Not all fans travel to Cardiff on ‘bandwagon’

IN every sport, there are fair weather fans, those that simply jump on the bandwagon.

As Munster prepare for another Heineken Cup final, the Red Army has gone ballistic in pursuit of tickets. Thousands have already acquired them; not all deserve them.

Two young men certainly not in the latter category are Kerrymen Humphrey Shanahan (25) and John Breen (33), who have braved the wind and rain an many overseas venues in the last seven years.

More than that, they travel regularly to Celtic League games in Wales and Scotland, and rarely miss any of the home games.

Take Shanahan, for instance, who made his way to Swansea a couple of weeks ago, and took the long, if not particularly scenic route. He drove to Shannon from Castleisland on the day of the game, flew to East Midlands, got a bus to Derby, train to Bristol and then another train to Swansea at a cost of about €400 before accounting for spending money.

“That was one of my cheaper trips; a lot of them have cost me much more, but it has been worth every bit of it,” he said, even after watching Munster fall to a 10-27 defeat.

Over the years, since his first away trip to watch Munster defeat Saracens at Vicarage Road in 1999, he estimates to have spent €20,000 on following Munster. “It’s probably more than that, but it’s something I haven’t thought about. I’d spend it all over again; they’ve given so much pleasure to so many people over the years.”

John Breen is just as enthusiastic and recalled being “hooked” after watching Munster hammer fancied Wasps at Thomond Park in 1997.

“I had attended some interprovincial games and was lucky enough to get tickets for that game. Wasps had signed all the big players; they were the team to beat, but they failed at fortress Thomond Park that day.”

Not surprisingly, John is also a big fan of GAA, but points out: “My background is in all sports really. No matter where you come from, I think you have to have respect for what Munster have done for sport in Ireland. Take Paul O’Connell, for instance, who started out as a swimmer but who has brought something special to rugby. You can talk about all the big names around the world, but O’Connell is right up there with the best.”

These guys know their history too, with Shanahan casting his mind way back to the time of Brendan Foley and Colm Tucker, and more recently to Mick Galwey and Peter Clohessy. “In their day, they provided the inspiration for others to follow. Why else would people be talking about them all the time?”

Meanwhile, there is another side to the Munster fan base — the English based supporter, and one totally focused on the team is Barbara Richardson, who has followed Munster through thick and thin for the last few seasons.

She has Irish ancestors and is married to an English supporter, whom she leaves to his own devices when it comes to rugby.

“He will go to the World Cup to support England; I’ll be supporting Munster, and Harlequins,” she declared.

Her interest in Munster is down to friendship with Paul Burke’s family in London. “I came over to Ireland to watch Munster play ‘Quins in the Heineken Cup and had such a fabulous time that everything followed on from there.

“I still support Harlequins of course, but last year I managed to get to seven of Munster’s Celtic League games, including the Celtic Cup final. They’re just an awesome side; they all give 110% and they play exciting rugby as well. Destiny suggests they’re going to win the Heineken Cup.”

Barbara drove from London to Galashiels a few weeks ago to watch Munster play Border Reivers, and was also in Swansea to see the game with Ospreys.

Her passion is such that she has gone from full- time to part-time worker: “I asked to have Friday’s off so that I can see Munster in either Wales or Scotland on a Friday night, and that allows me to get back in time to watch ‘Quins on a Saturday.”

After watching Munster play the Ospreys, she headed back to London and immediately made plans to travel back to see the game with Llanelli on Tuesday of last week. “I took the Tuesday afternoon off, swapped the Monday for the Wednesday and I was able to make that as well,” she said.

And the annual cost to indulge in that passion? “Don’t even go there,” she laughed, “at the end of the day, it’s only money. I work part-time and the money I earn is spent on rugby.”

That’s not an issue at home: “Well, my husband Vincent doesn’t support club rugby — he’s strictly an England fan. He went over to watch England play in the World Cup final in 2003, and that gave me a lot of brownie points,” she said.