What is meant by 'a socialist club' is difficult to describe Leo - it does not apply so much to the club as to the fan base. Those who lived in the 70s would have noticed that the NF were active on the terraces at some clubs more than others - in London it tended to be Chelsea, and to a certain extent West Ham and Millwall. Whereas people of ethnic extraction were more likely to support Arsenal or Spurs. This trend has, to an extent, continued to the present day - where the EDL are more active at some grounds than others. There is/or was until recently, a similar divide in Birmingham with Villa having a large section of EDL supporters and most 'ethnic' supporters going with the Blues (The Zulus were always multi cultural). There was also a large EDL following at Stoke, Bolton and Burnley but none at Liverpool and Man. Utd. This does not make those clubs 'political' but it makes a difference to their fan base (at least to the hard core). If I were black I would feel safer at Birmingham than at Villa or Stoke. In Glasgow the division is not just religious - left wing supporters are more likely to go with Celtic rather than Rangers. On the continent these divisions are much more pronounced - St.Pauli v Hamburg SV for example. Some clubs on the continent have ultras who are also firmly connected to right wing/fascist ideologies - Lazio, Fiorentina, Sporting Lisbon, Atletico Madrid, Zenit St.Petersburg, etc.etc. At other stadiums you can see an abundance of left wing banners, flags etc. Calcio Livorno, Olympique Marseilles, AEK Athens, Hapoel Tel Aviv etc. In many places a persons politics will determine the club they choose to support - this does not mean that the 'club' itself are political, although in the case of Lazio I'm not so sure. I also love England - but that does not mean that I love all Englishmen - or that I should choose them (for good or bad) against anyone who is not English purely based on nationality.
I cannot see what being "socialist as a town, a club or a fan base has to do with football. This is about the only forum where I would expect politics and football to mix - and only then because there is a limit to how much we can say about Watford in a week. I also do not love all Englishmen - who does? However just as I support any team put out by Watford - GT famously said he would expect our fans to support a donkey if he played one - and we have over the years. Equally I will always support an England team over any other nationality in competition and likewise (making an exception for Arsenal and L*t*n) I will support an English based team over a foreign one. Going on your multiple layers of loyalty Cologne I support Middlesex as my County of birth in cricket and would support a European team over one from another continent. If the Earth ever plays against Mars or Venus I will support Earth too.
I can't say that I have ever supported anyone at cricket Leo Actually representative sport and politics are often intertwined - maybe not so much at the club level,but certainly when it comes to international sport. The mere fact of national anthems and flags being used for these events strengthens this - I mean international teams winning big events can actually keep governments in power in some countries. I would imagine that for many people if you detest a countries politics (or history) then you are unlikely to support their national football team. Like many Britons (I come from Scottish parentage by the way) I tend to support the underdog - love it when teams like Halifax beat Man. City. This extends itself to clubs on the continent - so if someone small like Ostersunds puts one over Chelsea or Arsenal then great. I am naturally less sympathetic when it comes to Real Madrid. There are some weird Londoners who have always insisted on supporting Man.Utd - but that is their right. I would see it as being no worse to support another countries national team against my own. Don't get any strange ideas from that - I have never supported Germany against anyone, in fact internationally I always want the Dutch to do well.
"There are some weird Londoners who have always insisted on supporting Man.Utd" Absolutely no London based Liverpool supporters then? I'm walking from Richmond to Seven Bridges that day so am hoping I'll be half asleep on a train back during the match - have no interest whatsoever in watching it and hope that Madrid win but fully expect Liverpool to do so.
Does that include Berwick Rangers? The Championship Play-off Final is the same day - the order has been swapped round this year to allow for those in World Cup squads.
Probably - I guess I would support Berwick against an arbitrary Scottish club - but have not yet given it the amount of thought this needs
Looking forward to the Play-off and then this game on Sat. Fridge is already stocked with botanas and beverage.
The Championship final used to be on the Monday didn’t it? Not sure why they’ve switched it round now?
Just wasn't Liverpool's night. Lose their best player to an early injury - then see the goalkeeper make two big mistake with a want away sub scoring a wonder goal in the middle! Great run from them but Madrid really do seem to have the handle on this competition - keeping Zidane in a job.
I think it's because it was Ramos tbh. I didn't think there was any intention hurt him. And unless Klopp planned for Salah to play as rush goalie in the second half I am not convinced it made any real difference. I had to laugh during the build up as a lot of people who really should know better claimed Liverpool would win as they wanted it more. It's an absolutely ridiculous thing to say and that was proven last night. It's a champions league final for goodness sake!
I think the injury to Salah unsettled the whole team Dan, including the goalkeeper. As regards the two blunders I think the second happened as a result of the first. As for Bale's goal, there is often a certain amount of luck in these overhead kicks - it looks brilliant when it comes off, but, in reality, could go anywhere. The fact that an injury to one player made such a difference tells us that Liverpool are still a work in progress - not quite the full article yet, but they may become so next season. In contrast an injury to an influentual Real Madrid player eg. Ronaldo, would not have had the same negative effects on them. Real are not the best team in Europe, but they are the best tournament team, particularly in one off finals - If you're going to knock them out then you should do it early.
Quite right. It’s standard fare that move in a dojo. We don’t go as far as Ramos did, but he made sure that happened, really he did. Should’ve gone and had a very lengthy ban, too. I agree with Dan that it is nonsense to say who “wanted it more”, however, given Real will do anything to win, have no shame about any tactic (if Ramos had gone and Salah replaced I think Real would’ve won that with 10 men), so if anyone “wanted it more”, it’s very evident who that was.