On The Ball | Liverpool vs England: Trent Alexander-Arnold’s dropping by Southgate reignites ‘Scouse Exceptionalism’ debate among Reds supporters
- Liverpool wing-back Trent Alexander-Arnold was surprisingly dropped by England boss Gareth Southgate for England’s latest internationals
- Some Liverpool supporters claim to be pleased that it limits the chances of another of their players succumbing to injury on international duty
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s exile from the England squad was greeted with glee by a substantial proportion of Liverpool supporters. Many Kopites would be pleased if Gareth Southgate never called up another player from the club.
The break will give the full back time to rest. There is no risk of the 22-year-old coming back from international duty carrying an injury. Joe Gomez was lost for the season in November while preparing for a friendly against Ireland. The reasons for the antipathy towards the national side run far deeper, however. A banner unfurled before every pre-pandemic home game at the front of the Kop explains the situation. It says: “We’re not English we are Scouse.” Merseyside is another country.
Residents of Liverpool are referred to as “Scousers”. They use the term with pride. It stems from lobscouse, a word that originated in the Baltic ports of northern Europe describing a basic, potato-based dish. The use of the shortened version emerged as a pejorative expression on the banks of the Mersey. Destitute Irish immigrants ate cheap, watery stew. Scousers were the poorest of the poor, outcasts in society, sneered at by those in respectable society.
The massive waves of Celtic immigration in the second half of the nineteenth century changed the nature of Merseyside. Little more than 100 years ago, a significant segment of citizens still considered themselves Irish, even though they were born in Liverpool. These were the people who took the insult, turned it around and created a new identity: Scouse. It had nothing to do with Englishness.
Its appeal was perfect for the melting pot of the port city, with its considerable Chinese and black minorities. Scouse became a stew of people, always reflecting the sensibility of the outsider. “The magic of Liverpool is that it is not England,” the Glasgow-born political activist Margaret Simey said. She understood the place.
