We’re not Brasil we’re Tuaisceart Éireann

irishmufc wrote:   So basically if any N.I. fans are involved in trouble it's just drunken twats not N.I. fans yah?Cue more whataboutery which is your hallmark on here.   It's been about 3 posts since you sent us hyperlinks to various websites of N.I. fans good behavior. You're slipping

No, that's not what I'm saying at all, so don't try to put words in my mouth.

What I'm saying is that NI fans do not get involved in organised violence, such as was visited upon us on a somewhat minor scale by Croatian fans last week, and on a much more serious scale by Polish hoolies in 2009.

Which is not to say that we don't have our share of idiots sprinkled amongst our support, just as every other group of fans does, including your own.

Also when abused and attacked, some of our fans will respond in kind, fans who do not initiate trouble in the absence of provocation. Which I suspect is similar to your own fanbase too.

Anyhow, to get back to events in Belfast in 2009. I distinctly remember the Polish Consul apologising the next day for the behaviour of their hooligan minority. I can't find it now, but here are two other commentaries from local Poles in the aftermath.
Aleksandra Lojek-Magdziarz in The Guardian:

Poland's hooligans export violence

Rioting by Polish 'pseudo fans' under a republican flag threatens to entangle Belfast's Poles in sectarian violence
"Rioting of the kind provoked by Polish football hooligans in Belfast at the weekend is a sadly frequent occurrence in Poland. Now I fear these people may do a great deal of damage to relations between Northern Irish and Polish communities in the city...
... Not all Polish football fans are violent, of course, the majority are ordinary people who love football, but an aggressive minority are loud and highly dangerous. I have great respect for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, but they seem to have been ill-prepared for the influx of thugs.
"Pseudo fans", as we call them in Polish, use various thoughtless symbols to underscore their rebellious attitude. In Northern Ireland they used a republican flag to provoke people in Belfast. It revealed their absolute ignorance: they do not support dissident republicans in the slightest, mainly because they have no idea who they are. Back in Poland, some of the hooligans call themselves "Hezbollah" and proclaim "jihad" on other teams. You can bet they know nothing about Middle Eastern politics."
[Btw, the flag she refers to was an Eirige flag    ]

And Maciek Bator in the Newsletter spoke of his "shame" at the antics of the Polish hooligans who came to NI specifically to cause trouble. For some reason, I can't cut and paste the article, but here is the link:
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/polish-community-chief-ashamed-of-hooligans-1-1882854

And here is what an NI journalist, Deborah McAleese reported in the Belfast Telegraph:

Gangs of "professional" Polish football hooligans have been blamed for organising the violent battles in the streets of Belfast at the weekend
The violence, which saw 11 police officers injured, had been in planning for several weeks by gangs of Polish thugs mainly based in Dublin and Scotland.

Around 800 Polish nationals travelled to Northern Ireland without tickets for the game. It is understood that around 50 were involved in the organisation of the violence which flared before and after the match.
“We believe there was a hard core of Polish nationals who came to the game without tickets but with a very clear intent to cause trouble and disruption to genuine supporters and local residents,” PSNI Superintendent Chris Noble said.

Meanwhile, PSNI arrests and subsequent Court convictions were overwhelmingly of Polish Nationals who had travelled to NI from GB and beyond.

Next let's fast forward 9 years(!) to Nice during Euro2016. There we saw thousands of Polish and NI fans mixing entirely amicably before, during and after the game.
I happened to be chatting to a couple of Poles a few weeks after, both football fans, and eventually broached the topic of Polish football hooligans. With events from 2009 in Belfast in mind (also their attempts to attack us in Chorzow at the return), I commented on how friendly their fans had been out in France. They told me that the Polish Government had been so worried about their hoolies kicking off at the tournament, that they had arrested their leaders weeks before, to prevent them from travelling.

But hey, you probably know far more about all this than I.

Or maybe minor matters like facts, eye-witness accounts and impartial reports don't matter to you when you're in "attack mode" [sic] against NI fans.

Which ironically is a very good definition of prejudice and intolerance in itself...

Edited by Territorial - 22 Nov 2016 at 1:16am

Irish2011 wrote: Heard security had to save Cliftonville directors from a baying mob of Linfield supporters the weekend. "Football for all".

Edited by Coachers - 22 Nov 2016 at 7:59am

Irish2011 wrote: Heard security had to save Cliftonville directors from a baying mob of Linfield supporters the weekend. "Football for all".

No No No they were polish and croats dressed as linfield fans them uns would no way engage in that sort of behaviour

peterbelfast wrote: You describe it as a sad day,i would call it vile and disgusting. Maybe you are more part of the problem than u realise

Coachers wrote: peterbelfast wrote: Why did he retire then if all was honky dorey?? It says a lot that the events of nearly 15 years ago are still being brought up in an attempt to knock our fans. The point I was making was that things have changed a hell of a lot since that time and something that Neil himself acknowledges. Just a shame you were not on our flight home after the Euros when you could have witnessed Neil interacting with our fans yourself, with no issues and him having a good time. The events that led to Neil bringing his International career to an end are a sad part of our history, but thankfully that chapter has been closed. Just a shame that there are still people who try to reopen it, despite all the hard work that has gone on and the journey we have been through.

You describe it as a sad day,i would call it vile and disgusting. Maybe you are more part of the problem than u realise

peterbelfast wrote: Why did he retire then if all was honky dorey??

FrankosHereNow wrote: peterbelfast wrote: Coachers wrote: peterbelfast wrote: [QUOTE=Coachers]  Don't think too many players of the ireland team had had to retire because they are afraid to go back to their stadium. That would be the same Neil Lennon who has been back at Windsor many a time and has openly praised our supporters? The same Neil Lennon who was standing with us during the Euros and who had no issue with chatting to and having a laugh with our supporters on the flight back from Paris after our defeat against Wales?  Why did he retire then if all was honky dorey?? Honky dorey.

Racist.

Coachers wrote: peterbelfast wrote: [QUOTE=Coachers]  Don't think too many players of the ireland team had had to retire because they are afraid to go back to their stadium. That would be the same Neil Lennon who has been back at Windsor many a time and has openly praised our supporters? The same Neil Lennon who was standing with us during the Euros and who had no issue with chatting to and having a laugh with our supporters on the flight back from Paris after our defeat against Wales?

To be fair it still doesn't take away from the fact that Lennon retired because of that sectarian element in the support. Even Trevor Ringland acknowledged they let the idiots take over in early/mid 90s.

As long as N.I. fans bring Union Jacks to games or embroidered on custom made flags that'll always work as a hindrance in the IFAs attempt to players from nationalist backgrounds playing for them. One N.I. fan on the plane with me a few years back had a Union Jack schoolbag ffs

Coachers wrote: peterbelfast wrote: [QUOTE=Coachers]  Don't think too many players of the ireland team had had to retire because they are afraid to go back to their stadium. That would be the same Neil Lennon who has been back at Windsor many a time and has openly praised our supporters? The same Neil Lennon who was standing with us during the Euros and who had no issue with chatting to and having a laugh with our supporters on the flight back from Paris after our defeat against Wales?

Why did he retire then if all was honky dorey??