THERE’S A SMALL backlash to the videos showing what “a great bunch of lads” we Irish are, as though people are getting sick of being liked.
Some of the videos – particularly the Yaya/Kole Toure chant – might be perceived differently if it was English rather than Irish fans at its core. In fact, our starting position is probably identical to 99% of English supporters: we drink a lot, we get very loud and we probably make people more uncomfortable than we realise.
Make no mistake though. Our reputation and the welcome we receive because of it, is vitally important. I have no doubt that it saved me and fellow Cork City supporters from being attacked in Holland in 2004.
We were in the Shamrock Bar in Nijmegen, ahead of Cork City’s Intertoto Cup game with the city’s NEC side. Six of us had flown into Charleroi that morning, drove the couple of hours north to Nijmegen, dropped our bags at the hotel and made straight for the bar which was the agreed meeting point. We were among the first to arrive.
At the rear of the bar were four Dutch men who eyed us up for about 30 minutes before approaching our table. They sat down – uninvited – and proceeded to laugh as they told us that they were members of the NEC hooligans and that they had considered organising a group to attack us at the pub.
But because the Irish preferred to drink, laugh and have fun, they were going to stay drinking with us instead – uninvited.
For the next hour or so they regaled us with tales of their exploits and battles, particularly against the hooligans from Vitesse Arnhem while we sat shaking our heads at the stories of violence saying things like “No, we have nothing like that in Ireland.” It was about as uncomfortable as I’ve ever been on a football trip, but it was still infinitely better than the kicking we might have received without the reputation Irish fans hold.
I was lucky enough to be in Paris for our 1-1 draw with Sweden on Monday, my eight-year-old son with me – having “the best holiday ever.” While we mingled with Swedish fans and enjoyed a really friendly atmosphere, it popped into my head that there was probably an English father with his son in tow having a very different experience in Marseille. Even if you can avoid the actual flashpoints and fights, the threat of danger must have been heightened around Marseille and caused huge worry for families there simply to enjoy the football.
A huge part of the Irish reputation is self-policing. Make no mistake, like any other nation on earth, some Irish fans are complete bastards. But typically, if you have a group of Irish fans facing a line of armed police you’re not going to see anyone chanting at them, arms outstretched. It’s more likely they’ll be looking for photos. The amount of drink consumed can become an issue, but we tend to look after each other when it does. Someone drifting across the line will rapidly be pulled back across it.
In a kebab shop after the game on Monday, one table of Irish supporters were getting a bit boisterous when a separate table pointed out that they were making the staff uncomfortable. It was clear the first table were all very drunk but the advice to keep themselves in check was marked only by an over-elaborate apology to the staff and undeserved praise for the kebabs. Within a few seconds, everyone was happy.
I’ve been videoed by riot police in Lithuania who ended up smiling behind the camera when we started dancing. I’ve seen a Cork City fan throw a scarf around the neck of a Czech policeman carrying a machine gun “in case he got cold” and be greeted with a smile in response. It’s clichéd and people not used to travel for football games might sneer but I’ve hardly ever had a bad experience travelling to an away game with either Cork City or Ireland across numerous trips.
A group of Irish fans outside a bar in Paris or any other city can be drunk, loud, annoying as hell and occasionally even obnoxious but we’re almost never aggressive or threatening. We don’t draw trouble on ourselves, we don’t put other people around us at risk.
Sure, some of the flags on display are cringeworthy, as are some of the viral videos but if that’s as bad as our away support gets, we should happy, because it’s keeping thousands of us out of trouble and safe, even if we never realise it.
So forget the backlash, lose the cynicism and be happy that the low point has been a few lads making an absolute show of themselves.
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