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18th October 2017
10:11am BST
We all know someone who’s obsessed with a particular tactic, whether it’s playing with two strikers or crossing from the end line. So he’ll keep banging on about it - match after match, season after season. He’s convinced it’s the secret to winning matches, even if every professional coach disagrees.
This fan is never seen in the sports bar without his team’s latest kit or a rare vintage jersey from 1987. There’s a nagging suspicion that he’s only into football because he likes the gear but the jury’s still out.
They’re here with the lads but they’re more interested in chatting, drinking or making inroads into the finger food when everyone else is distracted by the football. They love the craic but they haven't a clue which team is which.
The Echo spends the entire match repeating exactly what the commentator just said. It’s either an elaborate wind-up or if they’re completely unaware that they do it. Nobody knows for sure.
You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry and he’s always angry. Bill Shankly would look like a casual fan beside this seething ball of fan-rage. Every referee decision is a personal insult as as he Hulks out for 90 minutes each week.
There’s always one. They’re new to this whole “soccer” thing so they’re super enthusiastic and full of questions. They’ll also insist on telling you how it compares to lacrosse, hockey or some other sport that you couldn’t care less about.
He once had underage trials with an English club but his “promising career” was ended by injury. Now he holds court in a sports bar and lives off old glories. He loves pointing out the professional players he used to skin “back in the day” and can shoehorn his footballing past into any conversation.
Football is dead, he’ll moan. It’s not like the good old days when the best players were dropkicked up and down the pitch by professional menace merchants. He’ll dismiss modern footballers as snowflakes and wistfully recall a time when a big forward could score a goal by booting both keeper and ball into the net.
There always seems to be one poor soul who hates football and who's on the worst date ever. They're not happy to be there and they're not afraid to show it. Meanwhile, their football-loving partner is happily watching the match, oblivious to the death stare coming from their other half and the fact that the relationship is hanging by a thread.
TGI Friday's is a perfect place to catch the match and grab a bite from their tasty menu. You can't go wrong with one of their abundant platters of famous Jack Daniels ribs, slow–cooked BBQ braised beef, grilled margarita chicken and succulent 7oz sirloin steak. Served with onion rings and three sides of fries with a selection of their signature sauces.
Brought to you by TGI Friday. 
