Who’ll ever forget that goal…the smallest man on the pitch heading a perfectly placed ball into the inviting goal mouth, to the right of a stranded Peter Shilton. A small man from a small island that was contesting its first ever match in a UEFA European Championship…against the mighty England, who were old pro’s in such competitions. And yet we hung on…after England threw everything but the kitchen sink at us…to defeat our fiercest rival. And so started an amazing journey that our boys in green invited the Irish nation to embark with them upon. A truly amazing summer was to ensue…COME ON IRELAND!
Thanks as always for dropping by. I am hoping that I am keeping these blogs of mine at a good and consistent level, and that you genuinely enjoy them as you dissect the inner workings of my brain and place my thoughts under a microscope for closer examination. I have changed this weeks topic (hope you don’t mind…next week WILL be all about the GAA and especially The Dubs!) and I have leapt onto a bandwagon that is gathering in pace…a green white and orange bandwagon filled with so much hope and optimism, with the slight promise of a summer to remember. Yep…it’s Euro 2016 folks, and this year we are not going to just be the neutral football fans, only cheering for the team that you picked out in the office sweepstakes…no,no NO…Ireland have fought hard and have rightfully earned their place in this years competition. Its been four years since we’ve competed in this tournament…and I suppose the less said about that particular venture the better! But we have new, young, hungry players, with just the right mix of older, wiser tacticians whose experience will hopefully be invaluable. We also have a fantastic new management team, with our leader being the one and only Martin O’Neill, an outstanding manager whose drive and lust for victory is contagious. And his right-hand man? Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the one and only Roy Keane…
I don’t think I need to add anything else…except…LEGEND!!
So far the tournament has offered some fantastic games. The football is being played at a furious rate and there has been heartbreak aplenty…like our neighbours England giving away a soft goal in injury-time to lose a one goal lead and drop two points. And tomorrow it’s our turn to enter the “Colosseum-esque” Stade de France as we take on Sweden in our opening game. As I sit here and type this blog, the sun trying ever-so hard to break through the gloomy clouds that linger over Dublin, I can feel the butterflies in my stomach flapping their wings at what feels like 100MPH. GOD..I want them to win so SO bad! But isn’t that the greatest thing about loving a sport? The roller-coaster of mixed emotions that you embark upon would make any Alton Towers attraction pale in comparison. But we’ve got to have faith right? We’ve got to believe in our lads and get behind them 10000%. We have a bunch of incredible people who have traveled over to France in order to become our teams twelfth man. They are entering a high-risk zone because of the cowardly bullying tactics of small-minded, but deadly individuals, whose mere presence is enough to unnerve the hardest of men. But as a people we will unite and over-come…we will march forward…we will go on! So a massive thank you from me to ALL of our “Green Army”…on behalf of your nation we salute you…do us proud!
And that’s the thing…they will do us proud, for we have the greatest fans on earth. The troubling scenes of fan violence lately, that are so bad they are nearly eclipsing the football itself, is not the way the Irish do it. Yes, we will most probably drink your town dry, but we will also provide you with amazing banter…crap jokes…impressionists galore…and some amazing, moving sing-songs. Yes, a few of us will let ourselves down a wee bit, by being a little too inebriated, but I think I can safely say…with my hand on my heart…we will not par-take in these ugly scenes of hatred…please God!
THIS IS WHAT WE WANT…
Let’s create this again folks…maybe with better jumpers and less mustaches…and definitely lower-waist jeans! But the atmosphere…the “good-vibe” feeling. We are capable of causing upset…we are able to achieve…LET’S GET BEHIND THE BOYS IN GREEN. Sometimes…just sometimes…we can be a nation of awful begrudgers…it seeming better to put down your team rather than getting behind them. You may not think that us…the ones that are left behind here to run the Country, while they go off gallivanting around France…you may not think we have a part to play…but by-JAYSUS we do! Imagine recreating scenes like the one above. With the magic of the internet, our Boys In Green will be able to see how proud we are of them…it will hopefully inject in them more vigor…more fight and determination…they will want to make us proud!! So let’s get behind The Boys In Green…lets be proud to be Irish. I don’t drink myself anymore, having realised that it was probably the biggest factor in leading up to my shameful incarceration, but I hope to see every bar and club the length and breath of this beautiful little Island where I reside full to capacity…with everyone enjoying the games…and each other….
SO COME ON IRELAND!!!
“And next morning none of the experts, gave us the slightest chance…
They said that the English team would lead us…’on a merry dance’…
Oh, with their Union Jacks, all them English fans, for victory they were set…
Until Ray Houghton got the ball and he stuck it in the net!”
Thanks as always folks…sure aren’t we all Irish…
Over and Under IRELAND…Let’s Do This…
Be Safe.
Gar 🙂
garcunnningham 