A warm welcome to our friends from the Emerald Isle – Limerick Spurs.
The Warm Up
Hi my name is Paddy Hartnett current chairperson of Limerick Spurs in Ireland, for as long as I can remember I have been following Spurs & this was due to my brother following them so I said I would be the same & break away from all my friends who followed Liverpool & Utd, was this a right decision ? Damn right it was & I have never regretted once in following such a club steeped in glorious history.
Living in Ireland it was very hard to be able to watch matches on TV in the early days so we were pretty much depended on tele text for scores coming in as most were not be able to get BBC, so I do have fond memories of that & realise how good kids have it these days in following a team, my earliest memory of watching Spurs was the FA cup semi final in the 90’s, I played for a team called Newcastle in West Limerick & after the game I had to cycle home, upon passing a TV store they had the match on so I stood there & looked though the window of the shop for the full game to say the least some people thought I was a little mad when Gazza scored jumping up & down in the middle of the street.
In connection with Limerick Spurs we became official last year after a lot of hard work from a lot of members & also Mags in Dublin Spurs, Chuck in Austin Spurs & Lauren from the club were fantastic in helping us get up & running, currently we have over 60 members & are looking to build when ever all this is over with the pandemic. One of our proudest moments has been making Ella Markham a lifetime member of Limerick Spurs, Ella was abused on twitter last year after her dad Neil put up a video on twitter with Ella dancing in the ground after a loss, the abuse she got was uncalled for so I made contact with Neil & he gladly accepted the offer, 29 of us went over to meet Ella & Neil before the Bournemouth game this season so in terms of proud moments for Limerick Spurs that will take some beating.
We are a club that will do anything for any member & always try to push the charity side of things as I feel that’s important for all members to do.
Pic1: This picture is one of our very 1st meetings for a CL game
Pic 2 & 3: Is off us meeting Ella before the game & also me meeting her.
Pic 4: Is One of my son at his 1st gameÂ
Pic 5 & 6: Is of Ryan meeting different fans from different parts of the world, Its something I push when we attend games to show respect to other fans
Pic 7: is of Ella with her Irish flag we sent over with a goodie bag & all members signed it.
Pic 8 : Is of Limerick Spurs members meeting Austin Spurs members & our scarf now hangs on the wall of their pub.
Pic 9: Was taken from our Christmas Party that was held in out pub The Still House in Thomas St, Limerick
1. As a youngster – who was your Spurs hero?
I used to love watching Stephen Carr for 2 reasons, he was Irish & also played in the same position as me so I would study his game a lot.
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2. Who is your favourite player from the current Squad?
To be honest that’s a hard one as there are so many good players & decent people in that squad that do a lot for charity’s, I know a lot have probably said Kane but I would have to go with that too, the work his does on the pitch is astounding but it’s the work he does off it that makes me respect him even more.
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3. From World football, who would you most like to see in a Spurs shirt?
I suppose I would have to say Messi, I know it would never happen but we can live & dream can’t we 🙂
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4. What is your favourite piece of Spurs memorabilia?
I have a lot of Spurs memorabilia but my favourite has to be a glass Heineken tankard I have since I was about 6 that I placed a Spurs sticker over the Heineken logo, I still have it & it’s on my son Ryan’s shelf along with his Spurs memorabilia
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5. Where in the world have you watched Spurs live other than UK?
I saw them play Shelbourne FC in Ireland in 1994 it was Jurgen Klinsmann’s first goal for Spurs, I went up with a friend of mine Rob Collins & we got into the hotel that evening too & got to meet the whole team.
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6. Which former player would you love to see in the current squad?
Jimmy Greaves, I would have loved to have seen him partner up with Kane.
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7. Most memorable Spurs moment?
When I took my son Ryan over to his first game in 2006, He was 4, it was a long day for him but 100% worth it & it was the day he fell in love with Spurs, my other main one would have been last years CL semi final v Ajax, I was away with work up in Kilkenny & it was impossible to find a pub that did not play music so I could watch the match but I finally found one, it was the 1st game I missed watching with Ryan & at half time I phoned him & said we will win this game & he thought I was bonkers, at the full time whistle I was hugging people I did not even know up in a pub & then phoned Ryan & cried down the phone to him with pure & utter joy.
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8. Who was your most disappointing Spurs signing?
Have you got all night, way to many to mention
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9. Which Spurs players (3) would you chose to join you if you were on Come Dine With Me?
Current players would include:
Kane, Winks & Sissoko
Past players would include:
Micky Hazard, Graham Roberts & Paul (Maxi) Miller
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10. All time Spurs XI (any formation)
The 1984 cup winning team.
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Follow/Contact Limerick Spurs via the following links:
email: @ limerickspurs@gmail.com
twitter: @LimerickSpurs @hartnett1977
Good article Paddy, I live in Poole so should meet up with the South Dorset Spurs guys when this is all over. Take care buddy