A nice surprise at Saint Patricks Athletic FC versus University College Dublin AFC
Paddys Day hangovers don’t go away quickly. They can take days. On Thursday, the city centre was a ghost-town. At the time of writing, we’re all still untagging ourselves from photos on Facebook and wondering what actually did happen on Paddys Day. It’s bad.
Drums, they don’t help.
THUMP THUMP THUMP *the teams name*
THUMP THUMP THUMP *the teams name*
Arriving 5 or so minutes into the match on a pretty miserable Friday night, we pop into Block B and it takes a minute or two to realise the drums we’re hearing are UCD fans.
This won’t mean anything to some of you. ‘So what?’ Any League of Ireland fan however, no matter how bad their addiction, can tell you why this is surprising. Last time I checked, they had no fans at all, never mind fans with drums.
I actually thought ‘this is brilliant’ and that the sight of UCD fans like them gives me great hope for the League. Fair play to the lads behind it, as if you can get something like that off the ground at Belfield, you can probably do it anywhere. That’s not having a go at UCD AFC as a team, but it’s probably fair to say if you’re in UCD and a League of Ireland fan- you went there with a team in your life already. Shels, Bohs, Pats, Rovers and a few more to boot, the city is carved up nicely. If you haven’t fallen for a side by the time you go to college, it’s unlikely you’ll become a diehard out of the blue.
At 1 nil down they kept banging.
At 2 nil down they kept banging.
Ryan Guy makes it three, does his cartwheel thing, and when the ball moves from the half way line again….
….You hear the drums.
So, a tip of the hat to the small band of lads on their efforts. ‘College Til I Die’ might not be the best chant, we all want out eventually I’m sure, and I NEVER understood chanting ‘Top Of The League- Yer Havin’ A Laugh’ at anyone.
(Yes, we are having a laugh obviously. It’s great fun up there. You’d be having a laugh too)
Still, by and large it was great to see, I remember being taken out to a silent, empty Belfield Park (pre Bowl) and being fairly tempted to chuck myself in the lake by the Arts Block with the direness of it all. Even a small group of people can change the atmosphere at a match completely.
Grant money well spent.
Click on the book for more.
Click on the book for more.
Donal
Ciarán
Sam
Come Here To Me! 
I was at the Belfield Bowl last Tuesday (at the Bohs game)(I’m a big Bohs fans) and I saw the lads you’re talking about, banging their drum!
I have to say, although we gave the general abuse we give to any fans, I had a lot of respect for them. They were at least trying to create a bit of an atmosphere at the game so fair play to them!
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