Football

Some poor bugger did a great job decorating his car with a very professional looking England paint-job, only for the England team to replay his faith with abject failure.

So now he's backing Ghana.

Me to as it happens. Well, Ghana and Germany.

The Conservatives have published a picture of David Cameron watching the England v Slovenia game in an oak panelled drawing room, without a beer, wearing a button-down shirt. Just like millions of other England fans then?

I'm reliably informed that he and his World Cup PR SpAd sang a rousing chorus of Rule Britannia after the match before heading down Soho to have "Born English, Die English" tattooed across their backs.

The photo is not at all posed or contrived, as I think you'll agree.

UPDATE

ConHome are running a caption competition on the aforementioned photo.

UPDATE II

The Times tells us this about Cameron's love of football.

The Bullingdon Berk claims that he is a Villa fan because “the first game I ever went to was an Aston Villa game and so I am an Aston Villa fan”. Man of the people Dave forgot to mention that he was taken along by his uncle, Sir William Dugdale, who just happened to be the Villa chairman at the time.

I've bought two tickets for the Chelsea vs Man City, 27th February. It could be a real needle match. I'm looking forward to it already!

Naturally Mrs Toque and I will be sat in the Shed cheering on Chelsea. But I have to say that I'm team Bridge.

Are you?

The following is a post that I made on the 12th Sept, 2005, on the CEP News Blog.

Craig Reedie

Here is what UEFA said about England on their Euro 2004 website:

"While the vast array of mysterious Neolithic monuments - most famously Stonehenge - are testimony to a history which stretches back as far as 4000BC, the indigenous people of England had been overrun by invaders many times before the 19th century, therefore making any concept of an English nation dubious."

Their latest offering that I would like to highlight on these pages is from the UEFA.com magazine, which informs us that:

British Olympic Association boss Craig Reedie, himself a Scot, believes a UK team would improve the tournament. ""There are all sorts of ways of doing it and I do think the Scots' concerns are misplaced,"" Reedie said. Former Scotland captain Colin Hendry supported Reedie. ""I think it would be a good idea,"" he said. ""But only for the Olympics. I wouldn't want it for the other competitions."

If you are opposed to the creation of a British football team then you might like to email Craig Reedie at craig.reedie@boa.org.uk

Why only for the Olympics? What is so special about the Olympics that we have to merge our football teams? And if we merge them for the Olympics then why not just merge them for all competitions? It seems to me that certain people are more interested in the Olympics than they are in football. Football fans, be they English, Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish, should oppose a British football team.

Three years later I'm delighted to read that Sir Craig Reedie has recently failed to win election to the International Olympic Committee executive board. IOC president Jacques Rogge offered the following words of condolence:

"I understand the natural disappointment and you are a great sport and come from a country that invented sportsmanship. You have our total confidence."

Scots invented a lot of things - great and wondrous things - but, with the greatest of respect Jacques, I don't think sportsmanship was one of them.

Craig Reedie was knighted in the 2006 New Year's Honours list, one of many involved in the London 2012 bid to have been gifted a gong for their services to Britishness.

The Problem

Now that London has won the Olympics there is pressure from politicians for Britain to form a British football team to take part in the Olympic tournament. The trouble with this idea is that the UK is a state made of four nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each of these four nations has a separate sporting identity and they compete as separate entities in world football; it is worth remembering that the game was invented in England and the first ever international football match was played between Scotland and England in Glasgow, 1872 (it ended 0-0).

There is much rivalry between the home nations, and between English and Scottish fans in particular there is a mutual loathing. But it's that passion that makes football the sport that it is, and it's what makes clashes between great rivals - England v Germany, USA v Mexico, Germany v Holland, Argentina v Brazil, Scotland v Faroe Islands - so very exciting. Take that rivalry away and you are left with twenty two men kicking a piece of leather around. Dilute that rivalry and you are left with an international Dodo of a sport. Frankly I couldn't care less for a British team, I certainly won't support one, and I cannot understand how the English FA, even less Trevor Brooking, can even countenance the idea of playing a British team instead of an English team. The very idea goes against the tradition of the game and the wishes of the fans, not to mention the players themselves.

The Solution

From the Scotsman:

To me this make perfect sense. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should compete as separate teams at the Olympics, in eveything. That way we get more home athletes that can qualify and we retain our national teams. I'm English first, British second. And I am sure that many Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish feel similarly about their nationality. I hope that they do, and I also hope that the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish fans can all support this call.

Either England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland compete as separate teams, in all events, at the Olympics, or we compete as Britain and have no team to represent us at football.

Host the Banner

Please host a banner on your blog or website and link back to this blog entry.

Take the Pledge

Let them know the strength of our feeling on this.

"We the undersigned refuse to support a British football team at the Olympics, or in any tournament. Furthermore, we pledge to go out of our way to discourage any future British football team by pledging to boo each player in the British team, regardless of nationality, each time that he receives the ball."

Simply click on comments to sign.

UPDATE: Please sign Pledge Bank