Just England things

Sport Review #159

Like many of us, I’ve got two international football teams.

There’s the All Whites - 1982, 2010 and all the bits in-between.

But there’s also England. In cricket, as it is in rugby, I want them to lose. But in football, I want them to win.

New Zealand is too diverse to assume everyone supports England now, but I’m on board. The history aligns nicely with my personal brand of embracing sporting pain - I also support Tottenham Hotspur, followed NZ cricket closely through the 1990s and 2000s, and the Chiefs through the Foster era.

I got the bug properly at Italia ‘90. The lights, the Pavarotti, the finest polyester playing kit around. I had the cassette single of World In Motion and we’d rip off whatever was playing at parties and dance around to it. It ended traumatically. I had the VHS of the semi-final exit and just about wore it out, knowing the result but quite enjoying the pain anyway.

In 1996 I had a plane ticket booked for London, and couldn’t have been more invested in what was happening in England. Blur were all over Oasis. I owned several pieces of Umbro clothing. Tottenham’s Terry Venables was the England manager, Darren Anderton wasn’t injured, my favourite Teddy Sheringham was in there and they were amazing. ‘You look like you’re going to throw up,’ said someone I was with when Southgate missed.

In 1998 I was in London, and was very impressed when the office I worked at knocked off at lunch to go watch Brazil v Scotland at the pub and stayed there for the rest of the day. I had a passionate argument with a good friend about why Darren Anderson should play over David Beckham. I watched England v Argentina in a Wapping pub and remember Owen’s goal, Beckham being sent off, Sol Campbell’s goal being ruled out and lurching around a tube station later muttering insults about Argentina.

A lot of bad things happened after that, for many years.

And here we are. I’m as surprised as anyone that England are good now. Gareth Southgate is building one of the great modern sporting cultures (with the help of a New Zealander), and it’s working. England have had better players in the past, but they’ve never had a team like this.

This tournament has been tremendous, with the exciting parts co-inciding perfectly with the school run the only low point. I’ll be in front of the telly Monday morning to see if it’s finally coming home.

Thanks for reading - Richard

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