Ireland is united by Cats glory

Nov 10 2007 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

THE people of Ireland know a thing or two about divisive political schisms. If religion has been damaging the Emerald Isle for centuries, Irish football’s big division opened five years ago.

It was in Saipan, in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup, that Roy Keane infamously walked out on the Republic of Ireland in a dispute over preparations. Although his gripe was principally with Mick McCarthy, it quickly became portrayed as a battle with Niall Quinn when the latter sided with McCarthy.

If the dispute set Irish football fan against fan, fate has now united many behind Sunderland when Quinn’s consortium bought the Black Cats in mid-2006 and enticed Keane to manage them.

“After Saipan people were either 100% behind Quinny or 100% behind Keane,” recalls Glenn Flannery, Dublin branch secretary of the Sunderland Supporters Club. “Whichever camp you were in, when Keane became manager you had a reason to support Sunderland.

“I was very much in the anti-Keane camp and didn’t see his argument. When they announced he was getting the Sunderland job my phone went mental.”

Flannery’s association originates from a two-year stint in the mid-1990s managing Sunderland’s branch of Pizza Hut and owning a Stadium of Light season ticket. Although involved in reviving the supporters club in Quinn’s home city six months ago, the surge in interest is not without drawbacks.

“I’ve reverted to wearing my Hummel and Asics jerseys to show I’m not jumping on the bandwagon,” he says.

“Whereas before you could get flights on Ryanair for a penny, now cheap flights are very hard to get. On Saturday I’m flying out of Belfast, which means a three-hour drive. The hardcore of 20 or so of us will always find a way, though.

“Because there’s no hometown loyalties everyone in Ireland was Man United or Liverpool, or in the 70s Leeds United. In the Far East you might get the odd fan coming over once a season but we’ll come much more regularly. Our manager famously spoke once about the ‘prawn sandwich brigade’, but they paid for Kenwyne Jones.

“There are five flights from Dublin to Newcastle on a Saturday morning and I would say of the 800 people on them, about 600 will be going to the Stadium of Light.”

Having moved to Wearside in 1996, the year Quinn did likewise, Flannery is an unashamed fan of Sunderland’s chairman.

“He is probably the most straight-up man in football,” Flannery commented. “Quinny’s the only chairman in the whole of the Premier League who will always, always have the best interests of the club at heart. And he’s so accessible. Niall is always happy to say hello, especially if he knows your face.”

STUART RAYNER