By David Gold
November 13 – A small section of Welsh fans rounded on Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey during their 4-1 win over Norway on Saturday over their support for the united British football team taking part in next summer’s London Olympic Games.
The Football Association of Wales (FAW), as well as their Scottish and Northern Irish counterparts, are opposed to their players playing in the team, as they fear it will compromise their independence as football nations.
Both Bale and Ramsey have posed in promotional limited edition supporters’ shirts for the British Olympic Association (BOA) and both have been open in expressing their desire to play for Stuart Pearce’s team next summer.
Ramsey has said though that he does not believe Wales’ independence is at threat, saying recently that if it were he wouldn’t consider playing.
He also insisted that both he and Bale posed in the Team GB shirts as part of the duties of their contracts with adidas.
Nevertheless, a “No Team GB” banner was unfurled by some fans at the start of the game with Norway at the Cardiff City Stadium, and though Ramsey and Bale’s names were applauded before kickoff, they faced criticism at the end from a small group of supporters.
There were also reports of “Welsh, not British” chants emanating from the Canton Stand.
A spokesman for the FAW said: “There were some fans who chose to voice their opinion over the issue of Team GB selection, but we had security people with the team so the players were never in any danger.
“We respect the right of our supporters to an opinion.”
On the pitch they were clearly unaffected, as Tottenham winger Bale opened the scoring with a fine finish as Wales produced a superb display to clinch a third successive victory.
After the game, Wales captain Ramsey said that the fans had been largely supportive.
“The fans were really good, not just to me but to the team,” the midfielder said.
“That result typifies what we have been like recently and hopefully they will enjoy it as much as we will.”
Wales boss Gary Speed was similarly relaxed over the issue, saying, “It has not affected us, in fact we’ve hardly spoken about it.”
“I think we had one little chat about the issue last week and then it was dropped.”
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