VIOLENT SCENES between St Patrick’s Athletic and Bohemians fans occurred outside a popular Dublin pub before the start of the FAI Cup Final at the Aviva yesterday.
The violence was caught on camera and quickly circulated around social media through the medium of photos and videos. The footage showed men dressed in black, hurling bottles and flares at a small crowd of St Pat’s fans at the famous Irishtown House pub.
Many families, who were looking to attend the game, were caught up in the violence at the pub before the 4pm kickoff.
But the reckless behaviour from the hostile group caused chaos, when they fired bottles and flares at the innocent bystanders, some were even children.
The mass brawl spilled out into the streets following the shocking incident. Crowds of people can be seen in one video hurling punches at one another, while others desperately try to flee the violence.
An older man can be seen narrowly missing out on being hit by a flare in the middle of the street.
Bohs vs Pats Cup final. Bohs fans at the IH where Pats were pic.twitter.com/WksncZTTTm
— Dan (@Dan96957476) November 28, 2021
A staff member of the Irishtown House pub said the chaos ruined the great atmosphere among fans and that families were just looking for a good day out.
He said: “I’m just glad that most of the Pats fans didn’t retaliate. It could have been a lot worse if they had.”
He said that the people caught up in the attack were just at the premises enjoying food and drinks ahead of the match when the thugs dressed in black arrived and began their “orchestrated” attack.
“They [the thugs] came in throwing bottles. It was a very poor show. It was just a gang of thugs at the end of the day, but it was orchestrated.
“They came to cause trouble.”
He also insisted that those involved in the attack couldn’t be called fans – and that they were nothing more than thugs.
He added: “I wouldn’t say they were Bohs fans. They were just thugs out looking for trouble. They were all wearing black.
“Before that happened there was a good atmosphere, a barbecue was going on and there were kids with their families there.
“The next thing these lads came in was throwing flares and bottles on top of people. It’s shocking and it puts a stale taste on the whole thing.”
That was pre-game in Irishtown.pats v bohs pic.twitter.com/xITkEhfoFA
— Brian Mc Cormack (@preacherman1957) November 28, 2021
A large outdoor space with portloos and tents had been set up by the pub to accommodate match going fans
He added that it was lucky that the thugs didn't fire missiles inside the pub.
One Gardai vehicle had its windshield completely smashed in, after they arrived
In a statement they said they were investigating the incident, and claimed that “order was quickly restored by gardai” at the scene.
Bohemians FC, St Patrick’s Athletic and the FAI were all contacted for comment.
Robbie Benson proved the FAI Cup final spot-kick hero as St Patrick’s Athletic beat Bohemians on penalties at the Aviva Stadium.
The 2021 decider was scoreless after 90 minutes, 1-1 after extra-time and was then decided by a shoot-out with Benson scoring the vital winner to hand Saints a 4-3 decision.
Chris Forrester broke the deadlock in the first period of the additional 30 minutes with a fine individual goal, before Rory Feely powered a header home at the start of the second stanza.
But it was Stephen O’Donnell’s side who were celebrating at the Lansdowne Road venue, securing their first FAI Cup success since 2014.
Congrats @stpatsfc 4-3 winners on penalties against Bohemians, respect to Bohs tough way to loose any match.
Delighted for St Pats and Inchicore 🇮🇪 ☘️ 👍🏼 @FAIreland cup final ⚽️— Paul McGrath (@Paulmcgrath5) November 28, 2021
See More: Bohemians, FAI Cup Final, Football, St Pat's
