England's glorious victory over Holland was memorable - and so were the words of one Dutch football player called Richard Witschge who made some pretty damning remarks about Blackburn, its football club and the people who live in the town.

In a Sunday tabloid not noted for its discretion, the Dutchman - who spent a short period of time on loan at Ewood Park - labelled Blackburn 'poor and ugly.' He accused Rovers of being workhorses with little or no skill rather than 'play-makers' like himself and other continentals.

Presumably his disaffection with Ewood stemmed from the fact that he spent most of his time in the dug-out, though I have yet to hear that he handed back any of the inflated weekly salary he collected.

When one considers that this sad dollop of imported cheese was probably paid several thousands of pounds per week to sit on his backside, his slanderous comments become even harder to swallow.

Anyone with a fat wallet can look down their noses at those considerably less fortunate than themselves. But it takes breath-taking arrogance for a highly-paid footballer to slander people who somehow scrape enough cash to meet the prices one has to pay these days to watch soccer at the highest level.

Blackburn supporters are by and large the very same 'poor and ugly' people who help to pay players' wages. They must have shaken with anger when they read the Dutchman's comments. Thankfully not all players are as dismissive as Richard Witschge. He unfairly compared Amsterdam, where he was raised, to Blackburn, inferring that the Dutch port was a place of aesthetic beauty .

Well, he must have been talking about a different Amsterdam to the one I visited when I was in the Merchant Navy. I distinctly remember it as a great place for brothels and drugs - if you were in to that kind of thing!

And Barcelona and Bordeaux, where he has played and lived, are hardly heaven on earth. Both are jam-packed with foreigners. I'd much rather be in Blackburn, thank you.

The thing that upset me most about Witschge's blast was that he and so many Europeans who slander Brits are conveniently forgetting that were it not for the inhabitants of these islands, they wouldn't have progressed further than being a gleam in their dad's eye.

From 1914-18 and 1939-45, millions of our serving men and women gave their lives in the cause of freedom.

So did many from Holland, but Mr Witschge's ancestors were no doubt mighty grateful to see 'poor people' from Blackburn in British 'Tommy' uniforms when they were getting their backsides kicked by the Germans.

That is something to dwell on as July 1 approaches. For those unfamiliar with that date, it marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

On that dreadful day, 700 brave men from Accrington, known as The Pals, advanced across 300 yards of No Man's Land into withering fire from the German trenches; 235 were killed and 350 wounded.

Now you may be asking what have The Pals got to do with Richard Witschge and his attack on East Lancs and its folk. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. But it DOES have an awful lot to do with Mr Witschge's freedom of speech - even if he is abusing it!

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.