What really happened with Kieran Tierney and his alleged “disrespect for the Queen”

This morning there was an article on JustArsenal this morning about Kieran Tierney “disrespecting the Queen” by removing his black armband and whether he should be punished by the fans for doing it.

This is the perfect response to that article from someone who watched the whole incident and wants to set the record straight.

There’s a saying, “Every picture tells a story “.

And that black armband lying on the side of the pitch doesn’t exactly tell the full story. Prior to the Scotland v Ukraine match both countries assembled in a line for both National Anthems.

Scotland had theirs first. They had a lone bagpiper. All Scottish players sang their National Anthem. All…. barring one Scottish player. That player was yours truly Kieran Tierney. I suppose you want to condemn him for that too.

After the both National Anthems, both countries formed a circle in the middle of the pitch. Images of the late Queen was on all screens around the stadium. All players applauded the late Queen by clapping for a full minute. Kieran Tierney clapped for the full minute.

Kieran Tierney takes off the armband and respectfully places the armband to the side of the pitch. He doesn’t throw it like some ignorant people say he did. And it’s the linesman that tosses the armband aside.

As for it being a Celtic thing, well think again. There were a few Celtic players out there on the pitch playing. That blows that little theory out of the window. So why should Kieran Tierney be condemned?

That’s a very strong word (condemn). It’s usually used for rapists, murderers and armed robbers,,,, not for a person not wearing an armband. Obviously the writer writing this fairytale story did not watch the Scotland v Ukraine match. I did.

I just watched the whole lead up to the match all over again to get my facts to this matter correct before typing and making a fool of myself. Something maybe the writer should have done before posting about a picture of an armband on the side of a football pitch that belonged to Kieran Tierney.

P Jennings

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26 Comments

  1. P Jennings, can I suggest that you actually go back and read my article?

    Here’s what I wrote to begin with :
    “It SEEMS that there is an example of one of our players”
    followed by
    “It’s being REPORTED along with photographic evidence that Kieren Tierney removed his black armband during Scotland’s recent international”… so far, not one accusation of anything from me…
    “and his connections with Celtic COULD explain his actions”…. that’s me giving an opinion or explanation, but not an accusation… correct?

    Of course I didn’t take the photographs and neither did I initiate the original report and, it seems I asked the same question as you are… why should he be condemned as it is his choice, just as it was the choice of those fans who booed the national anthem.

    What I was pointing out, was how a previous article maligned football fans (a minority of football fans by the way) from other clubs who reacted to the national anthem…. along with the second part of my article regarding Liverpool, it’s supporters and the media…. the same media who produced the picture of KT ‘s armband and report.

    Perhaps, if you had read my article more closely, you would have understood what I was thinking and, perhaps, not realising I was exposing the complete hypocrisy of our media towards football, it’s players and it’s fans.
    Not once have I personally said KT was guilty as charged, quite the reverse in fact, but you seem to have missed that fact completely

    It would be interesting to know your thoughts regarding the Liverpool fans taking eufa and the French fa to court, after all, that was as just as an important part of the article as was KT wouldn’t you agree?

    1. I’m amazed Tierney managed to stand clapping for a minute without going to ground.

      He’s probably got a broken wrist now.

    2. That’s the KEN I know and like . Tell ’em straight!

      That having been said – as the WHOLE truth and in context too, is VITALY IMPORTANT, I am glad this writer put a number of us fans straight (who did not watch the match and , as in my case, were completely unaware of the whole so called “incident” anyway). I have to assume that he IS writing HIS whole truth of course!
      It was, as many have said, a story that was not a story at all. MORE importantly though IMO, is that even HAD it been true that Tierney disrespected our late Queen by deliberately discarding his armband in disrespect, he had a perfect right to do so, both legally and also morally.

      However, I FIRMLY BELIEVE AND AGREE WITH ALL THOSE, YOURSELF INCLUDED, who rightly state that anyone, fans, ,players or anyone AT ALL, who actually BOOS any national anthem is little more than a low IQ scumbag.

      I write as a confirmed believer in the benefits of a benign and gracious sovereign and a dislike of republicanism (and in USA, MANY REPUBLICANS TOO!!).

      Though, as a liberal, I also believe in anyones right to choose what they believe, BUT NOT to behave in a loutish, unthinking way and deliberately insult, not only the Monarch, but also countless millions who revered her.

      I also realise Ken, that disrespect means very different things, different levels you might say, to different people and whatever anyone ever does, you can never please everyone, no matter how hard you try.

      So does that mean that you should not even try?

      DEPENDS ON YOUR OWN HUMAN NATURE AND LIFE PHILOSOPHY!

  2. I really hope Kieran doesn’t read Just Arsenal because he’ll think we’re all a load sad flakes with nothing better to do than take issue with why he does what he does and when he’s done it was it the right thing to do😱

    1. Yup, sounds about right. Give them more space and they will start condemning the Brexiteers. They can’t help it, can they?

    2. Jax, I reckon Tierney, as with many other players too, are well aware of how fans are and how we behave and how we write.

      We can be horrible inprint and I KNOW THAT more than anyone as the guilty party far too often. I am interested in your word “snowflakes though , as it is a word I often use personally and I DO AGREE with those who think our present young generation are far too easily “wounded”, often for their own good and future good.

      Though far from being a dinosaur in my life attitudes, I have long thought that social media is a terrible and often dangerous burden for esp young impressionable folk AND that laws to EFFECTIVELY STOP online bullying for vulnerable teenagers are VITALLY NEEDED, NOW!!

      IT IS A VERY NUANCED SUBJECT, with many shades of grey.

  3. I was hoping after reading this article it would give Tierney some credit and give an explanation. It didnt. It just gave more credence to the first one. He did disrespect the Queen. However, thats his choice. Should he be booed at the next Arsenal game. No of course not. But as an Arsenal fan its disappointing.

  4. This has been an extremely interesting exchange of views. As a man who has had to sometimes make extremely controversial decisions, I can look back and say I haved both lived and died by those decisions. I very much admire KT, and in all honesty would be quite bitterly upset if there was any substance to this supposed situation. I beg forgiveness for sitting on the fence, but I refuse to fall victim to perceived slight, or accusations of crypto-republicanism. Social media has become a cancer cheapening our quality of life and killing it where possible.

    1. MB, agree with you 100% and it’s even more dangerous when people start believing that everything they read is the truth.

      KT has been a model professional, both for Celtic and The Arsenal.

      We need to keep questioning why the media etc want to give out false scenarios and support all football players, fans and clubs when it happens.

  5. Great article and it should clear everything out. If Tierney didn’t even sing his national anthem, maybe he just didn’t want to mix football with politics?

    Even if he did sing his national anthem and didn’t clap for the late Queen, he had legal rights to do so. Morally, he didn’t even offend the bereaved relatives of the late Queen, since he didn’t boo or insult her

    He might’ve hurt the pride of some English though, since he’s playing for an English club and the late Queen was an icon of the country. If I were an anti-monarchy Scottish player in that match, I would do as he had done

  6. To be fair, this article adds next to nothing to the discussion. He clapped and “placed” his armband. Case closed then.

    But really, who cares? Plenty of Scots are either separatists or have little love for political power in London. There’s a difference between wishing for the dissolution of the monarchy and celebrating the death of a monarch. Tell me KT got his balls out during a minute silence and perhaps we have a story…

  7. You just need to look at the crown jewels to see the hundreds of millions of people the monarchy disrespected over the past centuries 🙂

    KT can do whatever he wants can’t he? Or are the Scots under a dictatorship? (again)

  8. Woke up to the iconic celebration from young Etham Nwaneri clinching the NLD, but after seeing thses posting realize I was only dreaming.

  9. “That’s a very strong word (condemn). It’s usually used for rapists, murderers and armed robbers,,,, not for a person not wearing an armband”
    Nonsense – in the intended context, the word meant to show strong disapproval. This doesn’t have to be taken to the extreme, it doesn’t mean that a person disrespecting the memory of the queen should be seen as the same as a murderer. It’s that “hate” argument all over again – you can choose to take the most extreme context of the word of you like, just don’t expect everyone else to..

    Anyway, semantics aside, it seems likely to me, based on this article, that KT is not a supporter of the monarchy, but tried not to make a big show of it (presumably to avoid offending people at this time). I do not believe he should be forced to show support for things he doesn’t support when performing his job, but it sounds to me like the way he handled the situation was very decent.
    Unfortunately with him being so in the limelight, even the smallest things will be picked up on and blown out of proportion.

  10. Hello there @ken1945. I wasn’t trying or deliberately having a go at you personally. That was wasn’t my intention. I personally think the whole saga is a storm in a tea cup, and social media and various media outlets have blown this out of proportion. In this modern so called society, ” you are dammed if you do, and dammed if you do”. With modern technology you can’t get away with anything. People are scrutinised over everything. I really don’t think Kieran Tierney has anything to answer to. Certainly not to us. When I mentioned Kieran Tierney not singing his countries national anthem, that was not me having a go at him. It’s a wonder he wasn’t picked on by social media for that. They seem to pick out everything else. He’s probably self conscious singing in public. At the end of the day the lad didn’t exactly throw the armband off the football pitch. As for your question to me on my views of Liverpool supporters taking EUFA and the French FA to court,,,, I think they have a pretty good case. Why can’t they also take the French Police to court as well. When I first heard about this without seeing it first, the first thing that came to my mind was, “Those Liverpool thugs at it again”. It brought back memories of the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985. Over 35 Juventus supporters killed. A dozen Liverpool supporters were convicted of manslaughter, as were some officials and the police captain convicted of manslaughter. That changed alot of things. English supporters were banned from European matches for a couple of years. Liverpool supporters were banned longer. The Hillsbrough disaster was handled poorly by the police, various authorities as well as officials. I don’t think the truth will ever come out. Not unless one day someone reinvestigates it. Unfortunately mud sticks. Especially when it comes to Liverpool supporters. But what happened to Liverpool supporters in France, I think they have been hard done by. There were Liverpool supporters realising things were getting out of hand with the Police being heavy handed, and trying to get away from the situation. Especially those with children. I saw a young child sprayed with pepper spray as well as other innocent people sprayed at random for the sake of it. Certain factions of the media got it wrong, or more to the point, biased with their reporting. I’ve strong views when it comes to football violence. In the mid 80’s to mid 90’s I spent time in Germany at Hamburger SV Football Club as goalkeeping coach. I was fortunate enough to play 36 matches for them over the 10 years whenever a goalkeeping crisis at the club arose. At Hamburger we had a section of the stadium of so called supporters we called, ” The Caged Animals “. That’s what they were. They weren’t there to watch a game of football. They were there for a fight, and to bring the game into disrepute. Alot of people laughed at me when I stated years ago that most of the football violence was organised. It’s the same today with what are ment to be peaceful demonstrations. You have a small element of people who are not there to protest, but are there to cause trouble. If that’s not organised, I don’t know what is. Well hopefully Ken I hope I’ve answered your question in regards to Liverpool supporters in France. This time round they are not guilty, especially after viewing all footage on every side

    1. Thanks for the reply my friend – it’s always good to straighten things out.

      As you say, back in the bad old days, the hooligan element was most definitely organised by thugs who had no real interest in the game, it was an excuse for violence.

      With the name pjennings, it stands as read that you had to be a goalkeeper!!!
      Hands like shovels and, of course, he left the dark side – probably my favourite keeper ever at The Arsenal.

      Thanks again for the debate.

  11. Nice one Ken. My glove size was size 10. The real Pat Jennings had his gloves specially custom made for his hand size. But we both stand 6 foot in height. Having played in top flight football and training goalkeepers around the world, I love a good debate with people who have never played the game at any level, yet think goalkeepers should be 6foot 5 plus, yet they still concede ridiculous goals over their heads. Over the years just passing through England, I was privileged enough to meet Bob Wilson on 3 occasions. On two of those occasions I miss out on meeting Pat Jennings. In 1983 and 84 he was out injured. Bob Wilson is a thorough gentleman with a brilliant knowledge with football in general

  12. It’s much ado about nothing really. However, I am a bit perplexed, why put on a black armband in the first place if he meant to discard it shortly afterwards? Just saying…..

  13. Pjennings, did you ever come up against Wynton Rufer while you were at Hamburger SV ? He played for your rivals Werder Bremen.

    1. Only once. I’m sure he left Germany to go to Japan. Something I should have considered instead of coming back to Australia

      1. I got to know his brother Shane when he came to England in ’91 for a trial at Gillingham after spending most of his career in Switzerland. Took him to the European Cup game against Austria Vienna which we won 6-1.

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