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Why do Irish people support English teams?

DEFTLEFTHAND

I was born and raised in Tipperary. My mother kept the home when Dad worked.

Dad worked in the merchant navy for yrs and loved soccer.

He lived in Inchicore when I was born. He was an officer on the Holyhead ferry.

We used to go to Richmond Park. Some of my earliest memomories in life are of him swearing and getting angry with me up on his lap.

He was a very emotive man, but very loving.

I just could never get why most of Dublin and the rest of the country supported the English league .

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keano_afc

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

I was born and raised in Tipperary. My mother kept the home when Dad worked.

Dad worked in the merchant navy for yrs and loved soccer.

He lived in Inchicore when I was born. He was an officer on the Holyhead ferry.

We used to go to Richmond Park. Some of my earliest memomories in life are of him swearing and getting angry with me up on his lap.

He was a very emotive man, but very loving.

I just could never get why most of Dublin and the rest of the country supported the English league .

Because not even the FAI support the Irish league.

[Deleted User]

Barbrady wrote: »

I say this as a LOI supporter:

LOI fans: Stop criticizing Premier League fans as barstoolers, plastic fans etc etc. You cant attract new fans by criticizing them.

Premier League fans: Go to a game, the players are not as high a standard obviously but the games are still entertaining and you can still support your english club as well. Its a night out and if you have kids its a night out for them too.

Nearly four years after being created and your account had said nothing. Then today a completly controversy free opinion.

I dont get it!

[Deleted User]

keano_afc wrote: »

Because not even the FAI support the Irish league.

Why would they ?

The Irish League is run by the Irish Football Association.

The League of Ireland on the other hand.....

Deebles McBeebles

No LOI team is anywhere near me and the EPL is on TV and full of our best Irish players(historically at least), that's probably why.

Berserker

Omackeral wrote: »

Ah that old chestnut. Gas how it's never Luton Town or Birmingham City even though the Irish flooded those places.

Flew out of East Midlands airport on Saturday evening and the flight was full of football fans supporting Nottingham Forest (the vast majority), Derby and Leicester. The lad beside us was a Sheffield United supporter.

Deebles McBeebles wrote: »

No LOI team is anywhere near me and the EPL is on TV and full of our best Irish players(historically at least), that's probably why.

What part of the country do you live in? Has to be a LoI club within an hour of you.

citytillidie

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

A conveniently forgotten part of their history. Professional grief only counts when it doesn't make them look bad.

No it is not, Liverpool don't play games that late in May anymore so there is nothing that is published in papers about it, but go onto the official LFC site on the anniversary date and you will see it is not forgotten.

dd973

Road-Hog wrote: »

Just another example of how childish brainless The Whole concept is.....Irish guys following a teams like say chealsa with almost 100% foreign non-uk or Irish players, owned by some Russian oil guy etc. it’s an extension of the school yard mentality into adulthood.......hearing guys getting excited about the January transfer market deadlines and who their team might buy.....local radio station doing Saturday afternoon premiership match live reporting.......pubs showing international games during the euros or World Cup with ITV or bbc coverage on rather than RTÉ.....

Maybe they just like football, other people have rugby, music, archery, cross-dressing, whatever floats their Asgard.

yourdeadwright

Who care why what other teams people like to watch or follow why does it effect you ?

It doesn't make you a better football fan because you like to watch LOI , get over yourself,

I like to watch my local under 7's five a side team as it more grass roots and my parish side and my fathers ,fathers team , i'm obviously a much better football fan than these lads who watch LOI ,

[Deleted User]

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Who care why what other teams people like to watch or follow why does it effect you ?

You could apply that to any topic on Boards. People are having a discussion.

yourdeadwright

Omackeral wrote: »

You could apply that to any topic on Boards. People are having a discussion.

A silly discussion ,

If someone supports a teams its because they enjoy it and have everything right to follow whoever they want and makes them no better or no worse a fan than some lads who enjoys LOI,

Some LOI fans get offended if someone prefers to watch a higher standard , get over yourself and realise there are other football fans out there that don't watch LOI ,

yourdeadwright

Road-Hog wrote: »

Heysel finished me with Liverpool and English clubs in general....there are still those out there that blame the stadium, the Italians and about everything else apart from themselves

Average age of fan who attendee Liverpool home games is 41 .

That would make them 7 year old at the time of Heysel ,

Hardly there fault is it or should we start to hold people responsible for other people actions ?

howiya

yourdeadwright wrote: »

A silly discussion ,

If someone supports a teams its because they enjoy it and have everything right to follow whoever they want and makes them no better or no worse a fan than some lads who enjoys LOI,

Some LOI fans get offended if someone prefers to watch a higher standard , get over yourself and realise there are other football fans out there that don't watch LOI ,

The real reason those LOI fans get offended is based in economics rather than anything to do with the standard.

They imagine what the league could be if people stopped spending money on foreign teams and instead spend it on their local LOI team boosting what they could spend on facilities and club development or more likely higher wages for players.

Football is a product and we are all consumers who choose to spend our disposable income on different variations of that product. Clubs are businesses and need to promote themselves better if they want an increased slice of that spend. That's the cold reality of it.

yourdeadwright

howiya wrote: »

The real reason those LOI fans get offended is based in economics rather than anything to do with the standard.

They imagine what the league could be if people stopped spending money on foreign teams and instead spend it on their local LOI team boosting what they could spend on facilities and club development or more likely higher wages for players.

Football is a product and we are all consumers who choose to spend our disposable income on different variations of that product. Clubs are businesses and need to promote themselves better if they want an increased slice of that spend. That's the cold reality of it.

Lots of fans including myself do not have an local team
,
I think finical gain if all locals went supported there local teams would not be a big as you think , In Dublin you have 6 teams In the top two division's

Place like Bray have 32 thousand people in all living there ,Athlone 21 thousand that people in total ,

There isn't the numbers of people to make these clubs big

redmgar

At the end of the day does it matter?
Its just a load of men kicking a ball around a field.

8-10

redmgar wrote: »

At the end of the day does it matter?
Its just a load of men kicking a ball around a field.

It matters if you like judging others to feel superior

OldMrBrennan83

redmgar wrote: »

At the end of the day does it matter?
Its just a load of men kicking a ball around a field.

Everything is just someone doing something.

Cienciano

Barbrady wrote: »

I say this as a LOI supporter:

LOI fans: Stop criticizing Premier League fans as barstoolers, plastic fans etc etc. You cant attract new fans by criticizing them.

Premier League fans: Go to a game, the players are not as high a standard obviously but the games are still entertaining and you can still support your english club as well. Its a night out and if you have kids its a night out for them too.

Neither of them are going to happen!
LOI is in a catch 22 situation. People won't go because the crowds and facilities are terrible and the crowds and facilities are terrible because the crowds won't go.
It would be great if we had a strong league with 15-20k people going to games and representatives in the CL

daheff

why cant i support a team from England...or Scotland...or Spain or any damn country I like?

Just because I live in Ireland doesnt mean I can only support Irish teams (I'm a Shamrock Rovers man myself). Supporting Irish teams doesnt mean I can support teams in other countries (or vice versa).

redmgar

A question to fans who have a LOI and premier league club:
Which team would you rather see win their league? Honest answers.

Agricola

If you grew up in rural Ireland, chances were there wasnt a soccer club anywhere near you, so your only exposure to the game came from TV. That combined with the best Irish players plying their trade in England.........it's easy to see why so many followed it. And if you're going to pick an arbitrary English club to follow, it might as well be one of the big successful ones. If you're from Ipswich, you're saddled with that fate from birth, no such problem for a la carte Irish football fans.

D14Rugby

redmgar wrote: »

A question to fans who have a LOI and premier league club:
Which team would you rather see win their league? Honest answers.

LOI wouldn't even take a seconds hesitation, though more SPL than EPL myself.

The Moldy Gowl

I'm in the pub waiting for bohs and shels.

2 lads talking about bohs and shels and now Liverpool and the premiership.
Almost like you can have both.
Live football and the elite.

Avatar MIA

The Moldy Gowl wrote: »

I'm in the pub waiting for bohs and shels.

2 lads talking about bohs and shels and now Liverpool and the premiership.
Almost like you can have both.
Live football and the elite.

You mean you could be BOTH rivals AND fellow supporters ?!? MIND BLOOOOOOWN

what-happens-if-australia-is-hit-by-a-nuclear-bomb

Annd9

yourdeadwright wrote: »

A silly discussion ,

If someone supports a teams its because they enjoy it and have everything right to follow whoever they want and makes them no better or no worse a fan than some lads who enjoys LOI,

Some LOI fans get offended if someone prefers to watch a higher standard , get over yourself and realise there are other football fans out there that don't watch LOI ,

That's all well and good if you see football as pure entertainment , just like going to the cinema . Reality is far different though , sport in general brings on emotions totally different to any other form of "entertainment" .

Loi fans get offended when people wonder why our national team is not doing well , when people get up in arms over some youngfella deciding to play for his OWN country , when you are asked who you really support ? , when foreign football fans get bemused at all the English club jerseys on our streets .

I could go for hours but in my opinion it's a loosing battle , supporting Loi is hard work a lot of the time and most Irish people are simply not motivated or passionate enough to stick in there .

Look at crowds for run of the mill league games in the Gaa or Pro 14 , not great by any standard and some of these players are the best in the world at their sports so obviously standard doesn't come into it .

This is all fine btw , we love a bandwagon . It's when the "Best fans in the world " tripe comes out(specifically the national team ) that i and a lot of Loi fans get pretty pi**ed off .

Avatar MIA

Annd9 wrote: »

This is all fine btw , we love a bandwagon . It's when the "Best fans in the world " tripe comes out(specifically the national team ) that i and a lot of Loi fans get pretty pi**ed off .

Not meaning to be disrespectful, but do you have a lot to be worried about?

Strumms

People like soccer, different soccer teams, soccer and GAA, I like soccer, GAA and cricket...I support Manchester United and Bohemians, if there has to be some mega magic formula or definition to define your love of something be it a team, sport or whatever in order to satisfy some gobśhite on the Internet or some demographic of Neanderthal fûckwit who can’t get their head around someone else’s ‘likes’ and how and why they get to enjoy something then we is screwed, like what you like and enjoy life and march to the beat of your own drum.

The Rape of Lucretia

The same reason so many spent today celebrating Commonwealth Day.
Happy Commonwealth Day to all !

(Its only a patch on Empire Day though, if you ask me. At least Ireland was properly part of that. And arguably, still is).

Annd9

Avatar MIA wrote: »

[/B]

Not meaning to be disrespectful, but do you have a lot to be worried about?

Yes plenty , care to lend a friendly ear ?

bit of a bogey

Everyone has their own personal reasons I'm sure but heres my own personal experience on why i support a foreign team.

I first got into football at the launch of the premier league. Lots of money, lots of glamour and building publicity. These guys had flare and fame and it was understandable why any young impressionable lad would be interested. There was premier league stickers, full length tv programs doing the build up on saturday mornings and match of the day. Overall it was a very attractive product that was talked about on the playground. Most of my friends followed man utd so i assume i naturally tried to fit in and also followed man united. There was never any talk of league of ireland.

The irish soccer team also had unfounded success in the early 90's and everyone got behind them. These were national idols who played in the premier league. Keane and Irwin being just two of mine.

I was also interested in most sports. Gaelic football in particular. I was reguarly brought to club and Dublin GAA games which naturally kept my interest but i was interested and attracted by all sports.

Then as i got older i realized i did not nessecarily have any affinity to manchester united. I wasnt from manchester and didnt feel the same connection as i did to dublin gaa. My support then faded towards man utd and although i still enjoyed the product, i would have no longer considered myself a supporter by the age of 12. If anything i now always supported the underdog as united were ao dominant!

Soon after that time i remember the bohs and roddy collins hype starting to build and i got behind that train. I remember asking my father to bring me to those games and i really enjoyed it. Some great memories especially when bohs were going do so well.

I do however remember when i started getting old enough to go the games on my own or with a friend. The bohs hardcore fan base was loud and energetic so i wanted to get closer but over time i also started thinking maybe this isint for me. I found the abuse and hatred shared between some opposing fans was odd and didnt represent me. "Northside till i die", "i fcking hate rovers" and others seemed out of place in the sport i was used to. Some of it seemed really heated, over the top and verging on thuggery. I wasnt even from the northside! I was used to the GAA where we shared heated banter but where my family would mix in the bars and clubs after. There was no real hatred and we were all one people. Something which i was more comfortable with and being from a fairly nationalist sporting household, i could identify with more.

Maybe if i had been brought to a pats game i would have stayed more interested but pats werent exactly nearby my home either! I had never heard of anyone supporting pats so it would have even been a bit odd and out of the blue if i requested my dad to take me there.

Then when i was also very young i also supported celtic. Probably the same reason as why i supported united. Plenty of glamour and publicity and most of my friends supported them. I had been brought to a game or two in my teens when i was impressionable but it really made an impact. This was a club built by irish immigrants and where they still fly a tri-colour over the stadium. I thought this was fairly remarkable and where i had family members who had immigrated to all over the world this really struck a cord. I remember the people were incredible over there. All of irish decent and so friendly and welcoming. I had never experienced this at a soccer game. Even most of the songs sung represented a connection to me.

Most of my friends still follow united. I dont but i still really enjoy the product and am kept engaged through the amount of air time it gets on both tv and conversation amongst my friends.

I still feel a connection to celtic which is stronger to what i feel to any irish club. Its a pity but maybe if i had different role models influencing me or if there was a club located closer to me, then i might have stayed engaged to domestic football.

howiya

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Lots of fans including myself do not have an local team
,
I think finical gain if all locals went supported there local teams would not be a big as you think , In Dublin you have 6 teams In the top two division's

Place like Bray have 32 thousand people in all living there ,Athlone 21 thousand that people in total ,

There isn't the numbers of people to make these clubs big

Fair enough you don't have a local team. I don't care who you support. I'm just pointing out that the LOI fans you think are offended over the difference in standard are actually offended because they feel with greater financial support their team could be better.

I'm not talking about clubs becoming as big as clubs in the EPL but a couple of hundred extra regular supporters at the clubs you've mentioned would make a significant difference to their budget. It's all relative.