The big news down my neck of the woods is the upcoming English Defence League march on the 16th. The route starts in the city centre, proceeds through the outlying residential areas, passing several mosques (one of which was unfairly targeted by a mob after the poppy burning incident) down to Fratton Park where Pompey are playing Chelsea. Most pubs in the city centre are closing for the day, although mine, which is the nearest my company has to Fratton park shall remain open to cater for the football trade. It reminded me of an invitation I received on facebook from a man claiming to be from the 'English Defence League - Charlton Athletic Division' - an invitation which a turned down flat. I am English and proud to be so, yet a cannot abide the racial thuggery that these gorillas (for the lack of a better word) seem to live by. I suppose I wanted to know everyone's thoughts on the subject. After all the ground breaking community work the our club has done over the years, I don't believe my beloved Charlton would be accepting of the English Defence League, and surely even the slightest association could tarnish the reputation of our club.
I heard a rumour of a BNP march for last week, or the week before when that gangsters son died. Did that happen? As for a charlton division- always possible they from another club and using us as a disguise? Will never find me near one!!
...you mean this actually happens? I thought it was just big talk by narrow minded idiots in bars that are so local there almost inbred! I'm of the small minority that doesn't really care weather I'm classed as English, British or whatever, we're all the same, disappoints me that people still do this kind of thing :-(
To be honest, as the cliche goes, you get idiots supporting every team. As much as we are a 'family' club, we still get thugs etc supporting us. Nothing to do with us as a club, just a crossover between a percentage of the population who are mindless thugs, and a percentage of the population who support Charlton. In much the same way, I'm sure there's one or two Millwall fans who like going to the Opera and engage in Ballet in their spare time.
SCUM only name for em...I class myself as a Londoner first and foremost and would say by and large london is the most accepting cosmopolitan city in Britain maybe Europe and beyond and I`nm proud of that fact.
ja ja. from the land of cheese, i officially say "CHEESE" well said CrackAddick. bunch of muppets...just an excuse for a fight, pint and kebab for neanderthals
Whilst we're on the subject of cheese, room temperature Camembert with sweet and sour sauce on crackers ...its been a very long day :-\
I am proud of being an Addick since we have always looked to be a multiracial anti racist club. The thought of the EDL thugs tarnishing our name chills me to the bone. I am proud that we are an English club with a black manager who played for England at the top level. Not only that, he stands a good chance of not being turfed out at the first failures and going on to bring success to the club. In the same way I abhor street violence, knife crime and support all of the things that the communicty trust do to bring a better way of life to our streets. A young liberal softy, no. I am 57, a professional manager living in rural hunting and shooting Cambridgeshire but come from Erith and know that the EDL only exist because of jealousy and avarice breeding intolerance of others rather than a commitment to work for a better society. Rant over .
In my opinion, and please do not be offended, it is a truly awful thing to say that you do not care whether you are English or not. It is that partial mindset that is down-grading our country and allowing it to become a free-for-all for anyone who wishes a free ride in life. The leftist media trot out all of this 'diversity' and 'multi-culturalism' nonsense and the masses are too fearful to speak out against it. It does not work and will create a civil unrest where decent law-abiding citizens will be the ones who suffer. It is not scare mongering, it is the viewpoint of someone deeply entrenched in the middle of it. I live in a truly awful area of London (and believe me I am trying to get out by holding down two jobs) where it is now commonly known as 'shank-town' because of the ubiquitous murders and stabbings. Eastern European gangs run the drugs, prostitution and other illegal trades while the Romanian beggars and thieves terrorise the local community. My children's schooling is dumbed down because the teachers are struggling to cope with the wide variety of first languages. What was once a decent suburb of London is now a haven for the worst that society has to offer - and yes, the great majority of it is caused by immigration. Is it racist to be a proud Englishman? We are not all skinheads with swastikas tattooed on our heads. I love the idea of an England that is free from mass immigration - not all immigration - but that which has turned our great city of London into a cesspit. The cosmopolitan ideal may apply to Hampstead, Richmond and Mayfair, but it certainly does not apply to Edmonton, Harlesden and Peckham. I get sick of the BBC throwing this idea of the 'great ethnic melting pot' in our faces. It is a myth, pure and simple. Even the older generations of immigrants such as the West Indians and Asians are leaving in droves because the city is falling to bits under the weight of human garbage. I am aware that I will get pelted with racism charges, and that many of you live in these multi-cultural areas, but I will stand by the ethos that England must remain English and not fall into the chaos that will rage on to greater levels. P.S) I am not a Nazi. My grandfather was a Jewish kettlemaker who escaped Germany in 1939.
Ponders I don't think anyone here has said that they are not proud to be English. I am certain that they are all as proud to be English as we were when CP pulled on an England shirt or John Barnes when he did. I don't think anyone on here condones the eastern European gangs running guns, drugs and prostitution or Yardies running god knows what or the Tongs in China town. However, in the same way that this great country took issue with Mosely and his black shirts running through the east end of London to attack the jewish immigrants who were seeking a better life, we have to take issue with the EDL who don't care who they attack so long as they are not the same as them. That is not what made England. England is made up of Angles, Saxons,Jutes, Celts, Normans, Hugenots, Eastern European Jews, Indians, Africans, Malaysians, Chinese, Afro-carribeans from our former empire. We even allow the Scots, Welsh and Irish to cross the near borders. It is not where you come from that makes you English, it is how you behave.
Well put, SVC. I agree by and large with what you have said. However, there are many, many people in this country who live in the rural areas and the most they see of immigration is a Romanian Big Issue seller in the high street. But once the influx starts, the local populace will see the detrimental effect and aim their vitriol at the immigrants. It is already happening in many places but the BBC and other leftist media outlets will not entertain the idea that their great idea of ethnic tolerance is not working. The immigrants will in fact become hunted and the extreme-right morons will recruit members willy-nilly. On the flip-side, I do not consider myself to be British. That is for the Scots, Welsh, Irish and others who have come to these shores in later years. I am English, an Angle by 50% of my ancestral line. I believe in the ideals of Alfred the Great and his vision of the Kingdom of Wessex. It may sound bizarre, but my love of medieval history sort of leaves me in a middle-age mindset and may to some extent colour my ideals of what England should be. But my great fear is that my friends of West Indian, African and Asian heritage will suffer due to the influx of undesirable immigration and the anger that it will cause. Such idiotic rules as the prohibition of flying the St George flag, the dumbing down of English history in schools and the over-the-top promotion of other religious festivals all offers ammunition to the far-right. And should modern society suffer for the excesses of the Commonwealth and its instigators? Besides, we import mass immigration from places never under our rule in the first place.
As I said, it is how you behave. Flying the cross of St George or the Union flag ought not to seen as the perogative of the thugs. We need to to explain our history in schools. We have been and largely are a christian society if only by moral code and ethical base, the festivals of that society ought to be the ones that are celebrated here, yes we can acknowledge Diwali, Haj but they should not form the basis of our society. The immigrants came to this country because, mostly, they saw it as a safe haven, a tolerant society with ethical codes that were acceptable to them and were better than where they were. We have to protect those basic ethics. I live in a rural area, The car wash 3 miles away is run by eastern europeans who work very long hours but make money doing work that many of our poorly educated and over pampered young would not want to take. The EDL scream that the immigrants are taking our jobs, but in reality they are taking a lot of jobs that our ill informed and celebrity worshiping populace believe are beneath them. hey this board is becoming increasingly political, lets get back to footie
BTW, this EDL is full of ******s example:[video=youtube;AIPD8qHhtVU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIPD8qHhtVU[/video]
Lived in Dulwich, Brockley, New Cross and Catford...think you can guess what I think of the EDL, BNP, C18 etc...
