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Ryan Pinnons: It's all the same to me.

This excellent piece comes from Ryan Pinnons who spends his weekends supporting his local team in Northern Ireland. How does it compare to the money hungry English Premier League? Find out below:


It’s all the same to me


For 25 years, I have attended Irish League matches. 25 wonderful years. My hometown and local club Ards F.C. (play in the same colours as Barcelona but the similarities end there) are currently in League one after being relegated from the Premier Division last season. The Premiere Division has 12 teams. Please do not confuse the Irish league with the League of Ireland which is a league in a different country. Now, we need to be careful here as very soon we could be mixing sports and politics. However, sports and politics is never too far away in the Irish league as we still have our Protestant and Catholic clubs. Things can occasionally get rough but it is usually when two protestant clubs play each other and try to battle out which team is “The most Protestant.” To be fair though, the authorities have worked hard over the past 20 years to defeat sectarianism on the terraces.

How could I describe football in the Irish League? Well, it’s up close and personal ( I have seen players jump over the wall and whack a supporter!), it tough and hard tackling, very ‘un-PC’, players and referees can hear every ‘compliment’ given to them from mild mannered supporters; toilets are generally sub-standared (some grounds even have toilets for women!): it is not expensive; you can still stand at games and the football is generally rubbish (although I can think of certain other adjectives). But, we love it!!

You will mostly have heard of some of the top clubs like Linfield or Glentoran. They used to be known as “The Big Two.” Now there are four clubs in the “Big Two” since Crusaders and Cliftonville joined the group. This may seem a little strange but things can be “Very strange” in the Irish League. A few years ago my team Ards had to lose against our local rivals to stay up!! Strange but true however, the mathematics would be too hard to explain here.

On a more serious note, my time as an Ards supporter has allowed me some history to boast about. We have played in Europe on a few occasions, most notably in 1973 when we beat the mighty Standard Liege 3-2 in the European Cup. We lost the return leg 6-1. Other clubs have done well in Europe as well. Glentoran once drew 1 -1 with Juventus and I recall dialogue in the pub reminiscing over Crusaders historic 2-2 draw with Liverpool. I can't help but feel that those were the days when football was more important than money and T V rights. This season Crusaders were knocked out of Europe by Wolves and Linfield are close to making the group stages of the Europa League.

Football in Northern Ireland has in the past been affected by what people may know as “The Troubles.” Games were often abandoned because of rioting or bomb scares, travelling to certain parts of Belfast was seen as very dangerous and of course there was awful sectarianism on the terraces. However, it did have its lighter moments and people developed a good sense of humour. I can’t wait to enjoy the ‘craic’ (as they say in my native Ireland) when I’m off to see Ards play PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) this weekend. Always a good game but our travelling support diminishes when we play the police and a couple of our players are “dropped.” I wonder why?


To feature like Ryan, just email an idea for an article to thearmchairfan@outlook.com and we’ll try our hardest to make it happen. No piece is too long or short and all ideas welcome.

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