It may well be a meaningless friendly, but their is a distinct feeling of animosity in the Aviva tonight as was evidenced by the home crowd booing God Save The Queen during the national anthems.
massive boos for god save the queen at the aviva. haven't been to every match v NI in the past but that's worst reception i've ever heard for the away team anthem.
— Ken Early (@kenearlys) November 15, 2018
The people that bothered to turn up loudly boo ‘God save the Queen’ at the Aviva Stadium.
— Darren Cleary (@RadioCleary) November 15, 2018
Massive boos around the stadium here at Aviva Stadium for God Save The Queen. Worst reaction I've heard for an away anthem here.
— Jonathan Higgins (@Jhiggins3) November 15, 2018
Huge boos for God Save The Queen
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) November 15, 2018
It's hard to say exactly what was at the heart of the Irish fans' decision to boo their rivals anthem, perhaps the heightened political tension surrounding Brexit has a part to play.
It's not the first time Irish fans have booed God Save The Queen, doing so in their side's 5-0 victory against Northern Ireland in 2011 in the Carling Nations Cup, though Sunday Telegraph reporter Luke Thomas interestingly made the point that when Ireland played England two years ago the fans refrained from booing the same anthem.
Loud booing of God Save The Queen by home supporters, which didn’t happen when they played England two years ago... pic.twitter.com/7IpS8jCoMG
— Luke Edwards (@LukeEdwardsTele) November 15, 2018
