Whilst some of us may trace all of our little island’s problems and disagreements back to our perfidious neighbour – that same neighbour has provided us with something that we can all disagree about amicably – the English Premier League.
…and whilst our constitutional allegiance and our county or province of origin may determine whether we fancy Rugger or GAA or the League of Ireland or the Irish League or Celtic or Rangers – the good old Premier League gloriously turns a blind eye to all that malarkey.
A Premier League that garners fervent support from some in the staunchest Republican areas in Belfast – who can proudly (and safely) refer to Manchester United or Liverpool as ‘we’ or ‘us’ – just as the good people of the Shankill Road and Dublin 4 can. If anyone is any doubt of this….check out the Red Devil pub on the Falls Road.
And so another season kicks off. But who is going to win – and who is going to be booted down to the Championship(the 2nd division in old money)?
The bookies suggest that there are only 4 main contenders for the title. Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea – with the 3 promoted teams (including Leeds United) getting the order of the boot – and heading back from whence they came.
And so to Leeds…
If anything illustrates the incredible pull of English football Ireland it is this…Last week, 50,000 Leeds fans turned up to watch them play out a 1-1 draw with AC Milan in the Aviva stadium in Dublin. And this was a friendly…
And so in the absence of sexier football teams and better league structures in Ireland, the draw of English soccerball and the Premier League in particular will continue. In the words of that famous (football) philosopher, ‘arry Redknapp, it’s a funny old (English) game.
Predictions: Chelsea to win the Premier League title, Arsenal to be runners-up and Leeds to finish in the top half. Burnley, Brentford(in spite of their new Irish manager) and (because of their Manager) West Ham to be relegated.
Sammy Mc Nally is a Prod fictional character bestowed on us by James Young who accidentally kills his pal, who not suprisingly, given that it is Belfast, is also a Prod. The friend is sent to the after life place (Heaven/Hell) and finds it is an exact replica of Belfast – with one important difference – it is run entirely by Fenians and with the pope himself in residence in Stormo and it seems no sign of the Belgian quarefellah D’Hondt anywhere. To be continued…
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