Dino (Jnr.) - Hooked in Wales

NICKNAME :
Dino Jnr

MEMORIES OF FIRST N. IRELAND MATCH :
Northern Ireland vs Denmark seeing a 26 year old Peter Schmeichel in nets for Denmark at Windsor Park in 1990.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS AT WINDSOR :
September 7th 2005 – Sir David
November 15th 2005 – Fans chanting at Cristiano Ronaldo “You’re supposed to be in jail!”
February 2006 – Estonia in the snow

MEMORIES OF FIRST AWAY TRIP :
Northern Ireland vs Wales – September 2004, been hooked ever since!

FAVOURITE / WORST AWAY TRIP:
Favourite Away Trip: Poland. Amazing place, fantastic hotel, meeting the players, great match, cheap beer, Amarillo 15 times in a row in a Polish bar at 3:15am in the morning!!
Worst Away Trip: Austria. Grotty Hole, too big, too many “We Beat England” band-wagon hoppers, unsavoury singing re-emerging, Miles away from the pitch, empty Maze-like Stadium and poor match. Only plus point was the all green kit being sported by the team.

MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT SUPPORTING N.I. :
Malta 1 – 1 Northern Ireland: Paying £400 for a brilliant week’s holiday to be let down by a lack-lustre performance against a team we should be beating comfortably. Other than that, the sheer embarrassment of trying to defend the team during the now infamous McIlroy goal drought.

FAVOURITE N.I. GOALS :
David Healy vs England – 2005
Ivan Sproule vs Estonia – 2006
David Healy vs Wales – 2004
Gerry Armstrong vs Spain – 1982 (via video-tape)

FAVOURITE N.I. PLAYERS OF ALL TIME :
David Healy – living legend
Keith Gillespie – dedication and service to the country
Jim Magilton – Always recall him from Windsor matches as a child
Gerry Taggert – Got stuck in
Iain Dowie – Scored most of our goals before Healy

FAVOURITE N.I. PLAYERS OF CURRENT SQUAD :
David Healy would be obvious choice, but have great respect for Gillespie and especially Maik Taylor who is fantastic. Special mention to a big star for Northern Ireland’s future – Steven Davis, a legend in the making.

FAVOURITE N.I. MANAGER :
Lawrie Sanchez – restored belief in the team and fans.

DREAM N.I. TEAM (INCLUDING 3 SUBS) :
Pat Jennings
Stephen Morrow
Gerry Taggert
Aaron Hughes
Anton Rogan
Keith Gillespie
Steven Davis
Jim Magilton
George Best
Norman Whiteside
David Healy

Subs:
Iain Dowie
Kingsley Black
Mal Donaghy

BEST AND WORST N.I. KITS :
Best: Red and White Quarters Away Strip
Worst: Olympic Sport Green and Navy Home Shirt

FAVOURITE REPLICA SHIRT OR OTHER N.I. MERCHANDISE :
Bangor NISC Jacket – best jacket I've ever had!! Close second is the OWC British Champions Green Polo Shirt.

THOUGHTS ON THE MAZE :
Wales can nearly fill the Millennium Stadium which holds 80,000 people for Internationals, namely because it is in the centre of town. Fans complained that The Attaturk Stadium in Istanbul was a nightmare to get too and from for Liverpool’s 5th Champions League triumph in 2005. The Maze is Lisburn NOT Belfast, no matter what way The Politicians dress it up. Any Team that doesn’t have its main stadium in its Capital City or largest City is a joke.

YOUR IDEAL N.I. HOME STADIUM :
Titanic Quarter or any other Central site suggested.

IF N.I. DO NOT QUALIFY FOR MAJOR TOURNAMENTS, WHAT OTHER INTERNATIONAL TEAM WOULD YOU SUPPORT:
Italy – 2nd in my heart to Northern Ireland
Scotland – Think the Green and White Army and the Tartan Army have a lot in common!
Germany – Cos England think every time they play Germany it’s a re-run of World War II!

DO YOU FOLLOW FOOTBALL AT JUNIOR, IRISH LEAGUE OR CROSS-CHANNEL LEVEL ? :
Liverpool
Hearts
Northern Ireland
Italy

INTEREST IN OTHER SPORTS :
WWE - Sports Entertainment to be precise, but one of the funniest things to watch on TV

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE BANGOR N.I.S.C. DEVELOP ? :
More organised way of arranging Away Trips
More Club events – especially family fun days etc
Better communication with members

HOPES AND FEARS FOR THE FUTURE OF FOOTBALL IN GENERAL AND N.I. IN PARTICULAR :
Chelsea ruining the competition in the premier league by buying the title, and any decent player that comes on the market.
The powers that be forcing Northern Ireland into a stadium the fans don’t want.
More and more Northern Irish eligible players opting to play for the Republic of Ireland rather than us for whatever reasons.

MY FAVOURITE N.I. RELATED PHOTO EVER :
Rafa Benitez with the Northern Ireland Flag at Anfield on the last home game of the season vs Aston Villa 29th April 2006.


Rafa joins the GAWA