It was massively disappointing to see the reaction that Ireland U21 player Killian Phillips received last week as a result of his actions ahead of a game for loan club Wycombe Wanderers.
Prior to the club's game against Oxford United on October 28th, the Dubliner opted to stand apart from the rest of his teammates during the Remembrance Day commemoration that took place ahead of kick-off.
It was an entirely respectful stance, one that did not seek to offend anyone and was simply a matter of a young player making his own beliefs known as the glorification of the military becomes increasingly commonplace in British sport.
Unfortunately, the abuse that came his way as a result was entirely predictable.
He was heavily criticised by some in certain sections of British society, receiving the same sort of abuse that has been directed at James McClean for a similar stance he has been taking for over a decade.
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Wycombe Wanderers chairman backs Killian Phillips
While Irish football fans have leapt to the defence of Killian Phillips in recent days, there has been less support for him in English football outside of his current club. Thankfully, he seems to be getting quite a bit of backing from inside Wycombe Wanderers.
Speaking on the club website, club chairman Rob Couling fully backed Phillips and the stance he took ahead of the game.
He's a tremendous young man. I did something today that I've never done before, I went to the changing room before to let him know how much we support him.
He has got legitimate issues with some of the things we do as formalities. He is entitled to live his life, he did it respectfully because that's the type of guy he is.
We live in a time where somebody is sitting at home and see something out of place, in their mind, and so they begin this social media campaign that gains its own momentum. They don't realise what they can do to somebody who is young, or even old. It hurts.
We wanted to make sure that he knew we were 100 per cent behind him. We believe in him, we believe in all of our players and their rights to have personal beliefs. It's as simple as that.
To fight for the causes they believe in, we're always going to be supportive. We might disagree on ultimate causes, but we support them in their activities...
Think about his background and what he is being asked to do, which is to celebrate something totally antagonistic. He didn't do it in a way that anybody should have found offensive, pure and simple.
I grew to respect him even more.
Well said.
Club captain Joe Jacobson would also back Killian Phillips and his right to take this stance, saying everyone at the club said he had the right to do so.
It's about time that others in English football took a similar view on the matter.
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