15 things you’ll only hear at a GAA match

The true GAA experience is unique to Ireland – and we should be proud of it! Here are some things you will only ever hear at a GAA match:

1. “Who won the Minor?”
Usually heard before the start of a big championship match, it is tradition for the minor (U18) match to be a curtain raiser for the senior match. Daniel Radcliffe is one celebrity who has a keen interest in the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship.

2. “Ah ref ye bollocks”
Pretty self-explanatory.

3.“Two hands!”
Only said at a hurling match, if a man goes down to pick the ball up with only one hand on his hurl and doesn’t succeed, this is considered one of the cardinal sins of the sport.

4.“Pull on it!”
Again, unique to hurling. If there’s a bit of a scuffle in the middle of the pitch around the ball and nobody can pick it up, the most popular opinion in the crowd at this stage is to “pull on it”. Translation: Swing at the ball on the ground as hard as you can in the direction of the other team’s goal.

5. “One of ye!”
Only one man on a team should go for a high ball at any one time. If more than one goes up for it and the team end up losing the ball, there is a chorus of this phrase heard from the crowd.

6. “Breaking ball!”
Again to do with the high ball. This refers to when the ball is not caught clean by one of the guys going up for it, and becomes up for grabs between the surrounding players. Winning the ‘breaking ball’ is considered to be one of the most important parts of gaelic football.

7. “Go down on it!”
The difference between gaelic football and soccer is that you can pick the ball up, and players are expected to do so at the first opportunity.

8. “Take your point!”
As most of you know, goals are worth three points in GAA. The problem with this is that as a result, some players feel the need to always go for goals, even if they have an opportunity to put the ball over the bar.

9. “Goal was on…”
This is the opposite to the previous point, where there actually was an opportunity to score a goal, but instead the player decided to go for the easy option and score a point.

10. “Get an umpire down there!”
When a point is given and the other team disagrees with that decision, the solution is to get their own umpire down there to even things up. Only heard at club matches where hawkeye is not available.

11. “Will you do umpire?”
Of course when an umpire is needed, nobody wants to do it, because you miss out on the craic on the sideline.

12. “Ah Ref that’s a black card”
A new phrase this year with the introduction of the new card. The black is given to a player if they commit a certain type of cynical foul, and it means that they have to be substituted off for the rest of the game. The problem is that people haven’t quite got the grasp of what types of foul warrant a black card, and this results in the supporters wanting a black card for every foul that the other team commits.

13. “Somebody hit him!”
Surprisingly, supporters are not asking one of their team to punch the guy with the ball. They are instead asking someone to tackle the guy who has ran unopposed for 80 yards down the pitch, and is now bearing down on their goal.

14. “I hear he’s flying in training”
If a new player is starting a match and supporters are confused as to why, in 99% of cases this is the reason given.

15. “Ah sure we’ll go in for a look”

Because nothing tastes better after a GAA match than a pint. Or 12.

via our content partner CT