I come from relatively poor town in Kent, England and have solidly working class routes, I grew up in the kind of place football MATTERED to boys and men, not girls and women back then.
It's the kind of place where Football gives meaning to life and the bi-annual Euros and World Cups give license for people to hang their St George's out of their council house windows, and get wasted while watching the England games....
From the 2018 World Cup. Note the white van, another working class classic indicator!.
Funny thing is I never really played football when I was a kid, and because I escaped my working class roots to a state grammar (not independent, I passed my 11 plus and that's before the days of being hothoused by a tutor) we played rugby rather than football, so I never really saw that much of the game growing up from 11 onwards.
Other than the those bi-annual tournaments, which, during my teenage years and early 20s were a good excuse to go down the pub get hammered in a different-than-usual environment - I actually quite enjoyed living vicariously, hitching on other people's hopes and riding their emotional highs when England scored, or progressed.
But then never really giving a toss when they got knocked out.
Now I'm in Portugal I haven't bothered to follow the Euros at all, but I did try and livestream the England-Denmark game last night, but there was too much buffering, I don't think the 4G and the nearby mountains could cope, so I just gave up.
I did, however, settle for Live Scores and I've got to admit I am DELIGHTED to see England have made it to the final.
Maybe now's a good time to make a little emotional investment in the England Team, I've got three days to build up the vibe......
Or perhaps I should just leave it to those who've made a genuine emotional investment in the game!>!?
It's a bizarre thing, it's not my game but I do kind of enjoy riding the emotional wave once every couple of years, and it's something I've completely missed this time around.
Maybe I should head out to a pub for Sunday's match, there's plenty of English around here, but then again finals do have this tendency to be more tense and drab than exciting and watchable, and heart of hearts I would like England to win, but it would please me rather than making my year.
I also don't really want to go out 'expressing my Englishness', that doesn't really appeal to me very much!
I'm probably better off just staying in and watching from a distance, let those who have a lifetime VEST in the game have their moment, hopefully.
Come on England!
I watched part of the match, and that was enough. For the most part Football is dull, and there's a good reason the American's are not interested.
not enough happens
I think you need to be out watching it to get the most out of it!
The game itself is punishingly dull, the experience of watching it can be fun.
I've been stalking the local Facebook group thinking someone might do a screening, so many English around here, but no, everyone's too damned alternative!
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Football isn't normally my cup of tea but I can't really escape it at home especially when the major matches are on. That said, there are some games that can be quite exciting and keep you on the edge of the seat, you just can't tell how the game will pan out when it starts.
I think it's a tad better than watching F1.
I'm quite glad I'm NOT an England fan, I find it draining enough watching and I'm pretty detached from the whole thing.
F1 has been terrible viewing for years now, It's nice to see Hamilton finally get some competition. He's such a level headed bloke he probably feels the same way.
LOL that is vicarious living.
I do this when the F1 races are on and my boys get super excited.
I used to just join in and have some fun.
However, after a couple of years now they ask me for information as they are way to busy to check on anything lol.
I used to quite like the F1 Sunday afternoon ritual - very easy to zone out too over a nice lunch!
I don't really follow it anymore, but I do know Hamilton FINALLY has a competitor, about time!
Yeah, I guess George Russel will be his nemesis, but right now Max Verstappen is giving him a nightmare. Hamilton has run his race, maybe time to hang up his helmet. Oh another Britt for you.
Oh it's been good - I think Hamilton is far from done, a couple of years down and then back stronger than ever, I think Schumacer did something similar - two batches of victories.
Hmm.. we'll wait and see. I am waiting to see where Mercedes will go from here.
About the only time I watch any footie is during a big tournament and then I'm not too worried who wins. I've never been to a professional match and I couldn't tell you what teams the players are in. Games can be dull as goals are so infrequent. Despite that it's nice to have something that brings the country together. The last time England won a major trophy was the year I was born, so this is a big deal. Of course English/British sports people have won plenty of other things in the meantime, but they tend not to have songs written about them.
Some years ago a house just up from us had a massive England flag painted on the side and got in all the papers. I can't seem to find a picture now though.
I enjoyed your post, as there were so many things I could relate to. Growing up in Bavaria, I had the same experience: Football mattered! Though the place was not typically working class (at least not like the Rhine-Ruhr area) as much as it was rural, if you happened to be one of those negligible few who could not get excited about footie matches, it would make you a punk. Eventually I stopped fighting it, and embraced my punk-ness. Though during the Euro- and World cup tournaments I found myself enjoying... not the games so much - I absolutely agree with you that they are punishingly dull - but the atmosphere around it. Right now, however, without a football crazy crowd around me, I barely noticed the championship, and had no idea England made it into the finals. Congrats, but it's bit surprising, isn't it?
The other thing that made me laugh is how people "hang their St. George's out of the window," as if it was their ass or something. I don't know how common the expression is, but I remember a bunch of travelers from the UK hanging out in a hostel in Mexico, who would remind each other "Hey, your St. George's showing!" when someone made a somewhat nationalistic or pro-English remark. Occasionally it was their "Union Jack", and in the case of this one guy from Scotland, his St. Andrew's, when he was going on about Scottish independence.
Well if yer a punk, better to be a punk!
But I'm with you I enjoy a good football tournament down the pub especially.
I personally don't get the flag waving thing of any sort!
Hehehehe, yeah it took me a while to discover how much of a punk I really am!
Similar here with American football. I don't really watch the season. I only catch the Superbowl, which also has the attraction of new and clever adverts and a half-time concert. Otherwise, it's too boring to sit there and watch the season games. Baseball is even slower to watch.
As I understand it you really need to be into the tactics of those games to enjoy them.
If you want slow you should try watching some cricket!
When thinking about living in the UK, it has never crossed my mind to become a fan of cricket. I'm willing to learn to queue and have funny names for things. I doubt I would adapt to cricket watching, even for a championship.
County cricket is what you want - the five day matches, few mates, beers, bit of sun, great dayz.
I don’t mind playing sports. Watching them, however, does nothing for me.
You're English, so nothing bad with feeling excited at the possibility of winning the Euros. Please, build the excitement!
Definitely it is a good one right now if you give more time to the round leather game,the moment I find that out also,I see how interesting it is,it is a game of passion
I guess it would be kind of rude not to!