Stewart Downing (with added allegations Reply#103)

[Mazrim]

I doubt Downing has a child with that woman he gave Irish sunglasses to. He would have pulled out in plenty of time.

[ktvillan]

Top Deck you haven't apologised to English people of Irish descent living outside GB yet. That's me that is. Actually I liked your joke but then my family made it all the way to Brum.  However it's nowhere near as funny as the various parodies of outraged Guardian readers.  That stuff is near genius.

[amfy]

Amazigly enough, you're not the only Irish brummie here. Being one doesn't make you right. Everyone has an opinion and mine isn't that I'm outraged, its that I think the original premise is bollocks, even as the basis of a joke. How funny, the laziest Irish people made the present day scousers into workshy scroungers. Yeah I get it now.

[Concrete John]

As a 2nd generation Irish man myself, can I just say that I'm outraged and people being outraged by Top Deck's post.  So much for the famed Irish sense of humour!

And I doubt Downing hit her.  Much more likely he stepped aside and let his fullback deal with her.

[cdbearsfan]

John Lydon! Have you read it? Any good?

Correct, well done Sir. Don't know if it's any good haven't read it. Heard a few years ago they were going to make a film of it but that seems to have died a death.

[cdbearsfan]

Scottish-descended Brummies are the worst. Especially me.

[Chris Jameson]

John Lydon! Have you read it? Any good?

Correct, well done Sir. Don't know if it's any good haven't read it. Heard a few years ago they were going to make a film of it but that seems to have died a death.

I'd certainly recommend it.

[Irish villain]

As an Irishman, so imbued with laziness his ancestors never even bothered to leave the country,  can I point out that neither myself or Ger, another Irishman, took offence.

We're secure enough in our own work-rate, and in the knowledge we gave Britain the great terry Wogan, to know it was quite clearly a joke!

On a more serious note, Irish football fans tend to associate certain British clubs with traditions of pro and anti-Irish sentiment. Rangers and Celtic are the obvious example but there are others. Man U are associated with Irish immigrant support, Man City as hostile. Villa are seen as the 'Irish club' of Birmingham, Small Heath as hostile. ironically given the evolution of this thread, Everton were always seen as the Irish club of Liverpool, and the bin dippers were, according to Irish emigrants I know, were seen as very hostile until relatively recently. Everton have a big support base in Ireland. Obviously, so do Liverpool but that's mostly of a glory-hunting nature dating to the 1970s and 80s. So, the original post was clearly a joke. It would have been offensive if we were talking about Everton.....:-)

[pauliewalnuts]

My ancestors were all agricultural labourers in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Gloucestershire before moving to Brum (Aston, most of them) 150 odd years ago.

I can safely say, without offending myself, that they truly were lazy bastards if that's as far as they got (and many of them barely ventured out of Aston).

[Chris Harte]

Correct, well done Sir. Don't know if it's any good haven't read it. Heard a few years ago they were going to make a film of it but that seems to have died a death.

Shame. RIP.... Oohhh! Sorry, wrong thread.

[dave.woodhall]

As an Irishman, so imbued with laziness his ancestors never even bothered to leave the country,  can I point out that neither myself or Ger, another Irishman, took offence.

We're secure enough in our own work-rate, and in the knowledge we gave Britain the great terry Wogan, to know it was quite clearly a joke!

On a more serious note, Irish football fans tend to associate certain British clubs with traditions of pro and anti-Irish sentiment. Rangers and Celtic are the obvious example but there are others. Man U are associated with Irish immigrant support, Man City as hostile. Villa are seen as the 'Irish club' of Birmingham, Small Heath as hostile. ironically given the evolution of this thread, Everton were always seen as the Irish club of Liverpool, and the bin dippers were, according to Irish emigrants I know, were seen as very hostile until relatively recently. Everton have a big support base in Ireland. Obviously, so do Liverpool but that's mostly of a glory-hunting nature dating to the 1970s and 80s. So, the original post was clearly a joke. It would have been offensive if we were talking about Everton.....:-)

Any idea why we were the Irish club of Birmingham? I know Everton & Manchester United have long been their cities Catholic clubs.

[Chris Harte]

I'd imagine supplying four of Ireland's 1994 world cup squad might have something to do with it.

[Concrete John]

I've got numerous relatives in Ireland and go there a lot, but only two who support Villa, both of whom trace it back to the Townsend/Staunton/Houghton/God era.  If there's a historic Villa following there prior to that period it's one that's escaped me.

[Ads]

As an Irishman, so imbued with laziness his ancestors never even bothered to leave the country,  can I point out that neither myself or Ger, another Irishman, took offence.

We're secure enough in our own work-rate, and in the knowledge we gave Britain the great terry Wogan, to know it was quite clearly a joke!

On a more serious note, Irish football fans tend to associate certain British clubs with traditions of pro and anti-Irish sentiment. Rangers and Celtic are the obvious example but there are others. Man U are associated with Irish immigrant support, Man City as hostile. Villa are seen as the 'Irish club' of Birmingham, Small Heath as hostile. ironically given the evolution of this thread, Everton were always seen as the Irish club of Liverpool, and the bin dippers were, according to Irish emigrants I know, were seen as very hostile until relatively recently. Everton have a big support base in Ireland. Obviously, so do Liverpool but that's mostly of a glory-hunting nature dating to the 1970s and 80s. So, the original post was clearly a joke. It would have been offensive if we were talking about Everton.....:-)

Any idea why we were the Irish club of Birmingham? I know Everton & Manchester United have long been their cities Catholic clubs.

Strange that as Small Heath had a very large Irish immigrant population.

[dave.woodhall]

I'd imagine supplying four of Ireland's 1994 world cup squad might have something to do with it.

It was well before then, though.