Wilshere: 'England for the English'

[afc16]

This makes me think of Zola Budd, Robert Maxwell dreamed up the scheme to get her into the GB olympic team based on one of her grandparents being born here. She cared nothing for Britain, it was a flag of convenience as South Africa was barred because of its apartied policies and there was a perception that british track and field was short of talent. In the end she collided with Mary Decker during the race, hurt herself and finished last. The current FIFA rules are rubbish and should be tightened up, this lad is only here because the rags offered him a job and I doubt he has any afinity with the country, if he is allowed to qualify for England the danger is it would just be another flag of convenience.

I agree that the rules need to be tightened up, I just don't agree with Wilshere's very black and white version, that you need to be born here, or have a parent born here, anythign else is irrelevant. Why should someone who has never set foot in Britain, but has a British mother, be eligible to represent Britain, but a man who has spent almost his entire life here, but happened to be born abroad to foreign parents, has no right to represent Britain?

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/jack-wilsheres-comments-werent-xenophobic-2356604?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/ ... um=twitter</a>

maybe you should have a look at that, an excellent summary of it all. also note that wilshere never said ANYTHING about having to be born here or anywhere.

i think wilshere was referring more to the likes of jacuzzi (even though he denied it), players that have come here almost as adults then through a technicality being eligible to play for england. i think those are the types of players wilshere was referring to when he said their not english and shouldn't be able to play for england.

 

[Unknown_Genius]

So if you were born in say Timbuktu to one English parent and one from Ghana, never set foot in England ever, don't speak it, don't know anything about it, that makes you English or at least eligible for the english sporting teams because of your parent. However you move here from say Ethiopia because of politics when your 14, learn the language, get a job, pay taxes, marry an English woman and consider England home, you are considered less English than the first dude.

No chance.

And if you own an Irish Wolfhound you can play for ... ask Vinnie Jones how the fuck did he get to play for Wales ?

How the fuck did he get to play professional football is the real question.

 

[Matty]

I didn't know Karl Jenkinson had played for Finland, yet he's making his debut for the U21s tonight.

Eh?

2008 England U17 1 (0)
2010 Finland U19 3 (1)
2011 Finland U21 1 (0)
2013– England U21 0 (0)
2012– England 1 (0)

he was actually born in england as is his dad. they are as english as they come. his mums from finland hence.

In that instance I believe Jenkinson should never have been allowed to represent Finland U21's, because he had already made the choice to represent England at U17 and U19 level. What are we saying here, that as a 17 and 19 year old he felt English, then suddenly he felt overwhelmingly Finnish when he hit 21, but now he's had a reversal of position and is feeling all English again?!! You make your choice, you "declare" yourself for a country and that's it, choice made, you stick to it whatever the outcome.

 

[samharris]

I think you should only be legible for the country of your birth!!

So simple and un questionable.

 

[Chris in London]

I think you should only be legible for the country of your birth!!

So simple and un questionable.

Your parents are English. They have lived here all their lives. When your mum is 7 months pregnant they go to visit her sister who has moved to Spain. Your mum slips and falls and goes into premature labour. you are born 2 months early but grow up normally and become an international standard footballer. You live your entire life in England after coming back from Spain as a very small baby.

By your logic, you can't play for England. Only Spain.

 

[Unknown_Genius]

I think you should only be legible for the country of your birth!!

So simple and un questionable.

That's just daft. Example, lets say a kid is born in Germany to Italian parents, then at the age of 2, the family decide to move back to Italy. The kid grows up in Italy, educated there, Italian through and through, etc. He can't remember Germany, and doesn't speak German at all, knows little about the country. He becomes a professional footballer, good enough to play international football. Are you saying he should be only allowed to play for Germany? If you think that's unlikely think about it. By your reasoning, Terry Butcher would have to have played for Singapore, Hargreaves for Canada, Maloney for Malaysia, Giuseppe Rossi for US, Perrotta for England, Christian Vieri for Australia, the list goes on, and on. Its not a black and white issue at all.

 

[mackenzie]

I blame Owen Hargreaves.

 

[jimharri]

I think you should only be legible for the country of your birth!!

So simple and un questionable.

What's easily read got to do with it?

;-)

 

[johnmc]

I think you should only be legible for the country of your birth!!

So simple and un questionable.

Totally wrong

 

[Blue Punter]

Tony Dorigo born in Melbourne to an Australian mother and an Italian Father.

Came to England in 1984 as an 18 year old. By 1990 he was in the England World Cup squad and played in the 3/4 place play off.

“At around 18 or 19 Australia approached me to see if I wanted to play in their World Cup qualifiers,” says Dorigo. “I thought that was fantastic, so I went into the Villa manager Tony Barton to tell him the situation. Australia has some crazy games, against the likes of Fiji and American Samoa, basically some dodgy Oceania games. Tony Barton looked at me and said: ‘Tony, you have just got into the first-team in the English First Division, we have got Manchester United away and Liverpool at home coming up and you want to go away for five weeks to play the likes of American Samoa?’ He basically laughed me out of his office and told me I was not going to be joining up with Australia.”

Australia would not get another chance to secure one of the English top flight’s best young players. Dorigo’s career progressed well at Villa, so much so that his adopted country did not hesitate to approach with an offer of their own. “England came along and asked me to play for them if I hung around for another year and got my British citizenship,” says Dorigo. “My father was Italian and my mother was Australian, so
I have no English parentage at all. What I say to my English friends today is that ‘you lot were so bad you needed an Aussie to come and play for you!’