Indeed, the kids I grew up with in Northern Ireland \u2013 who in the 1960s and 1970s played on the streets with things they found at home, like their father\u2019s and grandfather\u2019s steel war helmets, old ammunition clips and water flasks \u2013 understand how history and symbolism can break different ways. <\/p>\n
The bayonets, the spent .303 cartridges and decommissioned hand grenades knocking about the Falls Road in west Belfast<\/a> were physical, family connections to loved ones that fought and died in two world wars.<\/p>\n They were things the kids held in their hands, used as props for games around Rockville Street and the GAA<\/a> pitch at the top of the hill, McCrory Park. <\/p>\n They were real pieces of those wars brought into kitchens and sitting rooms by men who had been scarred and broken after fighting and serving alongside others from the area in British Army uniforms.<\/p>\n The wars weren\u2019t part of some mythological past like those sketched out in the Victor and Hotspur comic books of the time. <\/p>\n They were alive in the memories of people, along with the ageing bits and pieces of metal; all reminders of a grim past but too precious to throw away.<\/p>\n Time passed and McCrory Park was turned into one of several British Army fortresses, called Fort Pegasus. The GAA pitch became part of a different kind of conflict. <\/p>\n There was a real army with real helicopters swooping in low over roofs to land as soldiers crouched in gardens watching people go about their business through the telescopes of their rifles.<\/p>\n Then, in the summer of 1971 on the other side of McCrory Park, the First Battalion of the Parachute Regiment killed 11 civilians over three days. <\/p>\n Belfast changed forever. <\/p>\n Many of those kids with the old British army helmets and water flasks are now beyond middle age and \u2013 like Katie McCabe<\/a> last week \u2013 are not inclined to wear a poppy. <\/p>\n It appears the Royal British Legion, the people who raise money selling poppies at this time of year, understand why.<\/p>\n \u201cPoppies are worn as a show of support for the Armed Forces community . . . Wearing a poppy is still a very personal choice, reflecting individual experiences and personal memories,\u201d says The Legion.<\/p>\n The Arsenal<\/a> and McCabe critics have a different view. <\/p>\n [\u00a0British media sees red over Irish poppy refuseniksOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Some other Irish players \u2013 Brighton\u2019s Caitlin Hayes and Crystal Palace duo Abbie Larkin and Hayley Nolan \u2013 also went without wearing a poppy last weekend. <\/p>\n There was the usual huffing and puffing, while the hawkish right vented and condemned. Charmless GB News called it a snub but many of the reports around McCabe were largely fact driven.<\/p>\n The 30-year-old didn\u2019t have to endure the acid rain that has previously poured down on others, such as former Republic of Ireland player James McClean, when he showed up unflowered.<\/p>\n This week there was a more restrained rage, a less poisonous vitriol \u2013 maybe the wearing, or not wearing, of a poppy is becoming less triggering. <\/p>\n Has the life-threatening outrage and widespread contempt McClean suffered blown itself out? Are people beginning to listen to what the Imperial War Museum has to say?<\/p>\n It is not only Irish players who have declined to wear a poppy. <\/p>\n In 2018, Manchester United<\/a>\u2019s Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic said he would not wear the flower for his club\u2019s derby match against Manchester City, which was taking place on Remembrance Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not want to undermine the poppy as a symbol of pride within Britain or offend anyone. However, we are all a product of our own upbringing and this is a personal choice,\u201d said Matic, whose village, Vrelo, was bombed by Nato<\/a> when he was 12.<\/p>\n How many civilians were killed in the Nato attacks is disputed, with estimates running from over 500 into the thousands. <\/p>\n The 11-week campaign in 1999 was to put pressure on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107 to withdraw troops from Kosovo. All academic to a child taking shelter from the bombardment.<\/p>\n During the attack, the Royal Air Force were involved, while the British Army played a supporting role.<\/p>\n McCabe has not publicly explained why she didn\u2019t wear the poppy, nor should she have to. But the incident has at least helped show that soccer can abide a grudging tolerance of a different viewpoint. <\/p>\n![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/J62Y7HCORFDWJBPWKMSNQG7ALA.jpg\")
James McClean, who now plays for Wrexham, has received abuse from UK football fans for his refusal to wear a poppy for Remembrance Day commemorations over the course of several years. Photograph: Molly Darlington\/Getty Images <\/p>\n