bovril

Meanwhile he was booed by Everton fans in 2000 for being half Turkish. Typical story for dual nationals - too foreign for here, doesn't fit in back there...

Life of Brian was censored and banned in numerous places when it was released.

I have a lot of friends in Marche and it's a lovely region that goes under the radar. Ascoli is a very pretty town. Lombardy has enough in serie a and b. Ascoli have played around half their seasons in the top 2 divisions which as you say is an accomplishment in a country where it's tough to be a provincial club from a less urban region.

yeah it's bizarre

And finally it's Ascoli that does it! Beautiful town in an underrated region and, to borrow an English football fan cliche, a 'proper' football club that has often punched above its weight.

Kind of hard in Europe to name something after a historical figure and not gravely offend your neighbours, I'm just thinking about being Irish and walking round any British town centre...

America and Australia are settler colonies though. Neither England nor Britain are. I think one of the reasons Englishness is more contentious these days is that we associate ourselves more with those countries than European nations to the extent that some people actually start to think we're the same - the whole 'nation of immigrants' stuff that has popped up recently and doesn't really fit England at all. But I think the main reason is that we globalized our language and culture to the extent that it stopped belonging to us. And the things that define us as a nation are now so nebulous. And we never got to grips with the end of our empire, we still want to be global, connected to the Commonwealth etc. The Scots and Welsh seem a lot more comfortable being simply a European nation, the English not so much. Also what you say about the kids of immigrants is not just about vibes. In most countries including the UK a child born to immigrants in that country is not necessarily a citizen. To go back to the first point, we're not America.

Everytime I click on this thread I brace myself and yet somehow it's even worse than I fear

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I always liked England's Irie. World in Motion being omitted is just typical Guardian contrarianism.

We really did make a pact with the devil.in 2015 didn't we

As well as being a slimy piece of shit, I'm not sure there's ever been a greater gap between how smart someone thinks they are and how smart they really are than with JD Vance.

How the hell does this team lose to 2022 Serbia

To be fair Brits for years perfected the art of slagging off other countries without knowing anything about them so it's quite funny now the UK is the target

Potentially a fun group

He's an interesting person and very different from your average footballer both in terms of character and career so it's a shame the recent documentaries and series have been so superficial and bland.

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I didn't really think it through so it doesn't make sense as a response to Trav

It's just clear Cambrophobia.

was talking about comments you've made about other ethnic groups, though maybe I'm mistaking you with another poster

Is it going to stop you making generalizations about other groups or are you going to stick with Dave on that one?

There was (and still is) loads of stuff in the media and in wider discourse about the pernicious effects of 'whiteness' and how white people were automatically privileged by a system that needed dismantling. People were being asked at their work places how they were intending to address their white privilege. It was all very stupid and unhelpful.

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The clothes one. Bit stupid really

Ruud Gullit probably feeling a bit worried right now