Peter Burke
Lansdowne Road officially opened in 1872 and it would be another 111 years until I passed through the turnstiles to attend my first game there on the 19th of February 1983 to watch Ireland play France. It was a good day for us, a great day even, as we won 22 – 16.
Memories of skipping down Lansdowne road taking in all the sights and sounds, sellers shouting the price of their wares, wooden doors perched on barrels displaying their drinks, crisps and chocolate bars but I was prepared as this wasn’t my dads first visit so mum armed me with a bottle of fanta, bag of tayto and a mars bar for my duffle coat pocket.
We approached the turnstiles and the screech as they turned to let people in and, as we approached, my dads go to joke ‘A bit of oil would sort that out’, it was a phrase I’d hear often.
Onto the terraces and we were surrounded, packed in with no care in the world for health nor safety, didn’t matter we were here. The smell of sweet afton cigarette smoke filled the air while the gentle whiff of whiskey would occasionally drift by, hip flasks aplenty. Then the game started and the craic with the shouts, ‘Jaysus the size of yer man sure he’d ate a heifer and come back for seconds’, and everyone in a 5 man radius would laugh. Naivety got the better of me, and I missed it, we scored and the terrace erupted, my bottle of fanta and crisps were launched into the air as I was carried on a wave of happiness with my dad shouting and cheering I was truly elated for what I didn’t see happen but I knew it was good for us. Everyone was a friend for those 80 minutes.
The final whistle went and we all huddled and shuffled our way out from the terrace with the frequent damp coat in my face and that musky, cigarette smell from it. We walked back up Lansdowne road past all the shouts of ‘Come on Ireland’ and ‘Ahhh that was great stuff’ turned the corner and headed the the American embassy where mum would collect us, a memory for the ages.
Fast forward to Saturday 25th of November 2023 and Leinster v Munster at the Aviva stadium. Now progress is required no denying it as the old Lansdowne road was a health hazard in itself. However what we got is something that’s great to look at, aesthetically pleasing, has all the the features you’d want, functions fantastically but its vapid, boring and sterile, feel like I’ve just described Tom Cruise.
Anyway I digress. The issue, or part of the issue, with the crowds these days attending games at the Aviva is a complex one but I have one angle on it. While attending the Leinster v Munster game there was a row in front of us of about 10 people, young boys and girls, late teens early twenties with their faces stuck in their phones, taking photos, face timing some guy called ‘The gooch’ and slagging him as he had to work. Sorry let me digress for a minute, when I’m at a game or watching on tv I’m looking at the space, the plays, who’s out of position etc etc. Now at this particular game and on the 35th minute one lad from the row in front got up and he clarified an drinks order and he gave up as Shauna couldn’t decide between a G&T or a white wine so the rallying cry went ‘Sure we will all go’ and off they went to the bar.
Approaching the 50th minute they all arrived back to their seats but took a minute or two to decide who was sitting here and who wanted to sit beside who, much to my and others utter annoyance until one lad three seats down from me shouted ‘Sit down and face time your mates you clowns’ and sheepishly they complied, a nod of appreciation to him and he acknowledged. On the 70th minute they were leaving and the phrase that makes your heart sink a little, one of them asked ‘Hey johno can your dad get us freebies for the next game too?’
These folks don’t care about the game it’s a photo op for them, a status moment, an Instagram update for them to see how many likes they get because they are in the Aviva at a game that they probably know nothing about or the implications of the result, they would struggle to name a player on the pitch. A batch of tickets are going to the wrong people. Now I’ve no solution for this but it is an issue when people are saying, and rightly so, the atmosphere was flat or is flat in the Aviva, its soulless.
Sure there wasn’t a sniff of whiskey to be had let alone the waft of the sweet aftons but sure I had mars bar in my pocket for old times sake.