Here’s a worry for Irish football - there were almost more Ajax fans than Derry City supporters at the Belfield Bowl
Friday night Cup action and a 99 or two kept the visitors from Holland happy
Cathal Dervan, Editor
Question: does anyone know why Dutch people would be intrigued by the word Sligo? Does it have some significance we don’t know about on this side of Europe? Does the five letter word represent anything other than one of the most idyllic counties in Ireland?
Not asking for a friend by the way! Asking for myself based on the Friday night experience in the Belfield Bowl as Derry City from the top flight of Irish football survived a real FAI Cup scare against the students from UCD in the last 16 of our most senior knock-out competition.
The foreign accents and the continental tongue threw me at first as I took my seat in the open stand just inside the main gate at the Bowl on a balmy Friday evening. The big gang of fans from abroad all had UCD scarves on them but nothing suggested they were regulars at Belfield.
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That ball is mine…
The first clue was their question about the location of the Mr Whippy van and the opportunity to buy the obligatory 99, flake and all, inside a League of Ireland ground. They loved it by the way!
Like me, these visiting fans also enjoyed an enthralling first half as UCD’s young team really put it up to managerless Derry and even had the audacity to equalise through the brilliant Louis Dignam, the best player on the pitch all night.
At half-time their identity became clearer as an old football ally informed me that these visitors had contributed to one of the best night’s takings in the UCD club shop, all keen to add the UCD colours to their collection from Tolka Park the night before.
Yes, these were Ajax fans who had travelled to Dublin for their team’s entertaining 2-2 draw with Shels in the Conference League the night before. Rather than rush back to Amsterdam, they had stayed on to sample Dublin’s finest entertainment and took a detour to Belfield en route to Temple Bar.
They did enjoy the match - you couldn’t but as Derry ground out a win against a UCD side denied by the woodwork three times in total - but they also enjoyed the Premier Division league table contained in the match programme.
For some reason, and I have yet to get an answer, they were intrigued by the presence of Sligo Rovers at the bottom of the table. The ice cream man sat directly in front of me even stood up to point to Sligo on the table and repeatedly shouted ‘Sligo’ to his mates while pointing to the current Rovers league standing.
Maybe there’s a history between Sligo and Ajax that I have never heard of. Maybe someone out there can tell me what Sligo means in Dutch.
And maybe it doesn’t matter. What was good to see was these football fans from Holland enjoying the Irish product just 24 hours after Shelbourne had really put it up to their own superstars on the other side of the Liffey.
UCD are unlikely to benefit long term from this surprise Dutch invasion but it was a welcome distraction on a night when Derry proved more clinical in front of goal. And it was nice to see outsiders enjoy our game.
What was worrying at the Bowl on Friday was the lack of Dublin football fans to follow their lead on a night when there was literally no other show in town. The reality is that the spectators on the night didn’t even fill the stand in Belfield. And it’s not that big.
At a time when several newspaper stories are debating a drop off in League of Ireland attendances, this has to be a worry for those who run our game.
No other Dublin team, Premier or First Division, played at home last Friday night. There was no football of note on the television, with apologies to Wolves and Blackburn fans, no big concerts anywhere across the capital.
So there should have been more fans to see UCD stick to their attacking principles and worried a City team in dire need of a positive Cup run to ignite their season.
And here’s the final sting. Derry fans don’t travel in numbers any more. And they were almost outnumbered by Ajax supporters in South Dublin on Friday night. That’s frightening!
Jack Moylan stars as Cardiff City claim dramatic point against Welsh rivals Wrexham on Championship return - Irish Independent
Troy Parrott’s teammate attempts hasty retreat after ‘leaving us’ gaffe - Irish Mirror
Former Cork City midfielder O’Brien-Whitmarsh off to Northampton - Irish Examiner
Man Utd will reject any bid for Fernandes - BBC Sport
Stephen Bradley takes leaf out of Eric Cantona’s book as he dismisses critics - Irish Mirror
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