England fans armed only with sarcasm for dull Aviva friendly

The riot squad were on standby throughout, lurking in the background like the ghost of the abandoned game from 1995. But any prospect of England fans throwing seats onto the pitch again disappeared early. This time they had come armed only with sarcasm.

Their most devastating projectile took the form of a musical verdict on the stadium that had been rebuilt since their last visit. This they credited entirely to the ex-president of Fifa. "He paid for your ground, he paid for your ground," they sang, to the tune of Sloop John B (or nearly): "Sepp Blatter. He paid for your ground."

As for the home supporters, their response to the extraordinary €5million loan-cum-gift affair was even more damning, if less witty. In a back-handed tribute to the financial acumen of the FAI’s chief executive, a section of the Irish fans sang about John Delaney using a term that sounded a bit like “banker”.

Not exactly fever pitch

If only the exchanges on the pitch had been as lively. Ireland started the game brightly and were the better team throughout, thanks mainly to the educated left foot of Robbie Brady, which appears to have attended some of the same schools as his namesake Liam’s.

But the warm conditions and multiple second-half substitutions gradually robbed the occasion of all intensity. Long before it petered out into a scoreless draw, some long-suffering observers in the press box were openly hoping for another riot: a small one, just enough to end the game early.

Then again, it was a friendly. And this time, both sides were determined to keep it that way.

The tone was set before kick-off with an on-pitch tribute to Ireland’s favourite Englishman, Jack Charlton, who was clearly moved by the renewed affection from the fans whose team he managed to some of its greatest days.

It continued with the singing of both anthems by the Island of Ireland Peace Choir, a cross-community group formed after the 1998 Omagh bomb. True, there was some booing of God Save the Queen then and later, when the song was reprised during the game by the 3,000 or so English supporters at the Aviva Stadium's low end. But even the booing sounded a bit half-hearted.

There was also the bizarre haranguing of England’s Raheem Sterling every time he touched the ball. This had nothing to do with Irish-English rivalry. It was the home fans echoing his treatment at Liverpool, where a contractual stand-off has made him a figure of controversy.

Maybe it was just the Irish Liverpool supporters booing. In any case, Sterling appeared to be an unpopular currency at the Aviva, although not quite as unpopular as Delaney’s euro millions.

Horrid Henry

It says something about the changed relationship between Ireland and England these days that the most cutting chant the visitors could come up with involved eulogising a Frenchman who once handled a ball against us.

At least, that’s what we used to blame him for, before he also became unwittingly implicated in the mysterious loan affair.

In any case, the English chanted the name of Thierry Henry with feeling, confirming the strange turn of events by which a retired footballer from Paris has somehow become more of a hate figure in Ireland than all the other Henrys with which the country has had historic dealings, from Henry II to Henry VIII, combined.