The Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2012 campaign on the field was forgettable. Three losses in three game tells you all you need to know, as well as negative tactics and just plain bad football. One thing that the Irish won over the summer was the “best fans” tag. They sang for the entire time, most notably against Spain when they were 4-0 down, with a rousing rendition of “The Fields of Athenry”.
There was a rumoured 30,000 Irish fans in Poland, and many sections of the media have lauded the support the national team received.
While this was undoubtedly fantastic, another section of Irish football tells a different story. Far away from the glamorous battles with Xavi, Pirlo and co, is real Irish football – the Airtricity League of Ireland.
The average attendance at an Airtricity Premier Division match barely numbers 1,000, and at a match without much appeal at the lower ebbs of the table might barely make 100.
Crowds in the First Division are even worse – most numbers are in tens.
Poor attendances recently caused newly-promoted Monaghan United to pull out of the Airtricity League midway through the season, citing financial problems as the cause – Monaghan’s average attendance was less than 200.
Given that there was over 30,000 Irish football “fans” over at the Euro’s, surely 5,000 at each game isn’t too much to ask for?
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Even the country’s premier clubs, such as Cork City, Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers, can only draw around 3,000 at each game.
The unfortunate fact is that most Irish football lovers support teams from the Premier League rather than teams back home. They would rather cheer on foreigners on their televisions than watch local men play live football.
People in Ireland can do both – take me for example; I am an avid supporter of Everton, but also a season ticket holder at Cork City.
As for the quality, true football fans will not mind. I enjoy watching part-timers who went to my school bust a gut for the jersey. Whenever a talented guy comes along, it’s a real bonus, and gets you excited.
Another plus of supporting your local team is when you see a player (take Kevin Doyle for example) take his first formative steps before your eyes and blossom into an international and Premier League player. Every Cork City fan took pride in watching Kevin wear the green shirt in Poland, and I can tell you – that’s a great feeling never to be felt by “Irish Mancs”!
I would seriously implore any Irishman reading this to support your local team. Just take an interest! Can you imagine if there were 15,000 at every game? The standard of player would dramatically improve as would the stadia, and the national team would benefit eventually!
Although League of Ireland fans are small in number, they are some of the most passionate people you will ever meet.
Just go to one game and take things from there – Trust me you won’t regret it.
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