Why do Irish people support English teams?

howiya · 12-03-2019 10:23am

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.

yourdeadwright · 12-03-2019 11:16am

Annd9 wrote: »

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 .

Its not a case of fans not being passionate or motivated , fans pay a fortune to go watch there teams in England and Europe a few times a year because they are passionate

LOI just have to get over the fact that a lot of people aren't interested and prefer to support other teams,

Are you trying to say LOI have more affinity to the national team ? How ? The vast majority of players who play on our national team play in England ,

What point are you trying to make ?

Ardillaun · 18-03-2019 7:06pm

I supported Man U when I lived in the city and in their days of adversity, but tired of their success and Fergie in particular and eventually recovered from my problem. Nowadays, I enjoy attacking soccer whoever plays it. I often have to watch a match for a while to figure out who I am cheering for on the day. They're all foreigners anyway, temporarily working for teams owned by dodgy oligarchs so it's silly to get too attached to them. Liverpool and Man City are finally providing entertainment at the level of the top European teams so I often root for them.

Laois_Man · 18-03-2019 8:10pm

I didn't support an English club coz a family member did - the complete opposite. My much older brother supports Liverpool....I hated them all because of him...because it was Liverpool this, Liverpool that...bla bla bla....all day every day....so I wanted them to lose....so I went looking for the club that was nearest to causing them to lose, which at the time was Everton.....and I supported them....and it stuck. I didn't even know at first that they were Liverpool's local rivals, I was just happy when they won the league coz it meant Liverpool didn't!

The nearest club to me growing up was the now defunct Kilkenny City - but as someone who grew up with a father as a former Laois county player and then county team selector, I had the GAA mentality ingrained in me and I would never in a million years have supported any team called Kilkenny - even though I liked soccer. I played for my local soccer team, but there was nobody at a decent level to be a supporter of.

Ardillaun · 06-05-2019 4:36am

Getting worked up about any sports team is a little silly but by one in a foreign country is foolishness personified - and the UK is a foreign country. I know Man U fanatics who are keen on UI. Perhaps it’s something in the name?

ILoveYourVibes · 06-05-2019 4:41am

I don't watch football and even i know the answer to this one.

Because Irish teams are ****e.

European teams and games are shown less often etc plus language barrier.

Its like asking why do Irish people watch the BBC instead of RTE? You KNOW why. The Brits make great TV.

And if you are thinking 'Oh they think England is better than Ireland etc' Yes YES because you would have to be delusional think that Irish football was in any way on the same level as English football.

So if you LOVE good quality football you will want to watch good quality football the best quality etc. When you add in the language factor etc and the fact that we have the BBC you have your answer.

The REAL question is why watch football when you COULD be watching hurling?

Football is boring it's slow. Its not watchable. It was created by the English! And they are fantastic at it.

Hurling is wild fast and untamed! Like us! Its SAVAGE!

Ardillaun · 06-05-2019 4:51am

The language reasons are gone for supporting Man U over the likes of Barcelona. You can watch all the top teams with commentary in English and the players are interchangeable as well. If you simply wanted the best over the last decade, as opposed to LOI, you could have cheered for Messi and Ronaldo. The EPL is emerging as a dominant league but that newfound quality does not explain why Irish people have watched it when it was mediocre by continental standards. In the past the excuse was that we had star players there - now we have to find another story.

ILoveYourVibes · 06-05-2019 4:55am

Ardillaun wrote: »

The language reasons are gone for supporting Man U over the likes of Barcelona. You can watch the best teams with commentary in English and the players are interchangeable as well. If you simply wanted the best, as opposed to LOI, you should have cheered for Messi and Ronaldo for years now.

Very true. Although i can't assess football quality I know nothing about it.

I would imagine language is the main reason for the preference over non English speaking teams.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater · 06-05-2019 5:35am

I haven't a clue why I support Liverpool other than that my Dad is a Liverpool fan, as are most of my wider family. I have no idea why that is.

I don't try to justify it by family or other links to the city or indeed the cultural connection between Ireland and Liverpool and by the time I started supporting them, there were very few Irish players at the club and there haven't been many since.

Obviously enough, I don't have any problem with Irish people following teams from other countries, be it England, Scotland or wherever but some eejits take it too far. Heard one Manchester United fan saying he'd never set foot in Liverpool because Scousers are scum. I'm not sure that the fella has been to the UK, let alone the north west of England. Heard another one who I know to be local singing a United song in a put-on Mancunian accent one night, bell end.

Omackeral · 06-05-2019 6:27am

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

I don't watch football and even i know the answer to this one.

Because Irish teams are ****e.

Yet you get tens of thousands out to watch the Republic Of Ireland national team. Why not follow elite European nations if that's the logic?

You brought up hurling. What if your own county is ****e? Just follow Kilkenny or Waterford because they're better?

Alicano · 06-05-2019 6:35am

Omackeral wrote: »

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

Luton Town fan here

My folks lived there in the 60's.. Brother and Sister born there. Uncles attended school in Luton for a while. Think my Gran worked in Vauxhall for a bit too

So yep. Luton Town all the way. Sorry if slightly off topic.

Omackeral · 06-05-2019 6:36am

Alicano wrote: »

Luton Town fan here My folks lived there in the 60's.. Brother and Sister born there. Uncles attended school in Luton for a while. Think my Gran worked in Vauxhall for a bit too So yep. Luton Town all the way. Sorry if slightly off topic.

Completely on topic and completely on point!

galwayllm · 06-05-2019 7:12am

Why do Irish people watch Eastenders or Corrie?

You're point OP can't be used for many many formats?

It's a mute point....

Cmon the Pool & Galway Utd.....

blade1 · 06-05-2019 7:42am

galwayllm wrote: »

Why do Irish people watch Eastenders or Corrie?

You're point OP can't be used for many many formats?

It's a mute point....

Cmon the Pool & Galway Utd.....

Yeah, but seeing as we can read it, it doesn't need to be heard!

ILoveYourVibes · 06-05-2019 8:00am

Omackeral wrote: »

Yet you get tens of thousands out to watch the Republic Of Ireland national team. Why not follow elite European nations if that's the logic?

You brought up hurling. What if your own county is ****e? Just follow Kilkenny or Waterford because they're better?

Yeah

Sometimes once their out.

Why care? I think you are bigoted if you say support European teams over the UK. They are our neighbors. Most of us have relatives there etc.

Its a disturbing level of nationalism (or anti Britishness) that shouldn't be tolerated quite frankly.

Support who you like. The fact that it annoys really closed minded people is just a bonus!

And of course you still support Ireland at the same time etc. Nothing wrong with that

You can even support the English football team. Whats wrong with it?

OldMrBrennan83 · 06-05-2019 8:59am

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Yeah Sometimes once their out.

Why care? I think you are bigoted if you say support European teams over the UK. They are our neighbors. Most of us have relatives there etc.

Its a disturbing level of nationalism (or anti Britishness) that shouldn't be tolerated quite frankly.

Support who you like. The fact that it annoys really closed minded people is just a bonus!

And of course you still support Ireland at the same time etc. Nothing wrong with that

You can even support the English football team. Whats wrong with it?

What's wrong with it is that they're England and no amount of anti-Britishness in all avenues of life is ever too much.

Hamsterchops · 06-05-2019 9:04am

Seeing as we are part of Europe, and will be staying part of Europe, Irish people should support European teams who are more like ourselves. We should not support foreign teams from these islands.

8-10 · 06-05-2019 9:32am

Or we could support who we like and allow others to have their own interests also

Fr Tod Umptious · 06-05-2019 9:40am

Ardillaun wrote: »

The language reasons are gone for supporting Man U over the likes of Barcelona. You can watch all the top teams with commentary in English and the players are interchangeable as well. If you simply wanted the best over the last decade, as opposed to LOI, you could have cheered for Messi and Ronaldo. The EPL is emerging as a dominant league but that newfound quality does not explain why Irish people have watched it when it was mediocre by continental standards. In the past the excuse was that we had star players there - now we have to find another story.

Because support is handed down from one generation to the next.

English soccer has been supported in Ireland for decades and is established.

And even now language is a barrier. The Irish media market is dominated by British media and thus we get far more exposure to British sport than European sport.
It's not just about the commentary on whether it's in English or not, it's about all the other media aspects too.

No one in Ireland read Spainsh tabloids, no one subscribe to Spainsh TV networks, no one reads Spain sports websites.

But we do the above with regards to British media in our thousands.

Church on Tuesday · 06-05-2019 6:50pm

Hamsterchops wrote: »

Seeing as we are part of Europe, and will be staying part of Europe, Irish people should support European teams who are more like ourselves. We should not support foreign teams from these islands.

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

What's wrong with it is that they're England and no amount of anti-Britishness in all avenues of life is ever too much.

Ah, this old chestnut.

Burn everything British except their coal eh lads?

EmmetSpiceland · 06-05-2019 6:53pm

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

Ah, this old chestnut.

Burn everything British except their coal eh lads?

It’s ok to wear Reebok as long as you Tipex out the union flag.

Church on Tuesday · 06-05-2019 7:05pm

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

It’s ok to wear Reebok as long as you Tipex out the union flag.

Is HP sauce OK? cos I love the ****e out of that stuff.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 06-05-2019 7:30pm

Hamsterchops wrote: »

Seeing as we are part of Europe, and will be staying part of Europe, Irish people should support European teams who are more like ourselves. We should not support foreign teams from these islands.

We do. I think...?

Hamsterchops · 06-05-2019 8:37pm

Do we?

I thought the whole point of this thread was that Irish people support English teams.

riclad · 06-05-2019 9:56pm

Anyone in ireland can watch itv,bbc, c4 tv .
Most irish people watch programs on uk tv.
Every shop sells uk and irish papers .
We have a shared culture.
if you are a soccer fan ,
who are you supposed to watch,
italian soccer, spanish soccer?
Before satellite tv and sky tv many people put uhf aerials on the roof in order
to watch bcc and itv.
its no so prevalent now but alot of irish would end up playing for english soccer teams ,
at least in the 70,s and 80.s .
eir tv would not spend money paying for sports rights
unless there were 1000.s of fans who want to watch soccer from the uk.
its, like youtube ,
i,d say alot of irish people watch uk and american youtube channels .
We all speak english .We have alot in common .
Life would be very dull if we could only watch irish produced
tv or just listen to irish radio even for the most pro irish person.
Would you say do,nt watch a certain program because its
produced by a uk broadcaster ?
people want good content in a language they can understand .
SO everything in europe is good,
anything from the uk is bad,?
that makes no sense ,
if that is so why are there no french or german songs in the charts
in the uk or ireland.

riclad · 06-05-2019 9:59pm

Even before we joined the eu ,irish people watch english soccer on tv,
brexit has not happened ,right now the UK is an eu member .The
uk is located in europe as much as france or germany is.
so saying we all should switch over to watch french or german soccer makes no sense.
I,M not just going to switch over to watching french youtube video,s just to align with some pro european agenda .

feargale · 06-05-2019 10:49pm

West Clare people have traditionally supported Kerry footballers.
Kerry people have traditionally supported Limerick hurlers.

Down with that sort of thing. :@ :@ :rolleyes:

Strumms · 06-05-2019 11:24pm

8-10 wrote: »

Or we could support who we like and allow others to have their own interests also

This, I don’t see why someone’s like or dislike of something needs to be analyzed to death or even understood by anyone else...you like pizza, holidaying in Spain, labradors, playing golf, the Grateful Dead (the band), Liverpool FC, table tennis, Alfred Hitchcock movies...enjoy it ALL...in life, do and enjoy what makes you happy and fûck the ‘but why ???’ merchants, they suck the life and good out of everything, if you let em.

Ardillaun · 06-05-2019 11:54pm

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

[/b]

Because support is handed down from one generation to the next.

English soccer has been supported in Ireland for decades and is established.

And even now language is a barrier. The Irish media market is dominated by British media and thus we get far more exposure to British sport than European sport.
It's not just about the commentary on whether it's in English or not, it's about all the other media aspects too.

No one in Ireland read Spainsh tabloids, no one subscribe to Spainsh TV networks, no one reads Spain sports websites.

But we do the above with regards to British media in our thousands.

What I’m saying is that the quality argument is bogus. English teams historically were poor by continental standards. It is true that we are dominated by British media but the opportunities to watch European soccer in English have never been better.

Also there’s nothing particularly English about the top EPL teams any more except some of the fans. The owners, players and managers are usually foreign. Essentially, we’re cheering a set of jerseys that will themselves soon be changed to rip the fans off a little more.

dd973 · 07-05-2019 12:20am

Strumms wrote: »

This, I don’t see why someone’s like or dislike of something needs to be analyzed to death or even understood by anyone else...you like pizza, holidaying in Spain, labradors, playing golf, the Grateful Dead (the band), Liverpool FC, table tennis, Alfred Hitchcock movies...enjoy it ALL...in life, do and enjoy what makes you happy and fûck the ‘but why ???’ merchants, they suck the life and good out of everything, if you let em.

Exactly, why this thread repeatedly crops up again God only knows, Irish people watch English football, we just do.

How about starting a thread about white people listening to Jazz?

Why do Irish people support English teams?

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