15,000 turn out to welcome Ireland to Poland base

The Baltic Sea port town of Gdynia turned out in force to welcome Giovanni Trapattoni and his players to their home from home and tournament base for the European Championship finals.

The atmosphere in the home ground of local club Arka Gdynia, where the squad will train throughout the competition, was a mix of Superbowl, St Patrick’s Day, and street party, as Ireland’s only open training day of their stay attracted a near-capacity crowd of 15,000 locals. Outside the ground, a bouncy castle proved popular with the little ones while, for their parents, the club bar was serving green beer.

Flanked by cheerleaders waving tricolours, the Irish squad emerged from the tunnel to a huge ovation. The players carried a banner saying “thank you” in Polish, while the Polish fans in the facing stand reciprocated by unfurling a massive Irish flag bearing the greeting “welcome to Gdynia”.

With ‘The Rocky Road To Poland’ playing over the PA, the players were introduced one by one, the biggest cheer greeting the name of skipper Robbie Keane. There was also warm recognition for Giovanni Trapattoni.

Speaking into a microphone in the centre circle of the pitch, FAI chief John Delaney began his address by saying “thank you for your support” in Polish, before continuing in English: “We are delighted to be here in this beautiful part of Poland and we thank you for the wonderful welcome you have given us today. We know that Poland will be supporting the Polish team but we would like you to support Ireland as your second team given the wonderful relationship that exists between the Irish and Polish people.”

The FAI boss then presented the lord mayor of Gdynia, Wojciech Szczurek, with an Irish jersey signed by the players, before the squad got down to the business of a training session, which was deliberately kept light following their match in Budapest against Hungary the previous night.

There was only one incident which threatened to puncture the party atmosphere, when a couple of local protesters unveiled a handmade banner reading “fuck €uro”. Security men quickly moved in to tear it down.

The Irish squad are staying in Sopot, a popular summer holiday resort between Gdansk and Gdynia, though unseasonably cold weather by the Baltic Sea at present means the players will need to wrap up well if they fancy taking a walk along the golden sands.