In reply to JoeGrine


homes dat aint the same as pelting bananas at players and directing monkey chants in their direction. Racism in italy isn't as bad as in spain though but im sure nobody would have made a peep if he was loaned to barcelona or athletico. And most racist incidents happen in smaller cities/towns with no immigrants. In eastern europe, like russia and ukraine before the war, its really bad. Right before the 2012 euros, racism was a genuine concern before the tournament in ukraine. BBC showed a documentary where an Indian family who were clearly tourists camer to a match and had to leave because of the abuse from the crowd

In reply to Jumpstart



I am going to assume that you are black. As a result, you are, predictably and respectfully, focusing on what ails you whilst ignoring the essence of what is being said here i.e. - the words (in this case reject) are used to generate responses of anger, hate etc.

As a black person, nothing is more galling than the "N" word, and to us it beats all else. When words such as "reject", "mullato" are used it is also quite galling and the intent is to cause pain and dislike not dissimilar to when the "N" word is used. The focus was the use of words to gin up anger more than the group pain a particular word generates.

Hopefully Bailey makes a full recovery

In reply to nitro


2 words

Common Culture

What exacerbates the situation with “diaspora pride” in football is that most, if not all of them, come from former colonial powers and all the baggage that comes with that.

Not even a comparison.

I suspect you know that as well.

Brendan Nash was part of that cricket diaspora.

So was Gordon Greenidge and he initially wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms……until he started making runs and the team started winning.

Winning cures all. In the case of the Reggae Boyz…..it was World Cup qualification in 98.

The UB40’s could have come from Mars and been whiter than fresh snow……it wouldn’t have mattered in that circumstance.

But had they failed to qualify……well…..I suspect you know how it would have gone.

In reply to imusic

You’re right, colonial baggage makes the diaspora question more complex. But I’d argue Jamaican culture abroad is just as common as our Caribbean bonds. Reggae in the UK is not just about UB40. Look at Steel Pulse, Aswad, Musical Youth. Our music, cuisine, language and influence in many festivals shows our vibrant culture in the diaspora.

Yes, winning helps everyone feel closer and acceptance mostly come when results do. The Reggae Girlz are proof of that. They qualified the last two world cups with 99% of the players born in the USA & England and are accepted without any fuss.

In reply to nitro

question cause i know you are a football man. i saw a 45 man squad or something on you tube. no Mason greenwood? whose wife did Ravel Morrison dagger? the game is in less than 2 weeks. why so many names?

In reply to rudebway

In reply to rudebway

All kind of rumors about the Mason Greenwood situation but are we realistically going to get a world class talent like him? I doubt it.

The problems Jamaica have Greenwood cannot solve however. That is our poor midfield. You mentioned Ravel Morrison and it is a shame that people hold his past against him. Now he would have improved the midfield. Our biggest loss in midfield however is Lewis Baker whose papers were being processed but there were errors in the documentation apparently and his grandmother passed away. So that is that.

Let us see what the final 23 looks like on Friday.

In reply to nitro

This iteration of the Reggae Boyz MAY suffer from a case of “too many cooks”

In reply to nitro


I beg to differ somewhat. The Reggae Girlz are proof that where there's no transfer fee to be gained by local clubs, the issue of "English reject" is mute.

In reply to JoeGrine

Sure but the issue of transfer would fee would mostly impact the JFF's policy on recruitment & selection. For example I have not heard of them having a quota in the Reggae Girlz team at the youth level. They have that for the male teams. It is so ironic that they are trying hard to recruit 2 teenagers, Jinairo Johnson of Ajax and Tyrese Hall of Spurs for the senior men team. They rejected both players for the U20 last year. It is so bad now that players who are dying to play for Jamaica but were born overseas are coming to play in the JPL (Jahmari Clarke, Montego Bay Utd).

My focus though is not even on the selection policy but the hate in the fan base and subtly reflected in the media by people such as Oral Tracey and other members of the mainstream media.

In reply to nitro

There will not be a quota on the Reggae Girlz at the youth level until the JFF and local powerbrokers think that the local clubs are producing girls who they think are good enough to represent the nation. For now, they need overseas talent to avoid embarrassing defeats. The day locals think their girls are good enough and can merit transfers - that is the day the females will be referred to as "English rejects".

In reply to imusic

Well I get laughed at in the Jamaican space for saying this but I believe Curacao are the favorites to win this group. T&T will also give Jamaica nuff problems.