The League of Ireland has seen lots of positives this season, including large attendances at many clubs over the past few weeks and foreign players joining the league. Well here’s some more positive news, this time from a place not overly synonymous with the League of Ireland.
Whilst perusing a League of Ireland group chat on Facebook I was fascinated to see a post from a fan in Mexico, not an Mexican-based Irishman, but a local from Guadalajara. I decided to have a chat with him to find out where his interest in the League of Ireland came from.
Laloo Lopez supports his local Mexican team Club Deportivo Guadalajara, who are more commonly known as Chivas. Lopez says Chivas are the biggest and most popular club in all the American continent. However, he is also a huge fan of SSE Airtricity League First Division side Finn Harps.
In that Facebook post Laloo said that it was almost impossible to get League of Ireland merchandise (and Finn Harps in particular) in Mexico so he decided to improvise. He attached a Finn Harps crest onto a dark blue Adidas t-shirt. He also intends to put the club sponsors, the KN Group’s Logo on it too. Laloo has been part of the group chat since November 2017.
It’s an unusual story, as he first heard about football in Ireland through the world-renowned football video game FIFA, which has included League of Ireland teams and players since
the FAI teamed up with Electronic Arts in 2007 to feature the league in FIFA 08.
So how does a kid from Guadalajara become a fan of a League of Ireland Club? Laloo (pictured above) takes up the story, “Well I started to follow the League of Ireland in early 2014 thanks to FIFA. I felt that any team there was interesting, so I started to read about the leagues teams in both the Premier and First Division and then I see it, the Finn Harps logo. I don't know how to describe it but it was love at first sight, then I read about the clubs history and players and I just fell in permanent love with the club.”
Whilst he’s never seen Finn Harps play, or even been in Ireland, he does harbour an ambition to come to Ireland. He told me, “I've never been to Ireland but it's one of my dreams to visit the country with my fiancé and travel all around the country from Dublin to Letterkenny. It’s difficult for me to watch any broadcast of matches (when Harps do be on TV) because of University, as most most games are when I'm in classes and and I can’t skip them.”
Which player would be his favourite in the team? “My favorite player I think is a tie between Paddy McCourt and well known ex-Finn Harps midfielder Sean Houston, while my all time favourite Harps player is the goalscoring legend Kevin McHugh.”
McHugh scored a total of 142 league goals for Harps in two spells at the club and us revered by many Harps supporters. He retired last season after losing a finger in a freak accident. While jumping a fence during a coaching session in Donegal McHugh’s wedding ring got caught in it and his finger got severed.
His post in the group chat has gone down really well, it’s been nothing but positive, and Laloo says that being part of the group is fantastic, “I never imagined that a jersey post could be that popular. I really enjoy the group because of their partnership, they're all very kind all the time, with everyone, and it's great. Here in Mexico you cannot post anything about your team without getting lots of rude comments,” he says laughing.
Finn Harps and Chivas are worlds apart. The Mexican side play in the Estadio Akron (pictured below), a stadium with a capacity of 46,232, while Finn Harps play in the very modest Finn Park with a modest capacity of just 6,000. However the club have have plains to move to a new stadium in the near future. Chivas have won 12 Liga MX Primera Division titles along with 4 Mexican Cups, while Finn Harps have 1 FAI Cup win in their history, in 1974.
When asked what his friends and family think about his love for Finn Harps Laloo laughs and says, “They think that I'm crazy and they laugh at me because they think it's a joke of mine but they're wrong, this is a die hard feeling.”
Like any Finn Harps fan Laloo was disappointed with the way things ended up last season but he’s looking forward now to what he hopes will be a big year, with promotion at the end of it. He said, “It was very sad to see my team relegated, but it will be a tough season this year and I'm very sure that Harps will be back again in the Premier Division for next season.”
Picture credit: Finn Harps DC, Laloo Lopez
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