Collin Liddell article: comments

Solomon Kane

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UEFA Tries to Move the Goalposts Back
pictured: Michel Platini during his playing days

by Colin Liddell

The election of Frenchman Michel Platini as the new President of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) in January is definitely a good thing for our race's soccer players. In recent years soccer, especially at the top level, has completely changed character. Instead of the grassroots working class sport it once was, it has become a pay-per-view TV and transfer circus that rips off the public to pay fortunes to players with unpronounceable names, and ruthless greed-driven agents.

The main struggle in European soccer, as in so many other areas, is between the globalism, represented by the big clubs that can buy players from anywhere and sell their TV rights and merchandising across the world, and the nationalism represented by the national football associations and the smaller clubs that find their talent and fans closer to home. Although UEFA's power to battle against the economic muscle of the large clubs and in particular the C-14 group may be limited, the new chief clearly has his heart in the right place.

Like his mentor Sepp Blatter, who is head of the sport's world governing body FIFA, Platini believes football should be more of a grassroots thing, with clubs and players closely connected to the fans and communities they represent. These are measures, it should be pointed out, that boost the long-term appeal of football as a healthy, living sport with high levels of local participation.

But in recent years, it's all been about the money and imports. When the Nigerian striker Aiyegbeni Yakubu was transferred from Portsmouth FC to Middlesbrough FC two summers ago in a £7.5 million move, his Israeli agent Pini Zahavi took £3 million for himself, with Portsmouth sharing their portion with the player's previous club Maccabi Haifa, to whom they had already paid £1.8 million when they bought him.

Based on the outlay of the average fans who continue to pay a fortune for tickets, merchandizing, and cable TV, European football makes billions every year, but rather than this money being used to develop young local players and provide local jobs, most of the money ends up in the pockets of a globalist clique of international owners, agents, media executives, and other hangers-on.

This problem is very noticeable here in the UK, where our highest profile clubs, like Chelsea and Manchester United, are owned by foreign tycoons like the Russian Jewish oil billionaire Roman Abramovich and American billionaire Malcolm Glazer, owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is not just a problem in the UK, but also in the rest of Europe, where ownership by globalist businessmen, agents' fees, and the importing of foreign and especially non-White players have greatly increased in recent years, and are threatening to destroy the essence of the sport. There is also the problem of so-called national teams, like that of France, which is full of players who have been granted French citizenship mainly because of their ability to play football.

Recently Georges Freche, the Socialist head of the Languedoc-Roussillon south-east regional government, was expelled from the French Socialist Party because he complained about the preponderance of African players over ethnic French players in the French national team. "I'm ashamed for this country," he reportedly said. "Soon, there will be 11 black players."

Although the Politically Correct establishment was quick to show Freche the red card for this natural and, indeed, healthy remark, Platini hasn't even got a caution for very similar remarks he made in a 2004 interview with FIFA.com.

"Is it okay that some [club] sides don't even field two players from their own country?" Platini asked. "What about those clubs that buy their players abroad? Is it okay that there are a dozen Africans playing for Beveren in Belgium? I mean, why do they still call themselves Beveren? Why do they still play in Belgium? These are questions I often ask myself."

In the same interview Platini, who is widely acknowledged to have been the greatest French player of his generation, also poured scorn on those big European clubs that open training centres in Africa.

"The European clubs who open training centres in Africa do it to further their own interests, not to help with the development of African football," he said. To Platini, such training schemes are merely another form of outsourcing, as the cost of training players in Europe is more expensive.

Since his election, Platini's proposal to reduce the maximum number of teams competing in the Champion's League from each country to three has been met with horror by Europe's big clubs, who are increasingly reliant on the high TV revenues that the competition generates. The proposal is a reflection of Platini's nationalist and anti-globalist philosophy. More significantly, he also believes in limiting the number of foreign players per team to three.

Platini's reforms, if they can be pushed through, will give the champion teams from the smaller European leagues more of a chance of competing in the Champion's League. At present many of them are forced to play knock-out games to qualify with the 3rd or 4th placed teams from the big leagues, an ordeal they seldom survive. Also, by limiting the power of big clubs to use their money to buy in the best players, smaller teams that survive by developing their own players will be more competitive. This will see less foreign and especially non-White players in a sport that is overwhelmingly supported by White audiences.

The legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly famously said, "Football is not a matter of life and death. It's more important than that." In working class European societies, like our own, it has always played a vital social role, giving youngsters a positive outlet for their energies, and communities a sense of pride and identity. Let that vision of soccer continue to guide us all.

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Any comments, especially from our European brethren, on the Colin Liddell article?

This guy Platini seems like a guy with a strong European identity.

"Is it okay that some [club] sides don't even field two players from their own country?" Platini asked. "What about those clubs that buy their players abroad? Is it okay that there are a dozen Africans playing for Beveren in Belgium? I mean, why do they still call themselves Beveren? Why do they still play in Belgium? These are questions I often ask myself."
 

Roundabout

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I thought that thearticle was encouraging, I got a feeling of guarded optimism reading Platini's comments. I will be very curious to see if his proposed changes get through. I also thought it wasvery significant that a socialist politician would makea comment like that.


I know that it is tough to take on a lot of these issues in Europe and the UK, especially in Britain where they have those insane "race laws" that probably keep a lot of people quiet for fear of punishment. From what I know about these laws, a site like Caste Football would probably face legal trouble were it based in Britain, it would probably get done up on some charge of "inciting hatred" or some nonsense.


All that aside, I think Platini's proposals for limiting the number of foreign players and reforming the Champion's league were great ideas. I just worry about whetherchanges like these canactuallybe implementedbecause of the huge resistance from the super wealthy and powerful elite clubs. Personally, Ihave had issues withthe Champions League since they expanded the format to include non-champions. The foreign players issue is even more troublesome. I don't know much about about the present state of the youth systems of English clubs, but they can't be doing too well with seemingly every club looking far beyond Britain for talent. It's not just the big clubs either. I see clubs like Wigan, with not much history or prestige to speak of, targeting players in Africa, South America and Asia, as they fight to avoid relegation this season. That is not a good sign. Hopefully Platini will be thecatalyst for a serious movement to return the game to a much healthier state.Edited by: Roundabout
 

Josu

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I applaud Platini's attempts to bring some sanity into this whole mess.I live in Australia and my favourite team in Europe is Athletic Bilbao,who along with Real Madrid and Barcelona,have never been relegated from the Spanish Primera Division since the Spanish National League Championship was started in 1928.When they were formed in 1898,the early teams had a strong British influence,as the British mining engineers who worked in Bilbao formed the club,but since 1912,Athletic have played almost exclusively with players born,or learnt their football in the Basque Country.Critics of this "cantera" policy have criticised this policy as being old-fashioned and provincial,but the majority of the fans and the members are in support of maintaining the status quo(About 70% according to an opinion poll taken some 4-5 years ago.To me,Athletic is one of the strongest manifestations of Basque culture and pride,something I can still identify with,being the son of Basque immigrants.





AUPA ATHLETIC!!!
 

Roundabout

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I thinkit's great that Athletic Bilbao have been able to maintain the clubs cultural identity for so many years. I am kind of surprised that they are allowed to do that, seeing how "progressive" and politically correct society is, how it frowns upon any seriousexpression ofor attempt at preserving European nationalidentity.


It makes me think of another club with strong ethnic/cultural ties, Glasgow Celtic. They wear the shamrock on their shirt,and have deep political and ethnicconnections to theIrish community in Scotland and theIrish Republicand are the flagship club of Irish people throughout the world. I am not a Celtic supporter, but I understand the passion that the club evokes in people of Irish descent be they in Dublin, New York or Sydney. That is why I found it funny to see them in the Champions league last year, I believe it was against Man U, when the Asian player scored for Celtic. Now, I know that the bottom line is about winning (and money) but what price are you willing to pay for glory? Say that Celtic won the domestic treble and the Champions league and the World Club Cup (or whatever they call it now) with a team of all blacks and asians? If I were a Celtic fan, sure I'd be ecstatic at first, but then deep down I think it wouldfeel likea hollow victory. Kind of like the French national team.


Celtic's situation is probablymuch different than Bilbao, andI knowthat it'snot feasible for them to try and field a side composed exclusively of players of Irish heritage. I guess ultimatelyit's up to the fans who keep Celtic, or any club going, as to what kind of team they are willing to support. Sadly, as the Colin Liddell article shows, the supporters have allowed the clubs to field "cosmopolitan" teams with imported players who have very littleto nothing at all in common with the supporters.


I applaud Athletic Bilbao and it's supporters for wanting to keep the club's cultural identity. I am not familiar with the club's record of how many championship's, cups etc. However, Josu, your pride and identity that is tied in with the club shows that there are much more important things than just winning trophies. I suppose Bilbao can truly be called a team of the people. Edited by: Roundabout
 
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When I first heard Platini was getting the job I was dissapointed because he's reducing the number of teams going into the champions league from the big leagues, but I fully support everything he's doing to keep the teams' local roots. Soccer is so different from the American sports in the way that they sign and develop players. Instead of drafting them, they have youth academies which train players from a very early age who usually come from around that area. Smaller clubs use these a lot because a world class player that comes up through their system helps the team by playing, and then can be sold for lots of money to buy new players. The problem, is big teams like Manchester Utd and Chelsea have all but forgotten them. They just sign players from other youth academies, which means they have no use for their own.
In the past youth academies have been key for teams, like in 1967, when Celtic in Scotland won the European Championship with all players within 30 miles of their field. Another instance was in the late 90s, when Manchester Utd had their dynasty, with their core of Gary Neville, Phil Neville, David Beckham, and Paul Scholes, all of whom came out of their youth academy to become some of the best players in the world. So teams can win with local players, its just easier for the big clubs to buy the players, and I think it makes the game much worse.
 

Roundabout

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I remember the Man United double winning side of 95-96. I believe before the season began someone made the remark along the lines of: "you can't win anything with kids" in reference to United starting those young players mentioned in the previous post by Blowing Bubbles.


I believe the Bosman ruling was around 1995, my memory is hazy but I believe it was the catalyst for free agency in European soccer.


I also remember Blackburn Rovers being criticized for "buying" the Premier League title in 94-95. Jack Walker poured millions into the club and they were able to buy the SAS (Shearer and Sutton) striker partnership. Nowadays everyone buys the title. Look at Chelsea. Blackburn were ahead of their time. At least they spent their money on British players.
 
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I realize now I sort of just repeated what Roundabout said in my previous
post, so sorry about that. But yeah, I really have always had a soft spot for
those United sides back in the 90s, culminating in their treble win in 99. I
still root for pretty much that whole team, meaning guys like Ole Gunnar,
Scholes, and Giggs who still play there. Also Keane until he retired, and
Teddy Sheringham, who believe it or not was considered too old back 8
years ago and still is the second leading scorer for my, albeit awful, West
Ham side at age 40 (he has 2 goals, but still!). The problem is with the new
foreign owners taking over all of these teams, I don't see many of the big
clubs trying very hard to develop players from their system anymore, and I
seriously doubt we'll be saying any teams winning much at all with a core
group of local players, so hopefully Platini can change that.
 

Solomon Kane

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Now, I know that the bottom line is about winning (and money) but what price are you willing to pay for glory? Say that Celtic won the domestic treble and the Champions league and the World Club Cup (or whatever they call it now) with a team of all blacks and asians?  If I were a Celtic fan, sure I'd be ecstatic at first, but then deep down I think it would feel like a hollow victory. Kind of like the French national team.
....Sadly, as the Colin Liddell article shows, the supporters have allowed the clubs to field "cosmopolitan" teams with imported players who have very little to nothing at all in common with the supporters.
[/QUOTE]

There's just no way around it--everybody knows in their that teams are about a lot more than winning. Ideally, they should be an expression of a people, a region, a city. No team can meet this ideal, but they can at least try,

Re: the Man U team of '99---they are already a legend and their legend will only continue to grow with time.
As will the legend of the man who scored that first Man goal of the UEFA final.

Hey Teddy Teddy! Teddy Teddy Teddy Sheringham!
 

Angelcynn

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Roundabout said:
I thought that the article was encouraging, I got a feeling of guarded optimism reading Platini's comments. I will be very curious to see if his proposed changes get through. I also thought it was very significant that a socialist politician would make a comment like that.


 I know that it is tough to take on a lot of these issues in  Europe and the UK, especially in Britain where they have those insane "race laws" that probably keep a lot of people quiet for fear of punishment. From what I know about these laws, a site like Caste Football would probably face legal trouble were it based in Britain, it would probably get done up on some charge of "inciting hatred" or some nonsense.


  All that aside, I think Platini's proposals for limiting the  number of foreign players and reforming the Champion's league were great ideas. I just worry about whether changes like these can actually be implemented because of the huge resistance from the super wealthy and powerful elite clubs. Personally, I have had issues with the Champions League since they expanded the format to include non-champions. The foreign players issue is even more troublesome. I don't know much about about the present state of the youth systems of English clubs, but they can't be doing too well with seemingly every club looking far beyond Britain for talent. It's not just the big clubs either. I see clubs like Wigan, with not much history or prestige to speak of, targeting players in Africa, South America and Asia, as they fight to avoid relegation this season. That is not a good sign. Hopefully Platini will be the catalyst for a serious movement to return the game to a much healthier state.

The English youth system has certainly taken a turn for the worst in the last 5 years or so. The main culprit is Arsenals French manager Arsen Wenger who clearly doesn't like England nor English people. When he arrived at arsenal in 1996 the whole Arsenal squad only had 2 or 3 foreigners and contained some of Englands key players such as David Seaman (goalkeeper) Tony Adams (defender) Paul Merson & Ray Parlour (midfielders) and Ian Wright (striker). After a good start with Arsenal in the 96/97 season he quickly started to sell his English players and buy Foreigners who were not to my amazement mainly French. The Premiership had become the most watched and exciting league in the world around then and was easy to attract the best foreign players in the world so Wenger not giving a damn about the English set up continued to sell his English players and buy foreigners. 10 years on and Arsenal only have one recognised Englishman in their whole squad and that is Theo Walcott who is only 17 and barely ever starts. The reserve and youth teams seem to be a breading ground for French, African and Spanish players. Great English youth prospects from the Arsenal academy that Wenger never gave a decent chance to include, Graham Stack & Stuart Taylor (goalkeepers) Matthew Upson (defender) David Bentley, Jay Bothroyd, Jermaine Pennant, James Harper and Steve Sidwell (midfielders). These players have now proven how good they are at other clubs and proves Wenger dislikes English talent. There was a media frenzy at one point when the England football association starting pointing fingers at Wengers 'no English' policy and saying it was doing nothing to help the England national team. Wenger responded with 'you are racist'. Wengers biggest rival Alex Ferguson of Manchester United has always believed in local produce and their youth academy which has bought them so much success over the years. These include such world class players as the Neville brothers, John O'shea (Irish) Wes Brown (defenders) David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs (welsh), Kieran Richardson (Midfielders). He also brings in Key players such as Steve Irwin (Irish), Rio Ferdinand (defenders), Roy Keane (Irish), Michael Carrick (midfielders), Andy Cole and Wayne Rooney (strikers). Im sure i've missed some out here becuase there are so many, but if it wasn't for Alex Ferguson I do feel that English Football and the national team would be in turmoil becuase of people like Arsene Wenger and his foreign legion. I don't know exactly the percentage change of the amount of foreign players in the premiership but ive seen it before. It's something like in 1992 when the premiership was created as a new division there were about 5% foreign players, 1996 12%, 2000 34%, 2006 55%. Theres been lots of talk down the years about putting in quotas on how many foreigners a premiership team can have but it seems to be too late now and I don't think anyone in the English Football Association is brave enough to do so. I'm just glad that my team Newcastle United have stuck to their roots and still have a very British/Irish team. Even though at one point Dutchman Ruud Gullit tried to change that but he got sacked because he did so bad. We now have Glenn Roeder as manager and he is Newcastle through and through and has been bringing local youth players throug the ranks. Long live the 'English' Premiership!!!
 

Roundabout

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I started following the Premier League in1995. It has changed immensely since then, in terms of not only foreign players, but non- white "English" players as well. Those numbers The Englishman posted are staggering. From 12% foreigners in 96 to 55% now? I think 12% is reasonable. I think of the foreign players like Cantona andKlinsmann who had great impacts on the Premiership, love em or hate em they made things exciting. But yes, 55% is ridiculous, there should certainly be a quota.


Englishman, that's cool that you are Newcastle fan, I have a lot of respect for the Northeastern Clubs, they seem to have a great spirit and the best supporters. That's great that they have a very British/Irish team. I have not looked into the details of the squad but I was under the impression that Newcastle had a lot of blacks on the team, maybe I thought that because it is the current trend. I really miss Shearer, he was simply the best as a player and seemed like aclassy guy. I wanted badly for him to win some silverware with Newcastle before he retired, even if it was the League Cup. I still give him all the credit in the world for choosing Newcastle over Man U in 1996.
 

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Yea the first batch of legendary foreigners such as Cantona, Klinsmann, Schmeichel, Yeboah, Radebe, Ginola, Zola, Desailly and Bergkamp definatly added some much needed class to the Premierleague and attracked more fans but unfortunatly it got out of hand before the English Football Assosication could do anything about it. So now our national team suffers as there are not as many English players to pick from. As for Newcastle there last manager who got sacked (Greame Souness)thought that making Newcastle a blacker team would make them a better team. He couldn't have been more wrong, I don't think ive ever seen the team play such bad, boring football and I was for the first time in my life, embarrassed to be a Newcastle fan. He made the worst signing ever for a wopping £8 million in Jean Alain Boumsong who was awful and was quickly sold after Greames sacking. He also got us Amdy Faye who was also awful and Babayaro who they still have because no one wants to buy him of us. He did get us Michael Owen I suppose which was the one good thing he did. All I can say about Alan Shearer is LEGEND!
 
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Haha, Boumsong is sort of a running joke with me and my friends. The guy gets so much hype, but is just god-awful. You guys almost had a center back pairing of him and Titus Bramble who stinks in his own right. To be fair though, Obafemi Martins, a black guy, has been great for Newcastle this year, but I guess that was Roeder who made that addition.
 

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Yes I was going to mention Martins, he has been very worthy of the famous number 9 shirt and I applaud Roeder for that addition, I just can't wait till Michael Owen gets back from injury so they can play upfront together!!! He has also brought in a guy on loan called Oguchi Onyewu who is American and he has impressed me so far and I'd like to see him and Steven Taylor in the Newcastle defense next season. Titus can be good but some of his mistakes are so unbelievable I think every Newcastle fan has had enough of him. We also have long serving Kieron Dyer who is simply awesome despite regular injuries.
 
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Yeah I'd agree on every one of those comments. I remember so many games when Bramble'd play great until aproximately minute 89 when he would just make the biggest mistakes to give up game tying or winning goals. If Owen ever gets back, you guys will have what I think will be one of the best strike forces in the world. African players get lots of press, but as far as they actually play, they have been very good, and warranted much of that press. The same thing of course does not apply to the "French" imports.
 

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BlowingBubbles, like you im sure and most the people on this webstie, I don't despise black people but I just hate this stereotype that they are always better athletes. It's something that America created and now it's hit our shores. If Newcastle buy a good black player then I welcome him as much as a good white player. But I also definatly hate the gang culture that they have also created because so many white people conform to it and it's the downfall of society. Britain is only going one way and that down the drain and I have witnessed the biggest social change which has been in the last 5 years as I am only 20 and thats why I want to move to Seattle where I have many friends or Australia where I have relatives. The real British society that the world knows so well does not exist anymore because of such dominant cultures as the black gang culture and the Islamic fundamentalist's that plague our city streets like vermin.
 

Roundabout

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Englishman, I know your last post was directed at Blowing Bubbles, but I wanted to comment. I don't despise every black person. However, the reality is that wherever blacks are in the world, there is also huge amounts ofthe crime, filth and violence. Yes, there are some decent blacks, but most of them have demonstrated that they cannot function in a civilized society. Different culture, different values, whatever. The bottom line is that the multicultural experiment forced on every white country is a sick failure, and we whites have suffered greatly because of it.


It is a tragedy, what has happened to Britain. I love England, my great great grandfather came to America from Lancashire in the 1800s. He left because he was from a poor coal mining family, and was hoping to find a better life. It is very sad that so many British peopleare nowleavingBritain because their country is practically dead. It hurtsmeto think about that.


As for black players, I will certainly not deny the talent of a truly great black player. However, youlet one in, then a few more, then before you know itthe Premiership is flooded and clubs are building academies in Africa.
 

Josu

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There is a lot of confusion about this issue.A lot of Spaniards want Athletic Bilbao to get relegated because of their "racist" all-Basque policy,but a lot of it is jealousy.I know Real Madrid fans welcome non-white players,but they will stick the knife in when they do not perform.The thing is that Athletic will field a team of players that are mainly born in the Basque Country,but will not look at their racial origins.The thing is that the Basque Country,like Spain,is experiencing non-white immigration for the first time.It remains to be seen how well the outsiders integrate into Basque society.The thing is,I am not against teams signing foreign players,as long as it is not imposed from above.
 

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The Basque people are extemely proud people and I can't see them integrating in the near future and why should they. They certainly don't want to become another France or England and I don't blame them where crime rates are souring and taxes are being constantly raised to pay for these immigrants.
 

Solomon Kane

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Josu, I just checked out your team's website--very impressive. What a tradition--going back to 1898! And with the under 19 and under 17 teams, and the women's team, it looks like your club should be able to continue the tradition of all or mostly Basque into the foreseeable future.

I've been reading about the problems Spain has been having with massive immigration, especially from Morocco and Latin America.

I hope that your Government takes immediate action to slow down immigration, and does not make the US mistake of delaying or not-enforcing immigration laws.

Every nation, region, and football club can take foreigners in appropriately small and gradual doses, but if that dose continually and rapidly increases, then the nation, the region, and the football club (as an expression of the nation or region) become meaningless. The name might still be there, and they may win all the cups, but the heart and essence of the team are gone. If Bilbao won the Champions League with all-Moroccan players, would it really be a victory--for *Bilbao*?

Anyway, I hope your team wins the League, and thereby strikes a blow for the norms of nation and region.
 
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