Soon? You are aware that this country has just about been ravaged by everybody and there is no such thing as an Englishman whatsoever! In fact we have been invaded 73 times since 1066. The only people who think they are Englishmen are BNP, EDL and other such morons.
You play for whoever you hold a passport for! In the UK that would simply be by defining birthplace in Wales, Scotland, England or NI !
In that case you can bin EVERY international sport, cause there's not one that doesn't have cross representation. We are all people of the world, not from just nations anymore. People can choose which Nation they wish to live in and represent, and thank whatever God that moves you.
Many of us Englishmen/Britons don't recognise them as British. First off, Farrah is Somalian. I'm guessing you're only defending the 'England' Cricket Team because you live in Melbourne and know, deep down, that admitting half the side are foreigners cheapens their admitted talent and success, and with it your ability to laugh in Aussie faces. Zaha was born in the Ivory Coast to two black Ivorian parents. He didn't even move until he was about eight (not that that makes much difference). I have a relative who is eight. He was born in the UK to white British parents. If he moved to Luanda and started calling himself Angolan, be it in a year or fifty, I - and I imagine most sane people - would mock him mercilessly until he admitted the absurdity of his claim. It does not work differently when it happens the other way around. Just because people tell you Britain has always been an immigrant and multicultural nation, with their spurious (i.e. bullshit) excuses about the millennia-old migrations of Picts and Celts and Saxons, doesn't make it true.
One of the most ******ed things I've ever read please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Actually reading some of the comments on here makes me saddened at the level of open bigotry that some people have displayed. Being the nation that it is comes at a cost. An empire comes at a cost. Fighting wars to stop people turning Europe into and Arian race comes at a cost. Britain has and always will be a place of many colours, creeds and tongues and there are a good many people who look to achieve things there that they are by allowed to do elsewhere. It's not like the British army at Waterloo was entirely British, in fact most of it was made up of our foreign imported battalions. That and the Dutch, and Germans and anyone else we could get our hands on but that still goes down as a British victory. One example of many hundreds across history that displays a nations dependency on others to benefit itself. How far back do you go to determine someone's blood relation the country? After the Second World War when we called in men from around the globe to help repopulate the nation, or even further back when we were bringing slaves in to work the land and serve us in-house? Most of the responses on here have been appalling and many of you need to realign what it means to yourself to be English, British or whatever it is you want to call yourself. Just think if the shoe was on the other foot would you be so keen to deny someone their opportunity to fulfill a dream or goal because of the location of their birthplace?
Excellent point KO, Is there a country that hasn't been invaded ? Since Genghis Khan, Nepal has Indian and Oriental people, all Nepalese, Malaysia is Chinese, Malay, Indian and every mix of all 3, same for Burma. Then you can go to Russia, from Japanese to Polish. England has been Anglo Saxon, Roman, Norse, French and so it goes on. America and Australia are the worlds melting pots, from English Irish origins, we now have very proud 5th generation ABCs' Australian Born Chinese, just as Australian as Mark Viduka or Tony Popovic !!!! ( Irony intended ) My Dad was from Suffolk, both my grandfathers English, both my grandmothers Irish. I went to England at age 19 and stayed 35 years. So what am I , apart from lucky. We are all so mixed now it doesn't matter a rats arse.
That is about the most obnoxious and ignorant comment I have ever read on this board. Firstly I am an Australian citizen born of English and Irish parents. I lived 35 years in England and chose to retire to Australia. I am a British citizen as you are, and take great exception to your assertion that you are more "English" than me. Bollocks. I don't laugh in Aussie faces, or English faces, cricket transcends that kind of behaviour. For your information Mo Farrah is NOT Somalian, he is British, by choice, and by Citizenship being granted to him. He is, whether you like it or not, also as English as you and me. Haven't a clue what you're talking about re Zaha. I have a son who's 36, born in Australia to me and an English mother, from Twickenham. He lives in Italy and is now an Italian citizen. No one thinks he's crazy. So what is an "Englishman " in your world?? Someone born in England, who's not black , cause that's spurious, or yellow, ditto?? Boris Johnson perhaps, who is from German descent, Queen Elizabeth, German, Prince Philip, Greek ??? Please indulge us.
If I could close this thread I would do so with your comments. Couldn't be put better. Congratulations.
For sure you can choose where you like to live, but to represent it in a national team is a whole different thing. I would question the motives of someone who didn't wish to represent their country of origin or the one they were mainly raised in.
No, he isn't. My Grandfather was born and bred in Yorkshire (like his parents and their parents before him), but he has Canadian citizenship because of a lengthy spell living in Edmonton. Like most people that's because of the benefits it brings, and not because he wants the right to swan around calling himself Canadian. He knows he isn't. There is a difference between being British and being a British national. People who take citizenship and then walk around claiming they are British are like those snobby twats who buy themselves a title, so they can claim to be 'Lord/Lady X'. It's meaningless. Yup, that's about right.
I have no problem with 'foreigners' becoming british but in terms of representing England (and other nations), I think it needs limitations. There are always exceptional cases but generally speaking I think if you are raised here or have english parents then that should be the major criteria. If an African kid born in africa to african parents comes here at 5, goes through our educational system and is trained as a footballer in this country, no problem with me if he wants to play for England. Jumajaz (sic?) should never be allowed to represent England (not that he'll probably want to anyway). The point of having international football is surely to pit your best players (i.e ones your country has produced and trained) against other nations. What's the point if some nations just cherry pick the best players from struggling nations. On a related note, the same criteria should apply to head coach. Why are Swedes or Italians managing the England team?
Your enquiry about membership to the National Front has been successful Congratulations you are now officially a brain dead bigot. Please make sure you get your swastika tattoo before you attend your first riot.
What ,like Iraqi refugees,or the South Africans who fled Aparthied ?? Maybe those who escaped Idi Amin , or Hitler??? The Angolans who risked their lives to avoid the slaughter ?? In Mo Farahs case, Somalia and its murder squads, who just did a nice days work in a Kenyan shopping mall.
