Sometimes you just need to walk through open door
And of course that the majority of Irish football fans come from the back of the classroom. Ireland sealed a 1-1 win and, as Liam Mackey wrote in this paper the following morning, “we went to a football game and a party broke out. Or was it the other way around”.
The big screen played a montage video at half-time and after the full-time whistle which could have been cut together by a team of manipulative psychologists, so successful was it in pushing our buttons.
Bodhráns? Check. Ronnie Whelan scoring a goal with his shin from 30 yards? Check. Duffer bowing elegantly from the hips in Japan? Check. Men throwing small, giddy children from the West Stand in jubilation? Check, check, check.
The tagline in the film, delivered by a cast of green-clad Irish football fans of varying ages, was: we’re a small island, in a big ocean, but we’ve reached the world from here. Yes, the world better watch out yet again, it seems.
Afterwards, no one climbed the steps and told us: “I’ll see yis in Coppers,” but the players did indeed repair for Harcourt St and there’s plenty of YouTube evidence of some of the English game’s best and brightest hanging from the rafters as Put ‘Em Under Pressure pumps from the speakers. To paraphrase a New York magazine when writing about Studio 54 and the Manhattan disco scene who paraphrased Shakespeare: now is the winter of our discotheques.
After scanning those clips of the celebrations, I came across footage of one Irish fan on the sidelines at the A La Coq Arena seven days ago. After a quick email I was on the phone to Conor Cunningham, the Leesider who coaches his local side, Killumney. But he achieved infamy this week for his exploits on a foreign sideline. You may have read about how he found a bag of footballs and an Estonia tracksuit, and ended up on the Estonian bench.
“We went up to the stadium maybe an hour or two before kick-off to have a look around for a few spares and maybe haggle with a few of the locals and get the price down but they were all looking for four to 500 quid,” he told me. “We didn’t have that cash really so thought we’d just bide our time and it would work out. But there was no joy. Then we came across the media entrance, you know where all the RTÉ fellas were going in, and we said we’d give it a whirl.
“So we made a dart for it past all the checkpoints and security and whatever. One of the lads — a buddy of mine, Eoin, made it through but I think they realised then there was something going on and they stopped him pretty quickly.
“So they were all arguing then and the lads were trying to convince the bouncers that we were actually media and we’d left our passes and gear inside the stadium. I wasn’t actually arguing at this point because I didn’t think there was any real point and we weren’t going to get in.
“But just then I noticed an open door. So I stuck the head in the door anyway. And soon realised it was a dead end. But at the end of the corridor was this big bag of footballs. So I thought to myself if I grab them and pretend I’m part of the team I might get in. I was standing there now in a pair of jeans and an Ireland jersey so there wasn’t much hope of that, I suppose.
“But I lifted up the bag and underneath it was a blue Estonian tracksuit. Unbelievable. I threw it on over my jeans and jersey, threw the bag of balls over my shoulder and waltzed in. It was perfect.”
What a hero. After I put the phone down with a smile I was asked to talk to Matt Cooper on his show about young fans travelling to next summer’s championship. What tips could I offer having done a bit of away day stuff in the past on the cheap?
- Don’t be too proud to collect the commemorative plastic cups that UEFA give those buying a beer. You can keep them and bring them home or cash them in for your €2 deposit back after the game. Most people throw them under their seats.
- Avoid buying tickets from touts unless badly stuck. Train stations are often the best bet to pick up one. At the World Cup five years ago I picked up a few on platforms from locals travelling to the match city to flog tickets they’d legitimately received. If you save someone a journey, you’ll get a discount.
- Hostels and tents will see you right if you’re not fussy about accommodation and they’re better craic than hotels. Not fussy about blow-up hammers either.
- Just go: as Conor taught us: sometimes you just need to walk through an open door.
- adrian@thescore.ieTwitter: @adrianrussell
