We are Cliftonville, Super Cliftonville no-one likes us we don't care..

JE SUIS
CLIFTONVILLE

it's next to Margate and full of migrants

PMSL

No love for either side, hope the football rises to the occasion.

Support local football, regardless where you live.

tell UTD

WD

WD mate, you'll be walking on air for weeks

ALLEY ALLEY ALLEY OOOH ALLEY ALLEY ALLEY OOOH CLIFTONVILLE F.CCCCCCCCCCCCCC AND THE RED ARMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE



GTFI..............22/1....3-2..YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS

DAVY CAME ON SECOND HALF

JAY MISSED TWO SITTERS....CANT WIN THEN ALL....................ONE LOVE...YOU REDS..

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 3 IN A ROW YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Very well done Kweeveen!

very good indeed, I miss the days of non-league football

Joined: 01 Feb 12 | Topic/replies: 12,121 | Blogger: Burton-Brewers's blog
very good indeed, I miss the days of non-league football..


speak for yourself mate were a premier league side,have won it last two years and played in the champions league...

non-league football my arsé.....

yes but it's Irish football it isn't real football is it, most of our Conference teams would walk that division. I admire your loyalty though, it says much about the true supporter who stands up proud for his club, even though he knows deep down they are rubbish.

Isn't real football my arse. The football is as exiting as anything you'll see on TV, it's the armchair critics that won't bring the standards up.

I watched the game on I-Player last night, Cliftonville were 2-0 up and cruising then Ballymena scored twice. The Reds then scored the winner and thoughroughly deserved it.

As for "Champions League", since when did 4th place in the league make you a Champion? I remember the day when Glentoran played Juventus, Marseille, Rangers, Arsenal, Benfica etc. when the true Champions of every league got to tussle in a fair draw. Now the lower ranking leagues of Europe have to go through 3 rounds before they even have a chance of getting one of the 4th placed "Champions". As usual, the rich get richer and lower leagues like ours are shat upon.

I love my team and my league. We play Cliftonville next week and I'll be there in the club and stand. There may only be 2,000 at the game but I'd rather watch that than any boring Premiership game.

Not real football my arse.

And we can't improve the League because armchair critics won't get off their arses and pay into a match, which in turn pumps no money into the league which would improve things.

Every club in England and Scotland got millions thanks to the Taylor report, our league and the League of Wales got feck all. Our grounds are dilapidated, we've had plans for a 10,000 all seater stadium for 25 years but no money to build it. Field of Dreams, if you build it they will come.

It p1sses me off when people run down our league having never watched it. It also p1sses me off when it's compared to the EPL where money is pumped in from every angle. I'd love to see many clubs to the wall just like Rangers. Money is the scourge of football and has ruined the grass roots game.

HEAR HEAR OVALMAN.... RIGHT ON THE MONEY ..PARDON THE PUN........Leave them to their big time charlie teams and there prawn sandwiches...

What kind of money are the top irish league players on these days?

Remember hearing that in the 1980's Portadown were paying the likes of Vinny Arkins and Stevie Cowan over a grand a week plus exes. Was that right?

no I envy you chaps I can remember when I only had to pay £3 to get into a match

Our average gate is around 1,000, 20 years ago it was 2,500, 50 years ago it was 20,000.

There's a lot of reasons why that number has dropped but we do have a great product to offer and if people got off their backsides the game would improve. It's only a small league but it's real football. Every game I've been to this season has been a cracker. We played Crusaders last weekend, 1,500 at the match. Crues were 2-0 at half time but we hit them with everything in the 2nd half but just couldn't get the ball in the net. We lost 2-1 but it was one of the best games I've seen all season. If people were to realise that I'm watching that most weeks, they'd come back in their droves.

It's only £10 into a game but I'd gladly pay double that. You don't get that feeling when you sit with the prawn sandwich brigade in an EPL game. It's proper grass roots football at it's best imo.

Only Linfield have the money nowadays. Glentoran only have a couple of pro's on their books like Jay Magee and Elliot Morris. There is no money in the league. We tried for years to compete with Linfield by spending and we were 24 hours from going bust. We can't afford any decent players for the foreseeable future. That's not a criticism, our manager Eddie Patterson has the team playing for the shirt and the football is open and exiting. I'm really hopeful for our future.

What kind of money are the top irish league players on these days?..Most clubs are skint and live beyound there mean's...the top players can get anything from 350/900 a week...it just depends on who is bankrolling you....The Fecking bloo's get bankrolled by the IFA..as every irish league supporter will tell you.....

Yes, if your not getting enough supporters its hard. Bottom line is that soccer in n.ireland will never be able to compete on a spectator level with rugby and especially gaelic.

Facilities are abysmal, Cliftonville have 2 decent stands at either end of the ground but their old stand at the side is falling to pieces. Glentoran are still playing on a bombed out crater that the germans dropped 70 years ago and the ground is crumbling. Only Linfield are getting all the money, Windsoer Park is getting a 20,000 all seater built atm for Northern Ireland games.

Nobody wants to sit in a dark, damp stand in the middle of winter on a Tuesday night. If we got the grounds up to standard it would certainly help.

Rugby and GAA are niche products. Rugby seems to attract the middle class while GAA only applies to one side of the religious divide. Football can garner supporters of both if we got the facilities in order.

This is the best year for a long time for football. By rights, Linfield should be walking the league every year with the money they get but there have been several clubs including Cliftonville that have taken top spot this year. I've really enjoyed every game Glentoran have played, even the ones we've lost.

I really wish the armchair critics would come and watch us.

25p to watch Bham late 70s

50p now

NON-LEAGUE FOOTBALL ..MY ARSE...HERE IS SOME PIC'S FROM YESTERDAY..

Facilities is not the problem. Few people in n.ireland will support a soccer team unless they are from the relatively small catchment area for each team so you could never get big crowds. And when you get outside of Belfast and the bigger towns there is little interest especially when you cross the Bann until you get to Derry.

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NOW HAVE ONE ON ME..



YOU REDS...........

As I said, we had crowds of 20,000 in the mid 60's before Sky Sports, the Troubles and other things to do on a Saturday. I was at the Juventus and Ajax games where there were over 20,000 at each.  There's 150,000 people in East Belfast, that's a big enough catchment area. Many people will tell you they support the Glens but haven't been to a match in 30 years. Irish Cup finals are all a sell out so the support is still there.

I do blame a lot on facilities. The Oval is falling apart and a health hazard. We've 5,500 seats in the ground but Health and Safety limits the terracing to 666 (I kid you not). Even recently we've had crowds of 10,000 at Glentoran v Linfield games until H&S stuck their noses into our business. If the ground has held 30,000 without a problem I don't see where they get 666 from.

I'd love a 10,000 all seater stadium and I think our crowds would double if we built it. In turn that would generate more cash for players which would improve the game and league. The spiral would go upwards not downwards.

I think we've hit rock bottom and things will improve. Yes we could compete with contries like Denmark and Belgium if we were on a level footing finance wise with the rest of the UK.

I'm really looking forward to next Saturday, should be a cracking game.

Glentoran till I die ♥

I bet it doesn't take long to get served at the Tea Bars which is another bonus

Why so bitter about the teams in England and Scotland Ovalman?
Financially Scottish football on a downwards spiral with teams constantly downsizing.
Unbelievable that so many come across to watch Rangers and Celtic.
Not sure if they attend Man. Utd. and Liverpool games but I'd guess they do.
Maybe you should be encouraging them to your matches.

Yeah I did come across as somewhat bitter but I have a passion for the local game.

It's all about money for the big sides and there are a lot of unscrupulous owners just out to make a quick buck. Look at the Glazers, do you honestly think they love UTD? They aren't in the game like the rest of the supporters. Greed is their reason for investing and their there to make money from UTD.

I've no problems with the lesser teams in the English and Scottish leagues. Most are just surviving like us  and the rich take bigger and bigger slices of the pie. It will collapse at some point and a few other big names just like Rangers will go to the wall.

English football has always had a big support over here. When we played UTD in a friendly several years ago there were 10,000 UTD tops in the ground. Even some of the Glentoran supporters had duel loyalty. Flight's are still cheap enough and a weekend only costs low hundreds to get too. We're actually off to watch Burnley v Swansea next month for a weekend p!ss up. We've made some good friends in the town since we transferred Glen Little to the club. It's once a season for us, more for a weekends bonding than the football but we're all Glentoran supporters number 1.

It's the stubbornness of these weekender 2 or 3 times a season guys. They'll run the local game down by comparing it to watching the top EPL sides. Of course our game is nowhere near their standard but it is decent enough. Maybe if they were to come to the odd game they might enjoy it.

Next Saturday we are away to Kweeven's Cliftonville. We'll bring close to 1,00 fans and the Reds will have a similar number. It's always a good atmosphere but facilities aren't great. If they had a few million to build 2 stands it would be a cracking ground and you'd maybe see 3 or 4,000 at the match instead of 2. That would compete with the crowds that the Scottish league and lower EFL get (apart from Rangers and Celtic). Even though NI is small, most clubs have a decent catchment area so the numbers could return.

I think we've hit rock bottom and our league is getting better. It's been by far the most competitive league in years and we're still in with a chance despite being mid table. There's not much between the top 6 in the league.

In all seriousness I applaud you guys for supporting your local club I like to see it, bugger the glory hunters and £1k+ season tickets.

@Ovalman I've always had an interest in NI football ever since my brother and his m8 got trials for Ballymena in the 60s.
Never worked out for them possible because they went out on the lash every night they were there.
I had a programme of Linfields magnificent 7 which my brother brought back but my wife threw it out by accident when we were having a clear out.
Still got the shillelagh that he brought back for my parents.