The BBC are yet again showing anti-English bias by giving blanket coverage to the trouble in Sunderland which is no worse than any Sunderland/newcastle derby. There has only been 1 reported incident with Turkish fans. This is typical, the BBC will do anything to keep England down and promote 'Britishness'. If you're English I urge you to see past this and assess the situation from a proper standpoint. Yes their was trouble, but it was only with English 'fans'. There are rumours that groups of thugs from Newcastle and Sunderland organised fights between each other. As usual the BBC has blown this out of all proportion and attributed it to the English fans. Apparently a 'British' cameraman was attacked by 'English' fans This is a prime example of the BBC's bias against England and it's attempt to say "Britain = good, England = bad" It was no different to the commonwealth games where apparently 'Britain' were second in the medals table food for thought.
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-fainvestigation&prov=reuters&type=lgns Just a little follow up.
And this really is a bit load of nothing too. Who (of the British in here) can honestly say that they have never been to a match where this has happened? It happens all the time - it's called exuberance. If they'd come on the pitch and started taking on the Turkish team (ala that wanker that came on and gave the wanker sign to Peter Enckelmann), then there might be a point. But this is just some fans who where damn happy that we'd just scored against a team that basically could have done a lot of damage tonight. Call it utter, unbounded relief.
Actually, I did see pictures of a 'fan' confronting a Turkish player after the end of the game, although no physical contact was made. I doubt UEFA is going to take such a lenient view of what happened as you are.
Imo england should play behind closed doors for their next home match. It could have been very dangerous with english fans running into the field. Ive even heard of english fans kicking out at turkish players. The english police did well outside the stadium though.
they never forced turdkey to play behind closed doors after their fans invaded the pitch after the ireland playoff in 2000 and attacked the irish players.. As for the media scum... they always make something out of nothing.. F********* them.
I dont bother with the BBC website anymore.. the anti-english bias is pretty clear like you said. You just have to read those your say pages...They print up plenty of sports letters that criticize england...You just have to see the way they report england matches in cricket and other sports...
Behind closed doors? This is just ridiculous. What happened in and around the Stadium of Light is nothing compared to what the English national team, English club teams and fans have had to deal with when travelling across the continent to see their team. It wasn't too long ago that English fans were pelted with missiles by Slovakian fans and England's black players were taunted with racist chants. And while fans running on to the field is something which should not be allowed to happen, I think a lot of people really need to lighten the fvck up when discussing what happened at the game last night. The fans were celebrating and they weren't causing trouble. If one fan taunted a Turkish player, I'm sure it was much more harmless than what English and Turkish players did to each other in a fiery match. There is crowd violence almost everywhere you go in Europe and the English police should be given credit for keeping everything under control. But in other places, the home fans aren't policed and English fans have to deal with heavy-handed treatment by the police. I don't have a first-hand account of what happened in Sunderland but it definitely seems to me that media outlets and football authorities are showing an anti-English bias. And now there's talk about an away-match ban for English fans... http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=262829&cc=5901 ...what a piece of crap. On a side note, the travelling Turkish fans seemed like they were well-behaved and sang their fair share during the game... but I have a feeling it will be a different story for the return leg—and I wonder if, according to the media and the authorities, everything will be England's fault then.
Re: Re: BBC display anti-English bias again A lot, but I can't be bothered to write too much so here's a very condensed version. Increased English identity is a threat to the BBC because it's a threat to the Union. Without the Union the BBC won't exist and a lot of those in their cushy jobs will be out on their ear. It's effective in what it does, it convinces a large amount of English people that they're English just for England football matches and British at all other times. It stigmatises England and English as bad and British as good. The Scots woke up to this some time ago and it's about time the English did (fortunately we are!). The BBC is just one large propaganda machine.
Re: Re: Re: BBC display anti-English bias again I just think they're run by a load of sad ,guilt-ridden,liberal types... Does anyone watch the BBC anymore?? what a waste of license players money.. I cant believe we pay money for that crap.
I have to say I thought it odd that on Saturday two England fans were seriously stabbed and two were shot, and that received no coverage at all (other than to say there was 'trouble') yet last night I got the feeling that the reporters were auditioning for a job reporting the war in Iraq, such was the tone of their reporting.
Nope that was Alpay Kicking one of the English fans then he told the fan to ************ off. Quiet funny.
Yes I do consider myself British, i was born in Wales but all my family are English. I support both football teams, but only wales in the rugby. I support the England (and wales cricket team) and British competitors in every other sport. There is only one country, Britain, the others are just sporting entities now.
Wow. They must have done something to piss you off. BBC - a conspirancy theory, that would make a good story. At the end of the day, who really cares. Its only in places like this where you have contact with other nationalities that people start playing the English/British card. Do you ever hear people debating or arguing about it in England with eachother? I don't and if I did hear it I wouldn't pay much attention. And it's not even just England/Britain. There's the North/South divide. For a Londoner there's North of the river and south of it. It can go on ad finitum. Face it, Great Britain is the name of the country. So that is how the rest of the world will look at us - as Brits. Those in the know or just familiar with accents will recognise a Scot from a Taff. But I'd be suprised if a non football fan could identify the Red Cross of St. George in most other countries, certainly outside europe. The only reason we compete as different regions in some sports is because professional leagues were already in place. And as the BBC, they can be a little stuffy and middle class, but that appeals to some people. When you see the trash that comes out of some American networks the BBC looks like a well oiled machine. Liberal? Every network has it's opinions and political persuasions even if it tries not to. If you want the cold hard facts about something go to www.reuters.com. Another British company that are probably the finest news agency in the world. But really, compare BBC to a network like Fox and you'd change your mind very quickly.
Nope, there are four countries within one Union. The UK is a nation, not a country. Neither is Great Britain a country, it's a geographical name, like 'Europe'. Go to Scotland and say we're all just one country. I'm an Englishman, my country is England. I don't believe in the Union and I certainly don't consider myself British. My country is not recognised in the EU, it's been torn up into regions by 'Brits'. My country's culture is not recognised within Britain, it's whitewashed as 'British' and any attempt to assert my English identity is beaten down as racist. My country is not allowed to govern itself, my country is not allowed to determine it's future, my country's history is being wiped from the record books and is being replaced by 'British' history. My country is bound to three others in a Union which it bankroles yet recieves no benefit from being in. My country is not Britain.
And this is the problem, you deny my identity. You think it's some cute little thing attatched to football. It's not! I do talk about England with people I meet maybe you should try it too. The UK will not survive the next 50 years. As soon as Scotland get a credible party that desires independence they will be off and that will just spur the Welsh on. Then what have we got left? A load of disgruntled 'Brits' who don't know their arse from their elbow because they never actually bothered to check their national identity. There's also overwhelming evidence to suggest that most of the world does not see Great Britain as being England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales and that it just sees Britain as being England. Look round here, how often do the English have to correct someone for calling us 'Brits'? How often do we see things like 'The English government', 'The English Prime Minister, Tony Blair', Americans thanking 'England' for it's help in Iraq. These are all examples that I've seen in the past two weeks. You'd better believe it matters for while this type of thinking exists we'll still get people who think that it's England who occupy Northern Ireland, that Britain invaded Scotland, that the 'English' Empire conquered quarter of the golbe. The the 'English' were responsible for massacres here there and everywhere in world. The celts, especially Scotland which had a large part to play in the British Empire, come out of this without their name soiled. Here's a good one, do you associate Ireland as being an integral part of the British Empire? Because it was...
Man, that hobby horse can run, huh Prenn? Personally, I am most assuredly British, insomuch as my four grandparents were English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh. But we're all Europeans now anyway ...
Sorry mate, I completely disagree with you. It's the British army that is fighting Iraq not the English. The army is made up of battalians like the Irish Gaurds or the Welsh Fusiliers but they are all part of the British Armed Forces which is run by the Ministry of Defense which in turn is run by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Do you have any idea how much trouble it would be to completely separate the sovereign states from eachother? The bureaucracy involved would be immense. If Europe becomes the United States of Europe then I could see a situation rising where the Scots, Welsh and N. Irish can become independant from England but not before then. Call your self English? What sense of national pride do the English have. No national holiday, how many peope could tell you when St Georges Day is off the top of their head. No recognised national anthem. You can understand why the Scots, Welsh and N. Irish make such a big deal about it as they are such a minority and don't want to be seen as English but they are just as British as you or I. Views like yours border on xenophobia. We should be pulling together not trying to separate eachother in anyway possible. What happens in Scotland if they become an independant nation? All the power and money will be based in Edinburgh and Glasgow (the south, sound familair?) It won't be long before someone in Aberdeen says lets have a new nation called North Scotland or the Highlands. All this kind of separation does is create rivalry. Every war is started by these kind of obsessions of we've different from you and better, or we want you've got.
And look at the cost involved aswell. Separate currency, passports, driving license, education, health (though how this could deteriate further is debatable) Everything would have to cut four ways or 3 new sets of every organisation be setup. Ever heard of economies of scale. This would be the complete opposite.