The anyone but England thread!

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Flobajob

No-one's saying that we're going to win the world cup, the point is, we have a far better team than Wales or Scotland (to be fair, even our local under 5's team could outplay the Welsh national side) and the majority of people in the UK are ENGLISH and are far more interested in hearing about their own team rather than one's that didn't have the skill to even qualify.

So as I said, sod the little guy then. I'm grateful that you're not a good representation of the English people who use this site.

Originally Posted by punky

Anyway, if it did happen and the BBC had the rights to them all and all 4 we're playing simultaneously, they'd be nothing to argue over as BBC1 would show the England game, BB1 Wales woudl show the Welsh game, etc...

Yeah that's fine and I don't have a problem with that. But when the day's results were read out on the news, guess who will always be read first?

The national news is NOT the English news - it's the UK news. I'm not saying Wales or Scotland should always be discussed first - that would be unfair. But breaking up the routine so our results were read out first occasionally would be a good start and would send out a great message of equality.

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

I don't see what the argument is about. I thought that regional areas of the BBC showed the games that matter to those specific areas. So if Wales were playing an international on same day as ENgland BBC Wales would show the welsh game and BBC england show the england one. Is this not how it works?

Similary when I buy the Sun in Dundee on a saturday the footbal section is all about teh Scottish League, not about the premiership.

So wheres the inequality? Surely it would be more unequal to offer exactly the same amount of coverage irregardless of who has the biggest following.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

I don't see what the argument is about. I thought that regional areas of the BBC showed the games that matter to those specific areas. So if Wales were playing an international on same day as ENgland BBC Wales would show the welsh game and BBC england show the england one. Is this not how it works?

I'm assuming you've simply not read any of my posts? In which case I'll go over it again.

I object to England being given preference when it comes to the UK media when the other home nations are also playing.

I also object to the amount of coverage England gets compared to that of the other home nations. If it was confined to England-only publications and broadcasts then I wouldn't care. But this happens in the media which is supposed to cater for the whole of the UK.

[SlackDad]

Originally Posted by Russ D

So are you saying that on any given day when the home nations are playing World Cup or European qualifiers England should automatically be given preference?

That's not what I'm saying at all. What I said was that the the team in the UK which is in the most important competition or doing the best should by rights be reported on first, regardless of who this is. Not quite the same as England getting automatic priority.

As far as I'm concerned if they're all playing in the same tournament or at the same stage the coverage should be equal.

I've not got a problem with that at all. Not the newspaper's fault this doesn't usually happen.

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Can you give examples of the media you're on about? I was always under the impression that each part of the UK has regional news. After all the weather in the news that you see on TV would be localised for Walse would it not? Isnt that the same for sport? (I havent watched the news outside London for ages, hence I am asking)
Anyway if there are more people who follow england watching the news then Id agree why ENgland gets priority coverage. Surely coverage has to match the demand?! If you got no coverage at all, then you'd have a decent argument, but until then its just sounds like sour grapes.

[Flobajob]

Originally Posted by Russ D

So as I said, sod the little guy then.

No, sod the team that didn't qualify and aren't playing in the world cup, what on earth do you expect the media to say about them? How much of a glorious failure they were?

I'm grateful that you're not a good representation of the English people who use this site.

And let's hope you're not the best representation of the Welsh public, heaven forbid they get considered a nation of people who moan endlessly about something unbelievably trivial.

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Maybe Russ will be happy when Treveor McDermott heads the sports bulletin with "Sorry to all you ENgland fans, but we will begin this broadcast by saying how crap the Welsh team are for not qualifying for the World Cup and the same goes to Scotland cause they couldnt beat the Faoroe ISlands...."

Anyway I don't even support England and when they played Scotland (both in footy and rugby), I always wanted the scots to win (underdogs and Kenny Daglish and all that), and I still think Russ is going a bit OTT with his moaning!

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

Maybe Russ will be happy when Treveor McDermott heads the sports bulletin with "Sorry to all you ENgland fans, but we will begin this broadcast by saying how crap the Welsh team are for not qualifying for the World Cup and the same goes to Scotland cause they couldnt beat the Faoroe ISlands...."

Anyway I don't even support England and when they played Scotland (both in footy and rugby), I always wanted the scots to win (underdogs and Kenny Daglish and all that), and I still think Russ is going a bit OTT with his moaning!

Well, in fairness, Russ does have a valid point - irrespective of the abilities of the current teams, there is a media bias towards England. I'm not saying it's right or wrong (I explained my opinion waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in this thread), but Russ is right in what he's saying

[orangebird]

Then maybe this topic should've been brought up at another time, not at a time when the world cup is on and England are the only UK team to qualify?

It seems a bit daft to **** and moan about how much coverage England are getting - the papers are hardly going to make any sales about Scotland or Wales or NI if they're not partcipating, are they?

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

I would say its biased if all national teams had the same level of support. But the reality is more people in the UK support ENgland then any other national team. Additionally (from what Ive heard at the WC) England have one of the highest followings of any of the teams playing. There were 30,000 in the PAraguay game (from an official allocation of 5k). Wouldn't you agree that that level of support warrants the larger share of the coverage.

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

I would say its biased if all national teams had the same level of support. But the reality is more people in the UK support ENgland then any other national team. Additionally (from what Ive heard at the WC) England have one of the highest followings of any of the teams playing. There were 30,000 in the PAraguay game (from an official allocation of 5k). Wouldn't you agree that that level of support warrants the larger share of the coverage.

In this instance, I'd agree. However, the way I read what Russ is saying is that, in the event (however un/likely it is) that all 4 Home Nations qualified for the World / European Cup, the media is intrinsically biased towards England - regardless of the population count within the 4 nations, there should be a more liberal split, if for no other reason that the Welsh aren't confined to Wales, just as the English aren't confined to England

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Originally Posted by Nugget

In this instance, I'd agree. However, the way I read what Russ is saying is that, in the event (however un/likely it is) that all 4 Home Nations qualified for the World / European Cup, the media is intrinsically biased towards England - regardless of the population count within the 4 nations, there should be a more liberal split, if for no other reason that the Welsh aren't confined to Wales, just as the English aren't confined to England

However since thats not gonna happen (i.e Wales qualifying for the WC) whats the point in arguing, lol

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

However since thats not gonna happen (i.e Wales qualifying for the WC) whats the point in arguing, lol

According to Russ they did qualify in the 1950's, anyone remember that, no thought not

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

According to Russ they did qualify in the 1950's, anyone remember that, no thought not

1958, I believe

Mind you, I have to say that, given the choice between simply not qualifying, or getting there but being crap and getting knocked out in the Quarter Finals again, I'm not sure which way I'd go

[Russ]

Seeing as so many of you are completely failing to grasp my very simple point, I'll go over it again.

One last time.

When it is only England playing, it makes sense for them to be given media coverage. No problems there. What I object to is when England have a game (in any competition or even a friendly) the amount of coverage they're given vastly outweights that given to the other home countries when they play.

When all the home nations (or one of them as well as England) are playing, England are given priority in the Uk media. This, as I'm sure you will all agree, is completely unfair.

I pay for my licence like you guys pressumably do, so why should I feel like my national team is being treated like an afterthought on the national news?

There are very few (in fact I can only think of one) Welsh newspapers which report on the whole of the UK and of course we are given much more fair coverage there, but they are not my style of newspaper.

So all in all, The media, as Nugget can see and agree with, is biased towards England. Completely unfair and it's for this reason that threads like this will pop up and also the reason why the rest of us aren't as enthusiastic about England. Nothing to do with jealousy, just the way we are treated.