FAI: youth game in north requires IFA permission

Rep. Ireland youth game at the Brandywell?

SPEAKING to Dave O'Grady on the You Boys in Green Football Show, FAI Chief Executive John Delaney responded to a number of questions from Republic of Ireland football fans. It was put to Mr Delaney that, considering the amount of players currently in FAI teams hailing from the north of Ireland, particularly Derry, and the tendency to scatter youth games around Ireland, would the association ever consider staging an under-age international at the Brandywell, the home of League of Ireland side Derry City.

Delaney's response was characterised by a noticeable depth of feeling. The emotion was palpable as he recalled his memories of Derry City entering theLeague of Ireland in the late 1980s and the day that the Football Association of Ireland won their landmark case at the Court ofArbitration for Sport (CAS) in the summer of 2010. “I was pleased,” said Delaney of the CAS verdict, “because it gave the players a right of choice.”

However, the FAI CEO conceded that, while he may personally be in favour of the idea of holding a youth international game in Northern Ireland, it would ultimately rely on permission from the Belfast-based IFA and such is the sensitivity of the eligibility topic within IFA circles, that permission would probably not be forthcoming. “I think you've got to respect that it might be seen as going 'a bridge too far' by the IFA, who actually run football in the north of Ireland”, mused Delaney diplomatically.

The only impediment, then, may come in the form of protest from the IFA. As Delaney notes, the IFA might possibly see it as a further insult to the integrity of their autonomy as the governing body of football in Northern Ireland. Delaney suggests that it would be difficult considering how sensitive the IFA are to the eligibility debate but, despite the occasional overflow of discontent from disgruntled Northern Ireland fans, that debate is settled and this is a separate idea – merely one of playing a game in the north. Naturally enough, certain areas in Northern Ireland would be more open to the idea of having a Republic of Ireland match staged in their neighbourhood.

One expects that there would be little difficulty in staging a game at the Brandywell in Derry, for example. The Brandywell is, after all, the home of a club which plies its trade in the FAI's domestic league. Add to that the fact that several current Ireland internationals, such as Darron Gibson, James McClean and Shane Duffy all hail from Derry, while some current and former Ireland youth internationals make up the Derry City squad.

And with so many people in the north already supporting the Republic of Ireland rather than Northern Ireland, would staging the odd youth game (perhaps even just one) in Derry really make much of a difference to that reality? Probably not.

Who said this was about football?

Getting riled up to the point of spleen fulmination over the fortunes of one's favourite football team, or worse those of a rival's, is something that I will never fully understand. Despite the musing of former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, football is not more important than a matter of life and death, let alone a matter of life and death in itself. Nevertheless, I enjoy it - it is my favourite sport to watch and play - and it pleases me to see a team or player that I support doing well. Likewise, I am prone to a momentary feeling of disappointment when the opposite transpires.

So when Derry City overturned a one-goal deficit last night at the Brandywell to defeat Irish League champions Linfield by three goals to one in the Setanta Sports Cup (they won by four goals to two over two legs), a smile developed across my face and I can imagine the natural feeling of deflation felt by Linfield fans.

However it is not the events of the game or the implications of Derry's victory which dominated headlines today, since the spotlight was hijacked by groups of violent supporters intent on destruction and possibly worse. Sinn Féin councillor Patricia Logue said that Linfield fans went on a 'sectarian rampage', while Derry City director Martin Mullan is said to have been chased by a mob of Linfield supporters after he tried to help diffuse the situation: 'I've never been as scared in my life.', said a shaken Mullan after the game, 'I'd like to thank [Derry City F.C.] stewards for saving me.', he concluded.

On the basis of those accounts alone it would appear that a skirmish erupted as blood-thirsty Linfield fans spilled out of the stands and into the streets, but when one examines the accounts of Linfield fans it is clear that there is an idiotic 'hardcore' within both sets of fans and they are complicit in the violence (and that's not to mention the fact that City fans were guilty of destroying seats at Windsor Park).

During a discussion of the events of the evening on Mark Patterson's Radio Foyle show, a Linfield fan described a situation where his fellow supporters were pelted by stones and subjected to abuse as they left the stadium, and "only a handful" retaliated. According to Progressive Unionist politician Billy Hutchinson, buses transporting Linfield fans from Derry were also damaged by the unnecessary stone-throwing of mindless individuals. The Linfield fan went on to criticise what he termed "part-time" Linfield supporters and, interestingly, raised the issue of lax policing, as drunken supporters were allowed to board buses to the game.

It has been suggested by some that friction only seems to occur when Derry City play Linfield, but this is misleading. Only recently there was tension between Sligo Rovers and Glentoran fans which resulted in a bus being broken into, while there were also issues when Glentoran and Linfield fans travelled to Dublin to play Bohemians and Shelbourne. This is not confined to Derry.

Nevertheless, it is possible that the friction between Derry and Linfield might be greater, in part, as a result of Derry, a northern club, playing in a different league to Linfield. Derry City is a League of Ireland club, by virtue of being removed from the Irish League due to problems arising from sectarianism and security concerns four decades ago, and as such encounters with Linfield do not happen frequently. Therefore, the rarity of such encounters inevitably adds to the spectacle. This coupled with the fact that some fools erroneously equate the fixture to an Irish "Old Firm", attracts the dregs of society, or what the aforementioned Linfield fan diplomatically termed "part-time fans", to the Brandywell.

It can be avoided, despite the deeply entrenched socio-political reality that exists, and with luck another all-Ireland sporting competition will be allowed to prosper to the benefit of both fans and clubs. What needs to happen is mature self-moderation within the fan base. Those who seek to sully the reputation of the football team they purport to support by instigating or encouraging sectarian hatred should be censured by the club and indeed the fanbase. Statements from supporters' clubs issuing a savage criticism of such behaviour would be a welcome start. Wishful thinking?