World Cup 2010 - Company warned over football T-shirt

Wed, 24 Feb 12:46:00 2010

A Scottish clothing company has been warned by police over t-shirts expressing the hope that 'Anyone but England' wins this summer's World Cup.

World Cup 'Anyone but England' t-shirt - 0

Police have warned proprietors of the Slanj clothing store in Aberdeen that the garment could cause offence.

An impromptu visit from an officer raising concerns over the shirt's sentiments left staff at the shop "flabbergasted".

The visit was not in response to a complaint, and no action has been taken against the company.

However, Grampian Police claim that they would be neglecting their duty if the matter was not addressed.

PC Kirk Hemmings said: "The primary role of any police force is to preserve the peace and we would be failing in our duty if we did not make people aware of the potential for disturbance such a window display could cause.

"The Grampian area, in common with the rest of the country, has recorded incidents relating to nationality and we have a responsibility to do our best to ensure that incidents of this nature are kept to a minimum.

Ross Lyle of Slanj said: "To be honest we're absolutely flabbergasted.

"We have been selling this T-shirt for the past three months and we've had a great response. Even the English people who come into the store think it's a laugh and just a bit of tongue-in-cheek football banter.

"We're certainly not being racist. We are the same race as the English. It's just daft to say it's offensive."

The slogan is believed to have originated from the phrase 'ABU', short for 'Anyone but United', referring to football fans who will support any team that is playing Premier League champions Manchester United.

The t-shirt is described on Slanj's website as "A light hearted dig at our English neighbours and their prospects in the forthcoming World Cup, not that we're bitter or anything, just because we didnae qualify!"

Eurosport

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  1. I don't think anyone North or South of the border­ should be annoyed by the ABE. Egotist Couture are about­ to launch their response to the ABE Tshirts with their­ designer NBE - No Onr But England! I think they are­ alot cooler and better designed and will no doubt add­ to the banter! They have a Facebook site with soe­ interesting and funny comments about the Anyone But­ England T Shirts which they class as shoddy, tacky and­ cjeap. They have a small site at egotistcouture.

    From R, on Sat 1 May 2:05

  2. It's just a joke! Everyone calm down a bit!

    The­ police had just better watch that they don't­ accidentally catch a real criminal while they deal with­ this!

    From Frankie2, on Mon 1 Mar 10:22

  3. What's with all the references to "rebuilding­ Hadrian's wall" from the English folk? You­ know it is possibly to have a seperated border without­ a wall, or were you English just a little too small­ minded to think of that?

    From Frankie2, on Mon 1 Mar 10:19

  4. can anyone tell me why comments in the 800's are­ referring to comment 900 - some culling been done I­ think.

    From kev, on Sat 27 Feb 8:03

  5. nice to see original comments are being deleted.­ Nothing like freedom of speech. More like freedom of­ nothing. Time to keep a closer eye on what's being­ deleted.

    From kev, on Sat 27 Feb 7:57

  6. found it slanjkilts(dot)com .Come on­ buy the full stock

    From jimmy c, on Fri 26 Feb 10:13

  7. i want one ,anybody know if he has web site

    From jimmy c, on Fri 26 Feb 10:10

  8. stupid fkin angus burgers

    From Hoppy, on Fri 26 Feb 9:42

  9. Steve P (940)- "Whiskey" is IRISH!!!! We­ drink WhisKY!! You don't WEAR bagpipes, you PLAY­ them!! And please - what on earth is a­ "ben"?????????

    You may think we're­ "cute" - but at least learn your facts before­ you post!!

    From Lynnda, on Fri 26 Feb 8:45

  10. Razorricky - 1) YOU'RE the one who first mentioned­ "buckfast" - I'm just replying to your­ inane comment - oh and it doesn't sell at ALL in­ England....? PLEASE!!
    2)I also think the T-shirt is­ funny (Hilarious actually!!) so we at least agree on­ that!! It's also Prophetic as well as funny!!
    3)­ I'm only "England Bashing" in response to­ idiotic rants from south of the border....maybe you­ should re-read your OWN posts...!
    4) While you're­ at it - read your history - she isn't just YOUR­ Queen!!! She is Queen of ALL of us in the UK - even­ though most of you dafties talk about "Queen of­ England" - but as has been pointed out by­ others....your education system isn't up to­ much!!!

    YES - this is about sport - but please remind­ me what "buckfast drinking" and being­ "ginger" has to do with sport...??? (again -­ re-read your own posts before accusing others of going­ off topic!!! EEJIT!!!)

    From Lynnda, on Fri 26 Feb 8:41

  11. Seems like the sweaty socks have gone quiet *stir stir­ stir* :D

    From razorricky, on Fri 26 Feb 6:36

  12. Well I find no offence in this T shirt what so ever its­ funny to be honest. Maybe thats because I'm­ English. Them scots don't half hate us thou lol .­ Yeah yeah we had an empire blah blah blah world cup­ ...but I think the little scots people with their­ ginger hair , drinking whiskey to the kilt wearing­ bagpipes, while the wee bens read the broons are quite­ cute. Its the French you want to be watching out for ­ lol

    From stokey11111, on Fri 26 Feb 6:14

  13. Lynnda, this thread is about a T-shirt with a peice of­ footballing banter on it, which i think is funny, so­ this thread is about sport,and not anything else yes we­ make buckfast, but you not stop to think why give it to­ you lot? coz we won't touch it!! You started the­ england bashing, unprovoked, peaople were just having a­ bit of banter until you took it to far, you scots are­ just sounding more bitter now then anything else, and­ don't forget who's queen rules your land (even­ though she's german)

    From razorricky, on Fri 26 Feb 5:46

  14. Trotsky.. sorry i forgot a good cyclist as well! really­ i was talking about this century that people under 30­ remember or should i mention willie wallace as well?­ but oh yeah we kicked your butt in that as well,you­ guys talk about us living in the past with 66 but­ you've just done the same thing! but i agree we do­ do that with scotch sportsman and personnaly i­ don't like it!
    Again this is supposed to be light­ hearted banter but lynnda and trotscat have taking to­ seroiusly, must be a sore point eh.. success that is!!­ lol!1

    From razorricky, on Fri 26 Feb 5:36

  15. Razorricky - OMG - the hypocracy is staggering!!­ SCOTLAND is "skag jacking, @#$% smoking, buckfast­ drinking,­ ginger producing country"? Hmmm!!! So -­ all English folk are perfectly behaved tee-totalling­ ladies and gentlemen? God that's hilarious!!!­ You're accusing us of "buckfast­ drinkers"?? YOU'RE THE ONES WHO MAKE THE­ STUFF!!!!
    Oh - and there are more reasons to be proud­ of your country and nationality than purely sporting­ successes - but maybe you English are so blind to what­ else you have that you think sport is all that­ matters!!! WE know different up here!!!

    From Lynnda, on Fri 26 Feb 5:32

  16. Fact is, English people are hated everywhere and by­ everyoe, coz they think they're the best at­ everything. Good on you Scots. You may well have­ started a multi million pound empire here. Yeah,you won­ the world cup once almost 45 years ago, and we still­ have to listen to it every time they play! Get over­ yourselves. England to be knocked out in the last 8 as­ usual. And the only reason why they ever get that far­ is because for some strange reason, they keep being­ seeded so they dont come up against any big teams in­ the group stages. A few backhanders going on perhaps?!­ Enjoy 66. It wont happen again.

    From pm, on Fri 26 Feb 4:19

  17. Lynnda.. Do you actually know any germans, french or­ italians? i work with all of them, YES THEY DO TALK­ ABOUT IT... A LOT! FACT!
    Its called being proud of you­ country, but being scottish you guys are not proud of­ your skag jacking, @#$% smoking, buckfast drinking,­ ginger producing country that has never won anything,­ thats why you guys don't brag about it, you have­ nothing to brag about except one good tennis­ player.
    This is supposed to be light hearted banter,­ but some people take to far
    Ricky out

    From razorricky, on Fri 26 Feb 3:14

  18. FOR GODS SAKE.LIGHTEN UP..ITS ONLY FUNNY OR HAS­ NATIONAL PRIDE BECOME SO POLITICALY CORRECT EVEN­ T-SHIRTS ARE SUBJECT TO THE LAW..IS THERE NOT ENOUGH­ FOR THE POLICE TO DO..WITHOUT CHASING T-SHIRT­ "CRIMINALS"" WHAT A JOKE NOW WE KNOW­ WHERE SOME OF OUR TAX PAYERS MONEY GOES..USELESS­ ,USELESS ..TIME WASTERS ..I SUPPOSE WE WILL NOW­ INSTITUTE A ""FLYING T-SHIRT­ SQUAD""...OH MY GOD WHERE ARE WE HEADING­ FOR,,???????

    From beau, on Fri 26 Feb 2:21

  19. One of the main things we hate about England is your­ ARROGANT assumption that you're going to win any­ sporting competition you enter! From the World Cup to­ the Six Nations, The Ashes, Wimbledon (hmmm....Henman??­ NO...Don't tell me - I'll remember who he is in­ a minute...!!) When you won the Rugby World Cup - all­ these folk who have never sung "Swing Low" in­ their lives...are all of a sudden "passionate­ fans"(!!) and the same with the Ashes....folk who­ couldn't explain LBW if their lives depended on it­ were acting as though the England Cricket Team of that­ time were GODS!? Are you all THAT insecure that you­ have to cling desperately onto ANY success?­ "1966" says it all....!!! PATHETIC!!! If­ you'd just celebrate in, you know, the NORMAL way­ and not bleat on about it (as someone else said, you­ never hear France, Italy, Germany etc bragging about it­ every time their national team play - and they've­ won MANY times) we might actually be pleased about any­ England successes.......but the arrogance is SO­ pathetic and unattractive!!
    There - that was an EX -­ PLAN - ATION......not just a tirade of ignorant,­ mis-spelled bile that has been the content of most of­ the posts from south of the border!!!

    From Lynnda, on Fri 26 Feb 2:17

  20. hw blody silly came ya get? its a t-shirt a joke,get a­ grip

    From DANNY, on Fri 26 Feb 2:15
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