Come Here To Me!

The flare. Try as they might, they’ll never remove it fully from Irish football. They’re nowhere near as common as they once were granted, but they still come out on occasion, you can normally spot them light up a home or away section at a Dublin derby or cup final.

The football season kicks off tomorrow for me and many others. Saint Patrick’s Athletic are heading north to Belfast and Cliftonville await us. Pictures of the street art piece below, tagged ‘SEI’ for Shed End Invincibles, the Saint Patrick’s Athletic ultras, have helped get me in the mood.

(via LukeFallonArt)

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It’s hard to forget the man who averaged the mythical “one goal in two games” total during his time in the League of Ireland, in a career spanning Bray Wanderers, Drogheda United, Sporting Fingal, and Derry City. I don’t think he’s going to forget the moment in the clip below, completing a ten minute hat-trick for his new club Persepolis in the Tehran derby, helping his team come back from 2-0 down to a stunning 3-2 victory; in front of a crowd of 70, 000, with television viewers claimed to be close to 20 million. Trap lad, missed the boat…?

Cheers to Dunster for the heads up… Don’t forget mate, as you are now, so once were we, as we are now, so once were you…

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I love the beautiful game, and I hate the ‘Red Tops’.

For years, I’ve been an avid reader of When Saturday Comes, and long-term readers of the blog will know that the once-thriving fanzine culture in the League of Ireland is something I sorely miss. In the past we’ve featured fanzines from Bohs, Pats and Rovers supporters, publications which really captured the spirit of the game and offered something much more than stats and sensationalism to the football faithful here.

Good football writing, and passionate football writing, is hard to find. In 2011, over in the UK, The Blizzard landed. I sat up immediately. It had all the passion of the fanzines, and was written in a style that meant it stood tall as a journalistic effort too. It gave space to things so often omitted from mainstream football publications, like the history of our beautiful game.

Describing the publication, editor Jonathan Wilson has noted

The Blizzard (is not) the organ of any one individual. Rather it aims to provide a platform for writers, British and foreign, to write about football-related subjects important to them, be that at the highest level or the lowest, at home or abroad. Eclecticism is the key. There will be no attempt to impose an editorial line; all opinions expressed are those of the individual author. Equally, within certain basic parameters, writers are encouraged to write in whatever style they see fit.

It’s format is perfectly between magazine and book, beautiful to handle and wonderfully designed. Prior to now Irish readers have had to purchase hard copies via the publications website, but now it is due to arrive in Dublin via Casa Rebelde in Temple Bar. All going well, I’m told it will arrive by the end of next week.

The Blizzard isn’t what one would expect from an ‘alternative’ football read. There’s more to this than a profile of Sankt Pauli or FCUM or something else you’d expect from The Guardian. A particularly strong past article that comes to mind looked at a first World War internment camp that shaped the development of the game in Europe. That’s the sort of thing you can expect.

Welcome to Dublin.

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There’s a great piece of graffiti in the toilets of The Academy venue on Abbey Street which reads Bohemian F.C will break your heart. Saint Patrick’s Athletic haven’t broken mine yet, but last night I had my heart in my mouth for periods of the game last night.

You know you’re in trouble when you can’t print tickets. Heading into Dalymount Park, there were no physical student tickets at all and the adult tickets were clearly marked ‘Friendly’ and for a clash with Everton, and not ourselves from across the Liffey. It’s a miserable night for football, such a miserable night that if they actually were playing Everton tonight I doubt Everton’s Irish faithful would even make the pilgrimage to see a glory-friendly. They’d be wise enough to stay home and not risk their health and sanity, unlike the League of Ireland faithful.

There’s not much to report from what was a rather dull clash in truth. On the pitch, the Bohemians defence showed their ability once again. We’ve put two goals past Bohs this season, but failed to beat them with nine-men and had two nil all draws as well.

While few believed a title win to be a possibility before last night, even fewer surely must believe it today. The real lesson from last night is that Bohemians are a far stronger team than many may have presumed they would be this season. I couldn’t help but look over at the Jodi stand and be reminded of the night I stood on the Connaught Stand watching Keith Fahey’s wondergoal across from a packed stand. While no club in this country (not least us!) can brag about attendances, it was sad to see such a small turnout for a Dublin derby. The diehards will of course remain, and it’s some sound when they begin to belt out ‘Gold’ across from us. Spandau Ballet are far less likely than Johnny Logan to pop up at half-time some week sadly.

There are some great snaps from the night over on the ‘A Man With His Camera’ facebook page from Billy Galligan which give you an idea of the weather conditions. A nil all draw in the pissing rain isn’t what any leaves home hoping for, but I don’t think I’m the only Saint Patrick’s Athletic fan who felt a little lucky at the final whistle to have that one point.

Photo credit to Billy Galligan/'A Man With His Camera'

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