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Belfast United FC

ChizzChizz
in Other Football and Sports

Previously confidential state papers include a note from 1997 described as "following up earlier informal discussions about the possibility of an English Premier League football club relocating to Belfast". It was said to be something that would be a "significant breakthrough if Belfast had a football team playing in the English Premier League". The note also said such a move "should be able to build up strong cross-community support and provide a positive unifying force in a divided city".  Another suggestion was that the move would come with a principally private sector-funded modern 40,000-seat sports stadium, and potentially an academy for sport, located on Queen's Island in east Belfast or the North Foreshore site in the north of the city.  The note suggested that Wimbledon FC would undergo a name change to Belfast United. 

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    Todds_right_hookTodds_right_hook
    But did they win the FA cup on 1988?
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    golfaddickgolfaddick
    Todds_right_hook said:
    But did they win the FA cup on 1988?
    Yes they did.
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    Big WilliamBig William
    I saw this, slightly cofused as I'm certain there was talk of them going to Dublin rather than Belfast. All a bit gimmicky if you ask me.
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    Swindon_AddickSwindon_Addick
    That's quite a dilemma for Wimbledon fans. Move to Belfast (before the Good Friday Agreement, so at a time when there was officially a ceasefire but there were terrorists with guns all over the place still and the Troubles could have reignited at any moment) or ... move to Milton Keynes. No good option there.
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    ChizzChizz
    golfaddick said:
    Chizz said:
    golfaddick said:
    When I read this earlier I just thought that Blair had no idea about football or the affinity a club has with its fans.

    The more I read about Blair the more I dislike him. Not only did he take us into an illegal war, he then signed a treaty (GFA) that basically scuppped Brexit. Now I find out that he was happy to sign off a deal that would see a London club playing in Belfast. 

    Absolutely bonkers.
    Yeah. Bloody Blair putting an end to decades of murder in Ireland and England while risking the implementation of a vote that was to take place only a eighteen years later. 
    Well, I'm not wanting to make this political as the thread will probably get taken down, but it would have been nice for someone (namely Blair himself) to have said to David Cameron in 2016 that we couldn't leave the EU as there can't be a border between the UK (NI) and the EU ( ROI) and therefore he might as well forget about it. 

    Just saying. 


    That's quite some take! 
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    colthe3rdcolthe3rd
    golfaddick said:
    Chizz said:
    golfaddick said:
    When I read this earlier I just thought that Blair had no idea about football or the affinity a club has with its fans.

    The more I read about Blair the more I dislike him. Not only did he take us into an illegal war, he then signed a treaty (GFA) that basically scuppped Brexit. Now I find out that he was happy to sign off a deal that would see a London club playing in Belfast. 

    Absolutely bonkers.
    Yeah. Bloody Blair putting an end to decades of murder in Ireland and England while risking the implementation of a vote that was to take place only a eighteen years later. 
    Well, I'm not wanting to make this political as the thread will probably get taken down, but it would have been nice for someone (namely Blair himself) to have said to David Cameron in 2016 that we couldn't leave the EU as there can't be a border between the UK (NI) and the EU ( ROI) and therefore he might as well forget about it. 

    Just saying. 


    I mean given the difficulty in "getting Brexit done" was largely due to this border he wasn't completely wrong was he?

    There are a plenty of things to have a go at Blair for but the GFA? It's a take, I'll give you that. 
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    Off_itOff_it
    golfaddick said:
    Chizz said:
    golfaddick said:
    When I read this earlier I just thought that Blair had no idea about football or the affinity a club has with its fans.

    The more I read about Blair the more I dislike him. Not only did he take us into an illegal war, he then signed a treaty (GFA) that basically scuppped Brexit. Now I find out that he was happy to sign off a deal that would see a London club playing in Belfast. 

    Absolutely bonkers.
    Yeah. Bloody Blair putting an end to decades of murder in Ireland and England while risking the implementation of a vote that was to take place only a eighteen years later. 
    Well, I'm not wanting to make this political as the thread will probably get taken down, but it would have been nice for someone (namely Blair himself) to have said to David Cameron in 2016 that we couldn't leave the EU as there can't be a border between the UK (NI) and the EU ( ROI) and therefore he might as well forget about it. 

    Just saying. 


    Hmmm, if only someone had pointed out the issue with the NI border right from the start. Amazing nobody though to mention it really. Oh well, I'm sure we'll come up with an answer eventually.
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    golfaddickgolfaddick
    edited December 2023
    Off_it said:
    golfaddick said:
    Chizz said:
    golfaddick said:
    When I read this earlier I just thought that Blair had no idea about football or the affinity a club has with its fans.

    The more I read about Blair the more I dislike him. Not only did he take us into an illegal war, he then signed a treaty (GFA) that basically scuppped Brexit. Now I find out that he was happy to sign off a deal that would see a London club playing in Belfast. 

    Absolutely bonkers.
    Yeah. Bloody Blair putting an end to decades of murder in Ireland and England while risking the implementation of a vote that was to take place only a eighteen years later. 
    Well, I'm not wanting to make this political as the thread will probably get taken down, but it would have been nice for someone (namely Blair himself) to have said to David Cameron in 2016 that we couldn't leave the EU as there can't be a border between the UK (NI) and the EU ( ROI) and therefore he might as well forget about it. 

    Just saying. 


    Hmmm, if only someone had pointed out the issue with the NI border right from the start. Amazing nobody though to mention it really. Oh well, I'm sure we'll come up with an answer eventually.
    Well I watched many a debate & it wasn't mentioned once. In fact, I remember a couple of years back that when googled the GFA came up less than 2% of results.

    If it was that big an issue then I'm sure it would have been plastered all over a big bus or in any literature printed at the time, in big letters saying....

    "The Good Friday Treaty expressly forbids a border being put up between NI and the Republic and therefore leaving the EU is impossible". 


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    Off_itOff_it
    golfaddick said:
    Off_it said:
    golfaddick said:
    Chizz said:
    golfaddick said:
    When I read this earlier I just thought that Blair had no idea about football or the affinity a club has with its fans.

    The more I read about Blair the more I dislike him. Not only did he take us into an illegal war, he then signed a treaty (GFA) that basically scuppped Brexit. Now I find out that he was happy to sign off a deal that would see a London club playing in Belfast. 

    Absolutely bonkers.
    Yeah. Bloody Blair putting an end to decades of murder in Ireland and England while risking the implementation of a vote that was to take place only a eighteen years later. 
    Well, I'm not wanting to make this political as the thread will probably get taken down, but it would have been nice for someone (namely Blair himself) to have said to David Cameron in 2016 that we couldn't leave the EU as there can't be a border between the UK (NI) and the EU ( ROI) and therefore he might as well forget about it. 

    Just saying. 


    Hmmm, if only someone had pointed out the issue with the NI border right from the start. Amazing nobody though to mention it really. Oh well, I'm sure we'll come up with an answer eventually.
    Well I watched many a debate & it wasn't mentioned once. In fact, I remember a couple of years back that when googled the GFA came up less than 2% of results.

    If it was that big an issue then I'm sure it would have been plastered all over a big bus or in any literature printed at the time, in big letters saying....

    "The Good Friday Treaty expressly forbids a border being put up between NI and the Republic and therefore leaving the EU is impossible". 


    Well, the fact that it only seems to have recently dawned on you can only mean that you weren't as well informed as you probably thought you were. I knew about it, and if you could bring yourself to read the Brexit debates on here - not that I'd recommend it ! - there were plenty of others who knew it was a problem. 
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    MrOneLungMrOneLung
    Well if @seth plum could come up with multiple reasons before the vote as to why the border might just cause a few issues with brexit, then I am fairly sure the government was probably aware as well 
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    golfaddickgolfaddick
    edited December 2023
    It's a shame then that none of you well informed people told the media or the politicians that because it seems that before the vote in 2016 not many people knew otherwise it would have been splashed across all newspapers & social media outlets that Brexit wasn't possible due to this.

    Anyway....no need to disrupt this thread. Not that it seems to have got much traction. 
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    LargeAddickLargeAddick
    Thought it was a decent enough film. Ooops, wrong thread (as are most of the other posts).
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    JamesSeedJamesSeed
    edited December 2023
    golfaddick said:
    It's a shame then that none of you well informed people told the media or the politicians that because it seems that before the vote in 2016 not many people knew otherwise it would have been splashed across all newspapers & social media outlets that Brexit wasn't possible due to this.

    Anyway....no need to disrupt this thread. Not that it seems to have got much traction. 
    It was know, but the owners of newspapers would never have splashed anything negative about Brexit on the front pages. They wouldn’t even mention it in the inside pages without a rebuttal. They didn’t care about the detail. 
    And Cameron was a very poor campaigner. I was on the Remain campaign trail with him, and he was utterly hopeless. He mention the GFA, but only in passing. By the end of it even I was ambivalent about Brexit (briefly). He didn’t have a clue!
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    se9addickse9addick
    I doubt many of those who voted for Brexit gave a hoot about the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland or the border. If they did then they would have known the issues Brexit would cause. 
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    Todds_right_hookTodds_right_hook
    The clue is in the subject category.....other football and sports!!!!!
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    AlgarveaddickAlgarveaddick
    golfaddick said:
    Chizz said:
    golfaddick said:
    When I read this earlier I just thought that Blair had no idea about football or the affinity a club has with its fans.

    The more I read about Blair the more I dislike him. Not only did he take us into an illegal war, he then signed a treaty (GFA) that basically scuppped Brexit. Now I find out that he was happy to sign off a deal that would see a London club playing in Belfast. 

    Absolutely bonkers.
    Yeah. Bloody Blair putting an end to decades of murder in Ireland and England while risking the implementation of a vote that was to take place only a eighteen years later. 
    Well, I'm not wanting to make this political as the thread will probably get taken down, but it would have been nice for someone (namely Blair himself) to have said to David Cameron in 2016 that we couldn't leave the EU as there can't be a border between the UK (NI) and the EU ( ROI) and therefore he might as well forget about it. 

    Just saying. 


    Wow. You mention Blair, illegal war, the GFA and Brexit. But you don't want to make it a political thread?

    You then claim that Blair had some kind of veto over whether it happened with Belfast United saying "he was happy to sign off a deal". Where on earth in that article does it suggest that he had some kind of final say in the process? You have just made that up mate.

    Blair did say  "[This] should be able to build up strong cross-community support and provide a positive unifying force in a divided city". Which is probably cobblers, but it's well meaning.

    Amazing mental gymnastics blaming Blair for you not understanding what you were voting for, BTW. 👏    
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    AlgarveaddickAlgarveaddick
    Back to the case in point - the most telling bit, that sums up football (with a few notable exceptions, I know) in Ireland north and south is this from the then IFA president, Jim Boyce:  "Yes, to many people who weren't local football fans of course it would have been nice to see Manchester United, Liverpool and Spurs possibly coming to Northern Ireland.

    But what [would] happen in a few years time if they weren't in the Premier League, as happened."

    The reason for the shit state of Irish football at the time was the people of Ireland, 95% of whom already "supported" one of the Sky four (as it was at the time) or Celtic or Rangers, instead of their local team. Clearly Boyce didn't quite have as much objection to the idea if he thought the superstars were coming to town... 

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    guinnessaddickguinnessaddick
    Algarveaddick said:
    Back to the case in point - the most telling bit, that sums up football (with a few notable exceptions, I know) in Ireland north and south is this from the then IFA president, Jim Boyce:  "Yes, to many people who weren't local football fans of course it would have been nice to see Manchester United, Liverpool and Spurs possibly coming to Northern Ireland.

    But what [would] happen in a few years time if they weren't in the Premier League, as happened."

    The reason for the shit state of Irish football at the time was the people of Ireland, 95% of whom already "supported" one of the Sky four (as it was at the time) or Celtic or Rangers, instead of their local team. Clearly Boyce didn't quite have as much objection to the idea if he thought the superstars were coming to town... 

    You have to look at what happened to Belfast Celtic and understand why Catholics follow Glasgow Celtic, as they don’t have a club to follow. Derry City is another example.
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    AlgarveaddickAlgarveaddick
    guinnessaddick said:
    Algarveaddick said:
    Back to the case in point - the most telling bit, that sums up football (with a few notable exceptions, I know) in Ireland north and south is this from the then IFA president, Jim Boyce:  "Yes, to many people who weren't local football fans of course it would have been nice to see Manchester United, Liverpool and Spurs possibly coming to Northern Ireland.

    But what [would] happen in a few years time if they weren't in the Premier League, as happened."

    The reason for the shit state of Irish football at the time was the people of Ireland, 95% of whom already "supported" one of the Sky four (as it was at the time) or Celtic or Rangers, instead of their local team. Clearly Boyce didn't quite have as much objection to the idea if he thought the superstars were coming to town... 

    You have to look at what happened to Belfast Celtic and understand why Catholics follow Glasgow Celtic, as they don’t have a club to follow. Derry City is another example.
    No one any closer they could follow? You know on the same island, perhaps?  ;)  
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    Off_itOff_it
    JamesSeed said:
    Off_it said:
    golfaddick said:
    Chizz said:
    golfaddick said:
    When I read this earlier I just thought that Blair had no idea about football or the affinity a club has with its fans.

    The more I read about Blair the more I dislike him. Not only did he take us into an illegal war, he then signed a treaty (GFA) that basically scuppped Brexit. Now I find out that he was happy to sign off a deal that would see a London club playing in Belfast. 

    Absolutely bonkers.
    Yeah. Bloody Blair putting an end to decades of murder in Ireland and England while risking the implementation of a vote that was to take place only a eighteen years later. 
    Well, I'm not wanting to make this political as the thread will probably get taken down, but it would have been nice for someone (namely Blair himself) to have said to David Cameron in 2016 that we couldn't leave the EU as there can't be a border between the UK (NI) and the EU ( ROI) and therefore he might as well forget about it. 

    Just saying. 


    Hmmm, if only someone had pointed out the issue with the NI border right from the start. Amazing nobody thought to mention it really. Oh well, I'm sure we'll come up with an answer eventually.
    Not sure if you’re being serious, but it was of course mentioned, but the issue was dismissed by Vote Leave and Boris Johnson (and the newspapers).
    Yes @JamesSeed, I did know. But it seems that Tony Blair never thought to ring Golfie to tell him. Or maybe he did, but Golfie was too busy to take his call, on here telling people how clever he is because he's worked out you need to score at least one goal to win a football match.
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    guinnessaddickguinnessaddick
    Off_it said:
    JamesSeed said:
    Off_it said:
    golfaddick said:
    Chizz said:
    golfaddick said:
    When I read this earlier I just thought that Blair had no idea about football or the affinity a club has with its fans.

    The more I read about Blair the more I dislike him. Not only did he take us into an illegal war, he then signed a treaty (GFA) that basically scuppped Brexit. Now I find out that he was happy to sign off a deal that would see a London club playing in Belfast. 

    Absolutely bonkers.
    Yeah. Bloody Blair putting an end to decades of murder in Ireland and England while risking the implementation of a vote that was to take place only a eighteen years later. 
    Well, I'm not wanting to make this political as the thread will probably get taken down, but it would have been nice for someone (namely Blair himself) to have said to David Cameron in 2016 that we couldn't leave the EU as there can't be a border between the UK (NI) and the EU ( ROI) and therefore he might as well forget about it. 

    Just saying. 


    Hmmm, if only someone had pointed out the issue with the NI border right from the start. Amazing nobody thought to mention it really. Oh well, I'm sure we'll come up with an answer eventually.
    Not sure if you’re being serious, but it was of course mentioned, but the issue was dismissed by Vote Leave and Boris Johnson (and the newspapers).
    Yes @JamesSeed, I did know. But it seems that Tony Blair never thought to ring Golfie to tell him. Or maybe he did, but Golfie was too busy to take his call, on here telling people how clever he is because he's worked out you need to score at least one goal to win a football match.
    Golfie has moved on since then, he knows that if the opposition score first, you need at least two to win a football match.
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    TelMc32TelMc32
    Thankfully, as always, Mo Mowlem had the common sense to realise this was a ridiculous idea. Whilst we now have peace, Windsor Park remains unwelcoming to the majority population and there is uproar that Casement Park should receive any UK government funds at all as part of the UK & Ireland 2028 Euros. There’s a national psyche (or two) that needs to evolve still and it certainly wasn’t ready then.
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