"My Mother is Swedish and my Father is Scottish, he played for Charlton in the 1960's and was in the Army, he captained the British forces team. We then moved to S.A. because a lot of players did that at the time"
About this Quote
The subtext is a quiet argument about belonging. By tying family lineage to highly recognized badges (a storied English club, the British Army, a captain’s role), the speaker offers proof of seriousness before the listener can doubt him. It’s a defensive maneuver dressed as biography: if you’re about to be judged as foreign, rootless, or opportunistic, you answer with a list that says the opposite. The mother’s Swedishness adds cosmopolitan texture, but the father’s résumé does the heavy lifting because it’s tethered to public status.
Then the final clause flips the tone: “because a lot of players did that at the time.” That’s the normalization move, the rhetorical shrug that turns a potentially loaded migration into a trend. It’s also a glimpse of how athletic labor markets and postwar mobility worked: careers weren’t just talent; they were currents, routes, and networks. The speaker positions his family not as exceptional, but as typical within a specific professional diaspora, making the personal story feel like a footnote to a bigger system.
Quote Details
| Topic | Father |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Gough, Richard. (2026, January 16). My Mother is Swedish and my Father is Scottish, he played for Charlton in the 1960's and was in the Army, he captained the British forces team. We then moved to S.A. because a lot of players did that at the time. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-mother-is-swedish-and-my-father-is-scottish-he-83529/
Chicago Style
Gough, Richard. "My Mother is Swedish and my Father is Scottish, he played for Charlton in the 1960's and was in the Army, he captained the British forces team. We then moved to S.A. because a lot of players did that at the time." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-mother-is-swedish-and-my-father-is-scottish-he-83529/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My Mother is Swedish and my Father is Scottish, he played for Charlton in the 1960's and was in the Army, he captained the British forces team. We then moved to S.A. because a lot of players did that at the time." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-mother-is-swedish-and-my-father-is-scottish-he-83529/. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
