To not support England?!

We have family friends (2 families) who are dual English/ French and English/ German. They support both teams until they play each other... Then it's anyone's guess.

Where did the Op say they 'announced' it to be inflammatory. You're making assumptions.

I didn’t mean you, I meant OP. Who has started an entire thread to discuss why she definitely doesn’t support English football (like Southgate was on the phone begging for her endorsement)

I think to say I'll never support England but to make it your home is a bit odd. Particularly when your own country (which I can understand being your first team) isn't playing. I have someone in my team waiting for citizenship but anti England and her country didn't qualify, I find it odd. I lived overseas and supported that country and still have a big soft spot for them.

I don't live in my own nation. I'd never declare in the office that I'm deliberately supporting the opposition.

Im not obsessed with England, I just won’t be cheering them on. Im a huge football fan so find it hard to cut off from the premier league mentality & struggle to get behind players I spend a season disliking. It’s not that deep, wouldn’t actually be bothered if they did well and even won it tbf I just wont be cheering them on.

DH has dual nationality, his mum is from another country.

His mum, having lived here and having created a family of football fans, politely supports England as the country she lives in. But she still supports her home country.

DH and his brothers support both, which means double the number of "important" matches here and a win/win/lose/lose if they play each other.

Just do what feels right but be friendly about it.

I live in a v multicultural area. Lots of people have no issues supporting both England and their countries of origin.

One of my kids went to a school with hardly any English families. Some of the other parents would gently chastise me for moaning too much about transport etc and tell me all the things I ought to be grateful for, in being able to live here so easily in a place they had to jump hurdles to get to.

Football is global, and potentially unifying. Let's find ways to be together positively, in the face of increasingly polarising discourses. I think the difference between team sport and aggressive nationalism needs emphasising. Team sport is a (usually) healthy way of channeling what I guess must be natural urges for some. Without it I worry we'd have more of the aggressive nationalism tbh.

I’m an England fan and I’ll be getting up at 2am to watch the Scotland game. I hope they do well, just not better than us 🤣

OP, is your home country Ireland by any chance?

I think the point they are making it that no one would actually care if you didn’t announce in a morally superior way that you’d ’NEVER’.

just seems a bit odd.

Why is everyone so obsessed with England though? I don’t know whether to be flattered to be from a country that seems to take up so much room in other people’s heads to the verge of obsession? All hate just misguided love I suppose

Hmmm, sometimes OP, discretion is the better part of valor. I´m half EU country/half English. I never support the English team (don´t wish them ill, either) but don´t tell my English relatives that, and make appropriate noises when their team loses. And I don´t live in the UK. So, I´m afraid saying things to English fans like "would never support England" is being unnecessarily confrontational.
Also slightly bemused by pps who announce on this thread "nobody cares who you cheer" in a tone that shows that they DO care, and very much.

Arsenal V PSG. 2 teams, largely foreign players. When I was young, the foreign players in English teams were Scottish and Irish. When an English club played in Europe, we tended to support the English club out of patriotism.

Support who you like but don’t be surprised if you announce it to a workplace full of England fans and they don’t warmly embrace your decision.

Seriously?! 😂 if there was no rivalry it would be a much less interesting game

The OP is clearly one of those rude and antagonistic types who choose to live here but love slagging it off.

The number of Aussies and NZers I’ve worked with in London who love to stick the boot in and say how much better their countries are etc but still choose to live here! It’s just plain rude.

Support whoever you want but don’t go off on a rant about how you’d never support any England team.

If I’d tried that in Australia when I lived in Melbourne I’d have been the office pariah!

And you now choose to pay taxes to a Colonialist Empire country, that’s a damning indictment of you, OP!

Agreed.

I couldn't give a flying toss about football, dont give shit who wins but I am not going around announcing to people that do care about it how little I care and how England can lose for all I care because that seems a really arsehole-ish thing to do surely?

It's rather like someone being excited they are going on holiday to Spain only for me to announce how much I despise Spain and think its all shit. Why- why do that?

No begging. Just wondering. Any answer will betray their cognitive dissonance.

Colonialism is only an issue when it comes to sport?

Hatred of another team is utterly pathetic and sums up all that is wrong with football.

op wants you to beg for answers; just don’t!