Gotham goes wild for the Boys in Green
Maybe it will be an overly expensive dessert wine that Ireland fans will be forced to break the bank for while first-choice Ireland players avoid it like a two-footed challenge. And maybe — no, definitely — Yankee Stadium will once again prove a horrendous place to watch a game of football.
Spain will most likely not bring their best weapons, either, if Barcelona and Real Madrid are kept apart by the Champions League semi-final draw in Nyon on Friday, allowing both sides a workable path to go all the way to Wembley for the final.
But nobody should underestimate what having these two teams — especially the Boys in Green — playing in the Bronx will mean to Irish people living in the populous US north-east.
The reaction on Monday morning was immediate and enthusiastic.
While there have been a handful of meaningless games at Giants Stadium for Irish fans to enjoy in the almost 20 years that have passed since that unforgettable day at Giants Stadium, even the prospect of watching the carcass of the world and European champions is infinitely more attractive than those other uninspiring clashes that have taken place in New Jersey: Mexico and Bolivia in 1996, South Africa in 2000 and one of the most derided friendlies of the Steve Staunton era, Ecuador in 2005.
For once, an Ireland team kicking off at 8pm will mean exactly that. This will be a rare opportunity to enjoy a game in the flesh at a reasonable hour. There’ll be no need to rush out of the office or sneak off the building site and escape to one of those pubs bound by the scourge of a pay-per-view TV company forcing a $20 entry fee.
For Kevin McPartland, president of the New York Shamrocks soccer club based in the adjoining Queens neighbourhoods of Sunnyside and Woodside since 1960, the visit serves as justification for every long season spent trying to keep the game alive within the confines of a dwindling Irish-born population.
“There are a lot of good soccer people here and for the FAI to recognise that means a lot,” the Dublin native told me on Monday (full disclosure — I’m a playing member at the ‘Rocks).
“Every game they’ve played here has brought a big atmosphere and even though it’s only a friendly, it will still be very special. More importantly, it’s a massive boost for our club and the other Irish club and players in this city.”
Peter Ryan, Ireland’s Deputy Consul-General to New York, echoed McPartland’s sentiments, saying there would be a great reception for Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad.
“It’s great that they’re coming,” Ryan said. “There’ll be a big turnout from the Irish living here but also from Americans who will be wanting to see Spain in the flesh.
“It will be a great occasion for the community. They’ll be out in force. It’s a nice celebration of European football which is very popular here. And the fact that it’s happening at the home of baseball makes it even more special.
“There all kinds of Irish connections with the Yankees not to mention the contribution Irish people have made to the construction of the old stadium and the new one. There is a great Irish contingent in the Bronx and Queens overjoyed that Ireland are coming to town.”
Admittedly, those who do decide to enjoy whatever sort of football June 11 has to offer will know the obstacles the players will have to overcome to make it a halfway decent spectacle.
It’s not even necessary to dwell on the historically low ebb this current crop has been rambling through since qualification for Euro 2012 was secured against Estonia.
As I’ve already said — and as most will already know — the apparently glamorous idea of playing at Yankee Stadium will quickly lose its allure as soon as fans take their seats and spy the clumsy way the rectangular peg of the soccer pitch has been shoved into the cone-shaped hole of baseball.
The Yankees themselves will be off playing away games in California but that infield diamond and its pitching mound will still be an eyesore if you’re lucky enough to have one of the few seats with a reasonably acceptable view. It will look even worse on TV. But none of that will matter to the thousands upon thousands of Irish fans who normally spend their time supporting their country staring at screens in packed bars. This one night and its fleeting connection with home should never be taken for granted.
* john.w.riordan@gmail.com Twitter: JohnWRiordan
