- All roads lead to Castlebar for this year’s Connacht Final - June 30, 2014
- The fan’s view – Now every game is like a home game - March 26, 2014
Ahead of this weekend’s clash vs. the Dubs, here’s diehard Mayo fan Trevor Naughton (exiled in Kildare, but green and red to the core) on his experience of hanging out with the Club ’51 crew this year, and how he expects the big game to pan out on Saturday afternoon. Thanks Trevor!
Ahead of the weekend’s big clash with Dublin where Mayo head to Croker looking to pick up another two valuable league points, I thought I’d offer the fan’s view of how Club ’51 has gone to date!
As you are all aware Club ’51 has been up and running since the start of the year and I think it has been an unmitigated success. The introduction of Club ’51 has created a completely different buzz about going to Mayo matches and is something we are really enjoying. For years we have all travelled in our little groups to matches, meeting up with old friends as you bumped into them.
The level of support that Mayo has (home and away) is clear to see at every game. There are a few publicans in Newbridge that will attest to that also! Every game, whether it’s Castlebar, Tralee or Omagh now feels like a home game and that’s a wonderful thing. Centralising the Mayo support has been excellent. There is nothing better than outnumbering the locals in a pub in their own back yard!
Going to the meet-ups before games the pub/hotel chosen by Club ’51 is full with Mayo supporters. The more times we go to the meet ups before/after games we invariably meet someone new or someone we already know through the #mayogaa hashtag on Twitter or Willie Joe’s MayoGAABlog but have yet to meet in real life!
The main aim is to bring a bit of noise, fun and colour to Mayo matches and to show the team that there is a “Sea of Green and Red” behind them. I have always had hats/scarves/headbands/flags at home but never would have thought to bring any of them to a league match. Club ’51 has changed that idea. If you are thinking about going to the match at the weekend feel free to drop into Jury’s Croke Park Hotel before the game.
The game itself is going to be one of our toughest to date but the lads have been improving steadily game on game and I would be expecting them to deliver the points on this occasion. There has been a lot of debate on mayogaablog on whether we should be going flat out to win this game or not. I think without doubt we have to go out to win this. Just look back to 2012 when we beat the Dubs in Castlebar (in the game refixed after the fog!), we went up against them in Croker in the semi-final with no inferiority complex. Dublin beat us 3 times last year so we really want to be laying down a marker on Saturday night. See you there!
PS: Don’t forget your voices and your flags!!! Up Mayo!!!
Trevor
Follow me on Twitter: @trevornaughton 🙂
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