Earlier in the season I wrote here that the segregation of supporters at League of Ireland matches can be frustrating for those attending, particularly when the away fans, having paid good money sometimes to travel the length of the country, find themselves put into the furthest corner of the ground with the worst view of the pitch, and often with no overhead cover to protect them from the elements.
I would contend that 95% of the time that segregation is unnecessary, and fans would gladly mingle amongst themselves as they've done for decades of attending League of Ireland matches.
There are occasions, such as last Friday's match at Tallaght Stadium between Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians, where segregation is definitely the order of the day, and thankfully for the visiting Bohemians fans, the West Stand where they were housed offers a fine view of proceedings. Outside the ground I noticed that Bohs fans were walking up to the stadium on Whitestown Way, without any fuss, and there was no trouble which was good to see.
I was chatting with a colleague who attended the Leinster v Munster rugby match at the RDS on Saturday night and it was interesting to hear him make the observation that there was some tension in the stands around him, as Leinster fans rubbed salt into Munster supporters' wounds with cheers and jeers and he said it was a situation that could have got out of hand, had one of the Munster supporters reacted to the taunts being fired in their direction.
Of course the tradition in both rugby and Gaelic games is to allow supporters from the two competing teams to mix before, during and after a game. That's admirable and desirable, and yet there's a part of me that actually enjoys the fact that there's a degree of antagonism between supporters at football matches. I think it can lend itself to the sort of atmosphere that you don't really get at rugby and Gaelic matches. The singing of the supporters, be it in Tallaght, Dalymount, Brandywell, Oriel Park or wherever can make for a great atmosphere.
I know the Munster rugby supporters who are famed for their singing of 'The fields of Athenry' will think I've finally lost it by comparing the atmospheres at League of Ireland grounds to those at a big Heineken Cup match. And I'd agree that when there are so many people stuffed into Thomond Park, or Croke Park, it might make for a bigger occasion because of sheer force of numbers, but I'd still maintain that a big Dublin derby between Rovers and Bohs has an atmosphere that's hard to match.
My sister Cliona was at Tallaght on Friday and she felt that the atmosphere there was better than any she'd experienced at Highbury or the Emirates. (She's fallen under Arsene's spell). Admittedly the quality of the football at Tallaght on Friday may not quite have matched the silky skills of Messrs Fabregas, Van Persie, Arshavin et al, but the buzz when Padraig Amond's shot hit the net was as brilliant for Hoops fans as it was diabolical for Gypsies supporters.
Both Damien Richardson and Colm Foley agreed that it had been a poor game in terms of quality, but equally they maintained that for sheer sense of occasion it was hard to match. Tickets for the rest of Rovers' six league matches are going to be hard to come by, particularly for the last match of the season away to St Pat's if the title hinges on the result from Inchicore. I hopped the ball with Richie Sadlier before the programme about moving the game to a bigger venue but he wasn't biting. One thing's for certain, if it comes down to a last day decider, the attendances will be big but could be bigger, and the audience for RTÉ Television's coverage of the games should also be very healthy.
We received a number of nice e-mails about the report on the coming together of the Derry City treble winning team. It was absolutely amazing to see the sorts of crowds that came out to support Derry for the big games in those days so soon after they had joined the league. It's also a salutary lesson to the likes of Shamrock Rovers, that keeping a large support can be as difficult as getting the big numbers in the first place.
We recently received an e-mail from somebody who described the programme as MNSRFC, which made me laugh considering the fact that almost every panellist on the show has tipped Bohemians to win the title, and even the presenter tipped Bohs for the title recently. Any bias towards Sligo Rovers is totally imagined by our correspondent, but as long as he keeps watching that's the main thing.
Next Friday I'll be at the RDS for RTÉ Radio's coverage of Leinster against London Irish in the Heineken Cup, but that programme will also feature updates from the various League of Ireland games, and you can be sure the presenter's ears will be cocked towards the scorelines coming through from the Derry - Rovers match at the Brandywell and the Bohemians versus Drogheda match at Dalymount.
Behind the Scenes with Con
