Ireland's Most Under Appreciated Sporting Achievement

ClovenHoof

Without a doubt it was coming 3rd in 1997 Youth World Cup. Brian Kerr was manager.

Naturally the 'Greatest Fans in the World' have absolutely no idea that an Irish soccer team came very close to winning a World Cup. I reckon because a lot of the players were from the League of Ireland that both RTE and the "Greatest Fans in the World" didn't give a toss.

I think that is very unfortunate. So I would like to nominate this as Ireland's most under appreciated sporting achievement.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_FIFA_World_Youth_Championship

Macavity.

This whole "Greatest Fans in the World" shite you keep coming out with is getting tiresome.

Soups123

ClovenHoof wrote: »

Without a doubt it was coming 3rd in 1997 Youth World Cup. Brian Kerr was manager.

Naturally the 'Greatest Fans in the World' have absolutely no idea that an Irish soccer team came very close to winning a World Cup. I reckon because a lot of the players were from the League of Ireland that both RTE and the "Greatest Fans in the World" didn't give a toss.

I think that is very unfortunate. So I would like to nominate this as Ireland's most under appreciated sporting achievement.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_FIFA_World_Youth_Championship

This achievement was watch and recognised by many sports fan's RTE even covered it live which was rare at the time

Soups123

Not so much underrated but Robbie Keanes contribution to Ireland is often under appreciated he'll be recited as a legend when he's gone

Sheep Lover

Kildares 1927 All Ireland Senior Football win

Pudsy33

All of cricket Irelands recent exploits.

Kermit.de.frog

Katie Taylor.

Dyr

Hipster sports fans. Bleedin deadly

Donnielighto

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Katie Taylor.

She does my head in.

Omackeral

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Katie Taylor.

Read the thread title again, Champ.

Mars Bar

Ireland U17 Girls team reaching the UEFA European Championship final in 2010 but losing to Spain on penalties. It meant they qualified for the World Cup.

padohaodha

Tony mccoy....Ireland most underappreciated

ConM96

I find that most( if not all) of Ireland's tennis players receive little to no credit or attention to their achievements. James mcGee,Louk sorensen to name but a few give their everything week in and week out and the irish media seem uninterested. Okay, they may not be winning main draw matches but both have experienced good wins on the ITF circuit and more recently James qualified for the U.S. Open. I really feel they deserve more recognition for their work.

thelad95

Donnielighto wrote: »

She does my head in.

In what way? She actually comes across as a really down-to-earth, hardworking and humble (despite her success). Compare her personality and attitude to that of Conor McGregor who seems like a right knob altogether.

efb

Padraig Harrington's majors

irish coldplayer

These Lads, (cant post full links yet)
theirishstory.com/2012/06/22/irelands-forgotten-olympians-the-irish-whales/#.VKXvVXtyO-c
sportsbant.com/articles/383/When-Irishmen-dominated-the-Olympics
the "Irish Whales" although they didn't represent Ireland were Irish born Olympic champions. TG4 did a documentary on them a year or 2 ago.
Not so much under appreciated as forgotten or unknown to most people

Skylinehead

padohaodha wrote: »

Tony mccoy....Ireland most underappreciated

Widely acknowledged as the best jockey of all time? Hmmm nah, not really that underappreciated in fairness.

Donnielighto

thelad95 wrote: »

In what way? She actually comes across as a really down-to-earth, hardworking and humble (despite her success). Compare her personality and attitude to that of Conor McGregor who seems like a right knob altogether.

Her accent goes through me, not her fault really.

I dont like overly religious people.

There is that really sexist ad she did.

thelad95

Donnielighto wrote: »

Her accent goes through me, not her fault really.

I dont like overly religious people.

There is that really sexist ad she did.

The car insurance one? That was pretty shocking alright.

pauliebdub

ConM96 wrote: »

I find that most( if not all) of Ireland's tennis players receive little to no credit or attention to their achievements. James mcGee,Louk sorensen to name but a few give their everything week in and week out and the irish media seem uninterested. Okay, they may not be winning main draw matches but both have experienced good wins on the ITF circuit and more recently James qualified for the U.S. Open. I really feel they deserve more recognition for their work.

Not really, qualifying for the 1st round of a grand slam along with 127 other players is hardly a great achievement. If he got to the 4TH round I'd say something.

padd b1975

Dave 'boy' McCauley, World flyweight boxing Champion back in the late eighties.

His achievements went largely unnoticed for some reason.

Glass Prison 1214

Dan Martin's monument wins, barely even reported in the Irish media.

ChunkyLover54

ClovenHoof wrote: »

Without a doubt it was coming 3rd in 1997 Youth World Cup. Brian Kerr was manager.

Naturally the 'Greatest Fans in the World' have absolutely no idea that an Irish soccer team came very close to winning a World Cup. I reckon because a lot of the players were from the League of Ireland that both RTE and the "Greatest Fans in the World" didn't give a toss.

I think that is very unfortunate. So I would like to nominate this as Ireland's most under appreciated sporting achievement.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_FIFA_World_Youth_Championship

What the hell are you talking about?

That u-20 World Cup got massive coverage at the time. So did subsequent
tournaments where Ireland had success at youth level under Brian Kerr.

Are you looking for things to be outraged by?

ConM96

pauliebdub wrote: »

Not really, qualifying for the 1st round of a grand slam along with 127 other players is hardly a great achievement. If he got to the 4TH round I'd say something.

That's no mean feat he had to win 3 matches to qualify aswell as have a high enough ranking. Plus he has to do this on little to no money as ITf prize money is sh1te.

pauliebdub

ConM96 wrote: »

That's no mean feat he had to win 3 matches to qualify aswell as have a high enough ranking. Plus he has to do this on little to no money as ITf prize money is sh1te.

At least the prize money for reaching the first round has improved substantially so it gives the weaker players a better chance to make a decent enough living.

ConM96

pauliebdub wrote: »

At least the prize money for reaching the first round has improved substantially so it gives the weaker players a better chance to make a decent enough living.

Thankfully it has but instead of adding more money to the winners cheque these tournaments need to put it on the early rounds. Needless to say that wont happen anytime in the near future.

deadybai

Kilkennys dominance in hurling is greatly under appreciated. Probably because everyone is sick of them winning. To win 10 All Irelands as a player and 10 as a manager is an absolutely phenomenal achievement.

Other then that I would say Robbie Keanes goal scoring record. Nearly feel bad for him how little recognition that he gets.

Pudsy33

Glass Prison 1214 wrote: »

Dan Martin's monument wins, barely even reported in the Irish media.

Can't believe I forgot this. One of the best cyclists in a truly worldwide sport. One of the best Irish sportsmen ever imo.

Alba Frere

padohaodha wrote: »

Tony mccoy....Ireland most underappreciated

McCoy receives a lot of praise in the media both in Ireland and the UK but IMO he's over rated and takes attention away from all the other NH jockeys who work as hard and are just as brave. His racing ability doesn't come close to jockeys like Ruby Walsh and Barry Geraghty. Yes he has a huge number of winners in terms of quantity but comparing him to Walsh and Geraghty for example is like comparing Kevin Kilbane who has like 115 caps for Ireland to Roy Keane who has 63 caps I think or thereabouts. But who's better? Who won multiple Premier Leagues, FA Cups and a Champions League?

An athlete underrated IMO is Robert Heffernan, the racewalking World Champion. Of course I know f**k all people do it but the man can walk a marathon under 3 hours! Try run a mile in 6 minutes and tell me what it feels like and that's how fast he walks for 50km.

Hulk Hands

ClovenHoof wrote: »

Without a doubt it was coming 3rd in 1997 Youth World Cup. Brian Kerr was manager.

Naturally the 'Greatest Fans in the World' have absolutely no idea that an Irish soccer team came very close to winning a World Cup. I reckon because a lot of the players were from the League of Ireland that both RTE and the "Greatest Fans in the World" didn't give a toss.

I think that is very unfortunate. So I would like to nominate this as Ireland's most under appreciated sporting achievement.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_FIFA_World_Youth_Championship

On the last 3 away trips ive been on supporting the national side, ive heard that 97 team come up in conversation numerous times. The vast majority of Irish match going soccer fans ('the best fans in the world') know about them. I love the little league of Ireland reference aswell. A huge portion of the 'Greatest fans in the world' are made up of LOI regulars, something that seems to be forgotten when that tag line gets thrown around as an insult

Rabbo

sugarman wrote: »

Or the European Championships he actually won with them the following year

What happened those players since? Why didn't they go on and win trophies for the seniors?

Bridge93

Rabbo wrote: »

What happened those players since? Why didn't they go on and win trophies for the seniors?

Because that's unbelieveably hard to do. Winning an underage Europeans in one random year does not automatically mean success at senior level.

Alba Frere

Any achievement in GAA is not underappreciated ffs. Total opposite.

dirtyden

Every single sporting achievement mentioned so far has received a lot of appreciation. The example in the OP is ridiculous, and someone saying Padraig Harrington's majors were under appreciated (perhaps only if you lived in a cave in Afghanistan when they happened). Someone mentioned the Kilkenny hurlers being underrated and specifically Cody and Shefflin when they are almost universally acclaimed as 2 of the games all time greats.

There are very little sporting achievements that pass under the radar here. The country is too small and sport plays too large a part in irish life for any significant achievement not to be recognised. Nothing mentioned on this thread will have gone un-noticed by anyone with even a marginal interest in sport.

Alba Frere

dirtyden wrote: »

Every single sporting achievement mentioned so far has received a lot of appreciation. The example in the OP is ridiculous, and someone saying Padraig Harrington's majors were under appreciated (perhaps only if you lived in a cave in Afghanistan when they happened). Someone mentioned the Kilkenny hurlers being underrated and specifically Cody and Shefflin when they are almost universally acclaimed as 2 of the games all time greats.

There are very little sporting achievements that pass under the radar here. The country is too small and sport plays too large a part in irish life for any significant achievement not to be recognised. Nothing mentioned on this thread will have gone un-noticed by anyone with even a marginal interest in sport.

That would be all well and good if we were discussing unnoticed sporting achievements but we're not, we are discussing underappreciated ones.

diusmr8a504cvk

Donnielighto wrote: »

Her accent goes through me, not her fault really.

I dont like overly religious people.

There is that really sexist ad she did.

She sounds so out of breath all the time which just breaks my balls.

Bridge93

I think the cricketers have gone under the radar a bit. Not in the sense of people not being aware their results happened but just that those who don't follow it would not be fully aware of the scale of the results which is totally natural in a minority sport.

As was said its difficult in a small country for something to slip through. I would maybe think of Annalise Murphy at the last Olympics. Coming 4th was a huge achievement but was dampened and not fully appreciated due to the fact she probably should have got a medal from where she was going into the last few races. But 4th was still a big achievement.

Terrontress

deadybai wrote: »

Kilkennys dominance in hurling is greatly under appreciated. Probably because everyone is sick of them winning. To win 10 All Irelands as a player and 10 as a manager is an absolutely phenomenal achievement.

Other then that I would say Robbie Keanes goal scoring record. Nearly feel bad for him how little recognition that he gets.

How many decent sides has he been in a winning team against in a competitive match? Big European sides like Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Russia?

It is my belief that Robbie will put away five against Andorra, adding to his tally, but I'm not aware of his goal scoring ever having mattered.

Hulk Hands

A good portion of the country wouldnt appreciate how successful we are in the horseracing sphere. From trainers to jockeys to breeding, Ireland is pivitol to the flat racing game and is pretty much running the national hunt game at the moment. It's hard to pin down a specific underrated achievement though. Ruby Walsh would be quite underrated as a sportsman. Ask a randomer in the street who is the best jockey and you might get back Tony McCoy or Frankie Dettori due to British media hype. Ruby's been far and away the greatest in his sphere for over a decade

Hulk Hands

Terrontress wrote: »

How many decent sides has he been in a winning team against in a competitive match? Big European sides like Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Russia?

It is my belief that Robbie will put away five against Andorra, adding to his tally, but I'm not aware of his goal scoring ever having mattered.

Is this a trolling post or are you being serious?

Mars Bar

dirtyden wrote: »

Every single sporting achievement mentioned so far has received a lot of appreciation. nts that pass under the radar here.

I don't think the one I mentioned received enough appreciation.

Terrontress

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Is this a trolling post or are you being serious?

Answer the question then. For his goals scored, beyond completing a tally sheet, when has he been in a side which has won a match of note?

dirtyden

Mars Bar wrote: »

I don't think the one I mentioned received enough appreciation.

Fair point. I had heard of that at time but it probably did not get much airplay.

Bridge93

Terrontress wrote: »

How many decent sides has he been in a winning team against in a competitive match? Big European sides like Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Russia?

It is my belief that Robbie will put away five against Andorra, adding to his tally, but I'm not aware of his goal scoring ever having mattered.

5th June 2002. Ireland 1-1 Germany.

Also the last minute penalty agsinst Spain in the last 16.
Away in France in the WC playoff when Henry handballed.
Away in the Netherlands in the WC 2002 qualifiers in a very important draw.
Iran in the 2002 playoffs
In a draw away in Italy during a qualifying campaign
Qualifiers against Russia, Czech Republic, Turkey. All higher seeds in the groups.
Away in Estonia twice in the Euro 2012 playoffs

He has scored against some more big teams but only in friendly games which I'm sure don't count to you. We don't play a huge amount of competitive games against top sides so his strike rate is impressive.
So yeah, he has done it in important games against big teams. One players goals cant always stop a team losing a game so your comment about his goals mattering is irrelevant.

Terrontress

Bridge93 wrote: »

5th June 2002. Ireland 1-1 Germany.

Also the last minute penalty agsinst Spain in the last 16.
Away in France in the WC playoff when Henry handballed.
Away in the Netherlands in the WC 2002 qualifiers in a very important draw.
Iran in the 2002 playoffs
In a draw away in Italy during a qualifying campaign
Qualifiers against Russia, Czech Republic, Turkey. All higher seeds in the groups.
Away in Estonia twice in the Euro 2012 playoffs

So yeah, he has done it in important games against big teams.

Some matches in 2002, 12 years ago, a penalty, some draws and a couple of goals against Estonia?

He isn't under appreciated at all. He gets the recognition he deserves.

A more cerebral player who can score against big teams and isn't concerned about maintaining stone record against the likes of Saudi Arabia, while creaking under the pressure of Switzerland, would have fine do much more for Ireland.

Hulk Hands

Terrontress wrote: »

How many decent sides has he been in a winning team against in a competitive match? Big European sides like Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Russia?

It is my belief that Robbie will put away five against Andorra, adding to his tally, but I'm not aware of his goal scoring ever having mattered.

Yugoslavia in 99, Holland and Iran to get us to the WC, Germany and Spain in the WC, Italy in Bari, France in Paris. Those are just the 'big' teams aswell, of whom Ireland wouldnt play all that often, possibly twice during a campaign. Not even mentioning his club career. There's a lengthy Keane thread on the Soccer forum, why dont you bring your incredibly simplistic point of view across and argue it there

Bridge93

Terrontress wrote: »

Some matches in 2002, 12 years ago, a penalty, some draws and a couple of goals against Estonia?

He isn't under appreciated at all. He gets the recognition he deserves.

A more cerebral player who can score against big teams and isn't concerned about maintaining stone record against the likes of Saudi Arabia, while creaking under the pressure of Switzerland, would have fine do much more for Ireland.

So Robbie Keane's goals are meant to beat teams by themselves. He scored away in France in the playoff, what more do you want from him? To save the French goal himself too? Football is an 11 man game just because we don't win doesn't mean his record means less. He scored goals against teams of all abilities, the results don't change that.
I suppose Shane Williams tries for Wales mean less because he spent half his time in a crap Welsh side? What about Shearers goals at Newcastle?

bur

Seamus winning the WWE HW championship.

Terrontress

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Yugoslavia in 99, Holland and Iran to get us to the WC, Germany and Spain in the WC, Italy in Bari, France in Paris. Those are just the 'big' teams aswell, of whom Ireland wouldnt play all nl
. often, possibly twice during a campaign. Not even mentioning his club career. There's a lengthy Keane thread on the Soccer forum, why dont you bring your incredibly simplistic point of view across and argue it there

If you need to go back to 1999 to prove your point then you're on to a losing battle already.

I'm not saying he hasn't achieved anything, but he is overly lauded in my opinion and his record papers over the cracks of a mediocre international career.

Bridge93

bur wrote: »

Seamus winning the WWE HW championship.

Probably one of our most under appreciated acting performances I'll give you that.

Alba Frere

Quidditch World Cup?