In Poland going to games is more associated with being a hooli, an ultra, and most middle-class people really despise the idea. I can say my family would definitely never go to a football game, and tbh even avoid going out on the time of the game to not meet the fans on the street to avoid unpleasantries. Also basically all my friends (middle class) despise football and football fans and think it’s an entertainment for simpletons and would never go to a game. The general popular opinion in this class is that footballers are overpaid lazy do-nothings who are all very bad at their job, and the fans are lowlife who will beat someone up.

Interesting - this is exactly how it was in England before the Premier League. Attendances were half of what they are today in the 80s. No families, just predominantly working class men. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to just piss where they were standing in the stadium, so you’d never taken your wife or kids to a game.

I had a look at Polish historical attendances, and if you go back to the 1970s the average league attendance is actually higher than the leagues in France, Netherlands and Scotland at that time. About +40% higher than it is now.

For Ireland, football is still extremely popular over there, probably their 2nd sport after Gaelic football. More so than Rugby despite their success in that. It’s just difficult to encourage people to go out in the cold to watch local football when you can sit in a warm pub and watch a Premier League game on TV easily enough.