Wilshere: 'England for the English'

[Chris in London]

Always thought with the cricket when the bleat on England win the ashes etc etc,with only maybe 3 English men in the side,thats really England isn't it

I had to check that out. The whole squad that just won the ashes was all English bar 1 player who has no claim in Pieterson

Why isn't Pietersen English?

He moved here. He chooses to live here.

His mother is English. His wife is English. His son is English.

He qualified to play for the national team through length of residence (in the light of his parentage).

Pretty good claim I'd have thought.

 

[Matty]

I don't think it's a black and white issue (no pun intended). I don't agree that the only fact to consider should be the country you were actually in when you were born. What if you were born in, say, Africa, but spent almost your entire life, from the age of lets say 8, through to your present age of, for arguments sake, 30 living in England and believing yourself to be English. Should you be banned from representing England? Should you only be eligible for your country of birth? Guess we should hand back all Mo Farah's gold medals then?

I'm not a fan of the nationalisation of players in the way that some countries do it. Diego Costa for example is a Brazillian who has been part of friendly squads for Brazil, but never played a competitive match for them. He has spent the last 5 years living and working in Spain, so is now eligible for Spanish citizenship. The Spanish FA, and Costa himself, now want him to play for Spain. I'm sorry but, for me, Costa isn't Spanish. He's 25 years old, he spent 20 years living outside of Spain (18 years in Brazil and 2 in Portugal) and 5 years living in Spain. For me that's the kind of national switch that needs to be prevented.

The British nations don't follow the FIFA guidelines around switching nationality, we insist that, for a player to become "English" he must have spent at least 5 years, prior to the age of 18, in education within the British Isles. So the player must have been on British soil from at least the age of 13, probably earlier than that. At least with that distinction the player must have spent some of their formative years, as a child, growing up and learning about this country whilst also living within it. I'm happy with that rule. Januzaj doesn't qualify under those rules (he only moved to England in 2011 at age 16) so, unless the English FA has a change of heart, it doesn't matter how much Hodgson watches him, or how much he wants to be English, he'll never be eligible for us to pick under our own rules.

 

[malg]

Brilliant. A fucking Rag scores a couple of goals against the worst team in the league and there's headlines about him all fucking week.

AGENDA............

 

[nijinsky's fetlocks]

Personally I think that Wilshere is right.
One thing I can't stand is how the shermans will give a passport to any foreign person at the drop of a hat if it means another chance to wave their flags and play the Stars and Shites.
I have dual nationality as my folks were Irish, but I was born in St Mary's and lived in Fallowfield, so why would I become a plastic Paddy?
Not that I would be playing for England anyway, as I am a fat alcoholic with two left feet.
But you get the gist.
You play for the country you were born in.
End of.

 

[crazyg]

Personally I think that Wilshere is right.
One thing I can't stand is how the shermans will give a passport to any foreign person at the drop of a hat if it means another chance to wave their flags and play the Stars and Shites.
I have dual nationality as my folks were Irish, but I was born in St Mary's and lived in Fallowfield, so why would I become a plastic Paddy?
Not that I would be playing for England anyway, as I am a fat alcoholic with two left feet.But you get the gist.
You play for the country you were born in.
End of.

You seem perfectly suited to this squad. Are you available for the next 2 matches?

 

[BoyBlue_1985]

Always thought with the cricket when the bleat on England win the ashes etc etc,with only maybe 3 English men in the side,thats really England isn't it

I had to check that out. The whole squad that just won the ashes was all English bar 1 player who has no claim in Pieterson

what about Matt Prior and Jonathon Trott

Prior born to English parents in South Africa
Trott has an English dad and a South African mum and was born in South Africa but both can claim to be English by heritage

More English than John Barnes anyway<br /><br />-- 09 Oct 2013, 13:38 --<br /><br />

Always thought with the cricket when the bleat on England win the ashes etc etc,with only maybe 3 English men in the side,thats really England isn't it

I had to check that out. The whole squad that just won the ashes was all English bar 1 player who has no claim in Pieterson

Why isn't Pietersen English?

He moved here. He chooses to live here.

His mother is English. His wife is English. His son is English.

He qualified to play for the national team through length of residence (in the light of his parentage).

Pretty good claim I'd have thought.

I didnt know Pieterson had an English mother, thought he was fully SA

 

[kenzie115]

I don't think it's a black and white issue (no pun intended). I don't agree that the only fact to consider should be the country you were actually in when you were born. What if you were born in, say, Africa, but spent almost your entire life, from the age of lets say 8, through to your present age of, for arguments sake, 30 living in England and believing yourself to be English. Should you be banned from representing England? Should you only be eligible for your country of birth? Guess we should hand back all Mo Farah's gold medals then?

I'm not a fan of the nationalisation of players in the way that some countries do it. Diego Costa for example is a Brazillian who has been part of friendly squads for Brazil, but never played a competitive match for them. He has spent the last 5 years living and working in Spain, so is now eligible for Spanish citizenship. The Spanish FA, and Costa himself, now want him to play for Spain. I'm sorry but, for me, Costa isn't Spanish. He's 25 years old, he spent 20 years living outside of Spain (18 years in Brazil and 2 in Portugal) and 5 years living in Spain. For me that's the kind of national switch that needs to be prevented.

The British nations don't follow the FIFA guidelines around switching nationality, we insist that, for a player to become "English" he must have spent at least 5 years, prior to the age of 18, in education within the British Isles. So the player must have been on British soil from at least the age of 13, probably earlier than that. At least with that distinction the player must have spent some of their formative years, as a child, growing up and learning about this country whilst also living within it. I'm happy with that rule. Januzaj doesn't qualify under those rules (he only moved to England in 2011 at age 16) so, unless the English FA has a change of heart, it doesn't matter how much Hodgson watches him, or how much he wants to be English, he'll never be eligible for us to pick under our own rules.

The Home Nations Rule is just a private, almost gentleman's agreement though, the FA could easily ignore it, with no consequences, if they liked. I agree with everything you've said though.

The key point for me in the Januzaj case is that why would he want to play for England? Firstly, he'd have to wait until 2018, secondly, England are shite, he'd be much better off playing for Belgium, although the rumours suggest he'll choose Albania.

 

[jared]

He is right you should only play for the country you were born in or your parents.

What if the person in question was born in England but moved to another nation after he was just a day old. And neither of his parents are English. Would that still be acceptable? Cuz you know, he was still born in England.

 

[Carver]

Always thought with the cricket when the bleat on England win the ashes etc etc,with only maybe 3 English men in the side,thats really England isn't it

I had to check that out. The whole squad that just won the ashes was all English bar 1 player who has no claim in Pieterson

what about Matt Prior and Jonathon Trott

Kevin Pietersen: English mother
Matt Prior: English Father
Jonathan Trott: English Grandparents

Whilst we're at it
Zola Budd: English Grandparents (Great leg spinner apparently) ;-0

Tony Cascarino for ROI: His mother was an Irish citizen, adopted by his Irish grandparents. He only found out that she was adopted 11 years after his Irish debut and he was still played for the national side until 1999. (He really was ineligible as he was not a blood relative).

In FIFA rules it's the territory of the relevant association of birth, grandparents, parents or living in the country for 5 years after you reach 18.

 

[Carver]

He is right you should only play for the country you were born in or your parents.

What if the person in question was born in England but moved to another nation after he was just a day old. And neither of his parents are English. Would that still be acceptable? Cuz you know, he was still born in England.

2006 Italian world Cup winner Simone Perrotta was born in Ashton Under Lyne and moved to Italy when he was 4. His parents and grandparents are all Italian (I think).

He would have qualified to play for England.