Supporting England when Scotland aren't involved??? [Archive]

brokencross

17-Jun-04, 14:51

I am a proud Scot, here down here in England Land and I am so sick of the sight of the red and white St Georges flags adorning all the cars, vans, lorries, shops and houses.

It is all so false; patriotism it is not!!!! However, I disagree with you, but only slightly!
Let England win against the Swiss and then get beaten by Croatia.

I normally support "home" nations in all sporting competitions, however the arrogance of England as a team, and some of the media annoys me like hell.

My only hope is that if England do qualify (and in a way, I hope they do), that the idiotic minority of their fans do not misbehave, riot, wreck the place and get them thrown out!!

If they are put out...... it should be by their rubbish football.

I agree Pleeeeeeezzzzzeeeee let Beckham miss another penalty.

mike.mckenzie

17-Jun-04, 15:37

I live in Liverpool, I see the car flags done to death, and agree with the falseness of the gesture.

The English are such bad losers and even worse winners, they get so carried away with their own self hype it is sickening. You'd think that all they have to do is turn up for a tournament according to the media. When did they last win anything? 1966. On home soil. And a dodgy linesman as well.

As for the rugby....sheesh

rich

17-Jun-04, 16:07

We scots are chastened and refined by our glorious history of utter and total defeat.

Not for us the coarseness of the winner!

Last time we beat England we took the goalposts home did we not? Or did we merely set fire to them?

I must say that England losing to France in overtime was a disaster of Scottish proportions.

Perhaps they are learning futility from us. Should we send them over one of our crack goalpost removal squads? Just in case....

mike.mckenzie

17-Jun-04, 16:27

My dad was there dancing on the pitch in 1977!

We last beat them in 2000 in the second leg play off for Euro 2000 in what was supposed to be the last ever game at Wembley, they got beat and decided to have the next competitive game as the last ever at Wembley...couldn't have the last match being remembered as a Scotland win...

So they ended up with Germany (who they hate as we know), and they lost 1-0! Funny.

It was a disister of Peru / Costa Rica proportions, and i did say to them...

Now you know how it feels after McAllister missed the pen and Gascoigne scored that goal straight after... :D

squidge

17-Jun-04, 16:43

Ooooooooh

I am getting such deja vu - it only seems minutes since the World cup and here we are again. I do so love this freindly rivalry.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

golach

17-Jun-04, 19:37

In order to assist other motorists in identifying potentially dangerous drivers, it's now compulsory for anyone with a lower than average driving ability to display a warning flag comprising of a red cross on awhite background attached to the top of at least one door of their vehicle. For drivers of exceptionally low ability, additional flags are required.

Stegglervision

17-Jun-04, 20:22

Is it true that the English have changed the names of their lower divisions -

Division 1 is now the Championship?
Divion2 is now Division1
Division 3 is now Division 2
and Division 3 is now SPL? :evil

Well done England! [lol]

2little2late

17-Jun-04, 22:11

Caught the beginning of match of the day. Think it was the day after England were beaten 3-2 by France with just a minute to go. Gary Lineker said to one of the pundits, can't remember who.

"Well England have shown they are capable of beating France, do you think they can go all the way and win the competition?" :confused

Correct me if i'm wrong but did France beat England 2-1?

iain

17-Jun-04, 22:55

spl to div 3 ??? what happened to liverpool and blackburn!!ha,ha,ha.
croats rule ok.

JAWS

18-Jun-04, 00:59

The only reason they even got to the finals in 1966 was that the "cloggers" where allowed to run wild.

I was sure the referees were sworn to blindness and not just for England.

It looked to me as if a decision had been made that no South American team and Especially Brazil were not to be allowed to succeed. (Remember, Brazil were going for their third consecutive win and would keep the cup forever. They later did just that! :D )

Any player who had any skills at all was immediately hacked down and fouls were so often that it resembled a shin-kicking contest rather than football.

The final was between the two teams left standing and one set of thugs flooked it over the other set of thugs. :evil

For a long time after that Football decended into the depth of "Can he play football? No, but he's got a good work-rate" and "Who needs skills when you can show them boots with good studs!"

"My Brain Hurts Brian!" :p

rich

18-Jun-04, 14:43

And forwemost among the cloggers was NOBBY STYLES!
What a euphonius name.Nobby - yes you can just feel the impact of the studs followed by Styles - don't you feel your legs being swept out from under you?

JAWS

18-Jun-04, 16:32

It wasn't just England, it was almost all the European teams.

The problem was that over aggressive tackles were almost completely ignored.

European Teams, including England, were determind to show the "Fancy Dans''' in the rest of the World that Football was a "Mans Game" and not for "Cissies".

The Referees had to tow the party line and let them get on with it!

England won because they were the last Thugs standing. (And the iffy goal of course!)

mike.mckenzie

18-Jun-04, 16:54

Weren't Argentina reviled during that world cup for their "hatchet man" tactics?

Anyway, they English were flukey to win by 3 last night...think they'll qualify now. Draw with Croatia? It'll be a tough one, the Croats looked good last night. Prso will score LOADS in the SPL.

JAWS

18-Jun-04, 20:14

I think it was in the 1970 World Cup that Argentina had decided to play the European way.

I remember Brazil had decided "If you can't beat them, join them!" and were not very good at it.

By 1974 Brazil, if I remember correctly, had decided it was time to teach the European teams a Football Lesson and Won the Trophy outright. Isn't that the one that Pele missed scoring by about two feet from inside his own half?

It's all a long time ago so I might be wrong.

Jennie

19-Jun-04, 17:50

Well I moved from England to scotland but im still Gonna be supporting england!

COME ON ENGLAND!!!

2little2late

19-Jun-04, 21:16

Changing the thread slightly, It's good to see the England rugby team being brought back down to earth. After two test defeats in their tour of the Southern Hemisphere and also their loss in the Six Nations goes to show their world cup win was a total fluke. After all, they only managed to score one try in the whole of the rugby world cup. Doesn't really say much for their attacking play does it? Even Scotland scored more tries than England.

The difference with Scotland and England sports teams is that Scotland take defeat gracefully, whereas England expect to win every game and tournament, when they get beat it is because of their poor playing and not because the other team played well.

Let's hope England get brought RIGHT down to earth in the Euro finals. After all they are nothing but arrogant. It's time they faced up to the fact they will never be the best in the world at any sport. All the England football players are is a bunch of overpaid, bigheaded, arrogant people.

And no I am not a Scot myself. I just think English sportspeople are very bigheaded and need to be brought back down to earth.

JAWS

20-Jun-04, 02:39

The way Scotland plays you have to learn to lose gracefully.

It was decided years ago that waiting to celebrate a wiin was a waste of time. The only way to get a chance to celebrate was to DIY and get the accolade of "Best Behaved Fans".

And that was only after a certain incident at Wembley and it's fall-out with the Home Championships. .

Sandra

20-Jun-04, 17:38

Come on ENGLAND.

I'm England till I die, I'm England till I die, I know I am, I'm sure I am, I'm England till I die

You are my England,
My only England,
You make me happy,
When skies are grey,
You'll never know just,
How much I love you,
So please don't take,
My England...Away

Come on ENGLAND.

nicnak

20-Jun-04, 18:32

Well I'm English too and proud of it ! I've been up here for 5yrs now and it's narrow minded idiots like mike mckenzie that make me realise that its why people say Caithness is years behind England.
Even when I lived down in England if Scotland (or Wales or Ireland) were playing when England were out I would support them - because after all its all the same great nation!
However people have told me that dinosaur bones were discovered in Caithness perhaps they should look a bit closer it seems to me there are still alot of caveman around that can't accept that racism is way outdated!!
nicnak

anyway come on ENGLAND!!

JAWS

20-Jun-04, 19:38

Now, now niknak stop upsetting the natives.
I can hear the claymores being sharpened already. :eyes

wickchick

20-Jun-04, 21:51

the best thing about england is that it has a road through to scotland :D

JAWS

20-Jun-04, 22:02

Aye, but that only makes it easier for them to come north. :evil

2little2late

20-Jun-04, 22:52

seems to me there are still alot of caveman around that can't accept that racism is way outdated!!
nicnak

anyway come on ENGLAND!!

It's not exactly racism. It's just the fact that the English are so smug and bigheaded. They still go on about winning the Jules Rimet(Which is what it was called at the time). trophy in 1966. Blimey, give us all a break. There's no wonder people feel the way they do about English soccer, rugby teams. So I hope, for their own sake they don't make it to the final. It's as if they are the only nation capable of winning any tournament.

Come on Croatia!!!!

By the way I am English myself.

JAWS

21-Jun-04, 00:28

Be fair singapore it was only thirty-eight years ago - give them time to celebrate.

It might be another forty years before they get the chance again! :roll:

scotsboy

21-Jun-04, 04:50

The 'natural' Welsh/Irish/Scots antipathy towards the English is a sign of immaturity in our cultures and I do try hard not to revert to type.

Lets be honest our own media (sic) are as bad if not worse, and what about those great ambassadors for our country the Tartan Army :eyes No doubt some will feel the need to come back and comment on the trouble caused by England fans - those that do have something in common with Homer Simpson in that they think two wrongs make a right.

The anti-English sentiment expressed here and in "our" media is nothing more than pure sectarianism.

I am Scottish and hope that England do well :cool:

moonlightshadow

21-Jun-04, 09:21

Like Scotsboy I am also Scottish and hope England win, I am fed up with the narrow minded people who have nothing better to do with their time than slag off the English, I am from Sutherland and when I lived their I very seldom ever heard a bad word about the English I then moved away and a few years later I moved back to Thurso and I never in all my life heard such racism towards the English as I did there, not by everyone of course some people had grown up, however a lot of them still neded to grow up.

If England and the English are so bad then how come there are so many Scottish folk living here? In the place I live their are at least 5 people I know of who are from Caithness and they all say they would never ever go back to live there. I wonder why???

So come on England you can do it, at least you have the chance to play, I don't see Scotland there anywhere! :D :cool:

blueneep

21-Jun-04, 13:00

i always thought scotland was just the biggest county in england.

come on ENGLAND !!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

brokencross

21-Jun-04, 15:01

So tonight is the night!!!!!!

"Wonder Boy Wayne" plus 10 other insignificants take on the challenge of Croatia. England must draw the match (at least) to qualify.

Why is Rooney being given all this hype?? Last season he only scored 9 (NINE) goals for Everton over the whole season.

My bet is 0-0 at half time, 1-0 for Croatia by 75 minutes, Rooney gets rash and gets a RED card for trying tooooooo hard and tomorrow the English press crucify the poor sod.

BECKHAM TO TAKE A PENALTY in the 91st minute to save the civilised world. He misses, starts to cry and gets sent off for bringing the game into disrepute, soft sod (soft, but very rich sod).

Now where is my Croatian Flag

brokencross

21-Jun-04, 15:16

I must have scrolled down too quickliy and I missed nicnacs comments about dinosaurs and bones and things, but either people are being too polite but I say: in verse

nicnac England WHACK.... Engalnd are alone

nicnac England WHACK ....they lose by more than one!!!!!

Apologies and thanks to Nicknack, Paddywhack and their bone!? [evil] [lol] :)

moonlightshadow

21-Jun-04, 21:41

nicnak

21-Jun-04, 22:16

Well, well what can I say - except the Best Team WON !!!
4 - 2 I dont think that's insignificant playing somehow do you !

Come on ENGLAND !!!!!!

scotsboy

22-Jun-04, 04:48

I feel sorry for all the pseudo-Croats in Caithness :lol:

Wayne Rooney may only have scored 9 goals last seasn, but he has now scored 4 in two games. What he lacks in guile he makes up for with his physical presence, determination and work rate - a fantasic player. I wish some of the high-paid primadonnas of the game followed his work ethic.

JAWS

22-Jun-04, 05:26

If anybody is still puzzled about why there was so much fuss about "Wayne Ro-onley Nine Goals" - look again.

I don't care what colour shirt he wears, I'd rather have him on my side than my opponents.

A good player is a good player no-matter who he plays for. And he's still only learning.

If only Scotland had a player who could do half as much. [evil]

brokencross

22-Jun-04, 08:05

I put my hands up, I got it totally wrong about England against Croatia. They played well with good goals.

They shall now have my full support, unless they start becoming arrogant and too big for their designer Nike and Addidas boots!

Come on England.

scotsboy

22-Jun-04, 08:52

Just heard an England fan was stabbed to death in Lisbon this morning :(

blueneep

22-Jun-04, 10:52

good job you didnt put a bet on the game.

WELL DONE ENGLAND :D :lol: :)

mike.mckenzie

22-Jun-04, 12:37

Hey, I take exception to being called a narrow minded idiot, it is nothing to do with disliking the English or their country, of which I have been a resident for half of my life. I simply cannot bring myself to support an overpaid overhyped bunch of mercenaries I have rammed down my throat by the English tabloid press.

I always support The Republic of Ireland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the same as I look out for Inverness Caley and Ross County even though I am an Aberdeen fan.

Its just the same as not wanting Man United to win because my allegiances are with Liverpool. Nothing sinister or immature, I'd just rather see other teams to better.

Especially Germany! :evil

Oh and I would like to remind the pious English fans of their magnanimous nature during Euro 96, when the Daily Mirror ran their "How To Spot a Sweaty Sock" feature, which bordered on being racially offensive.

JAWS

22-Jun-04, 13:17

So narrow minded that you can't even expand your mind to the 30 miles of the East Lancashire Road?

And I suppose the Players from the other Home Teams play for the fun of it.
I'm sure none of them get payed money for playing for their Clubs.

I'll bet you couldn't stomach having Anglos playing for Scotland either! [lol]

mike.mckenzie

22-Jun-04, 14:41

Its only by convention and "gentlemen's agreement" we don't have more English players playing for Scotland.

Anyway, parochial rivalries are always the most intense and highly contested, its the essence of competition.

Look at Germany and Holland

France and Belgium

France and England

The English dislike the Germans and Argentinians with even more venom than I could muster for them!

JAWS

22-Jun-04, 16:30

It wasn't convention or a "Gentlemans agreement". Traitors who had deserted south of the Border for Engish Gold just were not picked! They were the scum of the earth and not to be chosen for their treachery!

mike.mckenzie

22-Jun-04, 16:58

No no, I'm meaning even now we are officially allowed, by FIFA, to pick players from Wales, England or Northern Ireland because they all hold british residency. The respective FA's decided to ban this amongst themselves.

Jennie

22-Jun-04, 17:18

So tonight is the night!!!!!!

Why is Rooney being given all this hype?? Last season he only scored 9 (NINE) goals for Everton over the whole season.

Because he is the youngest player to score a goal in the Euro's. And plus his goals are helping us to Win

4 -2 COME ON ENGLAND you can do it! 3 games away from that Cup :D

Now where is my Croatian Flag being packed away! for another 4 years! :D

lochan

22-Jun-04, 21:51

Isn't it quiet in here! Could it be that all you Scottish folk are too busy choking on your bigotry or have you run out of insults to us English after our team qualified for the next group, and with out the help of Beckham. For never fear you are insulting even if you think it a joke. I am an Englishman living and working on Scotland and was appalled at some of the 'Scottish Editions' of the tabloids. Do you realise that your children listen and misunderstand your 'friendly rivalry' and take it serious when they go to school and 'Hate England' most of whom have never been there! Take it easy folk and don't go too far.
ps. In the queens english i before e except after c.(ie) as in friendly not freindly.

JAWS

23-Jun-04, 03:36

I'm with you now mike.mckenzie. That's one agreement they did get right. Multi-National
National Teams just wouldn't be the same!

Lochan, if people can't hate the English who can they hate?

Remember, that World Class Team England have managed to get through to the Quarter-finals for the first time ever.

Through to the last eight teams in Europe! How many World Class teams are there in Europe? Hurray! Hurray! We beat Croatia? Croatia, the Brazil of Europe? Hardly!

How are Sweden, the part timers, doing?

mike.mckenzie

23-Jun-04, 11:56

Not choking at all! Well done to Wayne Rooney Utd. They should beat Portugal, they're not as good as they were. We'll wait to see what happens when they meet a real quality team again. Might even get Germany in the semis again...

Do I hear penalties in the semis again?!? Hope so!

Donnie

23-Jun-04, 17:52

What's wrong with a bit of neighbourly rivalry? I take pride in watching England lose. The main reason why I like them losing is because they are so arrogant in winning. I was watching match of the day for the Germany v.s. Holland game and for some reason Gary Linekar was interviewing an English player. He said to him - "So now that we know we can beat France in this tournament what are your hopes for future games?" Um you didn't beat France. I'm used to Scotland not doing well and I can live with that but I still have pride in my team. I love the fact that the English get their hopes built so high and then get them crushed. I'd love to see England get through to the final and get knocked out by France or Germany.

brokencross

23-Jun-04, 20:41

When interviewed today Mr Posh, our David Beckham says they are not practicing penalties because they intend winning the game in normal time. Arrogant yet again. I believe that when Engalnd lost on penalties when Glenn Hoddle was manager he admitted after going out on a penalty decision that he did not think they needed to practice penaltys. Is history going to repeat itself, or is he fibbing???

Croation flag back in bottom drawer.

Portugal now to win on a penalty shoot out!!

What is the plural of penalty???????????????

JAWS

23-Jun-04, 20:45

The English still believe they have the toughest League and the best players in the World.
That simple myth is most of the problem.

Anonymous

23-Jun-04, 20:54

Down here every one asks - are you supporting England.
Do liverpool supporters follow Man U when they are out of the European champs? [disgust]
Man U fans hate Man City and vice versa - and they live in the same town!! [lol]
Do Glasgow Celtic fans encourage Rangers fans and hope they do well?
Does Newcastle United fans cheers on their first division rivals Sunderland?
So why should I encourage a bunch of over paid under achievers?
And that's just the fans!!!!!!! [lol]

squidge

23-Jun-04, 22:23

I read that they had abolished the penalties thing - it was just going to be extra time intil someone scores and they win

i was really pleased i hate penalties they make me want the loo.

JAWS

24-Jun-04, 08:35

For all those of you who think the media going on about 1966 is bad then how about this one?

England beat Portugal 10 - 0, wait for it folks and read this quickly!

Fifty-seven Years ago! [lol] [lol] [lol] :~(

bluenose

24-Jun-04, 09:20

I have to disagree with Sorry Scorry. As an avid blue, for a fair percentage of recent years we have not been in the same division as the Evil Empire, so loyalty becomes slightly blurred. In 1999 I rejoiced when Skolskaer (or however it is spelt) and Sheringham performed their heroics. That was not Man U in my eyes but an English club against the rest, in this case a German club. Nowadays, and hopefully for a few more years, we are in the same division and inter-club rivalry comes to the fore domestically but abroad that is put aside.

mike.mckenzie

24-Jun-04, 12:25

It was a quiet night in the Liverpool pub I was in when they scored those goals against Bayern Munich..

They'll win tonight the english...

unfortunately.

spittalpunks

24-Jun-04, 16:52

Funniest night watching Manure was their collapse vs Rotor Volgograd (I think) that was classic and the defeat by Porto was a gem

If Mehmet Scholl had a wee bit more luck Teddy and Ole would have given up but alas they won it :~(

I mind the way that irrating git Brian Moore mentioned Paul Lamberts name every time he had the ball for Borussia Dortmund against Juve in the Champs League Final back in 1997 that was a disgrace

I think Engerlund will stuff an overhyped and under achieving hosts. The worst thing about being hosts is that you don't actually play any games of importance or meaning until the thing starts so there is two years off playing meaningless friendlies and thats all Big Phil has done since South Korea bt em.

I personally want every English team stuffed in Europe (Arsenal don't count as they are French and Ok) as it gets their media into overdrive but one remembers the nonsense when the Hoops got through to Seville last year and took 7 million fans with them. Mind you none of them got lifted which is more than you can say for Engerlund and I have witnessed their 'fans' first hand

After all after exiting Euro 96 after Mr Southgates pen they destroyed German cars attacked Ukranian students !!!! and set about wrecking towns across their green and pleasant land

Where is the sense in wrecking your own country!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2little2late

24-Jun-04, 20:21

Poor Wayne Rooney has been substituted tonight. His football boot fell off. Hasn't anyone taught him how to tie laces yet?

2little2late

24-Jun-04, 20:31

England are starting to play dirty now. The way they are playing now they are going to lose this game and will only have themselvesw to blame.

moonlightshadow

24-Jun-04, 20:40

Get a life!! Like I said before at least ENGLAND are there, where are SCOTLAND, yeah righrt we are so good we can't even make it, at least England are there, we are all part of the same bloody nation so it's about time all you idiots grew up an accepted that, I guess it just goes to show how sad your lives are that you just sit there and slag of the English, go and get yourselves proper lives for once! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

2little2late

24-Jun-04, 21:18

[quote="squidge"]I read that they had abolished the penalties thing - it was just going to be extra time intil someone scores and they win

i Rules explained:

What happens if it's even after 90 minutes?

If scores are level on 90 minutes, extra time will be played and the silver goal rule will come into force.

If a team scores a goal in the first period of extra time, play continues until the first period is complete and if one team leads, they win the match. If it is still level at the end of the first period, the second period will be played to its end and if scores are still level, there will be a penalty shootout.

In the penalty shoot-out, each team alternately takes five spot kicks. If, after this procedure, both sides have converted the same number of penalties, kicks continue to be taken in the same order, until one team has scored one goal more than the other from the same number of kicks.

Taken from BBC sport website

squidge

24-Jun-04, 21:50

Thanks Singapore for that explanation

I had read in the Sunday Times sports bit a week or so ago that they were not going to use penalites to decide a match. I think i thought it meant the whole tournament but perhaps having thought about it the article was talking about the final. If i recall rightly the last two european championship finals were both decided on penalties and this year they will just continue to play extra time til a goal is scored.

2little2late

24-Jun-04, 22:31

Well done Portugal!! You showed England how it should be done.

Just for those of you who don't know the final score.
2-2 after extra time. Portugal win 6-5 on penalties.

Congratulations Portugal, yee haaa

By the way David James is a rubbish goalie.

Now, on match of the day Ian Wright is blaming the ref.

England only have themselves to blame.

I am an Englishman too.
Only trouble is we'll get another 38 years of boasting about the Jules Rimet trophy.

squidge

24-Jun-04, 22:37

And it DID make me need the loo.

kwbrown111

24-Jun-04, 23:56

i really feel Engerland got what they deserved. especially listening to the pure bias of the commentary. I have never heard so much bile in my life. the so called goal for them(i would be taken up for attempted murder).can't they just admit they were beaten by the better side(check the stats)

brokencross

25-Jun-04, 07:39

I did not realise that England fans are all fish. When interviewed last night they are all "gutted".

To continue the fish analagy, they were well and truly "battered" by a far superior team.
Portugal put them in their "plaice".

Their total reliance on Wonder Wayne proved their downfall, he went off and they went to pieces. They believed all their own hype.

John Terry did impede the keeper when Sol Campbell headed the ball so it was a foul.

And as for the bias in commentary, it was disgusting, total rubbish, self professed experts????

So Ingerland were beaten by having a "goal" disallowed and a dodgy penalty spot; of course it had nothing to do with an attacking, entertaining Portuguese football team, that played them off the park.

JAWS

25-Jun-04, 07:49

Whatever you do, Don't Mention The Faeroes! :D

mike.mckenzie

25-Jun-04, 11:48

Can't remember who slagged off us scots, BUT here's the reply

We know we're rubbish at football / any other sport that isn't played in a pub, and we came to terms with it a loong time ago. To be scottish is to resign yourself to the fact we'll get a pummelling by someone and then be heroic nearly men.

We don't feel the need to harp on about things that happened 40 years ago or go to a foreign country and smash it up. Look at the way the Celtic fans were greeted when they were in Seville for the UEFA cup final, and look at the way English fans are treated wherever they go by the police of that country.

You're a big headed, self obsessed over hyped nation that thinks all it has to do is turn up to win. You're level is quarter finals and that's it. Every tournament (near enough). Accept it and stop bleating about goals that never were and penalty spots that the Portugese had to take their pens from too!

YOU LOST!

gleeber

25-Jun-04, 13:36

Ive just been reading the newspaper. There was a lot of killing in Iraq yesterday.
It reminded me of this thread.
If ye canna love yer neighbours how are ye going to stop the killing in Iraq?

JAWS

25-Jun-04, 14:02

Hoe envy really bites into the Soul. :evil

rich

25-Jun-04, 15:46

I am now going to share with the world how I pick which team to support after Scotland has been eliminated.

As an elderly gent, well into my claret years, I choose the countries that have the best red wine.

At one fell swoop then I am freed from even considering supporting any of the dull, oafish northern, beer drinking regions such as England, Germany or god help us, the Faroe islands.

Now I have the whole of Latin America, Italy, SOuth Africa Spain, France, Portugal and believe it or not - the former Jugoslavia from which to choose.

But, I hear you ask, how do you select within the claret producing group of countries?

The answer is to select the country with the best vin du table at $10.00 Canadian.

By these standards then I will be supporting Australia in the next World Cup - if they qualify - on the strength of their cabernet shiraz.

Chile and Argentina are my fallback sides for the world cuip with South Africa a promising future contender.

But back to Europe. Portugal is my number one pick. The place floats on cheao, accessible table wine. Greek wine is abominable and French is overpriced.

So there you are.

GO PORTUGAL!!!!!

Sandra

25-Jun-04, 16:01

Letter in Press and Journal (online) - My views are in bold.

09:00 - 24 June 2004

Sir, - I write with regard to the many letters that are inevitable when England play in the finals of a major sporting tournament.

Yet again, with England doing well in a major football competition, we, the Scottish nation, can't and won't see past our own noses.

It enrages me to hear jealous Scottish fans belittling the English fans, their team and most of all their commentators.

What do we expect? Of course an English commentator will be biased towards his football team; it's what he's paid to do. And so would the english media/fans be bias towards their team.If Scotland had ever won anything at football then that is all our commentators would speak about.

There have been only a handful of teams that have joined an elite list by winning the World Cup and England are rightly proud of this and should continue to be for many years to come. As would any other nation/football fan be if their team won the world cup.

To all the Scottish fans who waste their energies "slagging off" the English, I say come on, we are all British; get behind Beckham and the boys and enjoy a major tournament, as it will be a long time before we will be watching Scotland in one. When they do I'll certainly be supporting them, as I would do all British teams.

Ally Sutherland,

Pitcaple, Inverurie.

Comments from this messageboard (again my views are in bold)

‘You're a big headed, self obsessed over hyped nation……’. You are tarring everyone with the same brush, not all english people like football/sport and couldn't care less how any english individual/team does.

‘Look at the way the Celtic fans were greeted when they were in Seville for the UEFA cup final, and look at the way English fans are treated wherever they go by the police of that country’. It is the minority which causes the trouble, and because of the past england fans will never be seen as the anything but yobbos. Why can't you think of all the tens of thousand of fans who watched the games, not just inside the stadiums but outside, who never made any trouble, for a change?

Because of their association with the St George flag, anyone who displays the flag is branded an yobbo.

More of my views:

The BBC is a British corporation and should not be bias towards one home nation's team, but as the presenters are english they would naturally be biased towards their own team, as would a presenter from another home nation be towards their team. Thankfully we had Alan Hansen and other non-english presenters in the BBC and ITV coverage, to put across unbias views. I’m sure if another home nation was in a tournament there would be a much hype for those teams as there was for england, and there would also be interviews with their players.

Other media will always be bias towards the nation/country they have publications in. They will always back an individual (whether they are a footballer or not), and they will always build up the hype, and then knock them when they are down and out. Just look at the German media.

To this end:

There is nothing wrong with a bit of lighthearted banter, as long as it doesn't go to far (become racist / personal insults etc)!

Enough is enough - there's already enough hatred in the world.

PS

I admit (as do many other english fans) that England didn’t deserve to win. The tournament goes on, and I for one am looking forward to the outcome.

mike.mckenzie

25-Jun-04, 16:49

Its not the majority of fans I have an issue with, I live and work with them every day, many of them are good friends of mine, but the evil mindless minority will dictate the general impression of the average fan. Thats the way it is.

I really tried to get behind England last night, I was pleased when Owen scored! but then, it was pure reflex to run around the room whooping when Rui Costa scored!

Also, the comments about bias is fair, but when we as a minority have to listen to the incessant droning about 1966 and the 5-1 Germany win, it gets a bit too much to take. We have to listen to it! English people never have to hear our regional bias because they don't have Scottish commentators commentating on Scottish games on nation wide broadcasts. If a Scotland game is shown across Britain, its generally an English commentator who relates the Scottish players to how and English person would know him. EG "there's James McFadden, you'll know him because he plays for Everton" Not because he's quite good or anything.

Anyway, I'm waffling.

2little2late

25-Jun-04, 17:17

So Ingerland were beaten by having a "goal" disallowed and a dodgy penalty spot;

Heard today, David Beckham has signed a multi million sponshorship deal with a well known acne cream.
The one that's good for troublesome (penalty) spots. [lol]

squidge

26-Jun-04, 14:25

Look folks

Its football!!!! for heavens sake. There has always been rivalry between neighbouring teams. Its football!!! Only rarely - thank goodness - does it spill into real hatred with tragic consequences, for the most part it is good humoured and entertaining. If people are truly hurt and offended by this banter then they should just not read it. Its not important - its just football!!!

golach

26-Jun-04, 19:43

Squidge
once again you have shown us the way to go. I wholeheartedly agree with you its only a game of football when it boils down to it.
Why are we getting so het up about it, I admit when the Portugese Goalie scored that penalty I was jumping up and shouting with glee. Now its all over so forget it and stop the name calling, we are all Jock Tamson's bairn when it comes down to it
Golach

JAWS

27-Jun-04, 00:23

"Some people think Football is a matter of life and death. It's Not!!!!"

"It's more important than that!!!!"

Bill Shankley

squidge

27-Jun-04, 17:08

"Some people think Football is a matter of life and death. It's Not!!!!"

"It's more important than that!!!!"

Bill Shankley

i know Bill Shankley said it but its complete rubbish :roll:

scotsboy

28-Jun-04, 05:03

I trust you are talking about Shankly's statement and not the beautiful game Squidge ;)

squidge

28-Jun-04, 10:50

Of course scotsboy!!!!

I am no football expert but i love to watch a game played well. I love international competititon and matches and i love to see really skilful playing. Sometimes when you watch a great team play it can take your breath away. To see a good player at their best is riveting stuff, watch george best do his stuff at the height of his career, the best of the Man U games,some of the liverpool matches from my youth, Real madrid and the south americans and you cant fail to be impressed.

But its still only football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

monkey

28-Jun-04, 15:06

But its still only football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's more than football, squidge dear, it's the drug of choice for so many.

Football:
gives people an escape from reality
promotes friendly rivalry between supporters (just read this thread)
provides a topic when conversation falters
encourages sedentary folks into sporting activity (goalpost lifting, dancing on the field)
lets people feel a sense of belonging amongst their team' supporters
can lead to a welcome relief from the stresses of life (while resting in jail)

Yes, football has so many wonderful aspects. :lol:

JAWS

05-Jul-04, 02:38

How are the mighty fallen - all of them.

Well done Greece!

2little2late

06-Jul-04, 21:43

What's happened to all the England supporters now? Perhaps they have crawled under their rocks.

JAWS

06-Jul-04, 23:25

Don't know where the England supporters are but I hear the Faeroes are looking for a football team to beat again.

Any volunteers? (Only decent teams need apply this time!) :evil

scotsboy

07-Jul-04, 04:57

At least the England supporters had their team to support during Euro 2004 - not like us Scots. I dont subscrie to this bigoted, racist garbage about supporting any team that England are playing - I'll leave that to the pea brained, tartan clad, foot soldiers of the "Tartan Army" (sic).
Isn't it ironic that the oft quoted reasons for not supporting England is that you would never hear the endo of it if they did well.

Henrik7

07-Jul-04, 10:21

JAWS

07-Jul-04, 22:58

Just as a matter of interest, is anybody old enough to remember when the Scotland team won anything of any consequence at Football?

George Brims

07-Jul-04, 23:33

Yes I am that old. But since I am that old, I can't remember what it was.

I prefer rugby anyway.

JAWS

08-Jul-04, 00:16

I know the feeling GB, I have vague recollections of some sort of Goal Post incident at Wembley, or was it the Centre Spot? I can't remember.
But that was only the Home Championship and that hardly counted as a top rate competition, more of a post-season wind-down!

Come on! Somebody must be able to help! Scotland must have won something once surely!

Anonymous

08-Jul-04, 09:09

Scotland doesnt need to win at sports to be appreciated.

Without Scotland, NO ONE would be watching it on TV or discussing it on the Internet.

Microsoft's Messenger would be a bloke on a horse [lol] and that would prolly be full of bugs as well :)

mike.mckenzie

08-Jul-04, 12:39

Is anyone old enough to remember when England won anything of any great importance?!?! :evil

JAWS

08-Jul-04, 14:46

I suspect that answers a lot of questions, jealousy is a terrible affliction. :p

The nearest I can think of waqs in a World Cup in the 1970's in South America.
They gave a lot of the usual 'Top Teams' quite a fright.
They just missed the Knock Out section and didn't lose a match doing it.
"Ally's Army!" if you care to remember! Scotland was proud of them.
The Team could play football then and the Supporters weren't sore losers! :evil

Shame the Good Old Days aren't still with us and the players to go with them!

scotsboy

10-Jul-04, 05:30

What are you on about? bigotry?!! What a joke!! Scotland and England have always been rivals and always will be. How many celtic supporters would support rangers in the league or in europe? Just because they are next door to us doesnt mean we have to support them, after all who would want to support a team whose fans love nothing more than brawling. Before Euro 2004 I wasnt too bothered about England but as soon as they started showing who they could play in the final before a ball was even kicked, they were just asking us to hope they fail

Henrik whilst I agree that Scotland and England are historic rivals kind of like Wick and Thurso, we are part of the UK (or Caithness for Wick/Thurso), there is some common ground there. The Rangers/Keltic analogy is totally different as Keltic do not consider themselves to be a British or Scottish football club ;) What was it Billy McNeill is quoted as saying? An Irish club who happen to play their games in Scotland :roll:
I dont think I advocated supporting England, simply that supporting the teams they were playing agianst is a wee bit pathetic.
Generalisations about their fans loving brawling are just that......generalisations, anyone who has witnessed the Tartan Army could generalise that they love exposing themselves (somehting that would get you put on a sex offended register if done when not "supporting" Scotland, or is that representing your country abroad).