DUBLIN GAA star Brian Fenton finds it ‘fascinating’ that League of Ireland fans can go from foes to friends in the space of a week.
Fenton is a Shelbourne fan outside of GAA and has admitted he is guilty of jumping ‘on the bandwagon’ in recent times.
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He told Off The Ball: “I think I was probably guilty, like a lot of people, with the general vibe in the League of Ireland over many years.
“I would’ve gone as a child and then fell away from it, for a number of reasons. Obviously chasing my own career in sport and stuff.
“And I’ve been guilty of getting back on the bandwagon now that there seems to be a great buzz there.
“I think Damien Duff is a huge reason for that. I know he’s a very controversial character but he wears his heart on his sleeve and as a Shels fan you can’t do anything but love him.
“It has come with a lot of things. It has come with attendances, with the way they market the game, the hype around the game, the game being televised.
“It’s like anything, you put enough effort in and you’ll get the return and the reward and they’re serving up some great games.
“Shels are going to Europe and everything so it’s a great time to be back supporting it and back involved.”
The 31-year-old acknowledges the rivalry that Shels fans have with clubs like Bohemians but thinks it is ‘amazing’ that both sets of supporters could be in Hill 16 together a few days after being at each other’s throats.
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Fenton added: “It’s fascinating that they’ll all be on Hill 16 supporting Dublin the following weekend. It’s amazing like.
“Part of it is that Premier League, Mean (Green) Street movie, scraps between Millwall and West Ham wasn’t it so part of it is that and the glorified nature of that.
“Thankfully they’re all Dubs fans at the end of the day.”
Fenton should return to Dublin against Offaly on April 28 after missing last week’s clash with Meath due to suspension.
The midfielder was sent off against Derry in the league final and had an appeal to overturn the decision rejected.
He said: “We had a look and thought that appealing it would be a good exercise.
“But obviously the CCCC and that committee chose to uphold it, which is fair enough.
“I was disappointed but you have to respect it and move on.”
