Eric Dier has admitted the Brexit vote left him angered and he has no qualms with expressing his opinion on the matter despite being told to stick to football.
He also revealed his Spurs teammates mocked him for comments about spreading his ashes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Back in March 2019, Dier took to social media to simply post:‘#PeoplesVote’. It was predictably met with many asking the Tottenham man to ‘stick to football’.
However, the centre-back insisted he was not perturbed by the response, admitting that he has strongly been against Brexit as a result of spending his formative years in Portugal.
When asked if he regrets his tweet back in 2019, Dier told The Daily Mail: “No, not really. I was in Barcelona at the time with Tottenham for a week of training so I was in my hotel room a lot and it was really angering me. It was really annoying me at the time.
“I don’t regret it all. I’m very strongly against it [Brexit] and time is telling, showing that [it’s wrong for the country].
“I grew up abroad so I feel very strongly about it in that sense because I was in another country all my life. There are so many sides to Brexit and so many sides I don’t understand but, just from a human level.
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“One of the problems was the huge detachment between London and the rest of the country and how the rest of the country felt versus London. And that’s something that’s a really interesting topic, just because London is so multicultural and so diverse.
“It’s an incredible city in that way and, when my friends visit from abroad, that’s what they gravitate towards, how amazing it is to have different people from all over the world living in this city, in a country which, compared to lots, is so free.
“That’s London, there are different issues [in other areas].
“I can only speak for where I live and that was a beautiful thing. But at the time, every time it [the peoples’ vote] was going to Parliament and getting rejected. I still think it’s a real shame.”
The 27-year-old also insisted that many footballers do not necessarily fit into the conventional stereotypes and there is a broad range of topics usually discussed in the Spurs changing room.
He added: “People would be very surprised about the topics spoken about in a dressing room. Football players are very much pigeonholed into a way that footballers are: money, cars, tattoos.
“I have no problem with any of those things! I like nice things. I like nice cars. And that’s normal. I’m a 27-year-old boy, so that’s completely normal.
“I just think that when players fit the stereotype, it’s OK but when one doesn’t and he’s doing something else with his time other than PlayStation, it’s a problem.”
Dier also said in a Q&A with this week’s ES Magazine earlier this year that he would like his ashes to be scattered at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Sporting Lisbon academy graduate admitted that his teammates took him to task for his comments.
When asked about his comments to ES Magazine, the England international said: “I’m not from London, Tottenham is my only attachment to London, so the stadium would be as good a place as any.
“And the title was: ‘Eric Dier wants to be buried at Tottenham Stadium!’ The boys at training were battering me. It was harmless but that’s the type of thing!”
Spurs Web Opinion
Footballers are invariably asked to stick to talking about the game whenever they offer opinions on different topics. I do understand why many players tend not to offer their opinions because of the fear of retribution and alienating a part of their fan base.
People like Dier and Marcus Rashford who are more than happy to talk about different causes without the fear of potential blowback, should be admired even if one doesn’t agree with them as it takes a lot of courage to do what they are doing.
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