Greatest betrayals (in football)

Tarrou

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Campbell is the worst for me as it was a free too

a Spurs mate of mine went to his first game back at WHL after the move

the next morning his mum called him really upset, there was a two-page picture in the paper showing all the Spurs fans giving him abuse - with him right in the middle with two fingers up and absolute screaming rage on his face
 

do.ob

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Then why play for Ireland in the first place?
Why not? I don't think most footballers are seeing their national team in very nationalistic terms. Small nations, like Ireland, poach a lot of players who go through the system in one of the bigger nations, but at some point realize they probably won't make it at senior level. Sometimes it goes the other way, when players realize they have a shot at playing for the bigger nation after all.

Fair enough about Gotze. Lewandowski too actually, although his contract did run out.
Götze joined the club when he was nine years old, his move had a completely different dimension than Lewandowski, who always kept a professional distance to the folklore.
 

Chairman Steve

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Sol Campbell is by far the worst one in English football in recent memory. I don’t think even the most levelheaded of Spurs fans hold him in high regard despite it being 20 years ago now.
 

tomaldinho1

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Definitely Sol Campbell. All the noise about staying and then does one to your closest rivals!
Yeah this one for me and the fact we have the interview on youtube as proof. Add in he's also from London as well whereas someone like Figo, as crazy as that move was, isn't from either Madrid/Barca and has no affiliation to either (other than being a player).
 

SalfordRed18

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Tevez and Owen.

Said it before, takes a certain kind of cnut to be hated by both Manchester clubs and Liverpool.
 

Idxomer

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Is this one considered to be big? He celebrated like mad after equalizing for Liverpool in the treble season.

 

Adam-Utd

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Oscar Ruggeri. Boca to River.

"When I went from Boca to River, they set fire to my house with my parents inside"


Nick Barmby. Everton to Liverpool (£££s)


Steven Defour. Liege, later Anderlecht. Liege fans seemed a tad unhappy.

That's awesome :lol:
 

Bertie Wooster

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Declan Rice and Jack Grealish.

*spits on ground
You mean English born and raised people, who've always played in England, opting to represent their country and not the country looking to add them to the many others they've pinched?
 

Bertie Wooster

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Why not? I don't think most footballers are seeing their national team in very nationalistic terms. Small nations, like Ireland, poach a lot of players who go through the system in one of the bigger nations, but at some point realize they probably won't make it at senior level. Sometimes it goes the other way, when players realize they have a shot at playing for the bigger nation after all.
Yep, completely agree with that.

It's laughably hypocritical that Ireland object to not being able to pinch two players who should have been playing for England anyway.

It's perfectly fine, apparently, for Ireland to pick many English players who've represented England at youth levels, and also Scottish and Northern Irish players.

But a couple of English born and raised players opt to represent England when given the chance and suddenly it's outrageous and a betrayal!?
 

Crimson King

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Is this one considered to be big? He celebrated like mad after equalizing for Liverpool in the treble season.

I remember watching that game with my dad and being pretty pissed off.

However, we won the treble, which is pretty much all I remember about anything that happened in the 90s now.
 

Glorio

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Sol Campbell is always the one that springs to mind for me. Tevez and Hargreaves too.
I honestly don't see Hargreaves as a betrayal, neither Tevez to be honest. If United really wanted Tevez, I reckon he would have stayed. They owed us no loyalty after we deemed them surplus to requirements.
 

Crimson King

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Denis Law.
United would have been relegated regardless of that goal, we needed other results to go for us and they didn't.

Most United fans know this and hold no animosity towards Dennis for the goal, only the media and oppo fans push the 'it relegated them' script because it sounds better than the reality.
 

harms

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It's perfectly fine, apparently, for Ireland to pick many English players who've represented England at youth levels, and also Scottish and Northern Irish players.

But a couple of English born and raised players opt to represent England when given the chance and suddenly it's outrageous and a betrayal!?
I'm impartial in this case, but certainly there's a difference between playing for youth sides and switching sides after appearing for the main team as was the case with Rice?
 

KiD MoYeS

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Great to see you lads get a taste of your own medicine to be honest with all the NI players you have pinched over the years.
Yep, completely agree with that.

It's laughably hypocritical that Ireland object to not being able to pinch two players who should have been playing for England anyway.

It's perfectly fine, apparently, for Ireland to pick many English players who've represented England at youth levels, and also Scottish and Northern Irish players.

But a couple of English born and raised players opt to represent England when given the chance and suddenly it's outrageous and a betrayal!?
You English are sensitive today.
 

VP89

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Bit annoyed "in football" is caveated. I was hyped to post WWE heel turns
 

balaks

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Well you can't be Northern Irish if you're not familiar with the Good Friday agreement? :)
Oh give over - it's all one way traffic and you know it. I'm not saying whether it's right or wrong - I'm just laughing at the irony of you getting annoyed at the same thing happening to you lot.
 

Bertie Wooster

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I'm impartial in this case, but certainly there's a difference between playing for youth sides and switching sides after appearing for the main team as was the case with Rice?
Well both are legal - provided you've only played in friendlies - and have happened a decent amount of times.

The big difference in the Rice situation was that he was returning to play for the country he was most valid for all along. That's unusual. Normally a player plays for their main country in friendlies, doesn't establish themselves and opts later to represent a secondary country through grandparents, or qualification through playing in that country for a lengthy period, etc. Those instances are more dodgy in my view - like Diego Costa suddenly being Spanish, Eduardo Croatian, etc - than an English born and raised person, who has always played in England, opting to represent them having previously played for a secondary nation at youth levels (Grealish) / senior friendlies (Rice).

Anyway, both Rice and Grealish were named in the original post. In the latest Ireland squad was English born Callum Robinson, who played with England at various youth levels. If it's fine for Ireland to benefit from him, and many like him over the years, then it's fine for Grealish to do the opposite having played youth levels for Ireland - even more so given the fact he's born and bred in England and should really have been representing England all along.

It really seems Ireland just want to benefit from the rules - many times over - but object when those same rules work against them. It's even more ludicrous that the people they're complaining about choosing England were born and raised in England and have only ever played in England so they were trying to 'poach' them from England in the first place. So it's a huge hypocrisy for Ireland, of all countries, to start objecting about 'rules' and secondary nations when it comes to the eligibility of players.
 
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Paul Ince. Obviously not direct, but it shows he didn’t get the club. Liked pissing off previous clubs - remember the United shirt at West Ham stuff.

I’ve no problem with some players going to city, like Cole and Schmeichal - it was at the end of their careers, and city weren’t pushing for the league. Also, 20 years ago, players weren’t pAid the same wages they are now, so don’t begrudge someone playing in their own town/ city. There’s been lots of players who have played for both Manchester clubs.

One down the league is Marty Taylor of Bristol Rovers to Bristol City. He (was rumoured) to have told city the exact sum of the buyout clause which was £250k, he was a £1m player every day of the week. He’s hated.
 

KGBhoy

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Is this one considered to be big? He celebrated like mad after equalizing for Liverpool in the treble season.

Definitely counts. Especially given his comments. Something along the lines of - it would be terrible if they won it... Well, we won it anyway!
 

crossy1686

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I honestly don't see Hargreaves as a betrayal, neither Tevez to be honest. If United really wanted Tevez, I reckon he would have stayed. They owed us no loyalty after we deemed them surplus to requirements.
The Hargreaves one annoyed me more to be honest. We were releasing him because he couldn't stay fit and the whole time running up to his contract ending, all he kept saying was "I'm going for guaranteed game time, I'm fit, I want first team football" etc.

Bolton want him seeing as his dad played for them. He rejects that and signs for City to play 3 league cup games a season. Then bad mouths United at every single opportunity. Nob head.
 

Champagne Football

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Then why play for Ireland in the first place?
You're embarrassing yourself. Please stop. Ciaran Clark being one of many examples of players who played for England's underage teams before switching to Ireland.

It happens. Get over it. A teenager of dual nationality should have the right to take their time when deciding which career path to take.

Do you blame Rice and Grealish for switching sides at the time, when our crook narcissist CEO back then is singing rebel songs in bars, and our manager O'Neill is playing 1980's hoofball style neanderthal tactics, where the likes of Walters and McClean are the first names on the team sheet. .
 

mu4c_20le

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I honestly don't see Hargreaves as a betrayal, neither Tevez to be honest. If United really wanted Tevez, I reckon he would have stayed. They owed us no loyalty after we deemed them surplus to requirements.
The only way you dont see people like Tevez as a betrayal is if you would've done the same thing yourself