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James Bond's connections with football?

DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
edited April 2021 in General Discussion Posts: 18,281
I do and I was wondering if anyone else here did? :)

I realise this is not the best of times to say you are a Chelsea fan either given their recent run of bad luck and the fact that they are (at the time of writing 16th in the Premier League) ! :))

I'm not a big follower of football at all but this is the team I mention if someone asks which football team I happen to support.

As we know from the original Fleming Bond novels James Bond lives in a flat off the King's Road in Chelsea, part of London, England where his "Scottish treasure" May is his housekeeper.

So, does anyone else here follow Chelsea either for this reason or another?

I'd love to hear from you! :)

***THREAD TITLE EDIT AND EXPANSION - Saturday 21 January 2017***

Just wanted to amend this thread to have a discussion about James Bond and any connections that there may be with the game of football/soccer.

It was originally about supporting Chelsea FC if you were a Bond fan as that is where James Bond lived in the original Ian Fleming novels.

I want to expand the thread wider to ask what connections (if any) you see between James Bond (as both a literary and cinematic character and indeed beyond) with the Beautiful Game.
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Comments

  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    I'm a Liverpool supporter. I enjoy telling people that James Bond is a LFC fan.





    On, not entirely accurate but Daniel Craig is a Liverpool supporter :D
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited November 2015 Posts: 18,281
    No, I could never see Bond as a Liverpool supporter.
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    Haha, no maybe not. I'm happy that DC is though.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    Shark_0f_Largo wrote: »
    Haha, no maybe not. I'm happy that DC is though.

    Each to their own. :D
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    NOPE

    BOURNEMOUTH FOREVER \m/
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    It seems I am all alone in the community, thus far at least. ;)
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,138
    I'm a proud Chelsea fan. Blue is the colour. Recently visited Stamford bridge.
    Part of my interest stemmed from Bond living in Chelsea. Not so keen on their recent form, but we'll bounce back.
  • jobojobo
    edited November 2015 Posts: 7,507
    Firstly: Its not a "recent run of bad luck". Its a recent run of terrible play!

    Secondly: James Bond supporting a club owned by a Russian oligarch and managed by the most ill mannered, whiny coach ever? Yeah right!
  • Benson20Benson20
    edited November 2015 Posts: 17
    I think Roman Abramovich could make a good Bond villain, actually!
  • eddychaputeddychaput Montreal, Canada
    Posts: 364
    Win, lose or tie, Arsenal until I die.
  • eddychaputeddychaput Montreal, Canada
    Posts: 364
    Benson20 wrote: »
    I think Roman Abramovich could make a good Bond villain, actually!

    LOL.

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    Benny wrote: »
    I'm a proud Chelsea fan. Blue is the colour. Recently visited Stamford bridge.
    Part of my interest stemmed from Bond living in Chelsea. Not so keen on their recent form, but we'll bounce back.

    Yes, I've finally found a kindred spirit in @Benny! :)
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    He'd be a Fulham supporter.
  • Jones_The_BondJones_The_Bond
    edited November 2015 Posts: 344
    Never mind Bond - I would argue that if pushed, Q (or at least Desmond Llewelyn's interpretation) would be a Newport County supporter. His Q clearly follows parts of Llewelyn's own Newport-born life. In Licence To Kill he wears a Malpas (in Newport) Cricket Club tie, while in The Living Daylights he wears a Newport RFC tie - I think Desmond mentioned in the backstory he created for Q, that the character had played rugby for Newport at some point.

    My word, could Newport County use some of his gadgets, right now.

    As for the actors themselves (according to certain media accounts):

    Sir Sean Connery: Glasgow Rangers these days
    George Lazenby:
    Sir Roger Moore: Reading
    Timothy Dalton: Derby County
    Pierce Brosnan: Tottenham Hotspur (although one account says Fulham)
    Daniel Craig: Liverpool
  • imranbecksimranbecks Singapore
    Posts: 984
    So I guess it was a nod to the Bond in novel when Q lied to M in SP saying Bond was in Chelsea...
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    I think Football is a little too working class for 007 in Fleming's novels. Fleming would turn in his grave if he knew Chelsea was owned by an Eastern European! Ha ha.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    suavejmf wrote: »
    I think Football is a little too working class for 007 in Fleming's novels. Fleming would turn in his grave if he knew Chelsea was owned by an Eastern European! Ha ha.

    Hence if he were a football fan it would no doubt be Fulham. They are arguably the most middle-class club in the country.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    edited November 2015 Posts: 9,117
    suavejmf wrote: »
    I think Football is a little too working class for 007 in Fleming's novels.

    I agree.

    Much as it pains me to admit it but I think if anything Bond would be a rugger bugger.

    He would certainly have only played rugby and cricket in his various posh schools.

    I consider him far too much of a loner to enjoy the crowds of a football match and it's just not a world that I can picture Bond in. It's like saying 'what local boozer would he frequent? The Dog and Duck on the Kings Rd or the Red Lion on Sloane Sq?'

    And even if he was a football fan he should have pledged his allegiance to a team long before then.

    I would say the following clubs would have a greater claim to Bond'ms support during his formative years, given he probably didn't start living in Chlesea until after the war:

    Hearts/Hibs from his time at Fettes.

    FC Kitzbuhel were only founded in 1947 so that's too late for his time with the Oberhausers. The next nearest sizeable town with a club in existence at the right time would be Kufstein FC founded in 1919.

    And let's not dismiss non league Pett Bottom Utd AFC!!!

    To be fair though given the amount of plastic ex public school fans Chelsea has attracted in the Ambramovitch era Bond could easily have jumped on this bandwagon and joined the prawn sarnie brigade. Just as now they are shit he would join the same plastics in deserting the club and seeing the gate back down to 20k like it always was before the glory hunters latched on.

    But to be honest I really can't see Bond (either in his literary or cinematic incarnations) having the slightest interest in football.

    By the way am I the only one who found it incongruous that Bond had a telly in his flat?

    Pretty sure Fleming states somewhere 'Bond did not own a television set'. Just as I can't imagine him watching football nor can I imagine him rushing home to watch Eastenders.


  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    @TheWizardOfIce - I too found it odd he had a TV. It didn't feel right.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited November 2015 Posts: 7,136
    Sorry to disappoint. I've lived in Rome (I was there when they were shooting Spectre ;) ), I'm a Lazio fan.

    On the other hand, I'm a Bond fan because he's such a stylish fellow, and Lazio is the team that is traditionally the team of the bourgeoisie in Rome.

    In England, football might be very working class, but on the contintent big cities historically have one working class and one middle/upper class team. In Rome, Lazio is the latter.
  • SirHilaryBraySirHilaryBray Scotland
    Posts: 2,138
    I am Glasgow Rangers season ticket holder and I once sat a few rows from Sean in the 90's. He hasn't been to a game for a very long time.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited November 2015 Posts: 7,136
    I'm always told Dalton is a Man. City fan. Is this true?

  • SirHilaryBraySirHilaryBray Scotland
    edited November 2015 Posts: 2,138
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    I'm always told Dalton is a Man. City fan. Is this true?

    Yes http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/12/26/article-2529409-1A4C4A6F00000578-961_625x389.jpg
  • tigers99tigers99
    Posts: 582
    My feeling is you should support the team from where you were born/grew up - I have supported Hull City, from the fourth tier of English football to the Premier League, where we will be again next season :)
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,136
    After a quick Google search, I came across this:

    https://www.mcfc.co.uk/news/features/2011/february/city-on-the-oscars-timothy-dalton

    and this:

    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/12/26/article-2529409-1A4C4A6F00000578-961_625x389.jpg
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,423
    RC7 wrote: »
    @TheWizardOfIce - I too found it odd he had a TV. It didn't feel right.

    Very odd. Perhaps he just picked it up in order watch
    M's video
    .?

  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    royale65 wrote: »
    RC7 wrote: »
    @TheWizardOfIce - I too found it odd he had a TV. It didn't feel right.

    Very odd. Perhaps he just picked it up in order watch
    M's video
    .?

    Maybe he just watches MOTD and Jeff and the boys?
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    SirHilaryBray wrote: »
    I am Glasgow Rangers season ticket holder and I once sat a few rows from Sean in the 90's. He hasn't been to a game for a very long time.

    Is he a Rangers fan then? Interesting. I'd support them myself if I was in Scotland.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,585
    RC7 wrote: »
    He'd be a Fulham supporter.

    Well, until that Michael Jackson statue went up. But that statue seemed to bring the club good luck...since coming down, FFC has fallen on hard times.

  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    edited November 2015 Posts: 4,423
    TheWizardOfIce wrote: »

    Maybe he just watches MOTD and Jeff and the boys?

    Or Bond was watching the Rugby World Cup!
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