NEVER has a small paper
and plastic flower worn once a year caused so much 'offence' and
debate, turned sensible people silly and handed power to those who
really don't deserve it.
Yet the poppy is at the
centre of so many issues today, from its adoption by far right
groups, it being banned from the shirts of England and Scotland
footballers who will meet on Armistice Day itself to the ludicrous
debate on when is the 'right time' to start wearing it.
On the last point, does
it really matter when someone chooses to first wear it? Does it make
them a bad person if they only wear it in Remembrance week? No of
course it bloomin doesn't!
Let's face it, most of
us lose at least one but happily dig deep to replace it out of
embarrassment and admiration for the fallen!
James McClean has been
attacked for not wearing one on his West Bromwich Albion shirt for
their last home game before Remembrance Sunday. He has spoken of the
reasons why and said: “If the poppy was simply about World War One
and Two victims alone, I’d wear it without a problem.
“I would wear it
every day of the year if that was the thing but it doesn’t, it
stands for all the conflicts that Britain has been involved in.
Because of the history where I come from in Derry, I cannot wear
something that represents that.”
Is he a bad person for
his refusal? No of course not, he's expressing the very freedom of
speech people fought and died for. The freedom not to have something
imposed on you by the 'those in charge'.
As for FIFA banning
England and Scotland's footbalers wearing them well it's just a case
of a governing body, and a troubled one at that, having way too much
power.
FIFA regulations outlaw
nations wearing anything that can be construed as commercial or a
political or religious statement. The poppy is neither, it's an act
of Remembrance – why we wear it on Remembrance occasions and not on
Easter Sunday for example!
The silly mandarins at
FIFA should remember that on Christmas Day 1914, British and German
troops laid down their arms, wished each other Merry Christmas and
played football.
102 years later, two
other great rivals will meet on the football field at a time of great
unease around the world. How wonderful would it be to see those
players who want to take to the field with a poppy on their shirts?
Sometimes I wonder if
veterans look at the debate around the poppy and wonder whether their
sacrifices, what they saw and heard was worth it?
This weekend, buy a
poppy if you want to, wear it with pride and remember those brave
souls who never came home.
And please, after the
commemorations, can we just all agree that the poppy is just a poppy
and not a stick to beat people or nations with?
Now where's the pin for
mine.....oh dear!
