We loathe them in cricket, we ignore them in rugby league, and we’ll never forgive Johnny Wilkinson for that drop goal, but somehow, when it comes to football, we have a soft spot for the English Three Lions.
It’s hard to explain really.
If I were being cynical, I’d say it’s because we haven’t – until ten years ago – had a national team to be proud of, so naturally we’ve gravitated to supporting the motherland. But for a team that has disappointed for so long as well, what would be the sense in that?
If I were being sentimental, I’d say it’s because we really are the same family; and sometimes we like nothing more than beating our siblings in backyard cricket and at others we simply want to sit back and be proud of our family – “Dale dug a hole, tell ‘em Dale.”
But that only presents another issue: who decides when we are supposed to support England and when we are supposed to be promising broken arms? (Sorry, Clarkey, had to put that in somewhere.)
Which leaves me with my familiarity theory. Thousands of Australian football fans stay up late on the weekends to watch the English Premier League, thousands more wear kits with Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard printed on the back, and we feed our football kids dreams of playing for Manchester United one day. When I was ten years old, I had a friend who was scouted by United – his family was revered after that.
So when we cry and celebrate each week as Wayne Rooney or Daniel Sturridge run in on goal, doesn’t it make sense that we support them on the world stage too? Or does pulling on that white jersey with the Three Lions logo mean we should unleash our inner Mitch Johnson?
What do you say Roarers? England played Uruguay for their lives this morning, did you cheer them home or do hope they walked the plank and jeer as they hit the water?
Let us know your thoughts below. It’s too bad I’m a Luis Suarez fan…
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
"Of course I don’t expect expats to support there [sic] country of birth over there [sic] adopted country." So you're telling me that, should you ever move overseas for whatever reason (job, marriage, whatever...) you'd no longer support Australia? That's a rather partisan attitude to have isn't it?
Knightblues
Guest
I agree, to every Englander who ever sneered down their nose at us with a disdainful convict insult - HA HA! YOUR OUT OF THE WC, YOU OVER RATED POMPOUS HAS BEENS!
Knightblues
Guest
cheers m8 we should always support each other against other countrys, there are like 2 million kiwis living over here now, so it would be nice if they made Aussie their second team at least.
Albatross
Guest
Nothing unusual about lottery funding in the UK. In fact many sports receive lottery funding, exactly how much funding is usually proportionate to medal or championship potential. Lottery funding was one of the major contributors to the success of team GB at the Olympics. Being able to recognise names on the back of shirts has little to do wth the development of sporting rivalry.
Steve Kerr
Roar Rookie
Lottery funding, certainly, but try finding a man on the street who can name even ONE netball or Hockey player, and you'll see what the real state of popularity is. Of course, the fact it even needs to be funded by the National Lottery also speaks volumes about how poorly supported it is.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Not sure if serious... if so... John Curtin might disagree.
Albatross
Guest
And rightly so Carl. Why would you have any reason to cheer for an Aussie sporting team? It wouldn't feel right, nor would it make sense. Good on you for getting behind the socceroos though. Cheers
Albatross
Guest
Do your research Steve.. England most certainly do care about netball and hockey and have spent considerable amounts of lottery funding in building teams that can rival, and in the case of netball, surpass the Aussie contingent. Not so sure about basketball, funding there has recently been cut in the UK.
Albatross
Guest
Why on earth would Australians want to, or feel the need to, support England in any sport? They certainly don't support us in any sport, nor should they. On the whole they enjoy seeing us fail in sport. So it's quite right that we should enjoy their failures as much as lament our own failures.
Albatross
Guest
Even more embarrassing for the English though.. Soccer is their national sport.. And they are eliminated from the World Cup in record time. Until this point at least, Australia has scored more goals in the tournament than England, and against arguably better opposition. Make what you will of that.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
"Are Australians supposed to support England?" Never
Brick Tamland of the pants party
Guest
Not all though,my fathers side are cockney and all support Australia now and I remember my grandmother telling me my grandfather shedding a tear or two like we all did in 97.Unfortunatley he passed a year before we qualified for Germany and also never got to see the rise of the A-League,though he'd be disgusted with Glorys current state.
Steve Kerr
Roar Rookie
Whatever you think about Freddie's point, using English coverage of the Ashes as a rebuttal hardly works: there's only 2 countries involved! Focusing on the single opponent in a competition between 2 rivals is hardly the same thing as focusing on a team you aren't going to meet, in a competition which has more than *30* other countries to consider. Now, do Aussies actually focus on England in the first place? I don't know about that, but I'm guessing there's not many discussion boards of this length about the Socceroos on any Pommie websites!
Terrosilops
Guest
Nope it comes down to colonial roots. But most importantly England are ally's and that sticks around. (as in war etc)
JB
Guest
Sad it's the same attitude as the Scottish Irish and welsh, slightly embarrassing for them also.
FTR
Guest
Well said, Freddie. As a wise man once said, the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
AZ_RBB
Guest
You're comparing the number and influence of foreigners in the A-League to the EPL? HA!
Minz
Guest
Odd - I know a bunch of immigrants who go for the Australian side in all forms of sport, even when playing the old country. And seriously, if we're going to hold sports up as the measure of a person, it'd be pretty sad!
Freddie
Guest
Boo hoo. Scorers of the goals for the winning team in the Grand Final this year - Berisha and Henrique. From Bendigo and Wagga Wagga I trust?
AZ_RBB
Guest
You can't be serious. Have you ever read the English papers during an Ashes series? Even before this world cup on the few occasions they spoke of the Aussies they were more than happy to rip into us with little justification other than a desperate attempt to belittle us. Hope they enjoy their long off season. Give them a chance to work hard at helping foreigners win their local league.