Ah, at last I can use a bit of my degree in a piece of non-anthropological writing. One of the key debates in sociological anthropology is defining what a ‘nation’ is. Now, before you all start sending in applications to do the degree, hear me out.

Every time England play, we go through the usual stories: Is Steve McClaren the new turnip head? Will England ever gel as a team? Who should play in midfield? All of these debates are interesting, but after they have been discussed for the 100th time they lose some of their charm. But one debate that is constantly evolving is the club vs. country issue (although this is also incredibly boring, but at least it changes a bit each time). There is always a battle of some sort taking place between a national manager and a club one, and fans have very contrasting views. However, never before has there been a reaction like that of the Liverpool fans moaning about Steven Gerrard. Countless Scousers have been quoted as saying they do not want Gerrard to play, they don’t care about the England football team, Liverpool FC pay his wages etc.

This of course ignores the fact that Gerrard really wants to play for England (a fact Liverpool fans completely ignore), and considering that the media and many fans constantly moan about the English team being nothing more than a team of overpaid superstars this is an incredibly important point. Anyway, this ridiculous reaction from the Liverpool fans begs the question- is Liverpool a separate footballing nation? Often it seems so.

"It is incredibly boring constantly listening to the same ‘we’re not English, we’re Scouse’ arguments. "


It is incredibly boring constantly listening to the same ‘we’re not English, we’re Scouse’ arguments. You are English, and if you want to play as a separate Scouse nation then I suggest you apply to have your own nationality just as that weird little town somewhere in the South of England did. It seems that everyone of Scouse nationality is programmed to say the same things; we are the most successful club in England, we have Steven Gerrard, we won on ‘that night in Istanbul’ etc. It’s very, very boring. There is no need to be so precious. If you do not support the England football team then fine, but accept the fact that most of the country does and if one of our best players wants to play for the team in any way possible then he should be allowed to.

Yes, as fans we essentially pay a lot of the player’s wages by going to watch matches, but we do not own them! As an Arsenal fan, I am used to every member of our squad going on international duty. It is rubbish when a player gets injured when playing an international, but if they want to play for their ACTUAL country then they should be allowed to without having people calling them traitors and questioning their love for their club.

We should be happy that there are people like Steven Gerrard who are proud to play for England, and I think the majority of the country is. This 'majority' of course does not include Liverpool, who will be attempting to qualify for the 2010 World Cup as a separate entrant.