Last-minute postponement derails American’s ambition to see Galway United in action
The disappointment that Galway United fans felt when their Premier Division clash with Shels was called off at the last minute on Friday night paled into insignificance beside one fan who was making his Eamon Deacy Park debut – having travelled over 1,750km from Germany just for the game.
But that’s only half the story for 22-year-old student Pierce Allen – because his bad run was compounded when he was thrown out of his Airbnb later that same night.
The American is on a semester in Europe studying Environmental Science in Germany and he took the chance to, almost, tick two things off his bucket list.
The first was to come to Galway, the land of his forefathers, and then to cheer on Galway United, his team on Football Manager for the past year or more.
“I built the team on Football Manager because I have family from Maam Cross, Ireland - my great-grandmother, they all come from there. So I looked to find what’s the closest football club to there and Galway United is just 45 minutes away – so I said ‘let’s do that’,” he explains.
And he’s been enjoying a good run as Galway United manager, making some money with shrewd signings – and using some of the actual players as well.
“My biggest success was a guy called Sam Burthog – he’s a fake player – but I bought his for about a hundred thousand euro from Sligo Rovers, which is ironic because they’re such big rivals of Galway. And he became the greatest player in Galway United’s history.
I built the team on Football Manager because I have family from Maam Cross
“But there were two real players who stuck with me for a long time and that was Francely Lomboto and David Hurley. Also Patrick Hickey but he’s not at Galway anymore.
“Stephen Walsh was another who became Galway United’s U21 coach after he retired,” he adds - even though Stephen is a long way from retirement in real life.
"I also ‘signed’ Mario Götze (scorer of the only goal in the 2014 World Cup Final) as a free agent towards the end of his career. He also went on to become a coach for Galway United,” he adds.
But all of that online action was when he was still at home in Arizona – before he knew he’d be in Germany and, as it turns out, a mere 1,750km from Galway.
“When I realised I was studying abroad in Túbingen this semester, I wanted to go to Ireland anyway for a week to see the town where my family’s from – and I got the flight a day early to go to a Galway United game. But we all know what happened next.”
As it transpired, he didn’t even make it into the ground.
“I was in McGinn’s; I was told on Twitter to go there before the game and I was sat at a table with a couple of guys and one of them got a text to say the game might be called off.
“But I decided to drive to the stadium anyway to see if the game was called off and I found out from the parking guy that it was – so I went back to McGinn’s.”
The game was scheduled to go ahead at 7.45pm and visitors Shelbourne had – like Pierce – taken no chances with the fuel crisis, because they had come to Galway and stayed in a hotel the night before.
But the referee’s pitch inspection less than 45 minutes before kick-off deemed the pitch unplayable, even though those fans already within the ground didn’t agree.
Many of those fans already in the ground made the same trek as Pierce – back to the pubs in Woodquay, where business was booming two hours ahead of the normal influx of United fans on a Friday night.
Ultimately it turned out that wasn’t the end of Pierce’s Galway drama either, because the night took a second turn for the worse when he went back to his Airbnb at 9.30pm.
“I forgot to knock on the door when I needed to go to the bathroom – and I really needed to because I’d been in McGinn’s,” he admitted.
“First time it happened, I thought it was the laundry room, but it was the other guests’ room and they were very annoyed.
“But the second time I really needed to go in a hurry, and I should have knocked but I had to get the host’s attention quickly, so I went in. She was not happy and she threw me out at 11pm. It was okay - I found a hotel.”
As for sightseeing on his visit, Pierce saw McGinn’s and Maam Cross ‘and the port area’ before heading north to Belfast.
It’s a crazy story I have about my family – so my great-great grandfather was supposed to come to the US on the Titanic
But, as it turns out, drinking too many pints is something of a family right of passage – and Pierce loved recounting the story of his great-great grandfather Patrick Joyce from Maam Cross who was supposed to sail on the maiden voyage of the Titanic.
“It’s a crazy story I have about my family – so my great-great grandfather was supposed to come to the US on the Titanic.
“He went down to Cobh, but before going to the boat, he and his friend decided to stay and have a couple more Guinnesses and they got blacked-out drunk and missed the boat.”
Incidentally, despite his proud Irish roots, Pierce is not called after Padraig Pearse but Hawkeye Pierce because his mom and dad were watching an episode of M*A*S*H when they decided to call him Pierce instead of their original choice of Trent.
He is flying back to Germany this Friday so his United mission remains unfulfilled – but he’d love to come back for a Galway game before he heads back Stateside in July.
“If I could get a cheap flight, I’d love to come back and meet the players. That would be awesome; a dream come true.”
He might need new recommendations on an Airbnb too.