Good Evening

You're very welcome to Richmond Park and that extends particularly to the players, officials and supporters of Sligo Rovers. For those of us who grew up in the era of 3pm kick-offs, it's a very rare throwback these days.

I want to use today's notes to address a very serious topic on which most of us have mixed feelings - the thorny topic of flares. They are a problem - and it's a very real problem. Most importantly is that they are extremely dangerous. They can burn at up to 2000 degrees Celsius (20 times the boiling point of water) which is literally hot enough to melt flesh from the bone. The dense smoke which they emit can cause real harm to people with breathing difficulties attending the game. And that's before considering the disruption they can cause to the match.

At half-time in our game in Dalymount Park a fortnight ago, we were warned that any further flares thrown by our fans would result in the abandonment of the game. A superb first-half performance which had put us in a very strong position to take three points off the league leaders was in jeopardy because of the actions of our own supporters. Last week, the start of our home game with Shamrock Rovers was delayed by five minutes because of a burning flare on the pitch, thrown by one of our fans. Stewards cannot remove a burning flare because of the high risk of being seriously burned - as indeed happened to a Bohemians steward some years ago.

This problem is endemic in the league, not just in our club, and I believe that the FAI and match officials are getting close to making their point in a more dramatic way by abandoning a fixture (and we probably came very close to that in Dalymount). Bringing flares into grounds is, of course, banned. It's easy to say that clubs should just search fans more thoroughly but the practical reality is that those who are determined to bring flares into the ground can hide them on their person in a way that's almost impossible to detect.

The only real solution is for the fans to come to a common understanding that lighting a flare in a crowded stand or terrace and/or throwing it onto the pitch is unacceptable; that, far from supporting your club, it is damaging it. As a club we will be intensifying our efforts through our Supporters Liaison Officer, our website and our social media channels to spread that message as widely as we can. We will also deal very seriously with anyone identified as having brought in or handled a flare. If, as some say, flares are part of the culture of football, then we need a culture change and we need all our fans to work with us on bringing it about.

Enjoy the game!

Tom O'Mahony President St Patrick's Athletic FC

ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC FOOTBALL CLUB

Richmond Park 125 Emmet Road, Inchicore, Dublin 8, Ireland Tel: +353

For media enquiries, please email press@stpatsfc.com

Opening Hours: 9.30am-5pm (Mon-Fri). See our facebook page for additional opening hours on match days.

HONOURS

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

1951/52, 1954/55, 1955/56, 1989/90, 1995/96, 1997/98, 1998/99, 2001/02, 2013

FAI CUP 1958/59, 1960/61, 2014, 2021

LEAGUE CUP 2000/01, 2003, 2015, 2016

PRESIDENT'S CUP 2014

LEINSTER SENIOR CUP 1947/48, 1982/83, 1986/87, 1989/90, 1990/91, 1999/2000, 2011, 2014, 2019

LOI SHIELD 1959/60

FAI SUPER CUP 1999

DUBLIN CITY CUP 1953/54, 1955/56, 1975/76

LFA PRESIDENT'S CUP 1952/53, 1953/54, 1955/56, 1971/72, 1990/91, 1996/97

FAI INTERMEDIATE CUP 1947/48, 1948/49, 1952/53 (Reserves)

FAI JUNIOR CUP 1940/41

FAI YOUTH CUP 1944/45