Quote Originally Posted by splott parker View Post
For me, it’s not the players or the manager, on the whole they seem a decent bunch. It’s the media that’ll piss me off, have you noticed there’s a mention of the upcoming semi final in totally unconnected snippets at the end of tv programmes, ‘Emmerdale is coming up next, support Gareth’s boys’ type of thing. Was the same thing happening in 2016 regarding Wales? I don’t know, I was in France but somehow I doubt it. Also, if allowed in, opposition fans could be a bit unbearable over the next 55 years, apparently they won the World Cup in 1966 and the gloating cycle will start over again.
I agree with so much of what you say. The central theme of the article is that we in Wales should support this England team because they do not adhere to the stereotype an awful lot of us associate that country with. In so far as it goes, it's hard to argue with that logic - if Marcus Rashford has not won a major humanitarian award yet, he certainly should have done, Rahim Sterling has handled himself well in recent years, Jordan Henderson comes over well and I could go on by naming others, while Gareth Southgate is an impressive figure in many ways.

However, for me anyway, there's more to it than that. You're right about the media as far as I'm concerned and in recent days there have been things happen which, in some cases, I've experienced plenty of times down the years, but that does not make them any easier to accept.

Actually, I wasn't too bothered by what Johnson said at PMQs a few weeks back because it was exactly what I'd expect from someone like him. However it still grates with me when I see adverts being broadcast on Welsh channels which are geared entirely at an English audience (e.g. the Deliveroo one we've seen during the Euros). Similarly, what I heard last night whereby Emma Raducanu was referred to as English, while, a few days earlier, the same people were saying Andy Murray was British rankles even though it shouldn't by now because I've heard it so many times before.

At least Wales making it to the last two Euros has meant that you're less likely to see England themed promotions in Welsh supermarkets at the time of major tournaments, but I daresay there have been a few dotted around the country in the last month or so.

it's the laziness, ignorance and, to a small extent, the arrogance of that sort of thing which makes it so hard to be supportive of English sporting teams even when they are made up of what seems to be decent people like the current England football team appears to be.