The decision of Manchester United and Liverpool not to have an embroidered red poppy on their shirts has caused quite a fuss. United have said that the poppy will not show up on their shirts and with all the work and charity they already do for the armed forces, don’t feel that joining other Premiership clubs in having a poppy on their shirt will add to the contribution.
The Daily Mail is predictably incensed by the whole thing after they launched a campaign to get all clubs to follow suit. Either you put a poppy on your shirt or you’re a disgusting prick who shames the memory of all those who have died fighting for our country. Is that what this is all about? When you put money in the charity tin are you doing it to help out or are you doing it so you put a poppy on your jacket to show the world you’re a charitable person? Can we show respect to those that have died fighting without wearing a poppy? No?
Stoke and Blackburn had said they weren’t going to have a poppy on their kit but have succumbed to the Mail’s campaign. United have confirmed that they won’t be doing the same though.
“We are very proud of the work we do with the armed forces and we do not feel a poppy on the shirt would add to our contribution,” said a United spokesperson. “Our staff and officials will be wearing them as usual and we are confident we are doing the right thing.”
Of course, on Sunday Chelsea will make a big song and dance about it. We’ll have the Chelsea pensioners wheeled out and the Mail will bleet on about what an English hero John Terry is. Terry, who has always said England is more important to him than Chelsea, was recently signing the prosthetic legs and arms of soldiers who had been on duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“They love their football, they like to look up to us but I would like to be in their shoes and do what they do,” Terry said. “It’s great they want to do that and they are brilliant at their job. I would love to serve, of course. Put your life on the line for the country – I would love to.”
Go on then. Give up your £170k a week and go and do what you would love. Instead of talking to press about how you would love to do it, prove it, and actually put yourself in their shoes. What’s stopping you? Go to the front lines and fight for your country, you British bulldog, you! What? Watching your mates die, killing people, fucking up your head forever, leaving your wife and kids, being terrified, not knowing why you’re there. Don’t fancy it, John? Neither do I. If I did, I would be there, just like Terry would. Terry cries when he loses a bloody football match, what use would he be in Afghanistan?! Fuck sake, people talk rubbish.
Still, I don’t really understand why United aren’t getting involved, but even more puzzling is Liverpool. It’s very unlike them not to jump on the mourning bandwagon. They usually love an excuse to get the black armbands out so I wonder why they are reluctant to have the poppy. Maybe, like us, their American owners are skint and simply don’t want to fork out the cash for a new kit!
Read what The Guardian, The Mirror and The Daily Mail has to say about it all.
Boris johnson was right
GHTT
Boris Johnson was 100% right but was forced to apologise. If I was him I would have told them to fuck off and stood by my words.
My wallet has Boris for p.m. On it and I really believe it, what he said was bang on and it’s not due to and Manchester united Liverpool fc. Thing it’s because he was just plain right
@ King Eric – I wasn’t complimenting the gooners mate, agree that when the second half of the season is underway and it’s squeaky bum time when all games must be won they bottle it. I was just saying I wish we could have been 3-0 up at halftime against blackburn last week. We usually dominate for 60 minutes until we score against them now even though they’re play the game of their life. We need more of the 5-0 wins against wigan and the likes.
@ GHTT you’re daughter must be delighted to have a father who owns a toy shop
it’s amazing that the day before the biggest prem fixture so far this year (at least according to the press and tv news) and we’re obsessing over wearing poppies and terry’s strong resemblence to a (dishonest) female dog!
interesting and funny reading though!
anyone got opinions on how we’re going to neutralize drogba and anelka, considering the current form of our central defenders?
what’s our best midfield pairing to deal with ancelotti’s diamond formation?
chelsea tomorrow lads, i’m starting to get a bit nervous!
Don’t buy toys off me mate , they are cheap and shit. Emily likes the bigger toy shop better
@ghtt – Ever Heard of Gerald Ratner ?
We also do cut-glass sherry decanters complete with six glasses on a silver-plated tray that your butler can serve you drinks on, all for £4.95. People say, “How can you sell this for such a low price?”, I say, “because it’s total crap”.
So I’m sitting in my sitting room with a few beers talkin to the misses and I was saying how um freekin out with excitment as united are playing Chelsea tomorrow and I’m in the airport in 4 hours to go to Disneyland thanks to money won on the spurs win, I told my misses how I’m over excites and think I’m going to freek out then on mutv highlights of the 99 champions league final. HELP ME
@stretfordendole
“Should any club be forcing players to wear a poppy, should Utd be forcing Eire players like O’Shea and Gibson to wear a poppy or Chelsea be forcing Ballack to wear one?”
You are right there boss. Manchester United has gone way beyond an english
club. Obviously we have a lot of fans in Germany and certainly Japan, so what is thought to be patriotic in britain is offensive to our fans elsewhere who have lost people too
can people believe the hilrious transfer rumor rooney to barcelona. the guy who wrote this article Chris Bascombe what an idiot he is, another thing the media are trying so much to undermine united, first the ronaldo garbage on the summer, then their disgraceful campaign towards fergison with teh carlos tevez bullshit and going on and on about ferguson and the ref with articl after articl saying disgracful remarks towards fergie and now this story about rooney, who next I wonder.
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/587480/BARCELONA-PLAN-pound85M-BID-FOR-WAYNE-ROONEY.html
Manchester United have created more “Poppy Awareness” than any other team in the prem this year!!!! Is it because we are not going to wear one one the pitch?…….or is it because that u will see all the coaching staff, Sir Alex and all the players arriving wearing poppys/ raising probably most money for the armed forces than 99% of the clubs in England, thru the work that Manchester United have done already and will continue in the future!
Rooney to barca???
omg..i saw that on goal.com
i’m not even reading em anymore :s
Tufty’s got it spot on. I have been in the military and if United do not want to go along with the Mail’s campaign its up to them. Just because the Mail brings it up doesn’t mean that everyone has to do it. I feel its the usual thing just cause its United. Any changes to the shirts are fine as long as its not United that requested it.
United contributes to various causes all the time. Just because they do not want to go along with the Mail on this, I honestly couldn’t care less. There must be a reason why we are not going along with this. You can’t expect United to go along with any bloody cause that comes along. Sure, this is an important cause. But I feel that its all grandstanding on the Mail’s part and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, I guess just because of the press coverage.
Tiny Tears is a cunt & a press whore. Anytime there is something like this, you can bet he will have something to say about loving England and stuff like that. Can’t believe he said that he would love to serve his country, put his life on the line and do what the soldiers do. Shut the fuck up and do it if you love it so much, do what Pat Tillman did. He was an NFL player that turned down a $4 mil contract over 3yrs to join the US Army Rangers after Sept 11. He died while serving in Afghanistan. Also during his career, he turned down a better contract from another team out of loyalty to the team that drafted him.
After taking so long to decide on staying at Chelsea after being courted by Shitty. You can tell that he loves $$ more than Chelsea or England. So for him to give up his fat pay check for serving his country in the military, that wouldn’t happen until a day I become as rich as Ronaldo.
Is it the scrambled pixels of the photo or does Gallas have lazy eyes?
R8devil – Tiny Tears would probably give up his two balls for $$………
Actually when i knew about this news, i was thinking why united couldn’t want to do it. Sir Alex and Sir Bobby could surely wants and when seeing Sir Alex press conference, he wears it. It’s quite bizarre why they couldn’t do it on match day. However, if not wearing it means we disrespect? What the hell. We do many stuff off the scenes and don’t want to show it out. It’s weird really, imagine those who donates a lot of money to charity in private and when the media wants him to wear something to respect, he don’t want and he is disrespecting?
there is a fine line between patriotism and mindless chauvinism
I guess the DM is so obsessed with their agenda that they fail to see what they are doing is actually against the initial stance of the war which the troops fought in….. I’m not surprised really as journalism these days is a joke……
Anyways, any chance for a new thread Scott?? a match preview perhaps??????? I’m so sick of seeing the word POPPY in almost every UTD site i visit……
Anyone wanna take a wild guess on tonight’s line up????? If Anderson and Vidic and VDS start tonight, i will be a happy chap…… my line up would be….
VDS
WB NV JE PE
AV DF Ando RG
WR DB
Subs: Foster (Kuzz needs to be taught a lesson), O Shea, Scholes (In for DF if injured), Owen, Obertan, Carrick, Kiko
DB to score one from a WR assist. Kiko and Obertan on for DB and RG after 70….. Obertan to dribble past the uni-brow and whips in a cross which lands perfectly on the right foot of Macheda and converts to a goal in the 80th minute. Drogba trips on a strand of grass at the edge of the box and falls over as if hit by a typhoon. Terry puts down his poppy products and protests fiercely to the ref to win a penalty and Chelsea is rewarded a consolation goal. United hang on to win 2-1.
I love the lad nani, but I think the people on my bench are more reliable atm……..
News of the world front page this morn… “terry’s dad deals coke’
Viva john terry
Viva john terry
Englands golden bloke
but his dad sells coke
viva john terry
I agree with Scott on this. Terry could have said it in another way.
But of course he isn’t the only one and this shit just happens in today’s and not only today’s world. Empty words.
“Deep inside, in the world of empty words…
No escaping from those haunting
empty words…”
@Laos Red. DB playing tonight?
A bit off-topic but it’s worth it:
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/premiership/manu/news/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=soccer/09/11/08/SOCCER_Ferguson.html&TEAMHD=manu
The man is GOD!
Where are the poppies to comemmorate the thousands unlawfully killed by British forces around the world throughout history? Where’s the Daily Mail campaign for that one? Theres nothing wrong with comemmorating soldiers who died but it shouldn’t be shoved in peoples faces who might have different views!
Where are the poppies to comemmorate the thousands unlawfully killed by British forces around the world throughout history? Where’s the Daily Mail campaign for that one? Theres nothing wrong with comemmorating soldiers who died but it shouldn’t be shoved in peoples faces who might have different views!
Jesus died to save us all too – why aren’t people wearing a poppy for Him?
I knew United would be torn apart for not having one embroidered on the shirt.
Who gives a fuck – it’s us against the world.
The Mail struggle to show respect to the dead full stop(stephen gately). It’s shit journos with shit respect for any norms or otherwise. Frankly they’d rather have Thatcher back with hitler and Mousolini in the cabinet. So fuck them and pay our respests through doing and not a token gesture of 11 shirts with poppy’s.
irwinisalegend
of course with a user name like urs its obvious what your talking about regardin british forces “unlawfully” killing thousands..ur a FUCKING PRICK..why dont you start a campagin for what u say, and design a wanker badge to put on your clothes because thats what you shouold be wearing
Barab
your comment is laughable..im ashamed you “support” united
Ulster Red
You never fail to surprise me with your outbursts! Free speech not allowed in the north is it? Why do you have unlawfully in inverted commas by the way?
your just wrong … all clubs should have worn the poppy… not about what others have said and done its about your club not doing whats right … simple.. stop being like fergie and blaming every one and everything when its you that are wrong ( on this occasion)