ColemanY2K

Enjoyed the craic in Glasgow this weekend especially in Campus after the game. I got absolutely rat arsed and have been told at one stage I was in the middle of a dozen TA lads leading a rendition of Loch lomond and Caledonia haha. I was sitting in the North Stand Upper tier. I followed the warnings not to wear colours and to be honest whilst the atmosphere was tense and hostile I did not hear any sectarian abuse or see any coin throwing. I didn't feel unsafe at any point...in fact I enjoyed the edge to the game. However a good friend of mine in the JS upper was hit with a coin and herself and her husband had to move. A special shout out to a group of TA lads from Arbroath I met in Crystal Bell before the match. We were having a ball until the space cadet running the place called the cops due to all of us singing (three times she called and had TA lads ejected at certain points). Who would have thought a bit of loch lomond and olè olè olè etc would upset anyone. Anyway apart from our shite performance it was a great weekend... we'll just have to take those 3 points back in June.

they must have changed their policy as there's a few irish in O'Neills at the moment with flags and jerseys.

and Bari

It has already been explained earlier in this thread that the number of Celtic fans are in the minority in Ireland and that is particularly the case in the 'Republic'. The vast majority who attend Celtic Park on a fortnightly basis would be residents of Scotland. A number do travel over from Ireland however they are very much a small % of the overall number who support Ireland. The fact it will be played at Celtic Park is the only reason why a lot of these Celtic following bandwagoners are going to the game. I like many others are LOI or in a lot of cases supporters of English Premier League clubs. It could be played at Raith Rovers ground for all we care**as long as we got a ticket

it stands for nothing more than Celtics home ground. Only the fans who support Celtic and are in the ground will it have any meaning. Personally I wished it had been arranged for ibrox or Murrayfield as that would have persuaded many of the bandwagon not to make the trip. Also it'll have zero affect on the players. Only a couple have played there and like many of the fans couldn't give two hoots where its played.

it ain't no spiritual home of mine or any of my mates. Most of the irish fans in the stadium won't be Celtic fans. We will be spread throughout the stadium and the advantage of our large numbers will be nullified as a result.

I have 7 tickets. I would be interested in swapping. I have 5 together in block 437 and 2 together in block 438 - both of those blocks are in the Jock Stein Upper. However I would need to get the nod from the other lads before I can agree. What section in the LL are the tickets?

There is a list within the attached link of all YBIG forum members who have said they have bought 'home' end tickets, how many and where. The vast majority as you'll see bought tickets in lisbon lions lower: http://www.ybig.ie/forum/scotland-home-tickets-section_topic50236_post1556551.html#1556551 That list is just a tiny fraction of the total number who have bought 'home' end tickets.

The Jock Stein upper is going to be rammed with Irish. It was the first section to go on sale after the rejection emails were sent out by the FAI and from viewing the site on Monday I could see one particular block sold out in minutes. I've put the ticket fiasco behind me for the time being and am really looking forward to this match

No no ye can keep her: http://www.ybig.ie/forum/theboysingreen_topic50226.html

Good man Andy...I'll keep an eye out for it. Right now I'd take a draw in both matches, however I am confident we'll win at home. To be honest there's not much between the two sides ability wise. We just need to have the job done before the Germans come to Dublin next year as I don't fancy going to Warsaw in the last match looking for something to qualify (we'll probably need 4 pts from you guys to do that). It's already squeeky bum time

Sorry the tri-colour was created in the 1800's not the 18th century. Indeed I'm looking forward to the trip to Glasgow although I won't be touching the Guinness. Plenty of Scottish brews will be the order of the day (in fact I had one or two too many pints of Schiehallion last night ). The plan is to drop the bags at the hotel and head to the football museum at Hampden before going to watch the fans match. Then scuttle into town for a few pre-match pints and a sing-song . I'm really looking forward to it.

I'll answer that for you as I reckon I represent the average Irish man. The answer is simply no. I've been to Celtic Park albeit not for an Old Firm game (I am a Cork City fan not a Celtic fan by the way). We do not carry on like that at International or club matches in Ireland. The tricolour flies in much the same way you'd see the saltire fly at Scottish football matches and is not seen by the different communities in the south of Ireland as a divisive emblem. Sectarian songs are not sung at LOI matches or at Lansdowne Rd (I've not been to the Brandywell in Derry where it may or may not occur), in fact there is no sectarianism in the south of Ireland despite the fact that Protestants make up a significant % of the population. Northern Ireland might as well be on the other side of the planet given the ignorance of issues in the north by people in the south (pretty similar to the ignorance of Londoners to Scotland in general). i'd like to point out that I've been to an OF game at Ibrox. Having been invited by a Rangers supporting mate we jumped on a Rangers bus in Edinburgh and to say the journey to Ibrox was eventful would be an understatement. I watched the match from the club deck where various individuals including a very irate chap beside me hurled abuse at the Celtic fans for 120 minutes. Yip the match was a league cup semi-final which went into extra time. My point is for the 120 minutes I did not recognise anything that represented Britain never mind Scotland (I spent 7 years in Scotland and 3 so far in England). Both Celtic and Rangers are strange enigmas. They both claim to represent something or somewhere yet appear to be at odds with those places. The only places that truly represent Scotland and Ireland in a footballing context are Hampden Park and Lansdowne Rd. You will not hear or see any bullshit in these stadia. Onto your second point, there is no doubt about it that the Irish tricolour has been misused. It was created by Irish nationalists in the 18th century (many of the leaders were Protestants believe it or not). The idea was that the flag represented the people who lived on the island at the time i.e. green represented the Catholics, orange represented the Protestants and white represented peace between the two). Unfortunately historical events took over in the 20th Century and the flag is now seen primarily (at Celtic matches and in Northern Ireland) as a nationalist (catholic) emblem used to goad the very folk it partially represents. A sad state of affairs. Any how enough of this bollix...I reckon there will be a minimum of 10,000 Irish in the stadium plus god only know's how many Scots supporting Ireland.

Can't believe what the fai have done. Ye should take a look at this page:http://www.ybig.ie/forum/away-match-ticket-thread-euro-2016-qualifiers_topic43491_page286.htmlit's absolute carnage. There will be hell to pay. Unfortunately for you guys who didn't buy tickets the insurance tickets for the home end will not now be sold. I am less deserving than others. There is counteless stories of lads who have travelled to support their country for decades one guy has been to every home game since 78, been to euro 88, 90 WC, 94 WC 02 WC, euro 2012 and a regular away traveller gets shafted. It's simply wrong that the tickets have been distributed to rugby wearing bunny rabbits.

I think it was initially incorrectly spelt. The term is bandwagoner