Should We Play The French National Anthem At St Mary's On Saturday ?
Thursday, 19th Nov 2015 13:21

The French national anthem La Marseillaise could be ringing out at St Mary's on Saturday, but would Saints fans be happy about this.

Of course and normal human being would have been appalled at the events in Paris last Friday, but is it going a little too far to ask Premier League clubs to broadcast the French national anthem La Marseillaise before all games this weekend ?

This is the suggestion being mooted by the Premier League and was discussed at a meeting of club officials yesterday with the final decision being made by the Premier League expected later today.

Although it was pertinent that the England fans joined in with La Marseillaise at Wembley earlier this week, it was a scheduled airing of it due to England's opponents being France.

So the question for Saints and indeed all supporters of Premier league clubs is whether they would be in favour of it being played before the fixtures this weekend.

Personally I would be against it, of course the terrorist attack was deplorable and as i said any right minded human being would condemn it, however although I would favour a minutes silence as a mark of respect to the dead in Paris, I would not want the French national anthem played for several reasons.

Firstly I think it is a step too far in the fact that there have been other attrocities in this World that we have not taken this step for, we have not played the USA national anthem when they have suffered terrorist attacks, nor the Spanish to name but two.

Secondly if the supporters do not respond then it has the potential to turn into a PR nightmare.

Thirdly it is not our national anthem, let us honour and respect the French and indeed other nationalities who lost their life last week, but let us do so in a quiet dignified way rather than a chest beating national anthem, that is not ours.

This is no reflection on the french or our long standing rivalry with them over hundreds of years, we feel their pain and mourn their loss, but that does not mean we should sing their national anthem.

So what does everyone else feel, would you be comfortable with La Marseillaise when our own national anthem was not played after terrorist attacks on the UK, or would you prefer a mnutes silence ?

Give your opinion in the comments section below and by voting in the online poll on the left hand side of the page.

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GNSaint added 13:44 - Nov 19

Totally agree Nick and for the 3x reasons you gave.

However if the savages struck in London and the crowds before the French Ligue 1 were to sing God save the Queen I'd see it as a lovely, reassuring gesture.

I'm favouring a no vote though, where were we after the 9/11 attacks. Then if we are to start doing this on what level of atrocity do we need to sing the victims national anthem? 2 killed, 5 killed or does it have to be over 50?

No not for me.

jacksk1 added 13:44 - Nov 19 Minutes silence yes, national anthem no.
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daytona added 14:24 - Nov 19 Completely agree Nick. one minutes silence is a good idea for us to show some respect and have some quiet contemplation but playing the French anthem is completely inappropriate in this context
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Big_T added 14:27 - Nov 19 No please no, there have been 289 terrorist attacks this year 7 with more loss of life than Paris, tragic and sad yes but please where do you draw a line on number of lives lost to public outpouring, 1, 10 , 100 , 1000 . we have been very supportive to France but enough.
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BaselSaint added 14:35 - Nov 19 Why not? I don't think we need to over-think this. Any gesture of solidarity is good. The French guys at work all mentioned how much they appreciated Wembley. There will be plenty more challenges ahead in the fight against these recidivist cowards. This is nothing.
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Jesus_02 added 15:14 - Nov 19 Support should be genuine and spontaneous, I think the International was. This seems a little contrived and over organised. I'm sure there will be a few Tricolors regardless and that's fine, let people express themselves however they wish
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Whiteknight added 15:15 - Nov 19 Minutes silence oui, La Marseillaise non!
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saintmark1976 added 16:09 - Nov 19

At some point in time we have to draw a line in the sand and move on.In my opinion we have reached that point so no French National Anthem please.

Is it not better to show the terrorists the two fingers by returning to normal as quickly as possible?The media has talked about little else but their cowardly acts for nearly a full week now which is exactly what those who cause these events of horror want.They wish to make us afraid and change our way of life to suit them.

Put simply. Stop giving them any further oxygen of publicity please.

Clint added 17:11 - Nov 19 I agree - a minute's silence but not the French National Anthem.
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aceofthebase added 18:49 - Nov 19 Non! Non! La Marseillaise but I would support the programme sellers having to arrive on bikes with onions around their necks.. Seriously these have been bad days but your article is correct.
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