England Belongs To Us | Vital Football

England Belongs To Us

Buddha

Vital Football Hero
I kind of wanted to link to this article in the Euro 2020 thread as it is relevant to some of the the posts from yesterday but I have taken note of some of the criticism I received earlier in that same thread and so have started a new one.

Fair enough to try to keep the Euro 2020 thread predominantly about the actual football but this is an important topic. Indeed, important enough to probably warrant its own thread.

Anyway, this is by 'Jim', a Leeds United and England supporter who is also a member of
'Football Lads and Lasses Against Fascism'.

Have a read and give us your thoughts:

https://flaf.org.uk/england-belongs-to-us/
 
Last edited:
Thank you for sharing that .I will certainly watch for developments this side is very much in it's infancy. Personally i think Southgate should have realised that because of the average age of the side we would be up against it should it go to penalties.
As players mature there will be more and more non white players playing for England. But then a lot of racism comes from the older generation. Brexit I believe wasn't about racism. But the racist would have voted for it regardless of economics. My conversations and the numbers suggest that it is not really a issue with young people. I have high Hope's for your and my sons generation.If they can make the tough choices needed in time to save the planet.Also just as important build bridges between nations and cultures.
 
Last edited:
I lived in Leeds for nearly 40 years and regularly attended matches at Elland Road. There were times in the 70s and 80s when the atmosphere was extremely hostile and towards the end crowds dwindled significantly. It wasn't a safe place for fans who weren't white skinned and the actions of individuals and organisations mentioned in that article, together with others, organised for change. Of course other factors, including a burgeoning student population and the improving local economy have played a part but the picture today is much different. That's a pointer to those, who believe current efforts by footballers are futile. They are not.
 
Yesterday I woke up disappointed that we had lost our first final in 55 years. But then I switched on the radio and heard that some of our young heroes had been racially abused on social media and that a mural of Marcus Rashford - a working class hero on and off the pitch - had been defaced. It made sick and it made me angry.

This morning I wake up and first I hear of Marcus Rashford's statement and then I hear of Tyrone Ming's tweet to Pritti Patel.

I cannot tell you how proud I feel of these players and this team.

As with Jim in the article I linked in the OP, supporting England has not always been easy for me. But as with the anarchists he met (was I one of them?!) I never stopped supporting the national team, "partly out of not wanting to totally concede that cultural space to the right, but also because we had all grown up supporting the team and because watching international football together is an enjoyable experience [especially when we’re winning]."

But for the first time my life not only has an England team reached a final but even more importantly, they properly represent the nation. The message has been crystal clear: the racists are NOT welcome.

Bitch face Patel criticised the knee-taking as "gesture politics" but then acts all surprised and concerned when the racism the players have been campaigning against rears it's ugly head. She has no right, she fanned the flames, ffs.

But don't listen to me about this. Just read the words of these two players. I love them, they're fan-fucking-tastic!:

Marcus Rashford's statement:
Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) Tweeted: https://t.co/bs9lksGM4q
Tyrone Ming's tweet:

Tyrone Mings (@OfficialTM_3) Tweeted: You don’t get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as ‘Gesture Politics’ & then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against, happens.
 
Last edited:
Thank you for sharing that .I will certainly watch for developments this side is very much in it's infancy. Personally i think Southgate should have realised that because of the average of the side we would be up against it should it go to penalties.
As players mature there will be more and more non white players playing for England. But then a lot of racism comes from the older generation. Brexit I believe wasn't about racism. But the racist would have voted for it regardless of economics. My conversations and the numbers suggest that it is not really a issue with young people. I have high Hope's for your and my sons generation.If they can make the tough choices needed in time to save the planet.Also just as important build bridges between nations and cultures.

The future's bright because it's not all white.
 
Brexit I believe wasn't about racism. But the racist would have voted for it regardless of economics.

That is probably right, but shows stupidity and lack of understanding, as the EU is not a race, it is an administrative union of respective governments.

Brexit was never a hostile gesture towards other European citizens. If they are happy with how the EU works for them, good luck. We just had the right to choose to be independent and make our own decisions. The only arguments about it were between members of the UK public.
 
That is probably right, but shows stupidity and lack of understanding, as the EU is not a race, it is an administrative union of respective governments.

Brexit was never a hostile gesture towards other European citizens. If they are happy with how the EU works for them, good luck. We just had the right to choose to be independent and make our own decisions. The only arguments about it were between members of the UK public.

Spot on GBN. On both points. About what the vote was actually about. But also that many (though definitely not all) who voted for Brexit are racists who demonstrate, "stupidity and a lack of understanding". As well as, I'd add, hatred, prejudice, bigotry and intolerance.

Here's what happened immediately after the referendum result:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/raci...-after-brexit-vote_n_57713b71e4b0f168323a16df
 
Does anyone else know someone who is openly racist?
I do.
He’s in his early fifties, he’s been openly racist for as long as I’ve known him and he’s unlikely to change because footballers make a three second gesture of dropping to one knee before a march.
The problem is twofold.
Firstly in the real world. Answer, come down on them like a ton of bricks.
Secondly online.
Answer is come down on the platform like a ton of bricks.
 
I took time to start reading the article and it starts OK, but about half way through from "George Floyd" onwards, it's clearly just someone using football to promote their hard left, anti-government political agenda. It seems to be more about taking pot shots that those the bloke doesn't like rather than anything positive or constructive and in fact little about football. I'd suggest people like this on the hard left are going to do no more to ease division in football and the country than those they despise.
 
I took time to start reading the article and it starts OK, but about half way through from "George Floyd" onwards, it's clearly just someone using football to promote their hard left, anti-government political agenda. It seems to be more about taking pot shots that those the bloke doesn't like rather than anything positive or constructive and in fact little about football. I'd suggest people like this on the hard left are going to do no more to ease division in football and the country than those they despise.

Thanks for your thoughts, Steve. I asked for them and you've offered yours.

Needless to say, I completely disagree with you. But I do appreciate you offering them nevertheless.
 
Unpleasant language used against a woman.
Is this acceptable ?

I'm sure if someone on the right had said that, the likes of Buddha, the hard left and the wokists would be crying "racism" and "mysogyny"!

As for Mings' comments, he's entitled to them. However, I think he is misguided. I'd suggest that Patel has experienced first-hand racism far worse than anything on social media (which she has experienced too). And just because she has a different opinion to Mings on taking the knee to BLM, like a lot of us - probably the majority in this country - doesn't mean that she hasn't got a right to comdemn racism. I'd suggest that Mings and co in taking the knee have "stoked the fire" just as much as those who booed it. I get the message the players are portraying re anti-racism and support it, but for a lot of us "taking the knee" is inextricably linked to BLM militants - for me, I am afraid I can't get the image of people taking the knee in the protests last year and then going on to pull down statues, desecrate war memorials and attack police officers. I fully get that the players do not see the link and no link with those actions is intended, but for some of us "taking the knee" is linked to that and whilst I personally support the players stance against racism, I can't support what the symbol of "taking the knee" represents.

I didn't boo it, but certainly didn't applaud or support it either - booing England players taking the knee, even though I mentally boo the symbolism of it is effectively booing my own players, which I won't do; supporting and applauding it, whilst I agree with the players' intentiom, is nevertheless supporting the symbolism of the divisiviness and actions of BLM extremism.

At the end of the day, those Tweeters submitting vile racism and other abuse to our players plays right in to the hands of the extremists - whether racists/far right extremists or BLM extremists/hard left, who want to see division.
 
Sorry but Patel is a repulsive racist and Mings is right. I suppose those of you that can see no wrong in her also support the disgusting defacing of the tribute to Marcus Rashford. Also Natalie Elphicke - Tory MP for Dover said Rashford should concentrate on taking penalties rather that worrying about free school meals for kids. What a vile thing to say. Same old Tories showing their true colours.
 
Unpleasant language used against a woman.
Is this acceptable ?
Yep.

Buddha, you have abused Pritti Patel repeatedly on this forum (including saying you wanted to take her out with a bullet). I understand your dislike of her, but how can you justify saying that after what you have said about the footballer's abuse?
 
Tory MP for Dover said Rashford should concentrate on taking penalties rather that worrying about free school meals for kids.

Have you got a link to that?
I know she has commented on Rashford , but didn't realise she had mentioned school meals.
 
Sorry but Patel is a repulsive racist and Mings is right. I suppose those of you that can see no wrong in her also support the disgusting defacing of the tribute to Marcus Rashford. Also Natalie Elphicke - Tory MP for Dover said Rashford should concentrate on taking penalties rather that worrying about free school meals for kids. What a vile thing to say. Same old Tories showing their true colours.

Hope I didn't offend you or any other female readers with my language, Kate.

Agree whole heartedly with you about Patel. For me it's personal too because of the racist attack she has launched on my community and my culture.
 
Have you got a link to that?
I know she has commented on Rashford , but didn't realise she had mentioned school meals.

What she actually wrote was:

"They lost - would it be ungenerous to suggest Rashford should have spent more time perfecting his game and less time playing politics "

CarerKate has misquoted what was written in order to imply that the evil Tory MP wants poor children to starve and to get people who haven't actually seen the quote to enact an angry emotional response.