Just to give you all prior warning before you start reading this drivel, I would like to talk (or should I say rant) about an issue that’s quite relevant at this particular time in the season. My rant is in relation to the support of fellow Eircom league clubs in European competition, something of which I am completely in favour of. Anyway, I was inspired to write this piece after reading a few posts on the clubs official message board, by some hypocritical Shels supporters (you know who you are!). Basically, youse are all wrong, and I’m entirely right!
In all seriousness though, I can’t for the life of me understand some of the crap I’ve heard/read lately, such as- “I support one team and one team only-Shels. Fuck Bohs, Fuck Rovers” etc. You get the picture. In response to such mindless crap, I’d like to say that I too love The Reds as much as anyone else, but first and foremost, I’m a fan of the Eircom league, and proud to be. And I’m sick to death of the anti-Eircom league/pro Premiership brigade who ridicule our league at every opportunity (e.g. 10-0 to the refugees, the Maltesers, etc.) That’s the reason why I was cheering on “de Boez” at Dalyer on July 30th. And I would have done the same for the junkies if they were in Europe this summer. Why? Because I love Irish football. Yes, I despise the three inferior Dublin teams (i.e. Bohs, Rovers, Pats) domestically, but when it comes to representing OUR IRISH league it’s a totally different scenario.
So, I’m not the hypocrite. Anyone who follows a LoI team, but doesn’t support fellow LoI teams in Europe, for me, is a hypocrite. Also, I would like to challenge one of the quite feeble arguments that was put forward by a Shels fan recently, basically saying that Juve don’t support Milan, Barca don’t support Real etc., in European competition, so why should we support our rivals? However, that point is completely invalid. The difference is, we need other Eircom league clubs to perform well in Europe, in order to develop the game here, to lift the profile, to attract crowds etc. Like it or not, we need the likes of Bohs to go far in Europe. They represent us.
So, my message is, swallow your pride, and get out and support our league. Remember, all for one, one for all!