German Football kit

[cs843432]

My son likes the German football kit due to the colours but I'm trying to encourage some patriotism by offering to buy him a kit for a different country. I've nothing against the country or people obviously but I don't think he understands the tremendous (friendly) football rivalry that exists (or doesn't it exist any more?)

You see I would find an English (or French or German etc) person actively supporting another country against their own ( if they were actually a football supporter) just really odd. I would think them weird tbh.

At the end of the day banter is part and parcel of football though. The vast majority enjoy it without crossing certain lines.

@Willyoujustbequiet

You see I would find an English (or French or German etc) person actively supporting another country against their own ( if they were actually a football supporter) just really odd. I would think them weird tbh.

I’m not a football supporter really. I do tend to cheer England on in international games (although my DD is a dual national of a country that is much better at football and if it came to that team v England I would choose them).

But I have never felt that my “Englishness” is a very significant part of who I am anyway, it’s a minor detail. I honestly think people who define themselves primarily through the lens of their nationhood are a bit lacking in intelligence and imagination. How can something you can’t control be something to be proud of? It’s a bit like being “proud” of having ginger hair or big feet.

Our Germany-born daughter wanted to fly a Germany flag from our VW during Euros 1996, we had visions of the local drunks passing by after watching matches and it not ending well. She actually wrote to them wishing them good luck and after the tournament ended she received an huge amount of fan material!
My grandson wanted a Barcelona shirt for Christmas but then I saw the price!!!

It's xenophobic tree teach your child they can only like one football team and not the foreign because of your own personal "preference" you disguise as patriotism.

There have been some cracking Germany kits over the years. Excellent choice.

My only reply to that would be bollocks.

They can like who they like but it is absolutely not xenophobic to have a preference. You need to educate yourself as to the actual definition of xenophobia. It's so tiresome when people use any 'phobic' incorrectly.

I often buy my DH football shirts as gifts.

A wide range of countries, some because they were a bargain in Sports Direct and some because we have visited that country and they are a great souvenir.

He wears them for his training sessions. No issue at all.

I agree, you totally misunderstood what i said. It's fine to have a preference. But Imposing your preference onto a child because you dislike foreign teams is xenophobic. Believing your child should only support national team and not a foreign, just because, is xenophobic. Teaching a child about "patriotism" via thinly veiled racism is xenophobic.

No its you who have misunderstood. Deliberately perhaps.

I never said I disliked foreign teams. If you have to misquote people to try and win an argument you've already lost.

You quoted me initially?
You seem a bit confused.
We're clearly talking any two different things. I was referring to OP not wanting her son to have a foreign football kit because SHE wants to be "patriotic".

I'm not confused. You've been replying to me. If you were talking directly about the OP and not my posts you should have indicated that as I did in mine.

I don't want to derail the thread so will leave it there.

My question was about loyalty and supporting football teams which are good qualities, I don't know how you can compare me to a hooligan?
I know I would get some friendly stick if I wore the shirt but it seems that from listening to the more helpful users of the forum I am worrying unnecessarily and the rivalry won't really matter to his peers these days. The forum has served its purpose.

You can teach loyalty in different ways, and forcing someone to support a football team may be a bit misguided.
I do supply in secondary schools and kids support all sorts of teams in a variety of sports, your kid wont stick out. Unless all his friends have parents who voted for Nigel farage that is.

A lot of people on this thread don’t seem to understand that wearing a different country’s kit doesn’t mean you’re claiming to support that country!

My friend’s little boys wear loads of international kits. They support England. But they’ll wear loads of foreign kits because they’re fascinated by football culture. That’s really common among people who are fascinated by football for sake of football, and football history and culture, rather than just being focused on England.

DP has been travelling to watch England home and away for decades; he’s been to places like South Africa and Azerbaijan to watch them. He is very much unequivocally an England fan. But he also owns national shirts of various vintages from France, Italy, Cameroon, South Africa, Albania, Brazil, Netherlands, Bosnia, Estonia and Moldova. I don’t think he has a modem Germany shirt but he does have a replica East Germany one from the 80s!

I’ve got a few foreign club shirts - St Pauli, Rot-Weiss Essen, St Etienne, Boca Juniors. Doesn’t make me less of a fan of the EPL side I support.

My son has the German kit, honestly I think you're the problem here. The Germany England rivalry is very early 90's.

Wow I guess most posters must not live anywhere near me (NE England) I love the design of the German kit but there is absolutely no way on this earth that my kids would ever wear it. I’m a club supporter and am not really that fussed about the England team but my kids and their friends would honestly be shocked if one of them wore a German strip and would massively take the piss. I’d happily buy it for them if they asked but they just wouldn’t, even the nine year old who has about 30 different kits from loads of different clubs around the world, including Italy and Portugal.

They have grown up around football culture as we’re at the game every week but their friends haven’t. Many of them are casual supporters and still don’t wear German kits. I honestly can’t remember ever seeing anyone wearing them round here.

I don’t think it’s xenophobia as they don’t dislike German people at all. They’ve been to Germany twice and loved it. I’ve never heard them say anything bad about Germans in general. It’s just we have such a long and painful history of losing to Germany which my kids know about independently of me because they spend their entire lives listening to football podcasts, reading magazines about it and watching it.

Rivalry is built into football and it’s a crucial part of it. It brings with it banter, humour and camaraderie.

It's xenophobic tree teach your child they can only like one football team and not the foreign because of your own personal "preference" you disguise as patriotism.

What rubbish! The logical conclusion to this 'logic' is that one is only allowed to support the team where one was born! I love how MN can twist any discussion to being slightly racist, disguised here as 'xenophobic'!

Or maybe it goes back to '66!

A lot of people going with club loyalty and not the national team. I've seen lads in the kits of other countries, no-one seems to care.

Your 14 year old has matured enough not to buy into that patriotism bs. Thankfully things have changed enough for his generation that this isn’t a thing. Then again when DD was in her KPop all things S. Korean phase, I point blank refused to financially contribute to a Son Spurs top, fortunately a Williamson Arsenal top caught her eye and her treachery was swiftly extinguished.

This! 🤣

There's a documentary on Amazon Prime about the German National side pre/at the Qatar world cup. There was a friendly with England and the commentator definitely described England as 'their (Germany's) rivals', and not just in the context of that game.