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Brits pack pub for World Cup

They don't care if the Scots aren't even in the soccer event;visitors and immigrants alike enjoythe Rose &Crown.

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published June 21, 2006

	[Times photo: Scott Keeler]
	British soccer fans react Tuesday at the Rose & Crown in Largo as Sweden ties England in the World Cup in Germany.

It's not the food that brings Ian Wilson to the Rose & Crown. It's not the beer and, he said, it's definitely not the Scots.

"It's everything else," said Wilson, an Englishman now living in Seminole. A dozen years ago, Wilson, 38, came to the Scottish-owned pub to watch his Motherland play a World Cup match.

Tuesday afternoon, he and dozens of other countrymen came to the pub on Walsingham Road in Largo to watch their beloved England fight to a 2-2 tie with Sweden.

At the Rose & Crown, where it's dark in the pub, smoky on the patio and noisy everywhere, they can belt out God Save the Queen, chant vulgarities and taunt each other with, "You're Welch and you know you are."

And the Welchman will raise his hands in pride.

Just about everyone crammed into the pub's indoor and outdoor bar area Tuesday had been there before, said owner Al Anderson, 58.

"Once a European finds he's comfortable in one place, he'll keep on coming back," he said.

Business is especially brisk when the English and American teams play. Here customers can drink English cider, Scottish lager and, of course, eat fish and chips.

Anderson, a Scot, gets his fair share of ribbing.

"Is Scotland in the Cup this year?" jest two regulars.

No, as Anderson is often reminded.

"You need a thick skin," he said.

Stuart Gibbons, 49, lives in Indian Shores but is from Bristol, England.

"He's an English redneck," someone shouts.

He has come to the Rose & Crown "too many times," he said and watches all the World Cup games here.

He likes the atmosphere, he said.

"Look how many English are here," he said. "We want to feel as if we're there."

This is where Englishwoman Sue Gladney, who lives in Seminole, finds the largest group of English people.

She knows everybody here, she said.

"Everybody gets together to forget what team they support and we all get together to root for our country," she said.

He had to ask his mom for permission first, but St. Petersburg resident and Englishman Paul Thomas, 59, brought his 82-year-old father, Peter Thomas, to watch the game with the passionate customers at the Rose & Crown.

Paul Thomas reserved five days off from his job at Dollar Rent A Car in Tampa to use during the month-long soccer tournament.

He comes to the pub several times a week and said there is a good rivalry between the English and the Scottish.

A fellow countryman, Martin Reese, 52, interrupted.

"Make sure to put the Scottish aren't in the World Cup," Reese said.

[Last modified June 20, 2006, 22:07:57]