numpty Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12010_5639733,00.html Motherwell star Chris Humphrey has revealed he qualifies to play for Scotland. Humphrey is considering his international options after being sounded out by the country of his birth - Jamaica - about playing for them. However, the 22-year-old who moved to Motherwell from Shrewsbury in the summer admits he could end up playing for Scotland due to the fact his mother was born in Kilmarnock. The highly-rated winger admits he dreams of playing international football for Jamaica, but concedes he would have a big decision to make if Scotland boss George Burley came calling for his services. "Well it's a good job I don't want to be an international cricketer as I got cramp on Saturday [against Celtic] so I wouldn't get in the England team and I guess I wouldn't get a runner against England if I was playing for the West Indies," joked Humphrey to skysports.com, referring to Andrew Strauss's refusal to allow injured South Africa captain Graeme Smith a runner in the recent ICC Champions Trophy. "Of course everyone's childhood dream is to play for their country. "At the moment I am just trying to improve as a person and player and I believe I am in the right place for that to happen. "I have been asked whether I would like to play for Jamaica and of course who wouldn't like to play international football. "What people might not know is that my mum was actually born in Kilmarnock, so if I can keep improving it would be nice to think one day I might have a decision to make. "That is a long way off at the moment. I just need to get my head down, listen to what I am being told and work as hard as I can for the team." Humphrey has caught the eye in Motherwell's last two games following his return to the side after being given some compassionate leave by Jim Gannon for personal reasons. The jet-heeled attacker helped Motherwell claim an impressive draw with Celtic at the weekend and he is happy with how life is going at Fir Park. "It is amazing to think I was at Accrington away this time last year and I have just played at Parkhead in front of 58,000 people," continued Humphrey. "It was a wonderful experience and it is the sort of place I want to play at more often. "I was disappointed we did not win, but a point and clean sheet wasn't a bad result so we now have to build on that." Humphrey has thanked Gannon, his team-mates and the Motherwell fans for helping him through the difficult personal times he has suffered recently with his partner losing their unborn baby. "It has been a very difficult few months as people know and again I must thank the manager, team and fans for their support," added Humphrey. "Coming here is the best thing I could have done and I will give my all to repay the faith shown in me." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Born in Scotland or one parent born in Scotland. Another demonstration of how straightforward that rule would be to interpret. Driver - naw Humphrey - aye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazzie Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 But you could probably understand how someone like Driver might feel more Scottish than someone like Humphrey. My mum was born in Newarthill but I can't stand the place. No need to go all misty-eyed because a relative happened to give birth in a particular place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Born in Scotland or one parent born in Scotland. Another demonstration of how straightforward that rule would be to interpret. Driver - naw Humphrey - aye i think this case shows up how daft your argument was. any reasonable person would say driver is more scottish than humphrey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Nationality isn't a choice. It's an accident of birth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 any reasonable person would say driver is more scottish than humphrey.So if your job meant you had to work in England for the next 15 years you'd be cheering them on every World Cup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Agree with Weeyin. Humphrey aye, Driver naw. It's in his blood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 So if your job meant you had to work in England for the next 15 years you'd be cheering them on every World Cup? i don't know to be honest but i suspect i'd be more sympathetic to their cause than i am now. driver came here when he was ten, the majority of his life that he can remember has been in scotland. you say nationality isn't a choice it's an accident of birth, what about all the people queuing up to be become americans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 That's citizenship, not nationality. Big difference. If Driver is so Scottish, why did he play for the England U-21s? No self-respecting Scotsman would choose to play for England. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazzie Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 I bet Chris Humphrey has never even tasted Irn Bru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malky79 Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Lets face it, this all highlights how stupid the concept of nationality really is. We struggle to define it properly and whilst we might have a certain shared cultural identity it isn't in the grand scheme of things anything to get worked up about. That said I'll still cheer on Scotland, but save us the excesses of nationalistic fervour. Far as I'm concerned both players should be eligable but neither are exactly Scottish through and through. So both or none for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tartan_Special Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Get him playing before Jamaica change there minds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studos Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Pretty pointless discussion because as bad as Scotlands present squad is Chris has not displayed anywhere near the level of performance/consistency required to be included. I'm as keen as any other 'well fan to see our guys get any recognition they deserve however as Chris said himself in the piece it's a long way off (and even further than that until he pulls on the green or blue and shite). Only my opinion though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milo Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Pretty pointless discussion because as bad as Scotlands present squad is Chris has not displayed anywhere near the level of performance/consistency required to be included. Not having a go at you Studos, but he's done as much as Liam Fox!! Just doesn't play for a fashionable team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Stall Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Not having a go at you Studos, but he's done as much as Liam Fox!! Just doesn't play for a fashionable team. Hasnt Liam Fox pretty much played in every game since he signed for Celtic? Whislt no-one can blame Humphrey for the unfortunate nature of his absence, he's only played in a handful of games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC'd Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Not having a go at you Studos, but he's done as much as Liam Fox!! Just doesn't play for a fashionable team. I assume you mean Danny Fox of Celtic and formally Coventry? Difference here is despite Fox not showing much of his potential ability in his short time at Parkhead he is currently an option for a very limited position that we have. Currently Naysmith, Davidson and Whittaker are our only options for LB. Davidson despite not letting us down in his 1 and a bit games last month, was in the wilderness for nearly a decade. Naysmith, it seems his time has come and gone. Whittaker we know that he can be a threat in an attacking sense but defensively is not his strong point. So, that leaves Fox as what appears an adequate option for that position. Whereas for the wide positions - Humphrey would be up against McFadden (current top International goalscorer), McCormack and his rising talents (assuming he gets over his injury), Commons (who if he can get rid of the big-shot personality can be a decent player), Maloney (who probably will only be a bit-part player for Scotland) and to a lesser extent Barry Robson on the left hand side (albeit he is favoured to play more centrally). As much as injuries and personal tragedies have affected his start to his 'Well career, he has done a job when asked but hasn't excelled in any game that he has played. And if you play for a provincial club like us, unless you are taking headlines every game you won't even be considered. I mean look how long Faddy went before being called up and trusted to wear the dark blue. Look at just this season Forbes exclusion from the U21's and then being dismissed when he actually was called up despite being Young Player of the Month. No way that Humphrey will ever be considered for Scotland, and no offence will be best playing for Jamaica. Just might be a problem for us for commuting to Kingston and any place in the West Indies on International duty every now and again through a season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studos Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Not having a go at you Studos, but he's done as much as Liam Fox!! Just doesn't play for a fashionable team. Selective quoting????? As you will see I did point out further in my post that if he move to the OF he may well get his chance quicker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daver Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 That's citizenship, not nationality. Big difference. If Driver is so Scottish, why did he play for the England U-21s? No self-respecting Scotsman would choose to play for England. I don't know what Driver's preferences would be but when he was called up for the England U-21s that was the only nationality available to him. He might have grown up feeling Scottish but it's highly unlikely he would have grown up feeling an irrational bitter hatred of the country of his (and his parents') birth. As for Chris Humphrey, he's obviously eligible but (as he himself says) he hasn't yet done enough to be due a call-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milo Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Yes I did mean Danny Fox! Didn't mean to be selective in my quoting, at least we agree though on the unwritten Old Firm rule! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 As for the nationality debate I'd rather have guys that had grown up in the country playing for the national team than people like Matt Elliott who "had the blood line" but virtually no connect to the country other than a grandfather. You can't have a decent society that excludes people on the basis that they don't have a blood line. It's so arcane it's embarrassing. When someone lives here, is schooled here, works here, pays taxes here just the same as you or I, its indecent, no not indecent, actually monstrous, to exclude them from representing the country, it smacks of apartheid or the racism of the Southern states of America where you have two class of citizens, one of whom is lesser than the other. This 'Braveheart' idea of Scottish nationality needs to go in the bin where it belongs. Maybe if Scots actually achieved political independence in the modern day they could stop fighting Bannockburn in their heads over and over again and actually do something positive instead of resenting everything that doesn't quite fit in to their parochial world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Bones Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 As for the nationality debate I'd rather have guys that had grown up in the country playing for the national team than people like Matt Elliott who "had the blood line" but virtually no connect to the country other than a grandfather. You can't have a decent society that excludes people on the basis that they don't have a blood line. It's so arcane it's embarrassing. When someone lives here, is schooled here, works here, pays taxes here just the same as you or I, its indecent, no not indecent, actually monstrous, to exclude them from representing the country, it smacks of apartheid or the racism of the Southern states of America where you have two class of citizens, one of whom is lesser than the other. This 'Braveheart' idea of Scottish nationality needs to go in the bin where it belongs. Maybe if Scots actually achieved political independence in the modern day they could stop fighting Bannockburn in their heads over and over again and actually do something positive instead of resenting everything that doesn't quite fit in to their parochial world. Agree with this 100%. Talks of bloodlines etc. reeks of fascism. Liam Fox is a Tory politician,stick him on the right-wing-I'm sure he's Scottish. DC'd will have the Lee Wallace brigade on his back soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 As for the nationality debate I'd rather have guys that had grown up in the country playing for the national team than people like Matt Elliott who "had the blood line" but virtually no connect to the country other than a grandfather. You can't have a decent society that excludes people on the basis that they don't have a blood line. It's so arcane it's embarrassing. When someone lives here, is schooled here, works here, pays taxes here just the same as you or I, its indecent, no not indecent, actually monstrous, to exclude them from representing the country, it smacks of apartheid or the racism of the Southern states of America where you have two class of citizens, one of whom is lesser than the other. This 'Braveheart' idea of Scottish nationality needs to go in the bin where it belongs. Maybe if Scots actually achieved political independence in the modern day they could stop fighting Bannockburn in their heads over and over again and actually do something positive instead of resenting everything that doesn't quite fit in to their parochial world. Spot on totally spot on. This is what I was saying the other day in the forum about Driver and Islam Feruz? Where are the masses with the true "Scottish blood lines" they all pissed off to America, Australia and all the other empire countries and left loads of spaces for us immigrants to build a better future in Scotland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC'd Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 DC'd will have the Lee Wallace brigade on his back soon. Totally forgot about him, was mainly thinking of recently capped players for competitive matches and the opposition to which Fox will have the LB slot is filled with very little quality bar perhaps Whittaker in an attacking sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malky79 Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 As for the nationality debate I'd rather have guys that had grown up in the country playing for the national team than people like Matt Elliott who "had the blood line" but virtually no connect to the country other than a grandfather. You can't have a decent society that excludes people on the basis that they don't have a blood line. It's so arcane it's embarrassing. When someone lives here, is schooled here, works here, pays taxes here just the same as you or I, its indecent, no not indecent, actually monstrous, to exclude them from representing the country, it smacks of apartheid or the racism of the Southern states of America where you have two class of citizens, one of whom is lesser than the other. This 'Braveheart' idea of Scottish nationality needs to go in the bin where it belongs. Maybe if Scots actually achieved political independence in the modern day they could stop fighting Bannockburn in their heads over and over again and actually do something positive instead of resenting everything that doesn't quite fit in to their parochial world. Pretty much agree with all that. Though I'm not sure the last point is 100% valid, but bloodline etc has been used to define eligibility to play for the national team for most of our lives so it does take something of a shift in thinking to change that mentality. Don't think struggling to get head round a different idea of nationality or eligibility means you living in some romanticised Braveheart past per se. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
that hat Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Liam Fox is a Tory politician,stick him on the right-wing-I'm sure he's Scottish. Indeed he is from Lanarkshire and plays for Livi when not Shadow Defence spokesman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.