Those Houghton goals wouldn’t get anywhere near some of my best moments following club football. They wouldn’t even be in the same parish when I think about it.
[quote=“Sledgehammer”]To be honest, KIB Man, I disagree with nearly all of that. Your heart is in the right place, to a certain extent, but the utopia you describe is so out of touch with the realities of the filthy business that is modern day football, it’s nearly worthy of a December nomination.
I wish things were like you say in that post, but the simple fact is, they’re not. Lifting the Champions League is the pinnacle of a players career at the moment. Top players, that is. I suppose the players who still care the most about international football are the ones who are playing for clubs unlikely to challenge for major trophies. And fans who care most about international football the most are the ones who’s clubs are not likely to challenge for major trophies either. Or, uniquely in Ireland, fans who care most about international football, by and large, are the ones whose concept of following a club involves jersies and big screens in pubs, rather than actually attending football matches.
As for feuds being more bitter - you are probably going to start waffling away about El Salvador or something - get over it, it happens about twice a century. If you want a feud, try looking over your shoulder everytime you walk into a pub in certain areas of your own city. Put it like this: “feuds” aren’t just for misty-eyed oul romantics and statto wannabe football geeks - some of us live through them day in day out, some of us are out making headlines while you’re in reading the paper.
If I’m “true to myself”, watching a Scot score for Ireland against England on TV doesn’t even come close to the buzz of the moments you have following your club around the country for a season. So until you have experienced both, don’t come on claiming to talk for everyone when you say that something you saw on TV as a nipper is your greatest memory while “following football”. What part of the country are you from?[/quote]
eh, there is the odd dodgy character in Cooney’s of Quilty but doubt I will start looking over my shoulder looking for feuds.
What feuds do you make headlines about? Is this anything to do with Bandage and the bar staff on Baggot St?
What club do you follow around the country by the way? Crossmaglen Rangers?
Bandage I am not sure where you are coming from with your support for club football well above that for the Irish team.
Has it to do with the fact that you dont recognize the Irish team as it is 26 county representation or you find a greater sense of identity to a club playing in Scotland?
I can only comment on what international football means for me and there can be no doubt that it has provided me with the greatest moments following a team in my second preferred sport. I actually think that Alan McLaughlins goal in Windsor Park in 1993 capped the lot just to know that we were at another World Cup and could go through that wonderful buzz of the friendlies before and wondering who is going to be in the squad and left out etc. Is it patriotism? Yes I am Irish after all and I have a since of loyalty to the cause.
When I think of the 2005 Champions League Final it pales in significance to be honest. Yes if I was from Liverpool it would probably be the greatest day of my life. But my support of that club equates to an interest really something that was nurtured in the late 80s as a youngster, something I bought into as I grew older. It is expendable though my country of birth isnt.
I do indeed feel a far, far greater identity to Celtic than the Ireland football team.
Farmer, you mentioned on here before how you knew a ‘proper’ Celtic fan from Glasgow. That’s the thing, Celtic’s joint Irish/Scots identity doesn’t allow for a situation whereby Glaswegians are more Celtic than Irish people.
You’ll find in a vast amount of cases that their ancestors are Irish themselves so Celtic’s not like other clubs who command a large Irish following but whose local-based support often resent the ‘out of towners’.
Celtic’s a broad family but, again, most people are appreciative of the club’s history, recognise its roots and are like-minded. Celtic’s actually a symbol of the Irish diaspora for many people worlwide and if some people regard that devotion as being faux Irish or plastic then that’s their prerogative. But I have far more in common with these people than ‘Davy Keogh Says Hello’ and the Mexican Wave brigade at Croke Park.
So yeah, I do feel part of that and have a natural empathy with the support and the club. As I said before, it’s not just Celtic but other things like GAA, the Eurovision and Fair City that satisfy my nationalistic ideals. However, the feeling when Celtic won the league last season after being 7 points behind with 7 games to go meant incredibly more to me than any Ireland game.
It’s not that I don’t want the Ireland football team to do well, it’s just that other things mean more to me.
[quote=“Bandage”]I do indeed feel a far, far greater identity to Celtic than the Ireland football team.
Farmer, you mentioned on here before how you knew a ‘proper’ Celtic fan from Glasgow. That’s the thing, Celtic’s joint Irish/Scots identity doesn’t allow for a situation whereby Glaswegians are more Celtic than Irish people.
You’ll find in a vast amount of cases that their ancestors are Irish themselves so Celtic’s not like other clubs who command a large Irish following but whose local-based support often resent the ‘out of towners’.
Celtic’s a broad family but, again, most people are appreciative of the club’s history, recognise its roots and are like-minded. Celtic’s actually a symbol of the Irish diaspora for many people worlwide and if some people regard that devotion as being faux Irish or plastic then that’s their prerogative. But I have far more in common with these people than ‘Davy Keogh Says Hello’ and the Mexican Wave brigade at Croke Park.
So yeah, I do feel part of that and have a natural empathy with the support and the club. As I said before, it’s not just Celtic but other things like GAA, the Eurovision and Fair City that satisfy my nationalistic ideals. However, the feeling when Celtic won the league last season after being 7 points behind with 7 games to go meant incredibly more to me than any Ireland game.
It’s not that I don’t want the Ireland football team to do well, it’s just that other things mean more to me.[/quote]
So let me get this straight.
You are allowed to come out with this bullshit but Billy Keane cant?
[quote=“Bandage”]I do indeed feel a far, far greater identity to Celtic than the Ireland football team.
Farmer, you mentioned on here before how you knew a ‘proper’ Celtic fan from Glasgow. That’s the thing, Celtic’s joint Irish/Scots identity doesn’t allow for a situation whereby Glaswegians are more Celtic than Irish people.
You’ll find in a vast amount of cases that their ancestors are Irish themselves so Celtic’s not like other clubs who command a large Irish following but whose local-based support often resent the ‘out of towners’.
Celtic’s a broad family but, again, most people are appreciative of the club’s history, recognise its roots and are like-minded. Celtic’s actually a symbol of the Irish diaspora for many people worlwide and if some people regard that devotion as being faux Irish or plastic then that’s their prerogative. But I have far more in common with these people than ‘Davy Keogh Says Hello’ and the Mexican Wave brigade at Croke Park.
So yeah, I do feel part of that and have a natural empathy with the support and the club. As I said before, it’s not just Celtic but other things like GAA, the Eurovision and Fair City that satisfy my nationalistic ideals. However, the feeling when Celtic won the league last season after being 7 points behind with 7 games to go meant incredibly more to me than any Ireland game.
It’s not that I don’t want the Ireland football team to do well, it’s just that other things mean more to me.[/quote]
Ok so Celtic represent the Irish Diaspora. But what can represent the Irish Diaspora more than the Irish international soccer team?
I can see the reason for you supporting Celtic. I just cant see the reason for you not supporting your country by the logic of why you are supporting Celtic if you know what I mean.
I am sure there are a lot of people like ‘Davy Keogh Says Hello’ and the Mexican Wave brigade in Celtic Park as well. There are gobshite supporters in every walk of life. Thats not good enough of a reason not to support your country.
International football is the pinnacle for me and would love us to qualify for 2010. Don’t necessarily go along with the view that a good lot of the players don’t care about representing their country either. Ask Shay Given, Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne etc what they would most like to achieve in their last few years of their career and I think playing in the World Cup would be above all others. Understand your point Bandage about Celtic’s unique position but still regard playing with countrymen for your countrymen as highest achievement. While I mightn’t like some of groups who follow national side and feel I have more in common with the republican and social ideologies of Celtic fans I like idea of everyone getting behind Irish national side warts and all and for me this comes first.
[quote=“Bandage”]I do indeed feel a far, far greater identity to Celtic than the Ireland football team.
Farmer, you mentioned on here before how you knew a ‘proper’ Celtic fan from Glasgow. That’s the thing, Celtic’s joint Irish/Scots identity doesn’t allow for a situation whereby Glaswegians are more Celtic than Irish people.
You’ll find in a vast amount of cases that their ancestors are Irish themselves so Celtic’s not like other clubs who command a large Irish following but whose local-based support often resent the ‘out of towners’.
Celtic’s a broad family but, again, most people are appreciative of the club’s history, recognise its roots and are like-minded. Celtic’s actually a symbol of the Irish diaspora for many people worlwide and if some people regard that devotion as being faux Irish or plastic then that’s their prerogative. But I have far more in common with these people than ‘Davy Keogh Says Hello’ and the Mexican Wave brigade at Croke Park.
So yeah, I do feel part of that and have a natural empathy with the support and the club. As I said before, it’s not just Celtic but other things like GAA, the Eurovision and Fair City that satisfy my nationalistic ideals. However, the feeling when Celtic won the league last season after being 7 points behind with 7 games to go meant incredibly more to me than any Ireland game.
It’s not that I don’t want the Ireland football team to do well, it’s just that other things mean more to me.[/quote]
Fair enough people have a right to follow who they want.
It may come as a surprise to posters here but I am firmly in the camp that supporting Glasgow Celtic is the ultimate plastic paddy bandwagon.
In summary, you have far more in common with people with 3rd or 4th generation connections with Ireland, who support a Scottish football club than actual Irish people who follow the Irish national football team.
Now that is insane.
In fairness, it’s only your opinion so you don’t really have the right to tell me what is and isn’t a good enough reason for supporting one team over another.
I mentioned several other reasons for supporting Celtic ahead of the Ireland team earlier on in the thread and it’s not solely due to the Davy Keogh Says Hello brigade.
But just because I like football it doesn’t mean that I should support the Irish football team above and beyond any other football team. I’m Irish and I couldn’t give a shit how our rugby team, equestrian team or loads of other teams do and I put Celtic well ahead of our football team.
You can be patriotic while supporting a club team more than your country. It might simply that you display your patriotism in other ways.
Davy Keogh is a tool (I know from having met him on several occasions), but surely the lad with the Celtic jersey and the foreign games sign outside Croker is the ultimate reason why one would not want to be associated with any club or team.
For all the bad press I got for that, I still maintain it’s not hypocritical to be a football supporter while preferring that Croke Park remained exclusively a GAA venue.
That doesn’t surprise me.
It makes perfect sense to me, why would you want croker to be opened up. Your a GAA fan who would never attend a soccer pr rugby match there because you dont support your country on an international stage.
Your after putting on a bit of weight since the photo though
Did people really care that we didn’t qualify for Euro 2008? Most people I spoke to seemed to think Stan’s reign was quite comical but, from some of the posts on here, I must have misjudged the mood of the nation and everyone was gutted.
Watching that tournament, I don’t think you could NOT want your own country to be there. I’d hope not to have to hang aroung the plastic hammer brigade, but all the same I’d love to be over there supporting my team.
Wasn’t that a Rugby match though? more to do with the protesting of the English team in Croker?
Indeed and it was mac…In fact it was the day we grew up as a nation…
Don’t you start with that fuckin phrase. I never knew our nation was still a child. It was the day we developed the worst cliche the world has ever seen.
the day we swap british ocuupied Ireland for munster is the day we grow up
You don’t half make me laugh sometimes.