I'm a proud dubliner toffee who was born and raised in Dublin but spent the past 4 years in Limerick. I'm fortunate in that my brother and one of my best mates are massive Evertonians as well. Obviously the ratio of everton fans : any of the sky 4 in Ireland is abysmal though. What's worse is the ignorance of these irish "fans" who support these other clubs. Haven't a clue about the history of Liverpool's orange foundation for example (which I'm actually not arsed about in the slightest tbh and don't want this thread to start going into it please). They're just stupid people who haven't a clue. But in all honesty, Irish fans (as well as international fans outside of their club's home city/country) nearly always support their club based on success and success alone. Yes, everton have had huge successes, but European wise we're pretty hopeless compared to Man United and Liverpool. And also money talks. More money means more marketing which means more fans - simple as. Pure business. These are in the vast majority utterly plastic fans though. Now that i think about it actually, i haven't seen a united jersey in ages since they've gone to muck - and I love it!!
From my experience any Everton fan i meet in Dublin is totally passionate about the club and you can really feel that love for Everton that's just through and through and utterly immeasurable. Also, the bond you create with fellow Evertonians here is instantaneous. You're best mates before u even say hello! It's a wonderfully mad thing really.
With success looking like it could soon be on our way, and with a strong irish contingent playing at the club, it is likely more and more everton fans will emerge in ireland. Although in some ways this is a great thing, in other ways it could take away that instant Evertonian bond that exists here today that I've never once witnessed between any of those plastic fans riding on the manc / red****e bandwagon.
Right now, the saying "Evertonians are born not manufactured" is more applicable to us irish toffees than any other I believe. I mean, if you're from Liverpool, you are (usually) gonna support Everton or Liverpool cos they're ur home club. And when irish fans support any of the sky 4 it's based solely on success (man utd/liverpool) and/or marketing (man city/chelsea). Arsenal fit somewhere in the middle. But Everton in Ireland is different. Ok if u were a kid growing up in the 80s supporting everton was supporting success. But as a 25 year old who grew up watching everton from 94 onwards, apart from the FA cup, myself and any other irish person supporting everton growing up in the same era truly fit into the born not manufactured slogan. We went through hell supporting such garbage for years throughout our childhood and only recently have we started getting some reward for it! I think being able to go through such misery that was the 90s together stems the root of our immediate bond! Lets just hope with any future success this bond remains intact and never gets superseded by a potential bunch a plastic toffees in the future!
COYB!
