Green & White Away Days

Green and White Army Guide for Euro 2012

Northern Ireland Fans share their experiences of memorable moments on away trips

IFA’s Jim Rainey talks about the prospects of a new stadium in sight of Euro 2012

Issue 1 £3.99

Thursday 28th April 2010

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Contents

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Dear Readers,Welcome to thefirst edition of Green & White Away Days.This magazine is the first of a long running seriesof magazine’s that will help and guide you on your travels across theworld whilst supporting your beloved national team. This edition is a starting edition which looks forward to EURO 2012 and what might be in store for Northern Ireland. We hope you find this magazine useful and buy it again in the future to use as your ultimate guide. Sarah Stewart- Editor

In this Edition:

Page 4-5 Most Memorable Experiences

Page 6 Euro 2012 fixtures

Page 7-9 Country profiles of Group C

Page 10 Profile with IFA’s Jim Rainey

Page 11 Q&A session with Jim Rainey

Most memorable moments

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Duncan Bruce- Carrickfergus

Bratislava, Slovakia- Sun splitting the trees, it was the day of the match and we marched approximately two miles to the ground singing Northern Ireland songs, carrying as much beer as possible. People looked on from the balconies, stopped their cars and stopped working. The entire city came to a standstill so that they could watch the Green and White Army sing and march their way to the stadium. People stopped getting on with their lives just to watch an army of football fans sing and walk. It was slightly unusual to see this reaction but they all knew that the Ulster men were in town.

Aaron Watson- Carrickfergus

Spain 07- The officials allowed us into the ground to put up our huge “Carrickfergus Hallions” flag, the first one up in the stadium. There were thousands of N.I fans outside the stadium. The atmosphere that day was something special, the sun was shining and the N.I fans were in full voice, knowing that if we managed to grab a victory and other results went our way, we could still qualify. As we filtered into the stadium, the atmosphere from outside was carried in and the loyal army sang their hearts out for the whole game. The boys did their best against a world class Spain side, who would go on to win the tournament the following summer, and we lost 1-0. However we were soon cheered up by the news of England also getting beat by Croatia and failing to qualify.

Phillip Dean- Lambeg, Lisburn

For me, my most memorable experience was the trip to Gran Canaria to play Spain. We arrived on the Saturday and watched the Denmark game surrounded by other members of the GAWA. The atmosphere throughout the resort for the whole week was immense. On match day almost 1000 fans left on coaches from Puerto Rico and headed to the stadium. From the word ‘go’ we out-sung the Spanish (if not outplay them). I was so proud of the fans around me. The Spanish supporters applauded us as they left. Following Northern Ireland is an experience I would recommend any fan to try. The football may not always be great but the supporters are.

from the G.A.W.A !

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Niall Russ- Belfast

Copenhagen 2006- Great city, great beer, decent performance and even a snow patrol gig! Carlsberg don’t do away trips but ...actually Carlsberg did play quite a large part!

Stephen Rowley- Newtownards

I have been travelling to the games a lot longer than most (partly due to age of course but also through the sheer enjoyment I’ve got out of travelling the world these last 27 years). Spain 82 has got to be the greatest night in all the memories of Northern Ireland supporters, and I am no different. Little Northern Ireland defeated the home nation in the World Cup thanks to a fantastic goal by Gerry Armstrong. This is one of the greatest memories and the greatest trips in the history of Northern Ireland football and it was a privilege to know I was there. Our flag draped over the hotel window read NORTHERN IRELAND FEAR NO-ONE and God how right we were.

John Stewart- Carrickfergus

For me the Liechtenstein trip of March 2007 epitomized everything that is great about Northern Ireland away trips. We booked to go from the Wednes-day to the Tuesday but typically we didn’t want to do things the easy way. We travelled through 4 different countires until we reached our destination. One highlight was when seven coaches full of supporters pulled up outside a small pub in the smallest village i have ever seen. The landlady must have thought it was her lucky day and after only one hour she had ran out of beer. When we got into the ground it was clear just how many fans had travelled that night, we had taken up over half the stadium with over 3500 fans that we later found out had travelled from 8 other countries and locations around Europe! In the end we won 4-1 had a jolly good sing song and didn’t want to leave.

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Euro 2012- The big fight

Euro 2012 is approaching and the qualifying groups have been chosen. Northern Ireland have been drawn in group C and face tight competition against some of the worlds greatest teams such as Italy and Serbia. Northern Ireland will play ten matches in the qualifying rounds, five will be played at home and five will be played away. After a close race in the World Cup Qualifiers in 2010, Northern Ireland will be hoping for nothing more than to secure a place in the finals, beating off some strongcompetition. The role of the Green & White Army will be as influential to the players as ever and with just five away trips on offer in 2010/11 you can expect just as much from these trips as you have done in the past, if not more. The dates have been released for this campaign which means you can get your trip organising started early.Continued is a guide of each country that Northern Ireland will face, and it will give you an idea of where the games will be played and what airports will be suitable to fly into. GOOD TIMES NEVER SEEMED SO GOOD.

Group C and Northern Ireland Fixtures

Friday 3 September 2010 – Slovenia v N. IrelandFriday 8 October 2010 – N. Ireland v ItalyTuesday 12 October 2010 – Faroe Islands v N. IrelandFriday 25 March 2011 – Serbia v N. IrelandTuesday 29 March 2011 – N. Ireland v SloveniaWednesday 10 August 2011 – N. Ireland v Faroe IslandsFriday 2 September 2011 – N. Ireland v SerbiaTuesday 6 September 2011 – Estonia v N. IrelandFriday 7 October 2011 – N. Ireland v EstoniaTuesday 11 October 2011 – Italy v N. ireland

Creating history together

Adidas-Official Sponsors of Euro 2012

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is in our sights!

Italy

The last time Italy lost against Northern Ireland was in 1958.

Stadium- Stadio OlimpicoDate- 11th October 2011Airport- Ciampino airport (20km from stadium) or Rome Fiumicino Airport (30km from stadium)Stadio Olimpico is about 6km from the city centre of Rome, located to the north of the city. Unless you’re staying close by, you won’t want to walk – it’d take you about an hour and a half to walk to the stadium from central Rome. Luckily, you can catch a bus or tram to the Stadio Olimpico from the city centre. Buses 32 and 280 serve the stadium, as does tram 225.Hotels- Hotel Astrid – Largo Antonio Sarti 4, Rome – Lo-cated a stone’s throw from the stadium, WiFi & internet available, garage parking nearby. Rooms from €100. Hotel Farnesina – Via della Farnesina 23, Rome – Not far from the stadium, free internet, full buffet breakfast. Rooms from €80. There is no shortage of bars and restaurants in Rome. There is also a large selection of Irish bars, so why bring at bit of home with you and enjoy the comfort of some good Irish alcohol while you are away.

Estonia

Stadium- A.Le Coq Arena, TallinnDate- 6th September 2011Airport- Tallinn Airport

The stadium is approximately a 5-10 minute walk from the old town. Old town is ideally a good location to find a hotel as it is also in close proximity to the main streets of bars and restaurants.

Estadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy

A.Le Coq Arena, Tallinn,Estonia

We’re Not Brazil....

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Slovenia

Stadium-Stadion Ljudski vrt, MariborDate- 3rd September 2010Airport- Maribor Airport

The stadium is situated in the city centre to the left bank of the river Drava. This means that the stadium is easily accessi-ble from the city centre. There is a large quantity of bars and restaurants that are open late.

Stadion Ljudski vrt, Maribor,Slovenia

SerbiaThe last time the 2 sides met Serbia won 1-0.

Stadium- Stadion Crvena Zvezda, BelgradeDate- 25th March 2011Airport- Belgrade Nikola Tesla

The easiest way to reach the city centre from the airport is by the Jat Airways coach which departs every hour to Slavija Square and the Central Railway Station. The fare is 160 dinars. Alternatively Bus Line 72 runs to the Station takes around 25 minutes and costs 35 dinars. The stadium is close enough to the Central Sta-tion and Bus Station to be walk able. However, the Tram lines 2, 7 and 9 pass within 200metres of the stadium from the Station if you don’t feel like the walk down Nemanjina to the stadium.Hotels- Hotel Prestige Belgrade - Located just 1 km from Belgrade Fair and 5 km from the city centre, the modern, yet still traditional Hotel Prestige is the perfect base for business- as well as leisure travellers.

Left- Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade

We’re Northern Ireland

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Faroe Islands

Stadium- Tórsvøllur, TórshavnDate- 12th October 2010Airport- considered one of the most countries to get to must travel to Vager Airport from Lon-don.

Due to the small population and the size of the country hotels in an area of the island are easy access to the stadium.There are a number of bars and restaurants that stay open until 4am.

Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn,Faroe Islands

Northern Ireland’s current national stadium Windsor Park accomodates 11,000 seats and an atmosphere that cannot be outsung. With Euro 2012 in our sights however, the IFA have looked at proposing ideas for a new stadium to be built in the place of the historic Maze Prison famously known for holding loyalists and nationalists throughout the troubles. Windsor Park carries many fond memories for us supporters and has seen many glory nights, especially in 2005 with a 1-0 win over England. The Northern Ireland team have grown in success in recent year’s and have got an even stronger fan base. The proposed idea for a stadium has been unappealing to a large number of supporters however looking realistically at the idea it is exactly what Northern Ireland need to grow further. Support your team, club and coun-try and let’s show the rest of the world how impres-sive we really are.

OUR WEE COUNTRY

Exclusive: IFA’s Jim

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Jim Rainey is the founder member of an internet-based Northern Ireland Supporters’ Club, the Worldwide NISC. The WWNISC is a full member of the Amalgamation of Official NISCs and it liaises with the IFA on all things concerning fans of the national team. Jim acts as a Travel Secretary for the Amalgamation and arranges charter planes and coaches for all of the away international matches. He also represents the Amalgamation on the Football For All project, headed up by the IFA.In 2006, he worked with the fans in completely changing the atmosphere at NI matches and was recognised and he received the Brussels International Supporters Award at Windsor Park just before the full international game against Spain whereNorthern Ireland won 3-2. He collected the award and the £5,000 prizemoney on behalf of the Amalgamation.In 2009, Jim was congratulated for all his hard work in volunterring and was lucky enough to receive an MBE. Jim has always been a fan of attending away matches and showing his loyalty toward Northern Ireland Football club. He attended his first away match in Dublin in1978. The game was between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Sectarianism was rife on the terraces at this time and a far cry from the atmosphere fans now experience at away matches. After the World Cup in Mexico 1986, the fortunes on the field dropped away and with that, so did the numbers travelling to away matches. However, in the late 1990s, with the advent of budget airlines like Easyjet, travelling across Europe became more affordable for the ordinary fans. With the numbers growing the atmosphere of Northern Ireland football fans soon became known worldwide and we were renowned in football. As well as being great for the travelling supporters, we also mix well with the Home fans, giving them a great impression of NI football fans. Fans come back and tell their friends how much they have enjoyed the trips and then more and more travel the next time. A large away support also helps the team on the pitch. Through football, Jim has travelled to countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Leichtenstein and Latvia, countries that he believes he would never have been to had it not been for NI playing there. Continued Jim does a Q&A session with us in sight of Euro 2012 >

Jim Rainey, 54, Speaks to ‘Green & White Away Days’ about his role in the Irish Football Association and looks back on his most memorable moments as a prestigious supporter.

Rainey talks facts!

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What is your thoughts about the group drawn for Euro 2012?

I am happy with the draw from a travelling point of view. I am Looking forward to going back to Italy, Slovenia and Estonia, indeed it is likely that we will arrange Fans’ matches between these countries, something else to fit into our schedules when we are away.

What do you think are Northern Irelands chances in Euro 2012?

I think it will be very difficult to qualify. We were 3rd Seeds so you would have hoped to get only the top two seeds better than you. However, the 4th seeds in our group are Slovenia and they beat us last time we played them and qualified for the World Cup in South Africa, so they will be expected to beat us as well as the top teams Italy and Serbia.

Do you think a new stadium is needed before Euro 2012?If so why and if not why?

We need a modern stadium in which to play matches, preferably with a 20,000 capacity so that all those fans who want to attend, can get a ticket. In the short term, only Windsor Park in Belfast is capable of fullfilling the UEFA criteria for stadiums so we will be restricted to a capacity of around 11,000 until either Windsor Park is rebuilt or a new stadium is erected.

How do you think we could encourage more supporters to attend away matches?

Keep spreading the word about how great it is to travel to away NI matches. However, a word of caution; previously away fans were allowed 10% of the ground capacity but this year that allowance has been reduced to 5%. This causes real problems when matches are held at the smaller grounds. For instance, Slovenia play in a stadium with a capacity of about 16,000. previously we were allowed 1,600 tickets but for this campaign, it will only be 800. This will cause problems as we expect over 1000 NI fans to travel there. Jim Rainey can be con-

tacted via the IFA with any more questions on travelling advice for Euro 2012Next Time-

Supporters club ‘Spirit of 82’ open up and talk memories.

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