FIFA bans the poppy on England and Scotland shirts. Says they are political.

a reply to: andy06shake

The reality is we seem to have learned nothing, but the sentiment and respect they represent is still important.

The wearing of the poppy nowadays is nothing more than lip service and fashion. The ordinary man in the street doesn't need reminding of what war and death is. It's not as if it has gone away. When I see all the usual suspects wearing them it somehow denigrates the whole idea of it. If there was an end to war and peace reigned then I can see the value of such reminders but that is not what we have.

a reply to: midicon

For me personally wearing a Poppy is a mark of respect for all those who have served over the years and for the many who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Yes, war is horrific and we do need reminding of it sometimes.
But the Poppy is about the people - your relatives included - who deserve the utmost respect and we should never, ever forget the sacrifices they ALL made.

I would love to see both the English and Scottish FA's completely ignore FIFA and go ahead with it anyway.

a reply to: midicon

midicon,

You are wrong when you say that the average man or woman in the street does not need a reminder of the horror of war. The attention span of your average person these days is in a terrible state, much shorter than it was many moons ago. The more time we are spent being reminded of the horror of war, the less likely we are to accept the sort of behaviour or mental gymnastics that a person has to go through, in order to justify war for any reason other than the immediate defence of the land you live on, and the people on it, from immediate danger.

a reply to: Freeborn

The best mark of respect would be for people not to allow the political establishment to continue the endless war propaganda and the manufacture of armaments and hardware. If the poppy somehow stood for that then I am all for it.
As it is, it is a meaningless gesture that changes nothing. It is nothing more than lip service from an establishment that continues with the same old same old. My point is that it is not only ineffectual but worse than that it allows the war hawks to maintain an appearance of respectability. Perhaps you get the gist of what I mean.

I respect your thoughts Freeborn.

a reply to: TrueBrit

I have never worn a poppy. I look at all the politicians and establishment figures wearing them and for me the whole idea has been somehow sullied. Perhaps that makes some sort of sense.

I do agree with most of your posts and hate to find myself at odds with posters I admire.

I don't donate to charity organisations anymore, and I never will as long as the CEOs of these massively wealthy organisations are paid ridiculous telephone-number salaries. Fat parasites is what they are.

I read a while back that one huge charity was 'investing' massive sums of donated monies in the finance industry to make it earn fast returns, instead of distributing it to it's intended purpose. If one charity is doing it, you can bet your last red skerrit that the others are at it too. They are taking your money that you give with good and sincere intentions, and they are gambling with it. If they make gains it's personal bonus time. If they take a hit, who cares? They'll just publicly plead poverty again and get the usual poor mugs to send more of their cash.

It's easy for them to be so reckless if it's not and never was their money in the first place.

So... Armbands for Charlie Hebdo one year, ban poppys the next. Makes sense.

If people in the UK didn't wear poppies it would be because the Nazi's won.

It's most likely FIFA would be all the happier though as such would allow them to proceed with all of their fantasies of control and corruption having seen their behaviour most lately.

Edit: I wear to poppy to remind us of the horrors of war - I as a young person of the UK carry none and I would like it to stay this way. Yes we do have wars today but if we simply forgot all of the wars of the past and the terrible sacrifices made by the many we are doomed to repeat these sacrifices on an even greater scale today.

originally posted by: SlowNail
So... Armbands for Charlie Hebdo one year, ban poppys the next. Makes sense.

I would have had a modicum of respect for those politicians that marched to the call of 'Je suis Charlie' if they had worn a T shirt with the cartoon on the front.

a reply to: DodgyDawg

We repeat them regardless of poppy wearing.

I'll wear one when we stop sending young men to die for causes that were never ours.

I find remembrance day to be little more than a disgusting public display of fake regret by self serving politicians, whenever it's shown on tv I just want to punch them in their faces.

And this is how history starts being reinterpreted. In a generation or two the poppy symbol will be like hate speech. Quick - someone send a case of Orwell's 1984 to the FIFA headquarters.

a reply to: SprocketUK

It is time to ban FIFA altogether.

And for good measure freeze the assets of those who voted to ban the poppy.

Outrageous.

FIFA can take a flying **** off a high ledge for all I care.

a reply to: Freeborn

I would love to see both the English and Scottish FA's completely ignore FIFA and go ahead with it anyway.

I suspect that's exactly what they're going to do.

And who the hell is FIFA to dictate a decades-old tradition to anyone ?

The public will hand FIFA their asses on a plate for suggesting such a thing.

Wow. lot of really well thought out replies to this thread.

One other thing I'd like to add is the money raised from selling poppies actually goes to helping service personnel and their families.

The legion also gets a cut from shirt sales that bear a printed poppy.


I totally agree with those who find the sight of politicians with poppies ironic.

That never takes away from the fact that I wear it to honour those who fought for me, both relatives and strangers, friends and sometimes people I don't like much.

a reply to: MagnaCarta2015

Well, that's your perogative.

I wear one because my grandfathers fought the second, and their fathers before them the first, and we owe both generations at least this much recognition for their sacrifice of life and/or sanity, because without it we would not have the freedom to discuss this matter at all, certainly not using the language to which I am accustomed at any rate.

originally posted by: TheKnightofDoom
I hope the players just stick one on.
Our great great grandads fought and died for the right to play footie...how bloody dare they I'm a bit mad at this.
I suspect the public backlash will set them straight.
Will they attempt to stop the two minute silence also? NEVER!.

^^^ Totally.

They should use the Spartacus manoeuvre and have every player, coach and manager wearing a poppy.

It'd be a fantastic opportunity for the Legion to get some donations too. They could sell them in their thousands to the supporters.

originally posted by: midicon
Well it may go against the sentiment of this thread but I think they are correct to ban it. If allowed then what next?

Anyway, has remembrance day done anything really? We are still a nation of war hawks happily supplying weapons to all and sundry. When I see politicians, the monarchy, media pundits and co wearing poppies it makes me want to puke.

Hypocrisy at it's finest.

To be fair, you're broad-brushing 60 odd million people based on what a few media heads and politicians say and do.

Don't forget how millions were against the Iraq War and aren't in favour of wars in general.

People I know wear the poppy to show respect for the fallen, the dead and their families. They show remembrance for the brothers my great grandparents lost in WW2. Also the brother my granddad lost and people I work with who've served and been injured. Not everyone who wears a poppy is celebrating conflict and war.