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May your love shine a light

Posted in Football Articles, Photography, Social History, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on March 8, 2012| 19 Comments »

Tomorrow sees Bohs first home League game of the season, and to coin a phrase, all has changed, changed utterly. We’re lucky to have a team on the pitch, never mind a team who, despite their youth, fight like lions for possession and give it their all as seen over the last couple of weeks in the Setanta Cup and our first League game against Derry. I don’t think anyone can be disappointed with the effort put in so far.

But, to the point. Tomorrow evening, at six o’clock or so, I’ll make the journey up North Circular Road. Coming to Mountjoy Prison or there-abouts, I’ll see the beacons in the distance that are the floodlights of Dalymount Park. And then I’ll start to get the jitters. They signify the start of something, generally a night of beer, shouting my head off, beer, football, camaraderie, beer, shouting my head off again and a sense of ‘home.’ They signify everything I love about this League, a feeling those who follow a foreign team might get if they were to make their yearly trip to Old Trafford or Anfield every week instead. But they don’t, and won’t ever feel it the same way. Its a feeling of pride/ despair/ love/ heartbreak/ joy/ pain. (Insert where appropriate.)

Anyways, the reason for this post. Yesterday, the seventh of March was the fiftieth anniversary of the installation of floodlights at Dalymount Park. One of the most striking features of the Phibsboro and indeed the North Dublin skyline has been around for a full half century. How old they are is anyone’s guess when you think the pylons themselves came from Arsenal second hand, and they were guest opposition on the event of their unveiling. Below is a scan of the programme cover from that night, shame I can’t find the match report.

So, for half a century, the phrase “just follow the floodlights” has been used when directing visitors to Dalymount. For half a century, people have been feeling that same feeling I do when I’m walking up the NCR on a Friday night. I can’t wait for it tomorrow, that feeling never grows old. This isn’t the end, and we told you so. Come on Bohs.

Cheers to Giofóg from thebohs.com messageboard’s Da  for uploading the scan, and Dotsy for the picture above.

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Soccer versus the State

Posted in Football Articles, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on May 9, 2011| 4 Comments »

“The revolution will inevitably awaken in the British working class the deepest passions which have been diverted along artificial channels with the aid of football.” Leon Trotsky.

A couple of weeks back, I got the oppurtunity to interview Gabriel Kuhn of PM Press, and author of “Soccer versus the State.” Anyone on here knows our views when it comes to football, keep it local, keep it real and forget about your barstool; a lot of that is covered in the interview. Not initially done for here, it was DFallon who suggested I put it up.  If you’ve an interest in football, history and politics, read on.

Notorious Boo Boys

1) Football comes in for much negative criticism from the left, mainly criticisms similar to Trotsky’s above, deriding it as cathartic and a distraction. Yet in recent years, we’ve seen iconic events like the “Football Revolution” in Iran, the Greek riots following the death of Alexandros Grigoropoulos (where Panathanaikos fans fought against the police side by side with Anarchists) and the Al-Ahly Ultras in Egypt and their apparent hand in revolution there. How influential has football been in Rebellions and amongst the rebellious throughout history?

Football has been attracting the masses around the world for over a century. Where masses gather, the powerful lose control – unless we’re talking about orchestrated mass gatherings, which are characteristic of fascist and authoritarian regimes. But this doesn’t really work with football, since it is hard to orchestrate a football game. Football is too unpredictable.

Authoritarian regimes have always used the prestige that derives from football victories for political purposes, but they have had a hard time to use football as a general propaganda tool. The Nazis abandoned national encounters altogether after an embarrassing loss to Sweden in Berlin in 1942. And it is not only the game that is unpredictable. So are football crowds. You never know which direction their desires might take. There is always a potential for rebellion – unfortunately, there is also always a potential for reactionary celebrations of the status quo. Neither football nor football fans are rebellious per se. We have radical supporters, we have fascist supporters; we have football teams that spur nationalism, we have football teams that spur international solidarity. At the right moments, the rebellious side comes through, as in the examples you mentioned and in many others: long before the current uprising in Libya, the terraces of Libyan football stadiums turned into spaces of dissent whenever Gadaffi-favoured teams were playing; in the 1980s, Polish workers made regular use of football stadiums to express support for the then illegal trade union Solidarność; in fact, the very first steps to regulate the game of football in the early 19th century was caused by regular antiauthoritarian riots in connection with the inter-village football games at the time.

Football does have the cathartic and distracting dimensions that many leftists deride, no doubt. But it also has a subversive dimension. The challenge for radical football-loving activists is to fuel the latter.
(more…)

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We love you!

Posted in Events, Miscellaneous, tagged , , , , on April 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Its not too often you get posts on here lauding non-LOI football. If anything, the content of our football related articles are overtly critical (and rightly so) of a nation of barstoolers who do their best to ignore teams on their own island. Whoso could begrudge the three of us so for having an interest in a foreign team, not across the narrow strip of water that divides us from “the mainland” but across the expanse of Europe to Hamburg and their “second” team, St. Pauli.

The thing is with St. Pauli, you aren’t just lending your support to an adopted team that have nothing got to to with you. You are adopting a code of beliefs. St. Pauli stand for everything we on CHTM! stand for – We are vehemently anti-sexist, anti-racist and anti-fascist. If you haven’t gotten that from our posts hither to now well… now you know. Two out of the three of us have made it to games this season and have made some great contacts and friends across there, some closer than others and for different reasons.

Dont expect this madness, just something close.

So, with us having good friends in the St. Pauli Supporters Club, Dublin, we have found out that their youth team is partaking in an invitational tournament at the bequest of Kevin’s Boys, programme as follows:

VENUE:  ST KEVINS BOYS CLUB, SHANOWEN ROAD, DUBLIN 9

FRIDAY APRIL 22nd

11.00am           Group 1                       St Kevins Boys Club      v   Brondby  I F
12.30pm          Group 2                       West Bromwich Albion  v  St Pauli
5.00pm            Group 1                       Brondby I F                     v  Sunderland  AFC
6.30pm            Group 2                       St Pauli                              v  Arsenal F C

SATURDAY APRIL 23rd  

11.00am           Group 1                       St Kevins Boys Club       v        Sunderland AFC
12.30pm          Group 2                       Arsenal F C                     v       West Bromwich Albion
5.00pm            Semi Final                    Winner Group 1              v     Runner Up Group 2
6.30pm            Semi Final                    Winner Group 2              v    Runner Up Group 1

SUNDAY APRIL 24th  

11.00am           5th & 6th Place Play Off                3rd place Group 1   v  3rd place Group 2
12.30pm          3rd & 4th Place Play Off            Beaten semi finalists 1 v Beaten semi finalists 2
1.45pm            Exhibition game by St Kevins Boys Under 6 Development Squad (15 mins)

TOURNAMENT FINAL

KICK OFF 2.15pm.

PRESENTATION OF TROPHIES

The plan is for us to make it out to the WBA vs. St. Pauli game on Friday morning, as myself and DFallon are heading off to (albeit) separate LOI games Friday afternoon, him to Derry, myself to Sligo and JayCarax off to the Good Friday Wicklow Wander.

Don’t forget though, before all that madness, there is the monthly Sounds of Resistance gig in O’Byrnes on Capel / Bolton Street that you can most likely find the three of us at; look for the lads in the corner sipping Guinness and looking shifty.

Come to this!

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There’s nowhere I’d rather be

Posted in Events, Football Articles, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 13, 2011| 10 Comments »

Excitement has been building up in the CHTM! extended family over the last week; not just amongst the League of Ireland affecionados but amongst a few others who have not yet made the pilgrimage to Dalymount on derby day. A couple of them will be popping their LOI cherry, while some more are returning after long absences; such is the draw of Dublin’s El Classico.
 
The last time I wrote about this particular fixture was during last season’s title run-in, one post praying for a victory and then another celebrating a hard fought win with a sore head. A new season, and everything / nothing has changed, depending on how you look at it. Rovers have arguably the best squad in the League, while Bohs hopes this season rest on the shoulders of youngsters like Flood and Fagan. A big ask for a young squad, but their performances this season have put the smile back on a few faces- they’ve been giving it socks each game, something you expect from a Bohs side, but didn’t always get last season.

Be there

Crowds this season are up, with Sligo and Derry drawing the guts of two and a half thousand a game and Rovers getting their usual “full house.” One thousand tickets have gone to them for this game, and I expect a crammed Jodi Stand for Bohs. With Rovers in the shed, the proximity of both sets of fans is going to make for one hell of a game. While the pull of this game is understandable, hopefully those making their trip to Dalymount for the first time, or for the first time in a while, realise that football in this country isn’t going to survive unless there are heads coming through those gates week in, week out. (A few quid spent in the bar or the club shop wouldn’t go astray either…) What should be a tight, and tense affair may go some way to attracting people back. My heart is already in my mouth, and I truly can’t wait to get up to Dalymount on Friday. Derby day is always special, lets hope this one is no different.

Come on Bohs.

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The Romance of the Cup

Posted in Events, Football Articles, tagged , , , , , on March 30, 2011| 2 Comments »

Bohs versus Rovers. Arguably the most talked about fixture in the League of Ireland calender; Dublin’s El Classico comes but four times a year. While this is a huge fixture, not least for fans of both teams, there is one game that outshines even this and one we don’t experience too often any more. (Some might say) its the original Dublin Derby, Bohs versus Shels. So, when I saw today’s draw for the EA Sports cup threw up this clash, I let out an unmanly yelp of delight. Shelbourne’s demise has been well documented, as have Bohs current woes. After our defeat to Welsh side TNS last year, St. Pats fans held up a banner calling us “The Next Shels.” And to be honest, they weren’t wrong. But thats a post for another day.

It's in the game

There isn’t anything too glorious about the League Cup. Simon O’Gorman on extratime.ie summed it up well with the below:

This is the true magic of the League Cup. It operates in such rarified air, moves in such exclusive circles, that should you choose to become a part of it you might just be handed a starring role. Perhaps you will be the fan that some player recognises at a later date, “Isn’t that the nutter that was at the Carlow game?”

While it may not be glorious, it is romantic. DFallon wrote a great piece for the Bohs / Glenville Rovers clash in the same competition last year, and we’ve already had our first “giantkilling” as Galway United crashed out on Monday to Cockhill Celtic. A lot of people talk about “the romance of the cup” across the water but rarely pay heed to the one on their doorsteps. Not suprising I suppose when the average person on the street would struggle to name the ten teams in the top division in their own country but could spout off Spurs first team at the bat of an eyelid. But we do have romance here too, Cockhill Rovers have shown that and have been rewarded with a home draw against Sligo Rovers. Me though? I just can’t wait to get back out to Tolka.

Is it though?

EA Sports Cup second round draw:

Pool 1: Limerick v Tralee Dynamos or Waterford United; Wexford Youths v Cork City.

Pool 2: Cockhill Celtic v Sligo Rovers; Derry City v Mervue United.

Pool 3: Drogheda United v UCD; St Patrick’s Athletic v Shamrock Rovers.

Pool 4: Monaghan United v Dundalk; Shelbourne v Bohemians

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Another snow related post…

Posted in Football Articles, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on December 21, 2010| 3 Comments »

My one true love...

Fair play to you Dotsy, original is available in bloody massive format here… It is unbelievable how much I love spending time in this stand.

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“You can’t buy our history” part II

Posted in Football Articles, Miscellaneous, Social History, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on November 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

In an article way back in April, when the IMF was still a bogey man the government used to terrify the unions, I wrote a quick piece on an auction taking place at the famous Whyte’s on Molesworth Street. On sale at that auction was a 1929/ ’30 Free State League winners medal- won that year by Bohemian FC.

So, when I heard the below picture was on sale at an auction in Dalymount with all proceeds went to Bohemian FC, my ears pricked up. What better way to satisfy three of my favourite things; Bohemians, history and photography than by buying this. I may have paid a little more than I thought I planned to for it but I myself think it was worth every penny.

Words cannot describe how chuffed I am to have this in my possession (click for larger image)

You may not be able to buy a clubs history, but you can hold onto a little bit of it, and thats what I feel like now. I don’t really feel like I own this picture, indeed, when Bohemians iron out this little blip it our history like I’m sure we will, I’ll most likely donate this picture to the club. Or maybe that’s just my optimism, hoping that the torrid time we’re going through is just a blip. But what else do we have to hold onto?

Autograph of J. McCarthy (fourth from left in main picture)

I’ll be getting it framed and mounted in the near future. When I get that done, I’ll check back in here, and give you some history behind a great era in Bohemians history, not unlike the one just passed. A bit of trivia before I go; the shed- like structure in the background are the old dressing rooms. Because of the corrugated iron on the roof, the structure got the nickname “The Hut,” now the name of the pre-game drinking hole in Phibsborough favoured by many a Bohs fan.

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Five defenders and Tommy Coyne up front?

Posted in Football Articles, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on November 22, 2010| 8 Comments »

Italia ’90 came just too early for me, and while I still have recollections of it, most of them more than likely made up as they are far too glorious for any six year old to have experienced. So, USA ’94 was more within my grasp and while I wasn’t a football loving child (oh how my ways have changed,) it was hard not to get caught up in the fever pitch that surrounded a national event like Ireland playing in the World Cup. Streets empty during games and lined with Olé Óle Olé chanting, pint swilling headcases after them.  Audacious thieves made a fortune ram- raiding shops during the games, safe in the knowlege their local Gardaí were most likely huddled around a portable tv in the station, blissfully unawares to the happenings in the outside world. The glory of Italia ’90 was impossible to recreate but the reactions to beating Italy and drawing with Norway were the same. Pure unadulterated lunacy.

Soccerball World Cup mascot, 1994

The football sure as hell wasn’t beautiful. The mind truly boggles to think that Ireland beat Italy with a team consisting of five defenders, two defensive midfielders and a man by the name of Tommy Coyne up front. But we did win, Ray Houghton netting in the eleventh minute before eloping on a mad run, tumbling like a toddler and emitting screams that put Marco Tardelli to shame.

Celebrations were short lived as Jack Charlton sent out the same side against Mexico and they were duly spanked 2-1. And still, we somehow managed to qualify for the second round by playing out a dull encounter against Norway that ended 0-0. Exciting stuff, the four teams in the group finishing on four points,  Ireland scraping through only due to their win against Italy.  Three games, two goals scored and two conceeded. You really do look back at these things with rose tinted glasses as reading that statistic shows it was about as far from total football as our Monday night kickabouts. But these were different times, Roy Keane was still a young man, we had squad members like Alan Kernaghan, Alan McLoughlin and John Sheridan and Gary Kelly was still a player with “great potential for the future.” We were tonked 2-0 in the next round and the dream was over.

Why am I harping on about all this you may be (or more than likely aren’t) wondering. Well, digging in the attic last week I came across a collection of cards Kellogs had produced for the occasion. You got free stuff in your cereal those days, generally useless plastic toys or reflectors for the spokes of your bike, but they came up trumps with these. I’m missing Bonner, Babb, Coyne, Eddie McGoldrick (remember him?!) and John Aldridge; Terry Phelan has lost his head. Anyone out there with swapsies?

The Kellogs freebies from USA '94, six shy of the full squad!

Gary Kelly; His profile says he has "great potential" and he hadn't won the first of his 51 caps yet

Ex- Bohs, and the only person in the world to have an All Ireland GAA medal for football and a FA Cup winners medal, Kevin Moran

The man who played 88 times for Ireland and scored 19 goals despite not having a drop of Irish blood in him- Tony Cascarino

Anyone who can provide the missing cards mentioned above, please get in touch- I’d love to get a picture of the full squad… Comment on here or e-mail me at ci_murray@hotmail.com …

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Football; much better when watched in a pub?

Posted in Events, Football Articles, Miscellaneous, Social History, tagged , , , on November 15, 2010| 7 Comments »

The gem of a picture that accompanies this piece was spotted in Friday’s Metro by a good mate of mine. Now, I know the domestic season is over, the cup final done and dusted (with a deserved victory for Sligo Rovers, and their ex- Bohs talisman Joe Ndo) but this takes the biscuit, really pushing us as a nation of barstoolers to the limit. We often wax lyrical on here about the League of Ireland, no it doesn’t draw the masses, and no, its not always sexy. But its ours, and thats what counts. So seeing ads like this is a real slap in the face for the League- Football is not much better when watched from a pub, its much better watched from the steps of the Jodi Stand in Dalymount Park, or the shed in Richmond Park, even the bloody lego stand in Tolka Park is better than a pub.

Football is certainly not much better when watched from a pub. Photo credit, Ciarán Mangan

With the season over, I’ll miss the football. And considering our current predicament, this time next year I could be saying I’m missing Bohs. The thoughts of it are depressing. We are in danger but fans are rallying behind the club. Donations are coming in fast, and some very generous ones at that. Even a bunch of Sligo Rovers fans passed on some money on Sunday to go towards the €300, 000 needed for us to retain our license for next season. More of a reason to have cheered for the Bit o’ Red yesterday. I’ll do another piece on the subject later in the week but as well as the donations, there’s a fundraising night and a monster raffle being held in The Phoenix Bar, Dalymount Park this Saturday night, details here. I’d urge, not only Bohs fans but all LOI fans to drop in. I know we joke about “the league needs a strong Rovers,” but where would we really be without Dalymount Park? The original home of Irish Football, and a place that truly deserves National Monument status.

So that’s why when I was sent that picture above, a number of feelings stirred in me. Pity, for those who remain oblivious to their own national League. Contempt for the same people. Anger, at the short-sightedness of the advertisement. And sadness, that only if some of those the article targets made the effort to come to LOI games, clubs like Bohs, and Shams, Derry and Cork before them wouldn’t be in the situations they are/were in. You can stick your barstools where the sun doesn’t shine. Football is much better when watched from the steps of Block G.

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I had a dream last night

Posted in Events, Football Articles, Reviews, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on October 27, 2010| 1 Comment »

I had a dream last night. It went like this. Its a cold, dark Friday evening;  I am in Dalymount Park, on the steps of Block G in the Jodi Stand. With ten minutes to go in the League of Ireland’s last round of games, Shamrock Rovers are trailing 2 – 1 to Bray in the Carlisle Grounds and Twigg has just been sent off for dissent. Bohemians are drawing 1 – 1 with a scrappy Dundalk team here in the home of Irish Football when Paddy Madden is brought down twenty yards out from goal, right in front of us.  After some pushing and shoving, the wall is brought back the required ten yards. Killian Brennan takes four steps back, makes the run up, before gloriously dipping the ball over the wall and… well, I woke up.

The cruel things life does to you. Waking up mid- dream is one thing, but having a real life dream turn into a nightmare is another. Last week,  Bohs were on the pig’s back, (some might say literally,) needing two wins over an injury struck Galway side (who, despite their lowly position have caused us problems all year) and a Dundalk team we’ve beaten twice already this season (and, well, lost to once.) We all know what happened. Galway won 3 – 2 and dare I say it, the ramifications sent tremors down the spines of League of Ireland fans everywhere. It left Shamrock Rovers in pole position to win their first league title in 6, 066 days precisely. While on Friday’s performance, Bohs don’t deserve to win the League, that isn’t going to stop me wanting them to win it.

Pat Fenlon has chastised his players, saying he doesn’t want to see them until before this Friday’s showdown with Dundalk. Captain, Owen Heary has admitted that the team wasn’t up for the fight. Where were the battling qualities present for the unbeaten run stretching back ten games prior to Friday? Thats the question every Bohs fan is left asking. The possibility of an historic three-in-a-row has likely gone amiss. And yet they were still applauded off the field by the travelling support. Certainly not as a gesture of thanks for their performance over the previous ninety minutes. More a salute to the last three years; a goodbye and a thanks for the memories. They had better remember that this Friday if they’re going to finish this season with their heads held high.

We pray to the Spirit of Hunt to lead us to a miraculous three- in- a- row

I spoke in the build up to the Dublin Derby of 2010’s run- in being a battle of the bottlers, and while it makes for heartbreaking rather than heart racing football, that’s what it has become. Bohemians look set to part with, whether they can miraculously clinch the title or not,  a great period in their history. Three fantastic years, some heartbreaking moments aside, that will stick with me in the bleak times ahead. The squad of players that we have now will leave come season’s end, there’s no doubt about that. And with some of those players reported to be making a move to Tallaght Stadium, it will sicken me to see former players (and one in particular who has grafted for Bohs when others played like they couldn’t be bothered,) turn out in green and white next season.

Two League titles, Setanta Cup Champions (and by default, Champions of Ireland,) a League Cup and an FAI Cup in three years. People say we shouldn’t be looking to the past when the future is scarily unclear. What does it hold? In the short term, Pat Fenlon has said he will honour his contract, which ties him to the club until 2013. And while I would love to see the most successful League of Ireland manager of recent years to stay with the club, at his current rate, we just can’t afford him. He says he’ll field a team of kids next year if he has to, and maybe he’ll get the required out of them, hopefully so.

Pat Fenlon's Bohemians in a pre-season friendly against Drumcondra, 2011.

The days of players chasing big contracts around the League have thankfully come to an end; and while the circumstances that have led to this are unfortunate, at least it might bring some realism back to the LOI. Three years ago, there were players making more at Bohs than some players in the upper echelons of the English Championship. So who knows, a part- time Bohs next year may still be able to field a team, if only because players won’t be able to find a wage elsewhere. Bleak times, preceeded by an amazing past.

A bleak future, preceeded by an amazing past. Bohemian FC of 1907/08, from Storie di Calcio

All this talk of dreams and nightmares and the chance of victory, however remote, is still there. This Friday, come 21:35 or thereabouts will tell whether I’m a visionary, a lunatic for having hope or just an unwavering dreamer. To be honest, I couldn’t care less which if things go our way. Maybe I’m mad for holding onto the vague hope that we can do it. But isn’t it madness that drives most of us to follow this league of ours anyways?

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The Morning After the Night Before

Posted in Football Articles, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on October 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

So there you have it. The morning after the night before. When I posted on Monday, I wasn’t in any great confidence about Bohs chances. I was hoping, praying for a result, a goal in off Ken Oman’s arse would have kept me happy. But what I got last night was Bohs playing their hearts out for ninety minutes and getting the result they, and the crowd, deserved. For those in Red and Black sang solid for the whole game, before and after too, creating arguably the best atmosphere in Dalymount Park this season; the Roar was back with vengeance. And while we wait and plead for Rovers to slip up against Sporting Fingal this weekend, the win last night was not only about the result; something that was amiss seems restored.

After the disaster that was TNS and the Champions League, the defeat to Galway and the drubbing to Rovers in Tallaght, a certain something had been lost between team and fans that seems to have been restored last night; that something being pride and passion. For there is such a thing as playing and losing admirably with a certain pride, that was not what Bohs were doing. They were losing miserably, to Galway. Who had nine men.

Oh Jayo, Jayo- You used to be a...

On the back of last nights victory though, can we say that the tides have turned? The run in for Bohs consists of St. Pats, Galway and Dundalk. Two of those teams we’ve struggled against badly this season. The run in for Rovers consists of Sporting Fingal, Bray and Drogheda. Now under normal circumstances, you would say that the league is a given for Rovers. But after capitulating to UCD last week, and last nights hammer blow from Bohemians suggests that its not wrapped up yet. Could Fingal do us a favour and turn Rovers over this weekend? Could Bohs still win the elusive three in a row? Its hard to know.

Has last nights performance come too late? Keegan and Cronin played like men possessed in the middle of the park, the Rovers middle three barely getting a sniff in, with the majority of their attacking play coming down the wings. Shelley and Oman (silly back pass aside) were solid at the back, and Powell was a constant threat with his storming forward runs. And Jason Byrne, what else do you say only he’s been Bohs only player to score against Rovers in over two years. And what a goal it was.

And while the night was spent on tenterhooks, the elation after the goal (where everyone suddenly found themselves eight steps away from where they started) and the final whistle, with the majority of the Jodi staying and waiting for the team to come out for the warm-down (in what was obviously a feel good exercise orchestrated by Nutsy,) the singing and chanting continuing apace while the players jogged up and down in front sections F&G,  felt special. People were walking into the bar lightheaded and speechless. There were smiles on faces, of disbelief and joy. Smiles that said “We could win it yet. ”

I hope I'm not going to be kicking myself for this...

Three games to go. And while Bohs are relying on Rovers to bottle it again, if the team plays like they did last night, there will be no despair come the seasons end. Much of this season has been spent in pessimism, with horror stories about the Club’s finances and tales of striking players and unpaid bonusses. Win those games and those tales might be forgotten. Win those games and we may speak of Bohemians’ glorious 2010 battle for three- in- a- row for years to come.

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El Classico has nothing on this.

Posted in Football Articles, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on October 4, 2010| 7 Comments »

El Classico. The Eternal Derby. The Old Firm. El Superclassico. In cities across the world, there is always one game that captures the imagination, the wits and emotions of the masses. From Rome to Liverpool, Glasgow to Buenos Aires, football fans wait tentatively for those days of the season where you meet your fiercest rivals; shaking in anticipation, that constantly nervous feeling grips at your every bone. Sometimes its pure fear, that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach- a dull ache that spreads into your chest the closer the time comes, culminating in chest pains and a dry throat on the day itself. Hoarse before the game even starts having spent the last couple of days yammering onto anyone who’ll listen, whether they have an interest or not, about the game in question. Drunk on the occasion, not on the pints you swallow before it, you know you’ve got just a couple of hours before you’re walking home with either your head in the clouds or the gutter.

Clash of the Titans

That feeling is with me now. For tomorrow night, in Dalymount Park, arguably the most important derby in recent memory is taking place. Shamrock Rovers sit at the top of the table, five points clear of Bohemians with four games to go. A win for Bohs tomorrow pegs that back to two points with three games to go. All to play for you might say. And to be honest, its mere luck that has Bohs in this position-where they have bottled it this season, Rovers have also. So for the last four games, it really is a case of who bottles it less, starting with tomorrow night. What used to be a stroll in the park, three points in the bag for Bohs game is now turning into a nightmare, if memory serves, Bohs haven’t beaten Rovers since the 2-0 victory at Dalymount in March last year- and that seems like an awful long time ago now. It should be a tight affair, Rovers losing Bayly and Murphy to red cards in Friday nights shock loss to UCD and Bohs losing Quigley for a stupid headbutt and O’Connor for a silly challenge outside the box during the dour draw with Bray.

We are Bohs!

To be honest, the nerves are at me already, and have been since Saturday morning. This game always sets the pulse racing for me, the amicable respect generally shown between League of Ireland fans goes out the window and it’s all out war for the evening. The Northside versus The Southside; The Clash of the Titans. Its an all ticket affair so if you’re on for it, get yourself to the bar in Dalyer tonight and pick one up; I can’t bloody wait. Never mind your Anfield or Stadio Olympico; theres nowhere I would rather be tomorrow night than Dalymount Park.

Come on Bohs.

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