it's well behind Soccer, Gaelic and Hurling. Soccer is the most played sport in Ireland, with the most registered players and most clubs. Soccer is the only sport in Ireland that can match the GAA in terms of having representation in almost every Parish/Town in the country. Rugby is a middle class game played in pockets around the country and also in a few exclusive schools. Apart from Munster where things are more down-to-earth, it's a game played and run by people who believe their own hype. If you think Rugby is somehow ahead of Soccer or GAA in this country you're deluded. It is not the game for the common man. Even in Munster, just take a look at how empty Thomand Park is for Magners League nights - huge hardcore following there alright :rolleyes: Fairview Rangers and Pike Rovers were pulling in bigger crowds than Shannon and Young Munster in the FAI cup a few years ago, and they're only local junior clubs!

why does they have to be compared at all?! the highlights lines are pathetic. Its like me saying "all soccer fans are dirty scumbags". grow up.

Jofspring

As an huge Limerick Fan it does drive me mad to hear people say they are die hard english football team supporters. Kids you wouldn't mind cause they know no better.

I'll give you a few examples, Irish people that follow Man U, Arsenal etc... come world cup time hate England. It's ridiculous. How can these people be true football supporters. Another thing is people say they watch the English premiership cause the quality is better but would then turn around and say they are Irish till they die and are part of the green army and go to all the international games even though the Irish team play dreadful football. If the same logic for supporting your club was applied to International football then everyone would support Brazil or Spain. You then have the Celtic fans who think Celtic are Irish and support them for this reason even though Hibernian FC have more Irish links and where around before Celtic but yet the Irish don't seem to follow Hibs. And don't get me started on the amount of people that started supporting Sunderland because they had Niall Quinn and Roy Keane yet now there isn't even and Irish player in the stating eleven.

The LOI fans support their local teams because they have a connection with them, they are their home team, their local players (to a certain extent), they can watch them live week in week out, travel the country supporting them and dream of the big away days like cup finals. This is what i think constitutes a real fan. Same goes for rugby, the real fans are the guys that didn't walk out on Shannon, Young Munsters etc... because something bigger and better in the guise of Munster came along. People who support teams on the telly in England or wherever can never have this connection and follow faceless clubs abroad that don't give a **** about the supporters barr the €€€€€€.

Yes a lot of the clubs in Ireland are run very bad and resort to desperate measures at times. Some clubs are run well and still struggle because people still won't support them.

Most LOI fans can still watch the likes of Arsenal and appreciate the way they play the game but that doesn't mean they are going to go around and brag about how "we" beat Liverpool at the weekend or how well "we" played against Spurs.

Basically throughout Europe Ireland is the laughing stock when it comes to Football. The Italians, Spanish, Dutch, Germans etc.... are baffled how the Irish can follow the English so avidly. Even in the smaller countries where some people might support English teams, their no.1 team is still usually their home team from where they are from. Even the die hard English fans despise the way the Irish follow their clubs because they feel the Irish have no true connection to these teams and are just following them because of their success and the big flashy games.

Most LOI fans will go to games for the entertainment value rather than the actual quality. For instance you can have a cracking game between Limerick FC and Waterford Utd for example with a lot of drama where the passion and intensity is high. But you could have top class players playing and more often than not have absolutely drab Manchester United vs Man City or Liverpool vs Sunderland matches.

Simply saying i don't support Irish teams cause of the quality doesn't cut it with me and basically these people are just after the glory. How many times have we seen a sudden rise in the amount of Chelsea jerseys, Arsenal Jerseys even Blackburn jerseys in the mid nineties yet this support disappears as the teams don't do as well and the supporters suddenly "lose" interest in football or whatever.

Also just to touch on what someone said about players playing loi not being up to international level, Keith Fahy, Kevin Doyle, Seamus Coleman (soon to be capped), Shane Long, Daryl Murphy. All players in recent times who plied their trade in the league of Ireland and where soon after playing International. Add into that Joseph Ndo (Cameroon International who played in two world cup) and Romuald Boco (Benin International Captain). Just a few examples there.

So thats my opinion on what a real fans is. Even after that little rant at the end of the day i don't really care what most of the Irish supporters do because i will always support Limerick FC through thick and thin as they are my team.

diol07

Jofspring wrote: »

As an huge Limerick Fan it does drive me mad to hear people say they are die hard english football team supporters. Kids you wouldn't mind cause they know no better.

I'll give you a few examples, Irish people that follow Man U, Arsenal etc... come world cup time hate England. It's ridiculous. How can these people be true football supporters. Another thing is people say they watch the English premiership cause the quality is better but would then turn around and say they are Irish till they die and are part of the green army and go to all the international games even though the Irish team play dreadful football. If the same logic for supporting your club was applied to International football then everyone would support Brazil or Spain. You then have the Celtic fans who think Celtic are Irish and support them for this reason even though Hibernian FC have more Irish links and where around before Celtic but yet the Irish don't seem to follow Hibs. And don't get me started on the amount of people that started supporting Sunderland because they had Niall Quinn and Roy Keane yet now there isn't even and Irish player in the stating eleven.

The LOI fans support their local teams because they have a connection with them, they are their home team, their local players (to a certain extent), they can watch them live week in week out, travel the country supporting them and dream of the big away days like cup finals. This is what i think constitutes a real fan. Same goes for rugby, the real fans are the guys that didn't walk out on Shannon, Young Munsters etc... because something bigger and better in the guise of Munster came along. People who support teams on the telly in England or wherever can never have this connection and follow faceless clubs abroad that don't give a **** about the supporters barr the €€€€€€.

Yes a lot of the clubs in Ireland are run very bad and resort to desperate measures at times. Some clubs are run well and still struggle because people still won't support them.

Most LOI fans can still watch the likes of Arsenal and appreciate the way they play the game but that doesn't mean they are going to go around and brag about how "we" beat Liverpool at the weekend or how well "we" played against Spurs.

Basically throughout Europe Ireland is the laughing stock when it comes to Football. The Italians, Spanish, Dutch, Germans etc.... are baffled how the Irish can follow the English so avidly. Even in the smaller countries where some people might support English teams, their no.1 team is still usually their home team from where they are from. Even the die hard English fans despise the way the Irish follow their clubs because they feel the Irish have no true connection to these teams and are just following them because of their success and the big flashy games.

Most LOI fans will go to games for the entertainment value rather than the actual quality. For instance you can have a cracking game between Limerick FC and Waterford Utd for example with a lot of drama where the passion and intensity is high. But you could have top class players playing and more often than not have absolutely drab Manchester United vs Man City or Liverpool vs Sunderland matches.

Simply saying i don't support Irish teams cause of the quality doesn't cut it with me and basically these people are just after the glory. How many times have we seen a sudden rise in the amount of Chelsea jerseys, Arsenal Jerseys even Blackburn jerseys in the mid nineties yet this support disappears as the teams don't do as well and the supporters suddenly "lose" interest in football or whatever.

Also just to touch on what someone said about players playing loi not being up to international level, Keith Fahy, Kevin Doyle, Seamus Coleman (soon to be capped), Shane Long, Daryl Murphy. All players in recent times who plied their trade in the league of Ireland and where soon after playing International. Add into that Joseph Ndo (Cameroon International who played in two world cup) and Romuald Boco (Benin International Captain). Just a few examples there.

So thats my opinion on what a real fans is. Even after that little rant at the end of the day i don't really care what most of the Irish supporters do because i will always support Limerick FC through thick and thin as they are my team.

Don't agree with that. I support Limerick FC, Liverpool and Ireland and actively go to most games. Your post is typical of the narrow minded League of Ireland fan playing the blame game. I've been a Limerick supporter since the late eighties when we were actually in the Premier and half decent. If you're comparing the LOI and the Premiership, the LOI has not progressed since then, which is pathetic really. The game over here is run by cowboys. In comparison the Premiership has developed in to a beast. It's not so much about quality but about how the game is run. The quality follows. The FAI and most LOI clubs are mickey mouse outfits organisationally and always have been. Don't blame the Irish football fan for looking over seas (I know plenty who support AC Milan/Barca etc as well), blame the incompetent officials who have turned Irish domestic football from 20,000+ attendances to 2000 these days. I go to Liverpool regularly, am a fancard holder and have been supporting them since I was 6 years of age. I refer to them as 'we' because I'm entitled to and because I've earned the right to.

You're post is very narrow minded, it's typical of the attitude you see on LOI forums such as foot.ie etc. Fair play to you for supporting your local side, but it doesn't make you a super fan. You're expecting Irish football fans to come out and support LOI in their thousands, yet look at the facilities- Jackman Park is not even non-league standard in the UK. Those sort of facilities are just not acceptable in this day and age. The poor facilities don't bother me personally but if you're trying to attract support, you have to make it appealing. The LOI is not appealing. This is due to years of mismanagement and domestic football is paying the price now - in Limerick the big Markets Field crowds have been lost to Munster rugby and sadly it's hard to ever see it being turned around.

Jofspring

I don't think it's narrow minded. If people want to support Forgien clubs fine but it's when these people look down there noses at me for supporting a loi team and ask questions like "no but what real team do you support" it drives me mad.

I totally agree with you that a lot of the problems the League of Ireland have are self inflicted but at the moment it is a vicious circle. Some clubs are trying to be run right, have small budgets and don't do so well in the league which in turn keeps crowds down so no money is raised towards improving facilities.
Most Irish people want success instantly and that is a huge problem. The Irish spend huge amounts of money on English clubs, a fraction of which would go a long way to helping Irish teams.

I watch the premiership, la liga etc.... Whenever I can but always feel the close affinity to Limerick and know they need the money more than the likes of man u etc.....

Also you say you support Limerick as well. The people i refer to are the people that say they are die hard football fans but then decide when they will support certain teams and players. Love Rooney with Man U, hate him with England. The amount of people i know that support a team but then go missing when they struggle is incredible. That attitude stinks. Personally i like to see Man U do well from a distance and if any Man U players play for Ireland, England or whoever i like to see most of them do well. It doesn't bother me when Man U do bad either though. Kills me when Limerick play bad or get stuffed.

Roadend

The same lad has a utd jersey with "we 8 scousers" on the back of it. Where was that Rooney is from again?

JerryHandbag

elspecia wrote: »

The lad who got onto the pitch is a neighbour of one of my mates and it was crazy to see him on the pitch.

Has he a facebook group set up in his honour yet?

Roadend wrote: »

The same lad has a utd jersey with "we 8 scousers" on the back of it. Where was that Rooney is from again?

He's from Everton :P

Roadend

JerryHandbag wrote: »

Has he a facebook group set up in his honour yet?



He's from Everton :P

And?

JerryHandbag

Roadend wrote: »

And?

It was a joke.

When United fans talk about Scousers, they refer to Liverpool fans and players, not Everton fans and players. Obviously this is wrong since everyone in the city is a scouser, I dont do it myself....I would rather say "The Pool" or somesuch. Wearing that on the back of a jersey is pretty stupid though

Edit: Its like Liverpool fans referring to United as The Mancs, but they dont include the other team in the city (which of course is FC United of Manchester)

Roadend

I just refer to Utd as wan*ers

RikkFlair

Roadend wrote: »

I just refer to Utd as wan*ers

Common enough insult towards the team top of the league, usually comes from supporter of MID TABLE team.