Tag Archives: England

Club v Country debate – does there need to be one?

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Thomas Rooney tries to answer the age old question.

Every time an international break comes around, we get the same comments from football fans across the country. They mainly involve how desperate England games tend to be, how boring the weekend is and how nobody really cares about how England get on.

For many parts, this is true. There is no way a weekend of international friendlies is as exciting as a Premier League weekend. That’s just a fact and accepted across English football.

However, why do we have to insist on devaluing England so much? Yes, your club is more important, that’s a given. Why all the fuss about how little people care about England Continue reading →

A double dose of Wembley

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We’ve all read about the John Terry incident at QPR, and the moment when he was alleged to have made a racist remark to Anton Ferdinand. It’s kind of ironic that, given the row that has developed regarding Terry and Ferdinand (and the captaincy sub-plot about whether Terry should retain the armband – again), that we are playing the European and World Champions, who have a bit of previous when it comes to these kinds of matters in England encounters. The game in the Bernabeu in November 2004 was soon overshadowed by the chanting of certain sections of the crowd (as well as Luis Aragones and his description of Thierry Henry to Jose Reyes), and the resulting furore that was created that particular winter night led the England team to wear “kick racism out of football” logo’s on the front of their shirts for the next game, which was a friendly against the Dutch at Villa Park a few months later.

Whether this qualifies as a political statement, I’m not sure, but in the week leading up to the game, the FA asked FIFA on more than one occasion that the team be allowed to wear a poppy on their shirts, much as most clubs nowadays seem to do around Remembrance Day. FIFA decided that this constituted a political statement and that it would not be allowed. What is actually written in the FIFA equipment regulations (on page 78 if you’re interested) is this;

For all matches, all forms of advertising for sponsors, Manufacturers (exceeding the extent of Manufacturer’s Identification permitted under Chapter VI above) or any third parties, of political, religious or personal statements and/or other announcements, are strictly prohibited on all Playing Equipment items used on, or brought into (permanently or temporarily), the Controlled Stadium Area.

So, basically, it depends on if you defined the poppy as a political statement or not. There was much written about this decision, and most of it has been negative on FIFA. But national team shirts (at the moment) carry no advertising, other than the kit manufacturers logo which is (I suppose) to FIFA’s credit that there are some football shirts that at least remain advert free. The FIFA rules state that no political message is to be carried on a national team jersey, and while many may not like it, it’s been there all the time and this was the first time that I could recall that the idea of putting a poppy on the England shirt had been bought up. Continue reading →

Time for England to take a chance on Ruddy?

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Thomas Rooney takes a look at the options England may have between the sticks next summer.

With all of the teams taking part in the European Championships next summer decided, it seems fair to say that more and more attention will be placed on odds for euro 2012 over the next few months.

Fair enough, the majority of people’s priorities are on club matters at the moment and rightly so. For example, if you asked me right now whether it would be my preference for Norwich to stay up or England to become European Champions next summer, there is only one answer and it involves a team in yellow and green being in the top flight next year.

This isn’t to say I am one of those ‘I don’t care about England’ types. Far from it. I am a passionate England supporter and always will be. The club v country row is of course one that can take up much discussion, but why do they have to be mutually exclusive?

I’m as passionate a Norwich fan as you can get, but will I be supporting England next summer and either be gutted or elated at their performance? Of course.

Anyway, let’s get back to the topic I actually wanted to talk about. Funnily enough, it combines Norwich and England with the secret ingredient a certain Mr John Ruddy.

The Canaries keeper has been incredible so far this season and in fairness, was excellent in the Championship last year too. The save late on against Liverpool at the weekend may well be his most high-profile success, but in truth, he has been on top of his game for a few months now.

So, to recap, this is a 25-year-old English goalkeeper excelling in the Premier League. What does this mean? Surely an England call-up? It seems fair to say that England aren’t blessed with options in the goalkeeper department at the moment. Continue reading →

Grab a slice of the realism pie

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I gave up going to England home internationals about three years ago.  I got fed up with the fans around me who missed half of the game to have a piss, get a beer, leave early to avoid the rush.  I was fed up with the Mexican wave, the happy clappy cardboard things and the whole dumbing down of our passion.  And I was fed up with irrespective who is in charge of the squad, the team never rarely changes.  

Last night despite their long season we were being influenced to feel sorry for Lampard, Terry, Cole, Ferdinand et al for dragging their weary bones out of bed to play one more time for the national team.  After all, it is tough these days earning £5 million plus for an afternoon’s work occasionally.

Unfortunately due to the fact we really do not take the development of our young players seriously enough we really have no other option but to keep playing the slowest centre back pairing in International football, or a one dimensional midfielder who last put a tackle in back in 2004.  So when the inevitable boos ring around the ground as we concede a goal (SHOCK, HORROR Another team cannot score against us…and at Wembley! ) those fans from Chelsea, Man Utd, Spurs etc are actually booing the fact we have no choice but to keep picking players who stopped being world class years ago.  And in part that is down to their own clubs set up.  One example?  Rewind five days to the very same pitch.  Two stars from Swansea on show were Scott Sinclair and Fabio Borini.  Both from Chelsea, both never had a chance of getting in the first team at the expense of another costly foreign import and both have now gone elsewhere.

Anyway, I chose to go and watch Rugby League rather than England v Switzerland.  But instead Brian Parish went along to Wembley…Over to you Brian whilst I go and lie down for awhile. Continue reading →

Worth the admission price alone?

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Mark Pitman, our Welsh wizard, brings us another Welsh football weekend double as Neath take on The New Saints in the Principality Welsh Premier League and Wales take on England in a European Championship qualifier. With little in common initially a glaring familiar theme emerges however, as the wallets of football fans across the country become subject to situation exploitation at every level of the game and the occasion of it.

Neath 2-2 The New Saints - Principality Welsh Premier League – 25th March 2011
A popular football phrase for a flash of on the field brilliance before it was replaced with modern day Sky nonsense such as ‘take a bew, son’ or ‘unbelievable tekkers’ is the more traditional ‘that was worth the admission price alone’ or variations thereof. Neath invested in their own brand of tekker-potential in the summer with the signing of Lee Trundle headlining the arrival of a number of former Football League stars with significant Swansea City connections, and while the flashes of brilliance have been few and far between, a new initiative by the South Wales club seems set to backfire spectacularly.

A common debate in the English Premier League revolves around the fact that the everyday football fan is being priced out of the game by the greed of their clubs. From over-priced merchandise to four-figure season tickets, the revenue streams at Britain’s biggest clubs play a significant part in the young players from across the world becoming very rich, very soon. The average fan in the street resents the exploitation but the worldwide interest of the Premier League means there is a constant stream of revenue. Interestingly, the Principality Welsh Premier League acknowledged this growing resentment, and used it in their marketing campaign at the start of the season. Continue reading →