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I know it's a controversial topic on here so I'll just throw out that I don't think people who would play for other countries as first priority should be or should have been anywhere near the international team and that includes Townsend.
And I'll leave it at that.
I just don't think people understand the immigrant experience sometimes.
Ireland would be my first choice (born there to Irish parents), but I would be proud to represent Canada where I was raised if asked.
I don't think this attitude makes me any less Irish or Canadian.
I don't understand it, to me if you leave a country you're choosing country B over country A as your preferred home which surely translates to it being your country of choice. But then I'm from a different generation so it's hard for me to relate to the situation people in the past were in.Quote:
Originally Posted by irishfan86
To be expected from these Muppets. Most unlikebale team and "fans" in the World!Quote:
Originally Posted by seanfhear
Tony Blair's kids and Mel Gibson also have Irish Passports. The Blairs qualified because Tony's mother was from Donegal. Mel qualified because he made a film here (I sh!t you not).Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodge
:confused:
By the way, the last referendum ye passed (can't remember it but will try to dig it out) entitles ANY person born in ANY part of the UK to gain Irish Citizenship :mad:. Obviously whatever money the voters were promised if they voted 'Yes' was more important, though I suspect that people were oblivious to this (Matt Cooper kept ignoring my texts on The Last Word!).
Hey Man - CHILL!! We're all children of the Universe with a Passport of Love!!!! Grooooovy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelsman
..................wha the .....Jaysus, sorry about that, Shels Man.
I was undergoing hypnosis there. Regression therapy into one of my past lives. Its 1967!!!!!
Where did I underestimate his contribution to Irish soccer? He also always refers to England as 'we'. And he got called up when he was nowhere near an England call up or his Liverpool move.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ozymandias
He was a magnificent player but he's also a dreadful pundit and generally comes across as a smug smart arse who believes he's funnier then he actually is.
well all i know is im 100 per cent born and bred irish and proud ta be. best country on earth. :ball:
This is of course, nonsense. Any person born on the island of Ireland yes, the UK doesn't come into it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelsman
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/ca...rth_or_descent
You've just described 99.9% of all the posters on this forumQuote:
Originally Posted by Drumcondra 69er
Majority of Foot.ie posting community looks and shoes and whistles tune......................Quote:
Originally Posted by Drumcondra 69er
See section 4 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004 on:Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelsman
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2004/...038/index.html
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelsman
What on earth, that's not true.
That statute means that if you're born here to and English parent, you are entitled to be a citizen. Other nationalities may have to be resident for some period before their children born here are automatically Irish.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelsman
Perhaps I've missed something, but you're the one making an incredible claim, so please quote the specific line you think confers citizenship to all British people.
Andy Townsend's grandmother came from Castleisland in County Kerry.
Old article on nationality here.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/f...y-1437587.html
I'm sure everyone on here is in Townsend's close circle of friends and so can make claims about him and his national loyalties without prejudice and guess work :rolleyes:
Shelsman Mel Gibsons mother is either from longford or has connection.
Edit: not that i usually use wikipedia but still:
"Gibson's first name comes from Saint Mel, fifth-century Irish saint, and founder of Gibson's mother's native diocese, Ardagh, while his second name, Colm-Cille,[6] is shared by an Irish saint[7] and is name of the parish in County Longford where Anne Reilly was born and raised. Because of his mother, Gibson holds dual Irish and American citizenship"
True. My old fella remembers hearing about him being back in Longford at some stage before he was really famous.
People will be saying Muhammad Ali is a fake Irishman next. :rolleyes:
Been away for a while and just come back to check on the playoffs. Nice to see that on other subjects we still get the same c*jones being spoken
I see what you're getting at, although even the Nazis regarded that not being born in Germany did not disqualify you from being German.Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
Where exactly the f*ck were you when the history class started discussing emigration? Oh I forgot the 'E' word is about as likely to be brought up in Irish schools as the 'N' word being brought up at a Barak Obama barbeque. Get a grip! The vast majority of Irish people - in fact count that as the vast majority of anyone - left their country not because they're choosing one country over another. They left because they couldn't find any work. What: The fact that there has been loads of work in Ireland over the last ten years and that emigration has gone out of fashion is totally coincidental?Quote:
Originally Posted by Murfinator
:rolleyes: Where did you get all that rubbish from?Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelsman
My two cents: Townsend's grandparents are/were three English and one Irish. I think that probably sums up what I see as his real identity.
this is not trueQuote:
Originally Posted by Drumcondra 69er
A bit pedantic but he does refer to England & things Enlgish as "us" and "we" on his talksport morning program,(I suppose it would sound silly if he was saying "you across the water" when talking about England), not that it makes a blind bit of difference .
Townsend, who was born in Britain and has an English accent has given far more commitment to Irish football than the likes of Stephen Ireland, - born in Ireland and has an Irish accent - ever will.
one quarter Irish?Quote:
Originally Posted by lopez
Never was a truer word spoken. Tets said it earlier - some of the attitudes on threads like this are just embarrassing. How anyone can say that Townsend isn't Irish after what he gave us on the pitch is beyond me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
If Andy had been a bit sharper and had a few more Irish grand parents he would have came back with "Well Wayne Rooney is a fake Englishman" and the show could have ended in a jolly old fist fight :D
(in which case my money would be on Townsend ;))
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
Quite right, if anyone deserves the title fake Irishman it is Stephen Ireland.
So much sh1t being talked in this thread its unreal.I have cousins that were born and raised in England, their parents we brought up over there but their Grandparents were from Galway. They are all football mad and if any of them were good enough they would have a serious hard time choosing between England and Ireland to represent.Ive watched Ireland games with them and England games and they dont have any less passion when watching one or the other.They are all extremely proud to regard themselves as Irish but equally proud to be English.They have more passion for the Ireland football team than most other people I know and I promise if anyone told any of them that the had no right to call themselves Irish or wouldnt have the right to play for us they would be extremely angry. There might only be 4 million or so people on our small island but world wide there would be a hell of alot of upset people if they were told they didnt have the right to call themselves Irish
Without meaning to be petty yes it is.Quote:
Originally Posted by jbyrne
Have seen it in his mirror column, have heard him use it on Football Focus.
He also refers to Ireland as 'we' and actually had the gall to pretend he was worried that England might win the World Cup on the Last Word last night.
The man is a media whore. :p
well, i've never heard it even once in the hundreds of times i've heard him talk about international footballQuote:
Originally Posted by Drumcondra 69er
If it wasn't for Ireland's goals in the last campaign we would have drawn to Wales and San Marino and lost against Cyprus and finished second last in the group probably losing the 3rd seed we got for this campaign in the process.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
My point is he did a lot for us in the short time he was playing, he definetly was committed for the team in that timeframe too.
There was any number of postings i could have quoted to make this point, so I won't bother. Suffice to say a lot of people are pointing out that Andy Townsend gave his all for Ireland. I have no disagreement with that. It does not worry me that as an Englishman we disappointed him in 1988 either.
Andy Townsend is an Irish legend. What sticks in my throat is that despite receiving 70 caps for Ireland, Townsend still hasn't decided if he is English or Irish. I'm sure Jayo McAtter might have been cheering on England in 1990, but your never going to hear him refer to England as "we" today.
Some people have got a national identity that is genuinly torn between 2 countries, but when you have 70 caps for Ireland, and none for England, you should know that your Irish.
I'm not saying he is a fake Irishman. He is a fake Englishman. To quote someone with a similar conflict, "being born in a stable does not make one a horse"
Have never understood this antipathy towards our players that might happen to have an English accent. I remember one of my teachers in national school passionately pointing out that these players, perhaps Cascarino aside, all have Irish blood coursing through their veins, however diluted.
This country has had a long history of emmigration & I for one don't think that two generations is stretching that lineage. Moreover, it wouldn't make sense for those who work as pundits to keep banging on about their Irishness, no less so than Terry Wogan etc.
Perhaps it's because my dad spent a large part of his childhood growing up in London but I consider each and everyone of them has an equal right to call themselves Irish. We shouldn't let the view of outsiders colour our own.
As a person who is married to a foreigner i could give a little johnny feck if my son doesnt declare for ireland:D
You mean you COUDLN'T give a johnny feck right?Quote:
Originally Posted by bennocelt
yeah my mistake:p:):)Quote:
Originally Posted by Colbert Report
2nd article I googled.Quote:
Originally Posted by jbyrne
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opin...cle145575.html
"James is still the keeper who makes fewest mistakes, has a presence and gives his defence confidence.
As for the rest, Green is a good shot stopper but does not always inspire confidence on crosses. Green is being given a good run but still has not nailed down the place.
Foster, meanwhile, has not played enough games at the top level for us to be sure yet, although he has all the attributes."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drumcondra 69er
To be fair to Lawrenson on anything that might get printed in the Mirror (or the Irish Times for that matter) he doesn't actually write them. Some junior hack rings him up and asks him 3 or 4 questions (in this case the question about England's goalkeepers). The journo then writes up an article using selective quotes. In all likelihood Lawrenson probably never reads the piece but, if he does, I would hope that he gives them a bollocking for putting "us" in. I've always felt that he goes out of his way to say "england" rather than "we" when he's on the BBC - he may may forgotten once or twice though.;)
As someone who really is as fake an Irishman as is really possible (OK I do have my 1/16th) I can understand Townsend's ability to laugh it off when it is said in jest (which it seems Sheringham sort of did, he seemed to sort of pause and think "is this over the line" for a second). Even if not said in jest it wouldn't bother me too much. I'm not really Irish but I support Ireland. Obviously its not the same as playing for Ireland but I guess the concepts are sort of alike.
Anyway, I have dug up the clip (Thanks to Tiggzz of Maxxed for capping the post game). There does seem to be a moment there where Townsend looks like he could punch Sheringham. To be honest I'm not really sure what caused him to bring up Townsend's Irishness (or lackthereof, I'm not making an judgments), as he was talking about Capello's style of management, how close he is with the members of the squad and how there are no players who are certain to be in the squad. I suppose it could have been the "giving Sven the runaround" jibe or perhaps he implied that Sheringham was picked not because of his form or ability but for another reason (though he sort of smiled when he said it), I'm too tired to tell right now.
Here is the clip for download for those of us who don't bother watching England matches:
http://www.mediafire.com/?tzzjzm0amnk
Hard to say there...I think Townsend was shocked more than anything.
While it would have been nice for him to say something along the lines of, "I'm proud of my time playing for Ireland," or what have you, what would it prove, especially if things escalated on national television?
The way it was handled, it will fade from the public consciousness apart from die hard freaks like us that analyze every detail, but we don't really matter.
If Townsend kicked up a fuss over it, it could cost him punditry jobs.
Right now he's the safe, predictable guy that churns out non-offensive, consistent stuff, and various media companies are happy to employ him.
If he blows up over a little dig (after he had one himself), it gains him nothing really...