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I'm not sure GAA fans are ready for VAR and David Clifford celebrating like he's Jude Bellingham

After a rollercoaster season these soccer imports might push some supporters over the emotional cliff

[David Clifford of Kerry celebrates]

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David Clifford celebrates in his own style as Kerry defeat Dublin (Image: Mandatory Credit INPHO/James Lawlor)

To the GAA traditionalist it surely seemed like the barbarians had ransacked the holy of holies.

It was the 1970s and Kevin Heffernan had ignited a spark that summoned an army to his back and set the three castles of Dublin football ablaze.

As this alien force massed in ranks on Hill 16, the purists watched - and then listened - in horror.

A strange new sound was rolling down off the old terrace.

Cheering your county to that point usually involved a rousing CMON CORK or a staccato chant along the lines of GAL-WAY!, WICK-LOW!, or KER-RY!,

Counties of more than two syllables needed to be shoehorned to fit the template, while If confined to a one-syllable place of birth then a variation along the lines of UP-DOWN was probably your best shot.

But here were the upstart Dublin hordes singing songs that sounded suspiciously like the repertoire of the old enemy chants imported from the football terraces of England.

In the autumn of 1974 it even inspired an investigation by the RTE programme Seven Days.

Thankfully the report concluded that Dublin supporters on Hill 16 may imitate English soccer club supporters with their songs and dress style but there is little or no violence in the expression of tribal difference between rival GAA supporters.

Gaelic football is defined by the age-old conflict between Culchies and Jackeens, a conflict which is described as pretty harmless.

A nation breathed a sigh of relief no doubt. It suggested that not all ideas imported from foreign games deserve the fear and loathing they are initially met with.

But now another bout in that age-old culchie-jackeen conflict between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park last weekend has led to fresh debate around two more soccer imports.

The first has been a clamour led by Dubs boss Ger Brennan for the introduction of video technology, a GAA version of the dreaded VAR.

This would either serve to assist or replace those men in white coats who currently umpire the white lines and goalposts.

In fairness to Ger the square ball for Kerrys game-changing goal could have been picked up by a VAR official seated in downtown Miami.

[A Kerry player stops the ball going into the back of the net against Dublin. But it may well have crossed the line]

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A Kerry player stops the ball going into the back of the net against Dublin. But it may well have crossed the line

The second debate is a hoary old favourite that has now been resurrected by the antics of perhaps the games most audacious talent.

High on a sense of his own majesty, David Clifford took to celebrating his breathtaking assortment of scores by channelling a cross between Jude Bellingham and Brazil's statue of Christ the Redeemer as he preened before the crowds.

At another point he emulated stars of the American World Cup stage as he conducted the levels of frenzy in the stands with a wave of his hands, like a gladiator issuing the order to unleash hell on my command.

Only a week ago Limerick hurling boss John Kiely made a similar lets be having you gesture to supporters and afterwards even chastised them for not doing their job.

But heres the thing. These giants of the arena, with their sports psychology, their mindfulness techniques and their processes, have no idea what its like high up in the great auditorium itself.

Across 70 minutes fans are repeatedly brought to the pitch of peak emotion and sent crashing back again.

Last Sunday there were over 40 scores, each met with the intensity on the terraces of a golden boot winner at the World Cup.

Thanks to Jim Gavins football review committee, the game now also has another 50 mini eruptions of joy or agony that greet every kick out won or ball turned over.

To stand on Hill 16 or sit in the Hogan Stand is to be tossed up and down on the rolling waves of a raging emotional tempest from throw-in to final whistle.

Weve been strapped to a rollercoaster where in a few short weeks Division 4 Wicklow beat Down who beat Donegal who beat champions Kerry.

There may not be war on the terraces, but fans are still required to leave the mild mannered Dr Jekyll at the turnstile and unleash our inner drooling Mr Hyde for 70 minutes, baying at icons like Clifford who we wouldnt say boo to if we met him on the street an hour later.

By the end of it all, supporters are drained, emptied-out husks of humans.

So as the one true professional body in the GAA there are no amateurs when it comes to buying tickets we need to put the foot down.

Awaiting Hawkeyes verdict of T or Nl like a man on trial for his life can be bad enough without adding the agony of having to recalibrate every high and low following a VAR review.

And the emotional temperature is already sufficiently fevered without inviting in soccer style celebrations to fuel the frenzy.

The traditionalists can breathe easy for the remainder of the summer too. As the soccer inspired chants of Hill 16 faded on Sunday they were replaced by the manic Irish strains of An Poc Ar Buille, a song about a mad goat that came down from the McGillicuddy Reeks to warn the Kerry folk about Oliver Cromwells army.

It was all too much for some young Kerry fans who got carried away and carried out. Like the rest of us they probably could do without their new mad GOAT from Fossa, or VAR or anyone else getting them even more 'ar buile' than the game already does.

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[Neil Leslie]

Neil Leslie

Neil Leslie is the Group Editor of the Irish Daily Mirror and Irish Daily Star. He is the winner of the NewsBrands Ireland Journalism Awards Headline of the Year 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024. He was also shortlisted for Popular Columnist of the year in 2022 and 2025.

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