It wasn't Fearghal Sharkey, Norman Whiteside or Colin Clarke that got me into supporting Northern Ireland. It was my Dad. My Dad, Joe Blair is a veteran of over 200 Northern Ireland matches down the years. He dare not count them, but in the past 50 years he'd only miss a home game in an emergency.
Van Morrison once had a quote "Back on top again".
Win, draw or...lose (and let's be truth - every match we play could end in any of those three ways - we are unpredictable). But the Faroe Islands seemed to be a match that Northern Irish fans thought we might win. It was essential for qualifying for the Euros so the team was in top form and had extra training ahead of the match in Torshavn, the nation's capital city.
"Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland, we'll support you evermore" - Northern Ireland fans
We'd draw 1-1 with Honduras then beat Spain 1-0 away (and win the group), we will draw 1-1 with Armenia then grab a sensational 1-1 away to European Champions Germany. You know what - we will lose 3-0 at home to Iceland then dick Spain 3-2 with a Healy hat-trick within FIVE days. Yes - this is the rollercoaster ride of supporting Northern Ireland. And we love it.
"Here we go, oh, drinking all over the world" - Status Quo Tweaked by the GAWA
We daren't expect anything. A 0-0 with Romania in June (which I watched in Hong Kong with Roger from Bushmills) set us up nicely, win in the Faroe Islands and we could be top of the group. Oh really? Aye - but this is Norn Iron. We're the best and worst team to follow emotion wise.
After a few days backpacking through the main sights on Vagar Island to places like Sorvagur and Gasadalur, we headed on a party bus to the capital city of Torshavn. In Torshavn we were expected to meet up with the rest of the GAWA, (the Green and White Army) and party. We could see the Bangor, Hillsborough and Lisburn lads in Cafe Nature. The place was bouncing mad.
The usual crowd was here in force - all partying in either Cafe Natur or Glitnir bar. It's like a community of followers when you support Northern Ireland. It's all a bit crazy. The fans like Toddy, Glenda, Shaun Schofield, Jonny Blair, Karen Turkington, Sinti, they were all here to party in Toshavn. It was five years ago that La La Lafferty had bagged a goal in a 1-1 draw, at the time that was a shock result.
Espana 82 veteran Jim Rainey was on the decks, pumping out the beats in the vibrant Caf Natur. Round the corner in Glitnir Pub, we had Justin from Ballyclare working his way through YouTube classics of the GAWA down the years, accompanied by sidekick Andrew Milliken AKA Moby - yer man from Aghadowey. Mr. Milliken and I have met up in more countries than we can remember.
"It's the Ulster boys making all the noise everywhere we go" - Northern Ireland fans
And from there the scene was set. It was an away match. We all know you need to win away matches to stand a chance of qualifying. Home matches are the easy ones sure - we won 5/6 home matches in the 2008 Euro qualifiers, yet we won just one away match (Liechtenstein) and guess what - we didn't qualify.
"She never told me her name" - Tim Wheeler
Van Morrison once had a quote "Back on top again".
Win, draw or...lose (and let's be truth - every match we play could end in any of those three ways - we are unpredictable). But the Faroe Islands seemed to be a match that Northern Irish fans thought we might win. It was essential for qualifying for the Euros so the team was in top form and had extra training ahead of the match in Torshavn, the nation's capital city.
"Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland, we'll support you evermore" - Northern Ireland fans
We'd draw 1-1 with Honduras then beat Spain 1-0 away (and win the group), we will draw 1-1 with Armenia then grab a sensational 1-1 away to European Champions Germany. You know what - we will lose 3-0 at home to Iceland then dick Spain 3-2 with a Healy hat-trick within FIVE days. Yes - this is the rollercoaster ride of supporting Northern Ireland. And we love it.
"Here we go, oh, drinking all over the world" - Status Quo Tweaked by the GAWA
We daren't expect anything. A 0-0 with Romania in June (which I watched in Hong Kong with Roger from Bushmills) set us up nicely, win in the Faroe Islands and we could be top of the group. Oh really? Aye - but this is Norn Iron. We're the best and worst team to follow emotion wise.
After a few days backpacking through the main sights on Vagar Island to places like Sorvagur and Gasadalur, we headed on a party bus to the capital city of Torshavn. In Torshavn we were expected to meet up with the rest of the GAWA, (the Green and White Army) and party. We could see the Bangor, Hillsborough and Lisburn lads in Cafe Nature. The place was bouncing mad.
The usual crowd was here in force - all partying in either Cafe Natur or Glitnir bar. It's like a community of followers when you support Northern Ireland. It's all a bit crazy. The fans like Toddy, Glenda, Shaun Schofield, Jonny Blair, Karen Turkington, Sinti, they were all here to party in Toshavn. It was five years ago that La La Lafferty had bagged a goal in a 1-1 draw, at the time that was a shock result.
Espana 82 veteran Jim Rainey was on the decks, pumping out the beats in the vibrant Caf Natur. Round the corner in Glitnir Pub, we had Justin from Ballyclare working his way through YouTube classics of the GAWA down the years, accompanied by sidekick Andrew Milliken AKA Moby - yer man from Aghadowey. Mr. Milliken and I have met up in more countries than we can remember.
"It's the Ulster boys making all the noise everywhere we go" - Northern Ireland fans
And from there the scene was set. It was an away match. We all know you need to win away matches to stand a chance of qualifying. Home matches are the easy ones sure - we won 5/6 home matches in the 2008 Euro qualifiers, yet we won just one away match (Liechtenstein) and guess what - we didn't qualify.
"She never told me her name" - Tim Wheeler
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