An essential part of any away trip is pre and/or post match chipper. With this feature we hope to give a little review on the good, the bad and the almost poisonous establishments we visit on our travels…

Competition: Airtricity League
Opposition: Monaghan United
Pre Match Chipper: Alfredos, Granard.
Rating: 9 chips out of 10
Mid Match Chipper: Mon Dogs.
Rating:8 chip out of 10
Ladies and Gentlemen … we may just have found a diamond in the rough and in the most unlikely place! Due to a full days work, the hunger pangs kicked in early into the trip to Gortakeegan and of all places Granard was the earliest available stop off. In to Alfredos where we made the group was split … to eat meat or not!!!! So we ordered burgers, kebabs and curry chips to cover all angles. Verdict was top notch. Only downside was the curry wasnt up to scratch and so a chip was dropped in the rating. But this was the only one dropped as the kebab and burgers were savage. Adequate seating and staff were up for a bit of a laugh. Alfredos in Granard … we salute you!

Half time in Monaghan can mean only 1 thing … Mon Dogs! As usaul they were first class however a first timer made the comment that they would have been a bit nicer with some cheese and so the Mons were docked 2 chips for this unacceptable oversight! Docking 2 chips may seem a bit OTT but after all we are harsh but fair!!!

Competition: Airtricity League
Opposition: Derry City
Pre Match Chipper: Big Bites, Ballybofey,Donegal
Rating: 6 chips out of 10
Post Match Chipper: Ariana Kebab House, Ballinagh, Cavan.
Rating: 1 chip out of 10
Long trip to Derry so we broke the journey with a stop off in Ballybofey for food. Went into Big Bites in Ballybofey and they earned a chip straight away for slagging one of the lads about his large food order.
Then as soon as they earned a chip they lost it again for taking so long to serve. This delay directly contributed to us missing the opening 10-15 minutes of the game. But seating was adequate and when it eventually came the food was good. Except the chewing gum cheese! Mozzarella on a curry chips with cheese is not the way to go!

Post match and a different route home lead us to a place in Ballinagh in Cavan. The 1 and only chip earned was down to them being open at 1am or so. Unfortunately that’s where the praise ended. Food was disguising … you wouldn’t even feed it to a pig!!!
Update: 3 days later and we are still not the better for it!!!

Competition: Airtricity League
Opposition: Salthill Devon
P@ost Match Chipper: Supermacs
Rating: 4 chips out of 10
Salthill deducted chips due to being so far in the middle of nowhere we had to go to Supermacs near Terryland for the after match feed. Not bad eating but as its a franchise/chain we couldnt comment much

Competition: Leinster Senior Cup
Opposition: Bray Wanterers
Pre Match Chipper: ?
Rating: 8 chips out of 10
Cant remember the name of this establishment but its just off the mini roundabout near the train station. Possibly next door to a taxi company. Nice chipper but the lack of seating lost this place marks straight away. We all thought the proprietor was a Town fan but turned out he was wearing an Inter Milan jersey. Buy 1 Get 1 Free on all hot food definitely made up for the lack of seating, but having no bin available was a bit odd. The lad insisted that we throw the rubbish over the counter? Good chips non the less and at 2-4-1 we were well fed!

Competition: Preseason Friendly
Opposition: Drogheda United
Post Match Chipper: Slivios
Rating: 8 chips out of 10
From the moment we walked in, Slivios had it all. Light, heat and adequate seating for our large frames. As we walked through the door the many staff greeted us with a smile … mainly as the place was empty before we made an appearance. Food was damn tasty and so appreciative was Silvio (if that was his name) that he kept trying to give us extra chips. The chippers only downfall was the hanging lights … they were fairly low and one of the lads managed to wallop his head off one as he stood up!

Competition: Preseason Friendly
Opposition: Dundalk
Post Match Chipper: Wimpy Burger
Rating: 1 chip out of 10
Has to be the worst service we have ever experienced … took about 30 minutes to dish up a burger and chips … and at that the chips weren’t even cooked through. The server kept forgetting orders and dishing out incorrect orders … and seeing as there was only 5 people there … and 3 of the orders were for the same meal … it shouldn’t have been that confusing! The only bonus points were due to the close proximity to Oriel … just out the lane and turn right.

Competition: Preseason Friendly
Opposition: Bohemians
Post Match Chipper: Leo Burdocks, Phibsboro
Rating: 8 chip out of 10
A miserable, wet evening in Dublin … we were cold … and hungry … and Leo took us under his wing for a big feed. With Leo Burdocks you know what your going to get. The fish ‘n chips weer spot on and the chicken burger was savage. Leo Burdock, we salute you. Plenty of seating and walking distance to Dalymount. Cant complain!

Half Time Penalty Competition

At half team of the EA Sports Cup Match between Athlone and Derby rivals Longford, 2 Longford fans took on two iSTAT members in a  penalty competition.  Unfortunately Davy “Guissepe Rossi” Dully and David “The Plank” McKervey were unable to match the consistency of the rivals Adrian “Dutch Master Class” Massop and Marty “Martinho”  Stapleton.

The victors walked away with bragging rights till next time and not to forget a complimentary Hot Dog.

Not quite the Alan Partridge intro, but over the past couple of weeks, iSTAT have teamed up with Athlone Community Radio to record a series of interviews with iSTAT committee and volunteers. Interviews were conducted by Damien Hunter in the ACR Studio and also by Eugene McGivern “in the field” with his now famed “radio station in a bag”.

The local internet radio station have used this opportunity to highlight the work done by the Supporters Trust and get the views and opinions of those involved and we are very grateful for the coverage and promotion.

Not quite sure when these interviews will be aired, but you can check out ACR on the web @ www.athlonecommunityradio.ie