In a years time we will trying to qualify for the Euroâs. Be no empty house v Latvia.
A quick check suggests Latvia are bottom of their League C group so they wonât be heading to the Aviva anyway. A far cry from Pahars and the boys drawing with Germany at Euro 2004.
Ireland have a bit of work to do not to be in League C next season donât they? If they finish 3rd in this campaign, which is likely, they have a playoff to avoid relegation.
Last night was one of only 2 competitive games in the Aviva in 2026 and there was maybe 40k at it.
Is it likely? Weâre currently above Kosovo and they still have to come to the Aviva. Weâll be grand. If we didnât get relegated to Nations League C under Spock then weâre certainly not going down under a competent manager.
We are currently below Kosovo Iâm sure, both on 4 points but goes on head to head so Kosovo are 2nd. They were also a fair bit better than us when we played them last week and they have 2 home games left.
Is Down the epicentre of the newish (?) phenomenon of a demographic who prefer to identify as neither Irish or British per se with many even proudly considering themselves Northern Irish despite nominally being Ben Afflecks? Long question that.
My sample size is four:
Rory McIlroy
Marty Clarke (spoke about his Norn Iron fandom before)
Some lad I worked with in the bank from 2007 to around 2012 who loved the buzz of going to Windsor
Your young lad
Is it Troubles related at all? County Down perhaps less impacted by other areas? Could be talking shit there. Is it a place where taigs suffered less discrimination/intimidation over the years & were more likely to mix in Bill Oddie circles & thus be more inclined to follow stuff like Ulster rubby & Norn Iron?
1 Like
Still double the crowd at bigot park on Monday night.
2 Likes
Weâll be in play-off for Group A promotion.
2 Likes
Itâs a fairly nuanced thing, I could do a 3000 word post on it here which wouldnât cover everything, would bore you to tears and the readers would probably still take the wrong impression from it.
It certainly wouldnât be due to being less impacted by the Troubles, I donât think that assessment would stack up. Itâs more that there are very few areas of complete Unionist dominance (those that are remain fairly bleak i.e Bangor, Comber, Rathfriland), much of Down is mixed or predominantly Nationalist. So most soccer teams here would have kids from every background, and you see that more and more in Gaelic teams as well. In much of Down it would be unusual at this stage for a kid not to have cousins and/or friends who go to a school that would approach the subject of history differently.
1 Like
How could any nationalist attend bigot park and stand for god save the king is beyond me. Eoin and Paddy Bradleyâs nephew playing for them. The mind boggles. Mark Sykes said 1 Ireland cap would mean more than 100 Norn Iron caps. Amazing more dont have that attitude.
1 Like
The north have got very good at picking up non local eligible players from very young and capping them quickly to tie them down. Something weâve probably fallen a bit behind on.
1 Like
Bradley is a quisling
Doubt he would play for a united ireland team
Apparently Ruairi McConville was excellent for them last night, a 21 year old who started at Belfast Celtic.
I think Brendan Rodgers identifying as a British manager opened the floodgates for northerners to looks more favourably on the Northern Ireland team.
Thereâs just bad uns up north
9 of the 16 players used last night were born here. Considering the population is about the same as Dublin and its surrounds itâs a fair achievement.
From what I can see the difference in investment in facilities between the north and south is massive - Iâm told that players in the south can go months without games because there is no pitch playable whereas that never happens here. Considering the difference in finances between the 2 areas itâs hard to understand why this is still accepted in the south.
2 Likes
Anybody who was pro Ireland playing Israel last weekend canât complain about Catholics playing for the north.
The reality is 99.9 have zero principles anymore. Money and success is all that counts.
+1. FAIâs history of incompetence clearly doesnât help but itâs a useful mudguard for FFG governing types who can send exchequer funds to bog trotting & other activities at the expense of the beautiful game. We need to make football development & general provision of facilities & resources a political issue.
1 Like