W hatever the woes of the Football Association of Ireland – and no doubt they are many – crowd control issues are not, thankfully, at the top of the league table of problems.
But a spot of bother did erupt at this match in Dublin. "Batons drawn at Dalymount" was the front-page headline on a news story which reported that during the 1987 FAI Cup Final between Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk, 11 people were charged with breach of the peace offences, while 14 people received hospital treatment for minor cuts and bruises.
Rovers supporters, the report explained, tried to move into the terracing where Dundalk supporters had congregated. Missiles were thrown and the Garda intervened.
In one of our all-time favourite sentences to be published in this newspaper, the writer added: “Gardaí continued to be the subject of verbal abuse from supporters sporting Dundalk colours in the second half.” Yep: we can imagine that bit of action, for sure.
To add to their misery Dundalk were defeated by three goals to nil, giving Rovers not only a cup victory but their third consecutive league and cup double.
Our picture is a whirl of action though none of it, it must be said, is particularly sporting. At the very back, those well-behaved spectators who have stayed in their seats are getting more than they bargained for in the way of off-the-ball struggles.
In the foreground, a supporter is about to be given a red card by two gardaí, while behind the central trio there’s a good deal of aimless running back and forth – a far from unusual occurrence, critics of the beautiful game might waspishly observe, at cup finals far and wide.
It was all, happily, a bit of a storm in a teacup. The SSE Airtricity League is currently preparing for its 2015 season, which kicks off in March.
Before that, on the 28th of this month, the President’s Cup Final will see last year’s FAI Cup winners St Patrick’s Athletic play last year’s league champions – who are, as it happens, Dundalk. We wish all the players and, indeed, their supporters, a first-rate sporting year.
Arminta Wallace
