Why don't the Irish support their local teams?

Plan M

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This isn't a criticism but an honest question

Why don't Irish people support their local teams? I've lived in Wales for a few years now (unfortunately) and they are crazy about Swansea or Cardiff City, depending on which town you visit. Everywhere I go, I see the kids/grown men/even the women wearing their jerseys with pride. When I went to Scotland a few years back, the city was full of people wearing Rangers/Celtic/Aberdeen jerseys and all the talk was about Scottish footy.

However, the Irish always seem to support either Celtic, United or Liverpool. Why is this? Or am I being too general?
 
Didn't even know there was an Irish league growing up...can't just change my team though, that'd make me a bit of a gloryhunter.
 
Historically we didn't have any sort of standard of football over here which meant we followed British teams. Then we started to export our best players to the UK and obviously that brought with it another level of interest. There was also the fact that the media coverage (such as it was) of games in Ireland was non-existent due to it not being one of our national sports, so people tended to be exposed to the UK coverage on the World Service and so on.

In the modern day it comes down to family allegiances and the PL being the league we all grew up watching since the coverage of our own league is still incredibly patchy, though the league itself has improved (albeit it has taken quite a few steps back in the last few years).
 
In the modern day, it comes down to glory most of the time. Family allegiances hardly to seem to matter anymore, most just support Man Utd....just because. It can be annoying but whatever.

Overseas is a different matter really, Irish football isn't really exactly something you want to follow really.
 
Decotron said:
If someone born and raised in Salford doesnt understand the historical connection between United and Ireland it tells its own story really.......

Plus Nama own my local side now
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I do understand. Also, I understand the Catholic connections between Irish people supporting Celtic.

I was merely asking how come no Irish people actually seem to support Irish clubs.
 
I can understand Irish supporters going for the bigger teams, as there league is pure shit. What I can't grasp, is English supporters who glory support when there home town is a club in the football league.
 
Plan M said:
I do understand. Also, I understand the Catholic connections between Irish people supporting Celtic.

I was merely asking how come no Irish people actually seem to support Irish clubs.
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Just for the record, Wonder Pigeon supports an Irish team. Good lad WP.
 
Wayne_Rooney said:
I can understand Irish supporters going for the bigger teams, as there league is pure shit. What I can't grasp, is English supporters who glory support when there home town is a club in the football league.
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Like people from London who could support Arsenal or Spurs but they actually support United?

Who's that wanker who was on Soccer AM - the Cockney Manc bloke? He was embarassing.
 
Wayne_Rooney said:
I can understand Irish supporters going for the bigger teams, as there league is pure shit. What I can't grasp, is English supporters who glory support when there home town is a club in the football league.
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Where are you from Wayne, Liverpool?
 
Plan M said:
No Spoony. I live in Swansea. It's possible, in life, to be born and brought up somwhere only to move later in life you know.

Don't go telling me where I was born when I know where I was born. Idiot.
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Your local club is Swansea, though. Unless local means something else.
 
1871_Biscuit said:
Just for the record, Wonder Pigeon supports an Irish team. Good lad WP.
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I have no problem with Irish people or them supporting United mate. I've got a very close friend who hails from Dublin and he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.
 
Plan M said:
I have no problem with Irish people or them supporting United mate. I've got a very close friend who hails from Dublin and he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.
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'One of my best mates is black.....'
 
Plan M said:
I do understand. Also, I understand the Catholic connections between Irish people supporting Celtic.

I was merely asking how come no Irish people actually seem to support Irish clubs.
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A minority do. As a league the Irish one has been hemorrhaging fans for years now. A move to summer football being a big factor imo. Moving to full time set ups has led to major financial issues for some. Theres literally only one success story in the Irish league at the moment...and they're cnuts :mad:

Your question is the sort of like me asking you how come you dont support your local non league side?
 
1871_Biscuit said:
Yeah but this is an irrelevance. I'd still support Reading even if I lived in Salford.
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Thank you!

I couldn't give a shite about Swansea or Wales for that matter. I always root for England when we play, cause I'm ENGLISH. Same goes for United -most of my family are from Manchester too.

So if you were offered a job in South West London Spoony which would triple your salary and you took it and moved down there, you'd feel that you'd have to support Chelsea or Fulham?!

What absolute nonsense.
 
Plan M said:
Thank you!

I couldn't give a shite about Swansea or Wales for that matter. I always root for England when we play, cause I'm ENGLISH. Same goes for United -most of my family are from Manchester too.

So if you were offered a job in South West London Spoony which would triple your salary and you took it and moved down there, you'd feel that you'd have to support Chelsea or Fulham?!

What absolute nonsense.
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If you had a kid, would you bring him up as a United fan?
 
Pogue Mahone said:
If you had a kid, would you bring him up as a United fan?
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No. I'm not one of them people who would "make" my son follow football let alone United. I'd let him make his own choices in life. My father hates football anyway, it was my uncle who took me to the footy when I was a kid.

Some of you are getting very defensive and are not even able to answer my question.

Like I said initially, it's NOT a criticism.
 
It's the same with television programmes. When I was last in Dublin, pretty much every channel had British programming on. Even the news headlines led with a British story.

I think the Republic secretly wants to become part of the United Kingdom again.
 
from the other perspective, leaving English clubs out of it. Why dont more people go to Irish league games?

For a start the mostly play Friday nights. You try getting from Dublin to Derry on a Friday evening after work

secondly they are part time clubs. They still average a few thousand a gate, on par with your non league clubs there.

The league itself is a shambles ran by amatuers. Our best players move over to England and Scotland

I could go on, or i could create a thread "why is Plan M such as Anus?"
 
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