Thetownend.com

i might be a spaz but apart from brez and pssibly nallis is our entire squad british? Surely in this day and age that is pretty unusual? when was the last time we had a totally british squad, i reckon maybe 89?

Ifil's foreign now isn't he? 

Bit racist Jan

ifil?  ah yes, your right. sell him i reckon, coming over here taking our central defenders jobs.

Kanyuka?

Now you are being racist Ben!! 

I was referring to Ifil's decision to play for **insert Carribean island's name here** last season.  Surely this means he can't be referred to as a "Brit" for such purposes as Mex's original post.

Wikipedia says Kanyuka was born in (The DR of)Congo. And so does soccerbase.

Oh yeah, hasn't he played for them already, or at least their u-21 team?

Does it say if he drinks Um Bongo?

 :soapy tit wank:

Quality!

I love um bongo!

You crack me up!

Well they are both wrong. He was born in Zaíre :D

It hasn't been called Zaire for ages.

true but he was born in Zaire. DRC didnt exist when Kanyuka was born. Sorry, just being a pedant :d

Still its a good point RED makes.

Like it STA, good pedantic work.

Interestingly, my grandad was born in Prague in Austria-Hungary, my Mum in Prague in Czechoslovakia, and a cousin in Prague in the Czech Republic.  My dad's family is from L'viv in Ukraine, which has been called Lemberg (by the Germans when they ran it) and Lvov by the Russians and Poles.

Stalingrad was orignially Tsaritsyn, and is now Volgograd.  Leningrad was St Petersberg, Petrograd for a few years and now St Petersberg again.

All these changes in the 20th Century...by far my favourite century from a European History point of view.

I may have had a point when I started...but I may not have.

Oh, I reckon Brezovan's first name is Petr, rather than Peter...

Yeah, its been good recently.

Barry Corr is Irish, so technically not British. Thought that would fit with the pedantry of the thread.

It is St Petersburg, not St Petersberg.
This may seem like an irrelevant point, but infact it makes the whole thing with the name changing look quite funny. Petersburg is Peter's Town, with the Dutch suffix 'burg'. The reason for the name change was that Petersburg sounded too German, despite it being a Dutch name.

Asleep yet?!

Nope ;)

I always get the berg/burg bit mixed up...I blame my little dylexsia. 

Right about the name change to Petrograd, of course.  I think it says a lot about the Russian leaders that after communism they chose to rename the city after the time of the Tsars instead of a time when there was a least some form of government representing a wider cross section of people (the Provisional Government).  Having said that the Prov Gov was not elected, so...

I would put that down to pedantry, I put that down to fact.  I don't think too many Irish folk would like to be called British.

They live within the British Isles.

So they're British whether they like it or not.

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul (Istanbul)
Istanbul (Istanbul)

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul

Red pedantry ... it's St. Peterburg (Санкт-Петербург as she is written out here)

I take it this is intended to be filed under the 80% bollocks catagory.  If that's the case how come on your passport it reads The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  Why would Norn Ire be named separately if it's part of GB?  And Republic of Irelanders are 100% not British.

Soldiers are we, whose lives are pledged to Ireland......

Jan, stop being so easy to wind up.

 :-[

I think my age is starting to catch up with me.  It's because I love a decent chat about this kind of thing, nice emmotive (sp) subject.

okeydokey then.

Switzerland is still European even if it isn't a member of the EU. Same goes with Ireland, British Isles, British.

Or something.

Switzerland is in Europe geographically yes, but in a political union sense no.  However that's irrelevant to the Ireland/GB issue, the point I made regarding Ireland was Northern Ireland is not part of Great Britain, so how can Eire be, if NI is not?

Errrrrm

WAY off topic I know but where has the 'forum' button gone from the top of the screen? I can now only access threads from the 1st screen.

*EDIT*

It's back again now.

apologies for my outrageous interjection.

As you where!

Really?!  I had no idea at all.  Good work on the Cyrillic alphabet, btw.

NI is not part of GB as have been stated earlier, but is part of the UK.  What I can't understand is why the media cover Eire as if they were part of Britain.  It may be because so many people of Irish origin live here, but if that's the case why not afford the same courtesy to Poland (or historically Germany, France, Norway and Denmark).  I reckon it's all down the lack of home nations at USA 94 and the Beeb and ITV having to cover something.

I meant that both are part of the British Isles and in that sense British, geographically in the same way that Switzerland is European. British Isles != Great Britain.

 You'd have enjoyed my post that Zlin was called Gotwaldov, from the 50's to the 90's then.  Of course it's Petr....pet

Indeed, although being a committed anti communist (and anti fascist whlist we're about it), the reason for the name change was not good.  Was interesting, of course (as most of your posts are, oh learned one).

Do they use Sterling in N. Ireland?

So why the differentiator on the passports then (genuine question), United Kingdom of Great Britain AND NORTHERN IRELAND it's stated as.

Why is NI not included in the GB bit if it's part of Great Britain?  Surely if Ireland (Northern or Southern) was part of the British isles the passport would read the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

Because Northern Island and Ireland aren't part of Great Britain. I didn't say that they were. The British Isles isn't the same as Great Britain.

Jan, you are right.  NI is part of the UK (a political entity), not part of GB (a political entity), but is part of the British Isles (a geographical entity).  I'm off out now, play nicely children  ;)

 Nowt to do with me really I've a Czech lady friend, who tells me stuff like this..although in her 20's she remembers going to Gottwaldov to visit relos.  She also thought it was hugely amusing that STFC lost to Zlin  >:(

As I see it Great Britain is the mainland, and the British Isles are formed of the mainland the surrounding Islands.

Really???  The penny has dropped.

I can't understand how a Province can be part of the "British Isles" but not part of "Great Britain".

Still don't make the average southern Paddy a brit though!

Mo it
No it doesn't. I was just saw a loop hole and used the term to wind you up again. too easy. :D

Nah man I'm passed winding up, seeing this as an educational thread now fella!!

From a third party webiste (not TEF endorsed)

"Is Ireland in the British Isles?
After writing this article someone sent me an email telling me that the Island of Ireland is not in the British Isles, and that to suggest it is is insulting to the people who live there.

Whoever sent me the email (they didn’t bother to leave a name or return address) seems to have missed a few of the distinctions I’ve made above between political concepts and geographical ones. ‘The British Isles’ is a geographical entity, not a political one. Including Ireland in the definition does not make the Republic of Ireland ‘British’ in a political sense, merely part of the British Isles in a geographical sense. Hopefully some quotes from dictionaries will help demonstrate the point."

Fair enough.

 Personally I prefer the classical geographical nomenclature of Britannia ( GB) and Hibernia (Ireland)

"Hibernia(n)"  That'd make a good name for a football club Reg!!  Bloody Celts stealing Hibs idea!!

Try to think of it in a literal sense Jan, which was why my previous post was simplified.

Britain is the mainland, just like many other countries have a mainland and neighbouring islands. Other countries tend to call their mainland just that: The Mainland whereas we however call our mainland Great Britain.

And so when you ask your question, just replace the words "Great Britain" with "The Mainland". As well as Great Britain being a political entity and a geographical entity, it is also a noun.

the reason the media covers eire is because dublin and the east coast as far inland as roscommon/ longford/tipperary get the BBC, they dont however get itv hence not as much coverage on channel 3

Barry Corr Swindonian. End of.

You are all a bit out of date here. Aren't the EU now saying that we are the North-West Coastal region. To include Ireland, & part of fRance & Northern Spain.
Try chanting North-West Coastal region at Internationals.

Is that how the EU want us to spell fRance these days too?  If so I kind of like it.