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Despite our geographic proximity, or perhaps because of it, the English and French endure a relationship that is best labelled “tetchy”.
For a millennium we’ve been jabbing each other in the ribs, tossing insults and firing cannon. It’s why London has innumerable landmarks named after famous feats of French-bashing (Waterloo Bridge, Trafalgar Square), and the French disparagingly refer to us Brits as Le Rosbeef. From the naming of Concorde to who invented Champagne, the English and French rarely miss an opportunity to get firmly under one another’s skin.
But not this Tuesday.
With England set to host France at Wembley in an international friendly just days after the terrorist attacks that tore through Paris, a campaign is under way urging all who’ll be inside the stadium - English, French and neutrals alike - to stand shoulder-to-shoulder during the pre-match formalities and sing Le Marseillaise (France’s national anthem) together in a beautiful cacophony of solidarity, defiance and missed notes. The lyrics are already being widely spread on social media:
France will play at Wembley on Tuesday. Good. To my English friends, if you wish to join us to sing La Marseillaise: https://t.co/FL3R47PTU3
— Philippe Auclair (@PhilippeAuclair) November 14, 2015Football has the power to divide, to bring the petty worst out of people. But it also has the potential to unite, to cross borders and boundaries, to send messages to billions across the world. What better way to tell those twisted few who would hurt us, in the mother tongue of those most recently struck, Tout est soldat pour vous combattre…. Everyone is a soldier to combat you.
