The madness of crowds has infected cross-channel soccer and damaged it beyond repair. The same rules don’t have to apply here.
Declan Bogue AROUND THE TURN of the century, I found myself in a handy number working behind the counter of an Irish Bar in Covent Garden in London’s west end.
It got hairy a few times. A group of Tottenham Hotspur lads started used it as a hitching post on their way to crosstown, ahem, engagements against Charlton, Crystal Palace and Chelsea. Watching the box on Friday, there was a fairly ugly confrontation when a hero of the Shamrock Rovers support leaned into Galway United’s Ed McCarthy and poured verbal battery acid into his ear as he prepared to take a throw-in.
The great pity is that right now, Irish domestic soccer is in a healthy and interesting place. Crowds are up. Interest is high. New teams are sprouting up in every direction.The terms of engagement, how they relate to the fellow and opposition supporters, is all learned behaviour.This is not to bash soccer. Until you have stood on a sideline coaching in Tyrone adult club Gaelic football, you will forever wonder just how low people can go.
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