They should all take it as a compliment...
Dublin : 2005 - 2009
They were possessed of a strut which somehow managed to survive their multiple humiliations in the All-Ireland series.
They doled out some unmerciful hammerings in the Leinster championship, with the Hill joyously informing their cowed provincial rivals that they knew where their farms were. By contrast, they didn't seem to have the lowdown on the farms of Mayo (2006), Tyrone (2008) and Kerry (2009) supporters.
They also benefited from the (possibly unwritten) article smuggled into the GAA rulebook in the early 2000s, which stipulated that Ciaran Whelan must not be sent off under any circumstances.
The embarrassing collapse against Kerry in the 2009 All-Ireland quarter final precipitated a change of attitude, with the more sober and thoughtful Pat Gilroy realising that things had to change. Dublin went through a brief but violent (and largely forgotten) period of transition in early 2010, but emerged stronger than ever later that year. Ironically, the successful Dublin teams that came later seemed to have more humility than the mid-2000s side.
Their most sickening display, and the one which guaranteed their presence among this lofty company, was their huffy and quite hilarious reaction to Mayo warming up in front of the Hill in 2006.
The arrogance, the offensive sense of entitlement, the contrived and theatrical display of 'intensity' - they were all here. The most cringeworthy sight in the history of the GAA.
Chelsea : 2004 - 2014
In a perverse sort of way, one could almost grow quite fond of Chelsea. They embody, to an almost comical degree, the things that right thinking people claim to despise about professional football.
Their players have affairs with each other's wives, are embroiled a racism disputes, taunt American tourists after September 11th. They won nothing until they were bought by a Russian billionaire and benefactor of Vladimir Putin.
During European trips in the 90s, their supporters spent more time ripping up seats and hurling them in the direction of Johnny Foreigner and his protector, Constable Johnny Foreginer, than they did watching the game.
They also, putting it delicately, had a slight National Front problem back in the 1980s. And without wanting to sound too much like a Wolfe Tones loving, Celtic supporting, frequenter of the Player's Lounge, a segment of their supporters seem to have formed this strange 'alliance' with Rangers and Linfield.
To top it off, a large number of Tory MPs (David Mellor, John Major, George Osborne...) seem to support Chelsea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxlBR6I2qfM
Meath : 1986 - 1996
Meath were the great pantomime villains in Gaelic football during the 80s and 90s.
A quarter of a century later, rightly or wrongly, their name is still used as a byword for dirtiness in Gaelic football. Tyrone people wailed for years about the treatment meted out to Peter Canavan in 1996 semi-final.
They are also the most admired of all the teams on here. They had the clever resourcefulness and dogged resilience of all the great evil forces, be they Rupert Murdoch or Charlie Haughey.
Like Nick Faldo and Steffi Graf, they were one of sports great anti-bottlers - the cold, ruthless figure on the other side of the net when the tragic, all too human, people’s favourite dramatically crumbles before our eyes.
Recent Events:
The late '80s Meath team acquired a new-found popularity among Dublin supporters after this year's Leinster Final, when the Meath management accused a Dublin footballer (Eoghan O'Gara) of biting a Meath player (Mickey Burke) towards the end of the game.
Approximately 3,620 Dublin supporters left comments on social media to the effect that the Meath team of the late 1980s would not have reacted like this had one of their players been bitten.
The comments went something like this:
(insert name of late 80s Meath player - usually Mick Lyons) would never have complained like this after a game. They knew how to take their beating #realmen
It is understood that #MickLyonswasneveracrybaby was trending worldwide after that game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBnWAMf5DNQ
Detroit Pistons : 1986 - 1991
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLMYNxW6Mqs
Johnny Most was never a model of impartiality in the commentary box, but usually he could rein it in a small bit. Not so with the Pistons.
The Boston radio commentator unloaded on the Detroit Pistons, calling them a 'dirty ball club' and using epithets such as 'disgusting' and 'gutless.'
With Isiah Thomas, Rick Mahorn, Dennis Rodman and the notorious Bill Laimbeer, the Pistons were known for their snarling physicality.
'The Bad Boys' won the NBA championship in 1989 and 1990.
Larry Bird frankly described Bill Laimbeer as a 'dirty player' in a recent interview. They refused to shake hands with the Bulls after their 4-0 loss in 1991 Eastern Conference Finals.
England Rugby Team : 2000 - 2003
The most successful England rugby team of all time, they had the usual mix of cocky, cheeky-chappies who loved nothing more than tweaking the noses of their too easily annoyed Celtic rivals - and square-jawed, deep voiced, born-to-rule hulks who played rugby like thugs and spoke like junior members of the royal family.
A robotic, remorseless team, they rarely beat a team without hammering the shit of them.
Austin Healey and Matt Dawson were probably the most hated characters on the team, although Jerry Flannery had no time for the fairly inoffensive Steve Thompson.
England Rugby Team : 1990 - 1995
The most English rugby team in the history of English rugby: Will Carling, Dean Richards, Brian Moore, Jeremy Guscott and an outhalf (Rob Andrew) who thought he wasn't allowed not kick the ball when he got it.
Like all successful English rugby teams, they acquired a reputation for boring rugby which was possibly unfair. After all, they won the 1992 Five Nations championship by a mile, scoring a huge number of tries.
English losses tend to be greeted with the kind of euphoria last witnessed at the Battle of Bannockburn and people seemed to really glory in this team's (few) losses. Their 1990 Grand Slam decider loss to Scotland was the most emotional day in the history of Scottish rugby.
There was much rejoicing when Mike Catt 'curled up like a spider in the bath' (you think it was the poet laureate who composed that line? It was actually Phil Tuffnel or Mark Webster on one of those Channel 4 Top 100 programmes) when Jonah Lomu walked over him on route to his first try in the 1995 Rugby World Cup semi-final.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEnO6Q_7Kpk
