Wednesday, January 26, 2005

We'll Keep A Welcome In The Hillsides...


Three Welshmen in national costume

No doubt this is only of interest to Mr. Bowles and me, but I spotted the following on the BBC:

No free kit for 'foreign' Welsh

A Welsh football club which answered an advert by an English businessman offering free shirts was turned down because Wales "is a foreign country". Flint Town United secretary Michael Beech was shocked by emails sent from Surrey-based Victor Gladwish saying he did not sponsor "foreign" teams.

The company, Gladwish Land Sales, had advertised sponsorship of non-league teams in a football paper. Mr Gladwish said he did not do business in Wales.

Michael Beech, who took over as secretary of Cymru Alliance team Flint Town this season, had spotted the advert in the Welsh edition of the Non-League Paper offering home and away strips for one team from a league.

He emailed Mr Gladwish for more information but received the following reply:

"Sorry, we do not sell land in foreign countries so do not do footy teams in foreign countries."

Mr Beech replied: "Why, what country are you doing this offer in? We are in the UK."

He was stunned by Mr Gladwish's reply, which read: "UK ended when the Labour government made Wales independent. Thousands of soldiers died unifying the countries. We do not sell land in Wales. You have Welsh on your Land Registry documents and as an ex-soldier I object."

When Mr Beech pointed out Wales was British and followed British laws, he responded: "I am English and you are Welsh".

Mr Beech told BBC Wales: "I'm not annoyed by the fact he said no. If he had emailed me back and said you are not within our catchment area, that would have been fine. It's the way he was (attacking) the Welsh. We're not foreigners in Wales. We're as much a part of the UK as Horsham in Surrey [Gladwish Land Sales' base] is. I think other people would be annoyed about it and rightly so. It is an insult really. I have lived in Mold for 14 years. I was born in Chester but my house is not a little outpost of Chester. As far as I'm concerned, I live in Wales and I act like the Welsh."

Mr Gladwish, who has put about £1m into non-league football sponsorship, including the Conference League Cup, told the BBC it was "up to me who I give away things to, and I do not sell land in Wales."

He has sponsorships involving around 25 non-league clubs in England.

He added: "Wales is in Europe and the [football] World Cup as a nation so either you are part of England or not, you cannot have it both ways. For the state of the union ask the Labour government - they created your assembly three years ago [the assembly was actually set up in 1999]. Any further discussions and I will support UEFA and FIFA in expelling Wales from their competitions. Make your minds up."


See? We have millionare sports lunatics of our own: we don't need no Malcom Glazer carpetbaggery.

11 comments:

jamie said...

"carpetbaggery" may be my new favorite word.

Wisdom Weasel said...

"We don't need no Malcom Glazer Carpetbaggery" is actually the often overlooked first line of the fourth verse of "We Don't Need No Education" by Pink Floyd.

Mondale said...

Give me Cymru over Surrey any and everyday of the week.
As for Welsh football being shit, Cardiff City won the FA cup in 1927, the only time the trophy ever left England.
Super Furry Animals,
Aneurin Bevan,
Ivor the engine,
Ewan Roberts,
My mum.
All Welsh marvels.

Wisdom Weasel said...

I thought your mum was from the Edgeware Rd/Wembley area; or is she "welsh" like so many americans are "irish"?

I love Nye bevan. And your mum (even if she is only fake Welsh). I didn't care for the caravanning holiday of 1989 in Betsy Cowed however- it rather soured me on Wales the place (rain, 'scgampi' is Welsh for Scampi (why bother?) and no beer on Sundays!)

Mondale said...

Wendy Bowles is West Acton Welsh/adopted Norfolk.

Wisdom Weasel said...

"West Acton Welsh" is brilliant: it sounds like a First World War TA battalion.
As does the "Adopted Norfolks". Ah, see the gallant Addopted Norfolks' Artists Rifle Bicycle Corps charge Johhny Turk on the beaches of Gallipoli!"

Wisdom Weasel said...

Deb, RDOWM is a celtic as I am; he's a sixteenth Welsh and I'm a sixteenth Scottish. He is no more Owen Glendour than I am William Wallace. I actually love the Welsh (Bevan, Kinnock, JPR Williams and so on- he'll explain the obscure references) but Wales itself just makes me think of cold and rain, which for a Norfolk man (like RDOWM) is saying something. If we notice it's cold and wet, something's wrong. By the way, I loved Unwellness' description of the trick you played on her in the library. I am looking forward to meeting all of you this spring when I descend on Brooklyn for a vist.

Anonymous said...

stop crying. Wales should be independent. thousands of our ancestors strugled for centuries to stay free. we dont need an assembly only a full goverment of our own. I dont know about yoy but I am proud to be Welsh, Cymru am byth

Wisdom Weasel said...

Anonymous (if that is your real name- in fact, being Welsh shouldn't it be 'Llanonymous?'), who is crying? The Welsh football team in the BBC story, or me because I complained that all the times I've been to Wales it rained? Actually, if I was a Welsh nationalist who did all he could to stop water being piped from the principality to the benightened English, only to have it keep pissing it down and refiling the reservoirs, it would really get on my tits.

"I dont know about you but I am proud to be Welsh." And so you should be. I however am not. Because I'm not Welsh. Which reading the post and comments would have revealed to you, boyo. Iechyd da.

Although when I come to think of it- my great-grandfather was a Morris; thank you, Llanonymous for re-awakening my latent Welsh nationalist streak.

Anonymous said...

never said my name was Anonymous. I just like to express my heart. and their is nothing wrong with that. by the way my great grandmother also was named Morris.

Wisdom Weasel said...

Dear Llanonymous;

No, you didn't explicitly say your name was anonymous, but you also didn't sign your comment. Therefore, you default to anonymous. Also, nothing wrong with expressing your heart. There is something wrong with your spelling, but there is nothing wrong with you expressing your heart.

However, in your first comment you said "stop crying". I was just wondering who was crying? I posted an article that showed the foolishness of the English. Did you read the post? Did you read the comments? Or do you just look at the pictures?

If you are related to me or are a friend and are attempting to be oh-so-funny, please sign your name. If not, please try to make sense and explain exactly why you popped by to be belligerent and obtuse vis a vis the subject matter of this post.

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