Are LOI Fans West Brits?

Count Dracula

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

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

minikin

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

MakersMark

Long term unemployed???

griffin100

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All soccer fans in all countries chant.

riffmongous

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

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

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

@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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ultra Groups?

riffmongous

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

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.

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

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

several far right ones too

Count Dracula

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

No harm imo.

EmmetSpiceland

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.