That first highly optimistic supporters club meeting.

The news of signing a new player. By any club.

Every club’s pre-season friendly fixture list with the hopes of catching them all live.

The first report on a pre-season friendly. Any friendly at all.

I have been longing to experience of all the above since the FAI Cup was presented to Stephen O’Donnell of Dundalk back in November when the Louth side completed the domestic double with their tenth cup title at the Aviva Stadium.

Just over a month ago I wrote from Dublin Airport about how I dearly missed the League of Ireland and all that comes with it. I felt like I was in the height of a sporting winter hibernation at the time. Thankfully, the sun has started to shine and the frozen ground is thawing out. I can crawl from the warm place I was hiding in, which was far and distant from the League of Ireland and hang my match day scarf by the front door once again.

The League of Ireland is back and with it I feel a massive part of myself has returned too.

When the League of Ireland stalls for those months every winter there is not much that can replace the lost buzz of a Friday night match under the lights.

(Young and old gather to catch the show. Picture: Ian Clancy)

Watching a movie at home with my significant other is always a pleasure which I enjoy but the comfort of my couch, scented candles, a bowl of popcorn and a star studded Hollywood cast just does not compare to the live theatrics on the field. Absorbing the action from a seat in the stand at a League Ireland match with a match day programme in your hand ready to source an interesting snippet that might be of value to a conversation on the night.

There are similarities between a movie and a League of Ireland match though.

Drama, characters, action, passion, massive suprises, unexpected plots, good guys, bad guys, poor performances and disappointments.

Plenty of similarties.

Plenty of differences too which combine on a weekly basis to create a ‘movie’ like no other out on the pitch.

We have actors in play. Players in the starring roles. The crew are on the sidelines with the director. The ‘cast‘ on the field of play might put in a stunning performance or have an off day which leaves much to be desired and feeds the critics wth food for thought. On other ocassions there are examples of quality players who just seem lost out on the pitch due to the perfect script being re-written around them and going so badly wrong. Much like Samuel L. Jackson in the movie Snakes on a Plane. He is a fantastic actor in my book but with that particular movie being so poorly scripted, he too appeared to be lowered to a level which is far from that of his abilities and previous high standards.

At a League of Ireland match you never get to pause the action as you can do at home onthe couch. If you run off for a snack at a game you risk missing the most important part of the ‘movie‘. That is out of your control. There is an art to judging the break in play when the ref blows his whistle. You have to time any instance in which you might turn away from the action perfectly because if you don’t you might miss that crucial moment in play which may become the night’s hot topic put up for serious debate. This ‘scene‘ might be key to the outcome of the game. At home with a movie you can pause and rewind so you don’t miss a thing. It is not the same at a game.

(Showgrounds, Sligo. Picture: Peter Clancy)

What I love too about attending a live League of Ireland match is that you get to see what is happening on the other side of the camera. The ‘director‘ and his full ‘crew‘ are on view for all to see. They are exposed and are not just name which scrolls on screen at the end or be found in the programme. You can watch every indication to the cast as to how the director wants their roles played out. Whistles. Hand signals. The frustration at ‘fluffed lines‘ as player wanders offside yet again or misses a sitter.

There is also the added drama of seeing the director shuffling some of his cast around on set. I have yet to see an actor in a movie just abandon their character and swap with another one of the cast members and start playing their role. How would the movie The Sixth Sense have been received if Bruce Willis has given the role of playing young Cole’s mother halfway through the movie and Toni Collete, who played the mother, being asked to play the part Willis had departed? It would not work. In football the roles can be shuffled and this adds extra drama to the plot.

I’ve never seen an actor whipped off the set and swapped for a new, fresh, face at a critical point in the film. It does not happen. You know who have from the start in a movie. Characters may drift in and out of a movie but players out on the pitch do that too! Once you have a couple of strong lead roles out on the field with a one or two solid supporting actors behind them the end result should be worth the wait.

There are times too when a player is told to leave the pitch. He is sent off. Given their marching orders. No return. You don’t get that in a movie. Just imagine if you were watching Pirates of the Caribbean and suddenly the main man, Johnny Depp, left and was not replaced leaving a massive void in the movie. You don’t usually see key characters in movies killed off which is a similar scenario but if they do meet their untimely death mid-movie it has been scripted and planned. With football, there is no written script with a pre-determined ending. We all take a script with us to the match but what plays out ‘on screen‘ may be very very different indeed. The guy playing the lead role on the pitch during a match can be ordered off it at any moment. This element of unpredictability is always there. That is something that far too many movies lack. These sudden and overwhelmingly surprising twists are addictive. At times devastating but still addictive.

(The set at the RSC in Waterford. Pic: Peter Clancy)

The good guys and bad guys exist too at a football match. Your team is always made up of the good guys. Batman and Robin. The opposition are the Joker and Gang.

The Cowboys and Indians. The Cops and Robbers.

You develop and emotional attachment to one side of the cast. They lure you in and you support their cause from start to finish. In a movie there is usually only one ‘good‘ side. They are the heroes. In football the ‘bad guys‘ are the heroes to another group viewers in the stand who see your men as the villians. It all adds to the drama. Sometimes, like in a movie, one of your ‘good guys‘ can very quickly become a villian with a late tackle in the which leads to a penalty being awarded. It works the other way too. A villianous man can become the ultimate hero in an instant with a late winner hitting the back of the next following a well directed thump from his boot or a flick of his head.

A very important part of any movie are the extras. They are essential. Without them there would never have been a film industry. They are the silent players. Silent but vital. The extras on the football field are the referee and their assistants. The best of these never stand out. They blend in and play their part without much drama. However, there are times when the ‘extra‘ has desires to become a star themselves and assumes the role of lead actor. This is when the drama can really unfold and as frustrating as it can be, an ocassion like this can also be so enjoyable. You get an added bonus member to the cast who plays a surprise stormer. That or they ruin the whole thing for you with a string of dodgy decisions. It is always best when they just walk past the camera or sip their coffee in the background when needed and get on with their important but upstage position on set.

Movies and football are quite similar.

Football gets the nod from me though in deciding which gives me more enjoyment.

The unscripted drama you expereince on and off the field of play throughout the season gives it the edge. My significant other may not be there with me when I am watching it but I am always surrounded by friends who I have connected with through football. You go to the movies with a friend and you leave with that friend. When you regularly follow a League of Ireland team you become part of a huge group of friends which can extend between fans of all clubs.

There are awards too.

At the end of the season, like at the annual Oscar and Bafta parties, there are awards handed out to those who have performed their roles to the best of their abilities. Sometimes the favourite does not win but there is always something beautiful about the underdog coming out on top.

To me, football is patched with drama which can’t be matched by a watching a movie at home. It does not always involve a massive budget with the world’s biggest stars on show. A great story can unfold and develop on the smallest of sets with unknown names playing the key roles and be encapsulating from start to finish. These unknown names can progress to become the stars who entertain on the biggest stage and you can follow them from a distance when this happens but there is something special in knowing that you watched them developing and preparing for their more celebrated role. You knew them before they were famous.

This is Irish football to me. It is pure drama.

The League of Ireland.

It may not be Hollywood. It may not have the glamour and glitz. It may not be celebrated globally.

It is my movie though. It lasts all season long and I am guaranteed plenty of twists in the plot along the way.

The best part is that by following your team is knowing you are part of the cast too and play a starring role.

Love Your League

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