I was surprised how many Villa there are in Ireland and a lot of them refer to Irish teams that have had lots of Villa players, There are quite a few Irish who despise the Liverpool Manure supporting Irish stereotype.After Celtic Arsenal Liverpool and Manure I reckon we are the next best supported.
Saw a discussion here the other day re Villa fans in Dublin, the suggestion there are quite a few of them.I've never been to Ireland, but my Mrs has been a few times (though not in the last 15 years or so) and even she admitted that they seemed to see a lot of Villa shirts there, and she normally goes out of her way to say nothing other than derogatory things about Villa.Just stumbled on this: Sports Direct (wankers, obvs) giving a break down of where they sell most shirts for each club.http://www.sportsdirect.com/News/entryid/6883/Shirt-Sales-2014-15-Where-Are-Your-Teams-Supporters-Really-FromOur figures look really strange:So, are our shirts particularly well distributed in Ireland (and London)? Are we under-distributed on our own patch?
Quote from: pauliewalnuts on May 27, 2015, 10:48:58 PMSaw a discussion here the other day re Villa fans in Dublin, the suggestion there are quite a few of them.I've never been to Ireland, but my Mrs has been a few times (though not in the last 15 years or so) and even she admitted that they seemed to see a lot of Villa shirts there, and she normally goes out of her way to say nothing other than derogatory things about Villa.Just stumbled on this: Sports Direct (wankers, obvs) giving a break down of where they sell most shirts for each club.http://www.sportsdirect.com/News/entryid/6883/Shirt-Sales-2014-15-Where-Are-Your-Teams-Supporters-Really-FromOur figures look really strange:So, are our shirts particularly well distributed in Ireland (and London)? Are we under-distributed on our own patch?Is it the 49 quid air fare that puts you off?
Quote from: brontebilly on May 27, 2015, 11:08:36 PMQuote from: PeterWithesShin on May 27, 2015, 10:57:36 PMWe probably picked up a fair bit of Irish support during the McGrath, Houghton, Townsend, Staunton era.I jumped aboard the bandwagon then as did countless others, good Villa side and a good Irish team at the timeSurely Villa would be the traditional club of the Irish community in Birmingham?Not necessarily. Sparkhill and other parts of south Birmingham would have had a big Irish community way back when. The subtle sectarian divide between even the Liverpool and Manchester clubs never really existed in Brum.
Quote from: PeterWithesShin on May 27, 2015, 10:57:36 PMWe probably picked up a fair bit of Irish support during the McGrath, Houghton, Townsend, Staunton era.I jumped aboard the bandwagon then as did countless others, good Villa side and a good Irish team at the timeSurely Villa would be the traditional club of the Irish community in Birmingham?
We probably picked up a fair bit of Irish support during the McGrath, Houghton, Townsend, Staunton era.
I've only ever met one blues fan over here.
Quote from: gervilla on May 28, 2015, 11:10:52 AMI've only ever met one blues fan over here.One sentence that tops anything the Irish tourist board have ever or could ever come up with.
I'm always impressed by the effort and money that the likes of SligoTom and the other Ireland based supporters put in to follow the team.
Quote from: gervilla on May 28, 2015, 11:10:52 AMI've only ever met one blues fan over here. I only knew one 'nose in Great Barr and I lived there for 20 years.
I have always considered Villa to be the "Irish" team in Birmingham. My Dad lodged in Small Heath when he arrived in Birmingham, and drank in the Small Arms with all the other Irish lads and they all followed Villa, despite the Sty being in walking distance. He said no-one ever considered going to the Rags.He was a close friend of the late John Deehan senior and whenever I spoke to John he thought along the same lines. He was a Roscommon man and always watched the national side at the Irish Centre. When Kenny Cunningham and Clinton Morrison were at Small Heath, some 'Noses started going to the centre to watch the games, they acted like proper arseholes to the point that John and his mates stopped going.As I always say, there is nothing odder than an Irish Blue Nose.