CROWD SAFETY ? - NO THANKS, WE'RE IRISH!


The eighties. Commodore 64's. Walkman's. Vinyl. Game shows on the radio. Bad hair and even worse make-up...and that was just the men!
Back in a time fashion completely forgot (Mullett, Pony-tails, Shoulder-pads - yes we had them all) League of Ireland football was enduring some of its worst attendance figures of several decades. Television had taken over the households and sitting in your comfy armchair listen to the dulcet tones of Brian Moore on ITV's Big Match seemed better then putting on a snokel jacket and going out in torrential rain to watch your local club.
                                                                      I vividly remember going to one match at Kilcohan Park - home of Waterford United, in August 1984 when the 'Blues had a paying gate of £98. You felt embarrassed for the club and hoped a surge of people may swell the number late on but the next week the Munster Express reported 49 people had attended the game.
Season tickets holders were a long way off in those days. Remember we were already paying nearly 40% in tax to a government run by a man who told us to tighten our belts whilst buying silk shirts and investing in the odd Island. 
So you can forgive some clubs if investments in the odd tin of paint and some nails from local hardware store were neglected!
Milltown probably remained the only ground were decent numbers attended games (as you can see above) and at that point you couldn't blame the clubs for using the "fit 'em in where we can mentality" , however with the Valley Parade fire of 1985 would change that....at least in England.
The Road to Damascus moment of  neglecting crowd safety in Ireland came the same year in February 1985. Ireland took on an Italian side still under the title of World Champions in Dalymount. Right from the start it was obvious the ground could get nowhere near accommodating 40000 spectators.Fans actually had to be passed down the sidelines (literally a foot away from play) in order to avoid being crushed. For anyone there with a child it must have been worrying.

Yep - I know you laugh now ...mind you it is a funny snap... but image if the roof had caved in! You would then be looking at a horrible tragedy that manifested on afternoon at Hillsborough four years later.
Shelbourne were the first to lead the way with the investment of Tony Donnelly's money and in the mid-nineties made something completely unheard of in League of Ireland football...an all-seated stadium and others followed. Though conditions still lack at certain clubs... Finn Harps will tell you the move to Stranorlar can't come soon enough , and both Tolka and Dalymount have had to close the Ballybough End and Tramway End respectively. But the move forward has been lead, eventually, by Rovers magnificent Tallaght Stadium, the all-seated Turners Cross, Waterford's RSC and revamped versions of the Brandywell, Oriel Park, Terryland and Sligo Rovers, which makes the chances of the following below ever less likely.


http://youtu.be/egWbklcsfFw