To NOT support England ???

[Shaketherombooga]

I’m not English. I have lived in England for a very long time. I do not support the England football team, I frequently support their opposition!

Colleague has taken the England loss hard, and said ‘ I bet you’re glad they lost’ - I replied that I was essentially a neutral but thought Spain deserved the win.

Hes gone off in a big old rant about how if I live here I should be supporting England teams etc.
I think he should have a wee lie down and chill out!

YABU - you SHOULD support the team of a country you’ve made a life in - even if you are from a former colony of that country

YANBU - of course you don’t have to support a national team that’s not yours

I'm a welsh gal and when it comes to rugby I will support any team but england. It's just been bred into me.

That said wales didn't make it through so I'd hoped england would win. I watched their games and cheered them on.

Each to their own isn't it.

This thread is just goady and the OP is clearly just trying to wind up the English this morning.

Why would you support a kickyball team that doesn't represent your nation? If you're Scottish, Irish or Welsh, you still wouldn't support England.

What's all the fuss about?

I'm guessing your Irish living in England, there's still a shocking amount of racism towards Irish people in England, 'paddy' jokes etc. Supporting the opposition in a football game is hardly comparable. Your colleague needs to get a grip.

Feck isn't really a swear word in Ireland, where there's a more relaxed attitude to such things.

No, because they aren't Spanish. I'm sure if it were Spain vs Germany, they'd support Spain, what with it being the country they live in. That's surely not difficult to understand?

I think this is what it comes down to. I'm not English but would support them unless they were playing my home country.
If you are supporting 'anyone but England' whilst living here I can see why it would piss people off although I suspect most people wouldn't care.

I'm guessing you're Irish based on your use of the word "feck". I totally wouldn't assume or expect an Irish person to support England.

Personally, if I'm watching a match and my own country is not playing, I always support the underdog. Supporting the odds on favourite is very boring.

As I am English, this means I'm always supporting the underdog, regardless of who's playing.

Seems a bit weird that you "frequently support the opposition." That suggests to me that you dislike England or the English. Not liking football and not caring who wins is different. I'm not a football fan either – in fact I hate sport full stop – but I don't want England to lose, which is basically what you're saying. If I moved to another country, and stayed there for a long time, it would be because I'd developed an affection for the place and its people.

I'll probably get my arse flamed for saying this but isn't it about time people got over the atrocities that happened half a millennium ago? It's wasn't just Britain and certainly not just England, yet on and on they go, bleating the same old shite as if we in the here and now, are oppressing all you whinging sops.
And before anyone jumps in, The British were at the forefront of banning the slave trade, as well you all know!!

To be honest I couldn't care less what team anyone supports so you just do you and enjoy!

No sure your responses are coming off all the well though OP. As others have stated, you've posted on AIBU... which is a page for asking for opinions and then one of your first responses is telling someone, who didn't agree with you, to "feck off" and then continued to be quite hostile since and generalising all English people 🤷🏼‍♀️. (Ps, I'm English and not as you described!!).

Like I said, just you do you, the majority of people really don't care. If your college is bothering you the just ignore him. That's what I tell my 7 and 4 year old to do 👍🏼😊

I support Wales in rugby! Unless their against mine team, obvs… but a wales rugby fans, we’ll all rugby fans really, are much better winners and losers…

Than football fan are in my experience…

I do, actually, yes.

As I said, my grandparents are all Irish.. yet still I don't really understand the vitriol from younger generations.

I recognize the atrocities of past generations of the English - and I do think these things were absolutely hideous.

However the vast majority of the people constantly using this a reason to hate English people are actually way too young to have ever been victims of any oppression - the people they direct it towards are also usually way too young to have ever been guilty of anything (except having been born in England).

English people can acknowledge the sins of their ancestors but there's no going back in time - I struggle to know what's actually expected of them/us?

I don't see the need for the hatred tbh - don't think it achieves anything, only further division.

AND I think that in football tournaments it's primarily sour grapes cos their teams never qualify!

Then if it's so awful and you are so traumatised by history maybe don't live in England.

@Shaketherombooga -

Colleague has taken the England loss hard, and said ‘ I bet you’re glad they lost’ - I replied that I was essentially a neutral but thought Spain deserved the win.

Hes gone off in a big old rant about how if I live here I should be supporting England teams etc.
I think he should have a wee lie down and chill out!

I totally and utterly agree. I am just plain not interested in football. it totally boils my piss when people say I (or anyone else) 'should' support the England soccer team. I once worked with a woman who asked if I was watching some European cup final or other on the telly that evening. I said 'No', and she said 'but it's your duty as an English person to support the national team!'. I think she seriously believed that if everybody in England watched the match and yelled a lot, some kind of 'support' magic vibe would fly over the sea to the foreign football ground and help them to win.

I don't want to be 'abusive' about other people's beliefs, but I think these kinds of attitudes are batshit, and, let's face it, stupid. Kind of tribal - 'be like us and yell ENG-ER-LAND or else!'.

I'd struggle to get worked up about this, but it's all very cringey. The bitterness of supporting anyone but England because your own team is too poor to get far in tournaments (when they actually qualify) is a little embarrassing for you.

Schadenfreude isn't going to make Scotland any better. If you can't support the country that allows you to call it home, is there any harm in keeping it to yourself and allowing us to bond in our excitement then disappointment? It's 24hrs of feelings that are hard to describe to someone that's never experienced it!

I recognize the atrocities of past generations of the English - and I do think these things were absolutely hideous.

Just to be clear on this, the attrocities were carried out by the British not the English. It is mostly Scottish people who settled in Northern Ireland so it always makes me laugh when it is England v Scotland/Ireland.

I support whoever I have in the sweepstakes until they lose, then England. I don't actually care though, I just like the songs.

English people ALWAYS say this - along with things like, well I would support Scotland if they got through and we didn’t blah blah blah

I always support any part of the UK over a foreign team!! I grew up near the welsh border so they'd be my second choice, followed by Scotland then NI. The dream is the four uk teams in the semi final and England scraping past Wales for a win. In plenty of other sports the national team represents the whole of the UK as one and we love our scottish, welsh & northern irish athletes every bit as much as the english ones!!

If living overseas I'd always be respectful of the local team. I wouldn't support them against a UK team but I'd be quiet about it, and I'd be pleased to support them against another team

I think very few people would care about you not being interested in football and not supporting England. I think what annoys people is people who have lived in England for years and will actively support whoever they are playing against.

Ooh… Irish famine? Palestine? Division of India? Northern Ireland? Bengal Famine?
Boer War? British concentration camps in South Africa. British ships at the heart of the slave trade?
Mau Mau massacre?
I could go on or alternatively you could crack open a history book that doesn’t jump straight from Henry 8th to Queen Victoria to WW2.

Not caring is fine but actively supporting whoever the opposition is? Why do you live here if you dislike the country?

Shall I list irelands cruelties throughout history? In particular to its own people?

Yeah, some lucky git in the office just walked off with £100 with Spain! A Scot too, so a win-win for him!

*However the vast majority of the people constantly using this a reason to hate English people are actually way too young to have ever been victims of any oppression - the people they direct it towards are also usually way too young to have ever been guilty of anything (except having been born in England).

English people can acknowledge the sins of their ancestors but there's no going back in time - I struggle to know what's actually expected of them/us?*

Says it all. Also many many english people's ancestors would have been boring farmers/labourers minding their own business somewhere, and not the aristocracy who often masterminded colonial and other atrocities.

Given the historical political of England/Scotland/ Ireland, I don’t blame any of them for the ‘anyone but England’ mentality.

And I say that as an England fan.

But OP you are trolling us on this sad hungover day and given that you’re into football I’m not having that you haven’t been giving it to Dave over the years about England…

I can feel your glee through my screen and no doubt Dave sensed it too!