I have asked this question to many Irish and they get angry on me but yet could not give me a good answer. They have no strong reason to support English teams. Instead, they should incentivate and support their own local teams.
2006-10-19 01:51:13 · 11 answers · asked by Fabi 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
Most things in Ireland are wrapped up in Politics to some extent or another and Sport is no exception. There are 2 traditions in Northern Ireland; the Catholic / Nationalist tradition who traditionally would be anti-English ( due to English Invasion and the ethnic cleansing of Catholics years ago and when even the playing of traditional Irish sports was totally outlawed and banned); then there is the Protestant /Loyalist tradition who have always denigrated the Catholic /Nationalist tradition. They recognise the Queen of England as their head of State, they affiliate with the English, and consider themselves English and support their traditional English sports, one of which is football. Traditional Irish sports would be Hurley and camogie. Because of the mixed traditions there is a cross-over over cultural things like language and sports and when you ask Irish people this question they get angry because they can't readily explain their duality themselves.Fact is, in sport it's simply a case that they're backing the most successful team. Northern Irish people can carry 2 passports; Irish because they live on the island of Ireland, and British because the North of Ireland is still under English rule. This duality stretches across the spectrum including sports and the Irish will support the English when they're in top form but they will also drop the English support in favour of Irish or Northern Irish teams if they are performing better. Hypocritical and disingenuous it is, but then that's how it is and also why our beautiful country is in the state it is. They got angry cos you had them sussed and saw through their duality. Sad but true.
2006-10-19 02:23:04 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
There are not a great deal of soccer teams in Ireland that have the same prestige as teams in the premiership.
A great deal of good players have come out of Ireland and played in English footie teams, George Best, Roy Keane, Norman Whitside etc, therefore, they tend to follow their progress through the teams they play for. That is why most Irish will support Man Utd or Liverpool, as the scouts for these clubs watched young talented Irish players and signed them up.
Do the Irish hate the English? I always find them a friendly nation, except the IRA, but then I am Welsh!
2006-10-19 08:58:14 · answer #2 · answered by Welshchick 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A lot of people support well known footie clubs purely because of how well they are doing and consistently so e.g Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal. Lots just want to say they are supporting a winning team and I bet if they went downhill and dropped a couple of leagues, fans especially from abroad would start supporting another team that is top of the Premier.
I haven't personally heard of any Irish clubs at all, so bet they are all rubbish!! They just say they support a top team just to brag about the win down the pub.
2006-10-19 09:01:42 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Who says we hate the English? We've moved on from that. The Irish League is full of part-timers who aren't very good, that's why we support English teams. Teams that win trophies. You could support Irish teams and waste your time and money as they get nowhere and win nothing.
2006-10-19 08:55:27 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My best friend is from Dublin, lives in England and supports both Irish and English football teams, she doesn't hate England either, so, there you have it.
2006-10-19 19:56:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
bibi no wonder they got angry i am an english woman living in n/i and thats just not the case,there a some people who dislike the english but never enough to make it a statement for the whole.there are english who dislike the irish surly but on a whole they love em.i blame the media for only showing the bad parts of ireland.youre missing out on a wonderful place put it on your to visit list its a lovely countryside and very freindly people
2006-10-19 09:02:55 · answer #6 · answered by nendlin 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Do you think that the animosity between English and Irish is analogous to the sunnl -suffi moslam thing.?
2006-10-19 08:54:39 · answer #7 · answered by samssculptures 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they don't hate England. It's mainly just Irish-Americans who hate England.
2006-10-19 08:53:02 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
most of them support the celtic and quite rightly so coz its the best irish team
2006-10-19 09:47:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because unlike the Scots they are not totally negative about Englands greatness.
2006-10-19 08:54:30 · answer #10 · answered by Powerpuffgeezer 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋