Swiss fans march towards Windsor for Larne tie: ‘We love Belfast – you have a pub culture we don’t have!’

Amidst a throng of football fans heading to Windsor Park on Thursday evening, one stuck out, with a hoodie that said: “The city is green white” on the back.

It was spotted by a few residents along Sandy Row, with one woman repeating the words and shouting “there you go” as 2,000 people made their way to Northern Ireland’s national stadium.

But alas, these were not members of NI’s ‘green and white army’.

They were fans of FC St Gallen, the Swiss team who came to Belfast this week to play Larne in the European Conference League.

The city, which is situated in northeastern Switzerland, boasts the same colours as Northern Ireland’s international team.

This proved entertaining for some of the revellers at the Royal Bar who came out at 5.30pm to see them off, as they made their way from Bradbury Place to the game.

One local even lit a flare for them as they passed the pub, with others in Rangers jerseys stopping for photographs with the Swiss supporters.

It added to the city’s already heavy traffic congestion during rush hour, with police closing off Sandy Row all the way up Tates Avenue for the game, and more diversions being put in place.

But even people out and about walking in the area were cheering them on.

For many of the crowd – mostly made up of men – the match marked their first time visiting Northern Ireland, and plenty were letting it sink in.

This reporter spotted one fan stop to take a photograph of a union flag flying near the Sandy Row Rangers Supporters Club.

He later grabbed a picture of some train workers in hi-vis vests who were peering over the wall of the City Hospital railway stop.

Maybe the railway staff members in Switzerland wear different uniforms – who knows?

The mood was merry for the most part, despite some reports of ‘ultras’ at the front of the crowd getting in spats with local people and doing some damage along the way.

The first person I spoke to had limited English, but was quick to tell me that St Gall – the saint their home place is named after – was from Bangor, and later moved to Switzerland, where the original town of St. Gallen grew around the Abbey of St Gall.

So, in a way, fan Mark Rohner believes that all the St Gallen fans “have Irish roots” as well.

While historians believe that St Gall may actually come from a border area in France, he is known as a representative of the Irish monastic tradition, and as a young man went to study under Comgall of Bangor Abbey in Co Down.

It just goes to show it’s a small world after all, and sport can often bring that small world together.

FC St Gallen is one of the oldest clubs in Switzerland, having been founded 145 years ago.

They have a number of famous results in their European history, most notably when they knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League with a 2-1 aggregate win in 2000.

However, friends Simon Jacob and Benny Mullis said things have taken a downward turn for the team in recent times, and they were just pleased to be back in the competition this year to have ‘away’ games to look forward to again.

The squad qualified for Europe by finishing fifth in the Swiss Super League last season, which meant they were the final team to secure a spot in the Conference League.

After visiting famous Belfast’s pubs such as Robinson’s Bar and Henry’s, Simon said: “I love this city more than the game. We all do. We love football. We’re all happy to just be here and have an away game in a beautiful country, where we celebrate pub culture – which we don’t have!”

Pointing to hundreds of other St Gallen’s fans ahead of them on their trek to Windsor, he added: “I don’t care about the result, I’m here for the fun. We’re here for a good time, I mean look at that”.

Benny noted: “It’s an amazing city and we saw the blue sky this morning.

“Ten years ago I was in Swansea. It was not the same as here. People are very nice here.”

News Catch Up – Thursday 7 November