I have tried to start a thread on this before as i think it warrants a seperate thread to the one condemning the Louth Fans who confronted the ref, it is a different topic as it is not calling for condemnation so please don't put it in the anther thread.

I have been listening and reading all the comments about these fans, there were maybe five or six in total that actually touched the ref and i have been wondering were all this is coming from. I mean most people on here follow a club and have seen this thing many times before and indeed know that every ref in the country has put up with this a some stage. Remember no punches were thrown and nobody got hurt, there was one half shoulder and a little pushing, yet if i hadn't seen what actually happened and just read the comments on here i would have thought the ref must have got beaten up badly. If this had happened at a league game in Drogheda even there would be no comments on it, i am wondering who is pushing this and creating a mountain. Have the GAA seen their oppurtunity to finally get rid of pitch invasions and jumped on it. We all know how unprecedented the situation was,73 mins played, first leinster title in 53 years, fans ready to run onto the pitch to celebrate and then the worst refereeing decision ever seen. Surely with everything that happened in that final minute every gaelic fan in country can understand the actions of these people who wanted to confront the ref, i could never condemn these men, they are passionate Louth men who ended up in a bizzare situation and the passion took over. I will put my hands up and admit if i had seen the sheridan incident live i would have want to confront the ref. I also think a lot of the outrage has come from the Irish media who always love to jump on any negative GAA story. Once again i will say they are not thugs or louts they are proud Louth fans.

Louth Gael (Louth) - Posts: 1227 - 13/07/2010 17:18:11    707510

you would have to admit though that the Louth fans booed and jeered every freekick
what was that all about

ochonlir (Cavan) - Posts: 4343 - 13/07/2010 17:25:15    707521

What about the one who threw the bottle or the other one who assaulted a Meath player ? Were they nice lads too ?

Cavan_Slasher (Cavan) - Posts: 10253 - 13/07/2010 17:26:50    707527

Im sorry but you cant condone that behaviour! Using 'passion' as an excuse just doesnt cut it. We are all passionate but there are some things that are bang out of order and they were on display on sunday for all to see

benjyyy (Donegal) - Posts: 1432 - 13/07/2010 17:31:32    707541

Sorry i meant to clarify that i do not condone the assault on a meath player or the bottle throwing incident, that was disgraceful behaviour but the booing was done by both sides, i was in the cusack hill end and the booing from the Meath crowd on the hill continued throught, i must also say that i have absolutely no problem with booing, it is always going to be there and doesn't really bother me.

Louth Gael (Louth) - Posts: 1227 - 13/07/2010 17:35:35    707552

Hand on heart if I was a Louth supporter waiting to run on to the field and was close to the ref. after what happened I might have taken a swing at him too. Its very hard to predict what you might do in any given heated situation. Had I done so I would of course have been totally wrong and would have to face the consequences of my actions. In the cool light of day we all know how wrong it was to hassle and jostle the ref. and I'm sure the 5 or 6 lads who did it deeply regret their actions. All in all the events of last Sunday was nothing short of a tragedy for the GAA. A County striving for a provincial title for all of 53 years finally win it only to be denied by one of the stupidist decisions imaginable. As I said in a previous post I'm from Cork and I still feel gutted by what happened , I can only imagine what Louth people are feeling.

corkcelt (Cork) - Posts: 4388 - 13/07/2010 17:40:43    707565

Pure drivel Louth Gael. As was stated already we are all passionate, we have all had bad decisions against us at one point or another but it does not in anyway justify the action of these COWARDS, for thats what they are. Believe you me, Martin Sludden is quite a fit fella who trains very regular and is by no means a small man. Not one of these cowards would face up to him on the street, but they were brave men knowing that despite there pushing and shoving and sly digs(mostly into his back) I might add that he could not turn round and chin them back. Believe you me, I think its time maybe that a referee does stretch one of these cowards some day so that maybe they will think again about trying it on, thinking that they might get a slap themselves.

I sympathise with the players and managment of your county but the bottomline is that a few mindless cowards have besmirched the reputation of the decent GAA people of Louth and your virtual justification of these acts remove slowly but surely any last remnants of sympathy.

omaghredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 3656 - 13/07/2010 17:42:07    707567

I agree with louth, what those fans did was wrong but not assault, if i told garda on next sat nite a few fellas brushed me with a few shoulders, and barely touched me theyd laugh. James mccartan pushed a player to the ground in longford v down which was way worse. Brian Mceniff said the same in a interview on ocean fm, complete overreaction imo.

The bottle thrower was by far the worst act, and the pictures i saw of some louth fan punching are assault in my book.

But i feel for louth, if any other county was in the postion the outcome would of been the same.

The booing of free takers, i dont like it, but these people pay 30 euro and who are we to tell them what to do, it does more harm to their own team. And yes Sligo did it Galway, but i dont think its a big deal.

Sligonian (Sligo) - Posts: 1873 - 13/07/2010 17:43:22    707571

Sligonian, technically you do not have to touch someone for it to be assault. As I said earlier, cowards who wouldn't have the guts to stand up to the same man in the street.

omaghredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 3656 - 13/07/2010 17:53:52    707594

This is a nonsense post.It's actual nonsense.I thought two days after the event common sense might come into it.
For shame my friend,for shame.

Trenchman (Waterford) - Posts: 114 - 13/07/2010 17:55:44    707600

If that came to louth i can assure you these men would gladly face him on the street but that is nothing to do with the issue, which essentially is a storm in a teacup compared to what cause the fans to react as they did.

Louth Gael (Louth) - Posts: 1227 - 13/07/2010 18:02:51    707625

LouthGael you are in one word WRONG. There is no excuse whatsoever for what happened to Martin Sludden. You should be ashamed of your comments as you are condoning thuggery. I am a proud Louth fan. I am as upset and angry as anyone. There is no way however that I would say what happened to the referee was understandable. The booing of the freetakers by both sets of supporters was disgusting. When we put on our county colours we are representing our county. We should do so with pride and dignity. That unfortunately was not the case on Sunday. You may speak for yourself . I do not share your sentiments.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6181 - 13/07/2010 18:12:46    707640

What club are you from greengrass, is this your first time hearing of an incident like this, what exactly was so disgusting, the ref getting a push. That shouldn't happen obviously but in the circumstances in which it did i cannot condemn those fans, if anything they brought it too the countries attention with out doing anybody any damage, this rubbish about attacks and assualts, please people just watch the video in the context of what had just happened and remember how high emotions were at that minute when the whistle was blown. This small incident with fans made the injustice put on us the front page news of every paper in the country.

Louth Gael (Louth) - Posts: 1227 - 13/07/2010 18:31:11    707674

Not condemning those fans is a disgrace.

maigh_eo (Mayo) - Posts: 1346 - 13/07/2010 18:47:35    707698

What club are you from greengrass, is this your first time hearing of an incident like this, what exactly was so disgusting, the ref getting a push. That shouldn't happen obviously but in the circumstances in which it did i cannot condemn those fans, if anything they brought it too the countries attention with out doing anybody any damage, this rubbish about attacks and assualts, please people just watch the video in the context of what had just happened and remember how high emotions were at that minute when the whistle was blown. This small incident with fans made the injustice put on us the front page news of every paper in the country.

Do you seriously believe this rubbish you are writing? "what was so disgusting, the ref getting a push" so its ok now to assault a referee because you didn't like one of his decisions? Circumstances? Pure and utter crap! I am glad that you only attend a Leinster final every 50 years or so if thats what youse are going to bring to the party. Again, the likes of these cowards and their apologists such as you bring nothing to the GAA and you should remove the second part of your username, for this is something you certainly are not. The small incident as you put it detracted from the injustice Louth suffered not highlighted it. Every front page was of thugs and cowards trying to attack a referee instead of having a big headline sayin "ROBBED". In actual fact whatever sympathies I had for Louth have now dissapated and I hope now that you get Cork or the like in the next round to send you back to oblivion for another half century

omaghredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 3656 - 13/07/2010 18:59:37    707722

My club is irrelevant. What happened was wrong. Failing to condemn the incidents on the basis of the context within which they happened is ridiculous.It's your preogative as to whether or not you condemn these events . Failure to do so is a reflects poorly on you . We wear our county colours with pride and dignity. Our footballers did the same when they represented us on Sunday. They were let down by those who attacked Martin Sludden and at least one Meath player.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6181 - 13/07/2010 19:06:08    707734

LouthGael, although myself and yourself have disagreed on amlost everything so far, I in this instance fully agree with evrything you said in your initial post on this thread.
I would have the same opinion as J.P Rooney on the matter.

The Louth supporters who entered the field to express their opinion to the ref (not the 2/3 that pushed him) are guilty of nothing.
They are on the same level as the thousands of Meath supporters who committed the same offence in entering the field to celebrate.

Also, the incidents at the end of the game are been blowing way of of proportion. There would have been more pushing coming out of mass on Sunday.

Yours In Sport,
Joseff

joseff (Louth) - Posts: 964 - 13/07/2010 19:16:02    707754

Have to agree with a previous poster. These people are cowards and have disgraced their county and team. I have argued here before that pitch invasions will have to be stopped. In the last few years Colm Cooper and Darragh Ó Sé (twice) have been punched in the head by opposing 'fans' following high profile defeats in Croke Park. I can only imagine how tough it is to narrowly lose big games in Croke Park without having to put up with this thuggery. Players and officials should be, at least, afforded the chance to leave the field in a dignified manner.

Tomás Tralee (Kerry) - Posts: 391 - 13/07/2010 19:20:28    707759

Louth Gael,

Do you know what ?

I would have done the same.

sponger (Wicklow) - Posts: 2952 - 13/07/2010 19:32:04    707779

Aye, a hero behind a keyboard

omaghredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 3656 - 13/07/2010 19:53:10    707809