Apparently, according to this guy, I don’t have any business supporting English football clubs. Rubbish. I’ve been supporting United since I was 12 (1993). Yes, they had just won their first Premier League and I was probably influenced by that (and mainly my mate Mattie). Do I however, consider myself a lesser being because I don’t support a League of Ireland club? God no, and why should I? I respect the fans of Shels, Bohs, Pats, Galway United, Drogheda etc and I can understand their point about people supporting foreign teams. They travel up and down the country each week and get out on the terraces. Fair play lads.
What I won’t be though is a poster boy for what Mark considers to be people who “support” English clubs. I’ve been to Old Trafford once (not the required twice according to Mark) and I’m going again in August for Solskjaer’s testimonial. I’m a member of the Independent Manchester United Supporters Trust having bought shares prior to the Glazer takeover. I’m a member of United’s own supporters club. I buy the jerseys, follow the team news and had a hell of a nail-biting night watching the Champions League final. I can’t tell you why I don’t support a League of Ireland club, my grandad (who lived in Cabra West was a Bohs fan) went regularly to games but I don’t. I fell in love with a club across the water in 1993 and I’m fucked if I’m going to apologise for it.
7 replies on “Don’t support them, support us”
Hi Anthony,
I don’t expect you to apologise. I have many friends like you and was once like that myself. However you just cannot compare what you do, supporting your club to what we do. I’ve sampled both sides. Being part of a club, being involved, knowing the people around the place is a far different prospect than going to a rare Premiership game and/or watching on TV.
As for buying Man U shares, thats all very well but why give your money to a club that really doesn’t need it when there are many here crying out for funds? That is a great shame to me.
I think what has happened to Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea etc. has been a big shame. The globalisation of the game took it away from the real fans, priced them out and in the case of United, ultimately saw control wrestled away from them. The foreign fans have had a huge part to play in this and I know some English footie fans who resent the day trippers who make sure the prices stay high.
Tell, you what though, there’s nothing to say you can’t keep following United and be a Bohs fan, (or whoever). Plenty of people do it. I used to follow Everton but my increasing interest in Bohs means that I no longer call myself a fan. I still do watch out for their results and all that and have been to a good few games but there no comparison with the real thing. Come down to Dalymount some Friday and sample it for yourself (we have three bars too so you can pop down early and grab a couple of pints before kick off!
Following two teams is crazy talk. Why not shout for two boxers in a boxing match. I remember years ago going to see Shels against Man Utd at Tolka and paying a small fortune for a bad ticket in a shit stadium. So Man Utd maybe a business but so is Shels. You sell tickets at the highest price you can.
Tolka maybe a sh1t stadium but the atmosphere you can generate under the tin roof of the riverside stand is 100% better than anything you get in that soulless hole that is old trafford.
However you miss my point completely, Shels rip off day trippers (lets face it, if you’re willing to pay that to go to a friendly you deserve to be ripped off) for friendlies against English teams but the people who run the club do it for love. They don’t get paid a fortune and they actually have a connection to the club. LOI clubs don’t make money and they aren’t owned by foreign billionaires.
My club, Bohs is 100% owned by its members ie. me and around 500 others. When we say “WE” it really means something.
As for two teams – I agree to an extent, you cannot give your heart and soul to two clubs but you can keep an interest in more than one club. The analogy of two boxers in the same match is bogus because the likelihood of those two teams playing each other is slim.
@Obsessed!: Sorry, it’s taken me a while to get a response up to your comment. Yes the globalisation of the game has had a lot of negative effects but I’m not going to stop supporting the club I’ve been supporting all these years. United were a lot truer to their supporters before big business got involved but we can’t necessarily change that in the short term.
I’d like to come down to Dallymount and see what a LOI game is like. I’ve only been once and that was a few years ago. I have your email address so the next Friday I’m free (normally play in Ringsend) I’ll let you know I’m going and I’ll see you there.
Good stuff. There’s a break in the season for a couple of weeks now though, so after that.
Did you ever go Anthony? Your more recent response suggests that you didn’t!
These League of Ireland fans really grind my gears!