Armagh v Down 2011 Ulster Championship First Round

[MCMLX]

New attendance limit at the Athletic Grounds will be 25k.

I'm not sure it is so high Mackers. I have a notion it is in and around 19K.

Wouldnt be like the armagh men to exaggerate. 

Now that the 'bad-times' have come again for Armagh I wonder will the county board have to go to the press to ask Armagh fans to attend their championship games like in the 80's?

Like the 80s? You have a short memory, didnt Big Joe moan about the lack of fans travelling to Donegal a few years back.

[ardmhachaabu]

Do I have to spell it out for you?

Armagh are not in bad times.  End of silliness.

[under the bar]

Ardmahacaabu, I'm sorry but you need a reality check.   Monaghan have cast of their 'toilet brush of Ulster football mantle' and Armagha re the recipients.  Face facts.

[armaghniac]

Indeed Monaghan and Armagh can be fairly compared as they are in the one third of Ulster teams who are in Div 1.

[MCMLX]

Do I have to spell it out for you?

Armagh are not in bad times.  End of silliness.

They were never in the good times either. Their singular, solitary win is all they have. Know your place. Armagh had a good time. We won it.............
How many times?

[PatDaly]

Its still hard to believe how that Down side got to an All Ireland final, but anyway. Armagh's always a big game for the Down ones, it's their only local rivalry, whereas for Armagh its only one of 4 (Tyrone, Monaghan, Down, Louth).

Good draw for both counties, should help to keep the players focused over the months ahead.   

I do think that Armagh fans hate Down a lot more than Down fans dislike Armagh. And until recent years i dont think we saw Armagh as that big of rivals to Down.

Based on exactly what Highlander3? I think you need reminding of how in 1999 Down fans vociferously supported Meath in the All-Ireland semi-final vs Armagh or in 1977 when once again Down fans screamed in support of the Dubs vs Armagh in the All-Ireland final. Down and Armagh have been rivals for a long time but most of the bitterness is from the red and black county.

[MCMLX]

I wouldnt call it bitterness at all Pat. What have we to be bitter about. We ve had a bit more success than you, not a lot, but more. We have nothing to be bitter about. You on the other hand......

Edited to add, there were no Cork flags flying in Tyrone, Derry or Antrim. No one was wearing Cork jersies there either. If you want to see bitterness have a look in the mirror.

[ardmhachaabu]

Ardmahacaabu, I'm sorry but you need a reality check.   Monaghan have cast of their 'toilet brush of Ulster football mantle' and Armagha re the recipients.  Face facts.

Says a supporter of failures from 2010 

[Dubh driocht]

Pat Daly, I know this is a bit of fun , but if you were there in 1977, you will know that 100% of Down fans supported Armagh. I have the photos ,taken on my first ever camera, to prove it. To be fair, Armagh supported Down in the minors ,but there were two reasons for this ;
1.We know Armagh wans always like to back winning teams ( and disappear when the going gets tough)
2.Your future manager was playing.

[Mourne Rover]

This thread has descended to the level of the playground in record time, and hopefully it will fade into the background until Easter at least. Before it does, the idea that large numbers of supporters travel to Croke Park with the intention of supporting the opponents of their rival county needs to be nailed. Apart from the odd obsessive, it does not happen. In particular, there was solid backing for Armagh seniors from fans of Down minors in 1977 and 1999. Television footage also confirms that one of the first people to run on the field at the final whistle in 2002 wore a Down jersey. He may not have been representative of the feelings of an entire county, but sweeping generalisations in either direction serve very little purpose.

[MCMLX]

Mourne Rover, you are one of the better posters on this forum. You provide great reports from county games and have a good club knowledge and I don't often find myself disagreeing with you, but I do on this one. I know a fair few Down men who cheered for the Dubs in 77, some of them are regular posters here. I would never support Armagh, not even with POR on board. I know a lot of Down men who feel the same. It has nothing to do with bitterness, its a local rivalry, usually healthy, but one that can go beyond that at times.
In saying that I gave my tickets to a friend from South Armagh for the 2002 All Ireland final so him and his son could go together and while I was supporting Kerry that day, I was the first man to call to his house to congratulate him when he came home. I shook hands with a lot of Armagh men in the weeks after the 2002 final and I was delighted for them. They deserved it.
What Armagh people seem to forget, especially some on this board, is that football wasn't invented in 1999 or 2002. Our games go back much further than that. Cavan, Down, Donegal and Derry were winning All Irelands long before Armagh knew there was anything other than losers medals available in Dublin. Tyrone threw their hat into the ring in 2003 and have won 3 All Irelands since then also. So until Armagh win a few more they really should remember that they are on the bottom rung of the All Ireland ladder and will stay there for the foreseeable future. They often accuse us of living in the past, yet 2002 is a quickly fading memory. Until they have won more than us, they should remember their place.

[Dubh driocht]

Mourne Rover, you're sounding like a grumpy old man.While we supported them in 77, I can recall when we saw them arriving for the 99 semi-final ( after rubbing our noses in it following their narrow 11 point Ulster final win) in a bus that hadn't been in Dublin since the 53 final, we knew they weren't serious contenders.

[armaghniac]

Our games go back much further than that.

Indeed they do. While people from other counties refer to particular years, they are not crass enough to pick a year in the second half of the GAA's history and stencil it on their jerseys. How sad can you get? 

[snoopdog]

Our games go back much further than that.

Indeed they do. While people from other counties refer to particular years, they are not crass enough to pick a year in the second half of the GAA's history and stencil it on their jerseys. How sad can you get?

we will all be very old men if Armagh ever get the chance to honour their first and only all ireland winners in  48 years.
The Down lads were only 1 point of honouring them in they way they deserved.
Maybe Down should put 1961 in roman Numerals next year.
Put this thread to bed for 6 months.

[Farrandeelin]

Ah snoopdog, no. I like reading comments from (supposedly) grown men that make them seem like children. There's a fair few comments like these in this thread. Funny reading. Pity Trevor Hill wasn't still with us, or God only knows what'd happen. Fearon's quiet enough too. The flags and bunting must be taken down.