Russell Brand got into a fascinating debate with talkSPORT host Simon Jordan over symbols in football.
One such symbol he actively questioned, particularly in relation to Liverpool fans, was the playing of the national anthem at sporting events.
The comedian paid tribute to the reasons underpinning the city of Liverpool’s difficult relationship – rightly highlighting the 97 fans unlawfully killed in the Hillsborough disaster.
It’s critical that football, or any sport for that matter, doesn’t lean too heavily on the excuse of enjoyment and fails to recognise the issues that remain prevalent within – in particular, tragedy chanting.
You can catch the clip below, courtesy of talkSPORT:
🤔 𝗥𝗕: "Who dictates which messages are important? Why play the national anthem?"
😠 𝗦𝗝: "That's not the point!"
🤣 𝗥𝗕: "Simon, don't you Martin Keown me!"@rustyrockets shares his thoughts on football being used to promote certain messages. pic.twitter.com/t8qepgKKXj
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) June 8, 2023
I’m a big Liverpool fan for over 66 years, I would stick up for them through thick and thin ,but I do think this anti royalty thing is ruining our great reputation,just because dad says he is anti royalty doesn’t mean he’s right . there’s worst things going on.
I couldn’t agree with you more!
The National Anthem begins “God save our Queen/King…. Charlie Windsor is a mere mortal… so why do some people feel the need to bow and scrape, and offer some form of allegiance to this unelected entity.
As for a god there are those who believe and those who don’t, so the anthem does not have the ability to unite us… would you agree or disagree?
I can only say as a Welsh woman in my 70 we are proud of our country and our national Anthem , it does not compare to the English one ,,perhaps if you changed it to celebrate England as a country and not a person or a religion people would respect it ,you have to love the country you are born to if not why are you living there ,there are things wrong with all places in the world we live in but have respect .