It's About Pride

Walking around the NUIG campus trying to get the views of students on the Irish football team was an interesting and thought provoking experience. What surprised me most was that a lot of the people I spoke to had no interest in the fortunes of our national team. “I don’t have a clue who they are playing in the play offs and I don’t really care,” said Blaithin Conroy. Her opinion reflected the views of many of the students I spoke with. 

“How the Irish football team do doesn’t bother me in the slightest,” said Eimear Squires.  “I have absolutely no idea. It’s boring for me,” added Shane Callinan. These views illustrate the apathy and negativity towards our football team from young Irish people.

I’m not sure what is the reason for this. Maybe it's because rugby has overtaken soccer in the popularity stakes. Rugby has exploded onto the national consciousness with the heroic exploits of Munster and Leinster in the Heineken Cup and the national team finally delivering that elusive Grand Slam triumph in 2009. 

Over the last ten years Irish people have been starved of anything to cheer about on the soccer pitch. Since the 2002 World Cup penalty shoot out loss to Spain the Irish soccer team have failed to qualify for any major championships. The heart break of that November night in Paris is all the Irish team have given their fans over those intervening years. 

With no success on the pitch and the FAI embarrassing themselves in public and squandering every opportunity for good publicity that they get, maybe it’s no surprise that many young Irish people don’t have the same passionate support for our national team.

It’s not bleakly hopeless. I spoke with some people who still care about the Irish soccer team and their fortunes despite everything. “I still care about the football team because it’s important to support your national team,” said Éilis Tuohill. These sentiments were echoed by others including Cathal Ryan: “I do care about the national football team, maybe it’s something to do with national pride.”

At a time when the country needs something to lift it out of the doldrums and give us all something to feel proud about once more maybe we should turn once more to our soccer team. There are some who credit Italia ‘90 with bringing prosperity to these shores. 

The last time we qualified for the European Championships we were in the midst of a recession so maybe now Trappatoni can lead it us to economic growth. That’s probably stretching it too far but for a couple of weeks next June our economic woes (and who knows how awful things will be then) will be pushed off the front pages as our soccer team plays in its first major championships for ten years. 

It's time for Trappatoni and the Boys in Green to take up the mantle that our rugby players have worn with pride and do themselves and the country proud in Poland and the Ukraine next summer. 

It’s also time for Irish people to the legacy of the fans who went on mad cap adventures back in those heady days of the early nineties. The credit unions might not be as willing to give out money for invisible extensions as they were then but we have to support our soccer team whatever way we can next summer. It’s a matter of national pride.