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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To wish England hadn't won (almost)

999 replies

littlegreybird · 08/07/2021 05:48

I'm not a football fan but someone who tends to get swept along during big tournaments and a few years ago would have been thrilled by last night's result.

This year I hate it. I think the team and manager seem great, but the booing during the other teams' national anthems is sickening and makes me utterly ashamed. Then you just know it'll be jumped on by Johnson (already has) and the victory, or even getting this far, will become part of his populism. Then there's all the covid cases that will be spread due to all the mixing in pubs etc, more than would have been the case anyway.

I just feel nothing for this country anymore after the events of the last few years. Latest bit of shit news is that my daily commute will now be shared by exhausted lorry drivers who won't have had breaks thanks to Brexit, so that's a cheery thought.

When is anything good going to happen that isn't sullied by this utterly shit governement?

OP posts:
YouJustFoldItIn · 08/07/2021 09:49

this godforsaken island

What a pathetic, spoilt, entitled, narcissistic, naive and slightly hysterical person you must be. Clearly you have little experience or awareness of what life is like for people in 9/10ths of the rest of the planet if you think that living in the UK makes you 'godforsaken.'

whatistheworld · 08/07/2021 09:49

I agree with you entirely! I feel this country has been ruined by the flag waving nationalists and politics has crept into football. The booing is disgraceful and i have heard so many comments calling the Germans Nazis etc after that game.
I am ashamed to be English, I hate Johnson and Brexit and i hate his handling of the Covid pandemic.
The football team themselves seem great, think Marcus Rashford and for that reason alone I support them. I can't bear to wave that flag and i truely hope that domestic violence doesn't rise on Sunday if we lose.

Watchingyou2sleezes · 08/07/2021 09:49

Probably because hanging around for 5 hours to watch a great throng of cyclists go by in a matter of seconds isn't many people's idea of an ideal day on a holiday...

MarshaBradyo · 08/07/2021 09:50

@YouJustFoldItIn

this godforsaken island

What a pathetic, spoilt, entitled, narcissistic, naive and slightly hysterical person you must be. Clearly you have little experience or awareness of what life is like for people in 9/10ths of the rest of the planet if you think that living in the UK makes you 'godforsaken.'

I know it really is embarrassing.

People need to explore more of the world.

Chillychangchoo · 08/07/2021 09:51

@Stillherenotgoneanywhere

My Irish relatives who happen to reside here in England are literally hating their lives right now. Odd mentality.

User135644 · 08/07/2021 09:52

@Creamsoda77

Football is awful, dont get it, the players are overpaid, arrogant, the fans are loud and obnoxious, its just horrible!
It's everything that's wrong with this country.
HarebrightCedarmoon · 08/07/2021 09:53

@Stillherenotgoneanywhere

Well, Im from the uk but live in Ireland. I’m delighted to see England win but god almighty you can’t show any happiness or even admit to supporting the English team here. The vitriol is massive. I’m in work listening to it now. All cheering now for Italy now. I’m keeping my mouth shut and my head down because I have no choice but to get on here and if you bite back you’re a stuck up Brit. It sounds such a silly small thing - which team people are shouting for - but it’s the sentiment behind it and what it stands for. Then it leads on to other reasons to hate the British, none of which are anything I’ve done!! These are the same people who support Man U or suchlike the rest of the time and know more about British culture than their own which is mad. It’s hard to live amongst the drip drip of dislike. I’m so homesick when I see the pictures of everyone celebrating. Rant over. Enjoy it people. Wish I was there.
What a shame. I know the Irish have lots of good reasons for hating the English historically, but I do find that kind of jingoistic attitude fairly pathetic and shameful in sport, whether it's English hating the Germans or whoever.

If it was Ireland, NI, Wales or Scotland in the final instead of England, and they were also a nice team I'd be cheering them on, not the opposition.

Onesunnydayiniceland · 08/07/2021 09:53

I completely agree with you OP and it sickens me how this corrupt government will capitalise on this. I am ashamed of many things about England and especially this tory government and brexit, but the manager seems like a very decent person.

Arrowheart · 08/07/2021 09:55

I'm not a fan of football but I do think the team are are something to be proud of. I do hate Boris and his government and the management of Covid but especially the way that 67,000 fans can all hug and sing together yet basic human dignity has been taken away from so many during this pandemic. I can't help but wonder what the people like the mum who wasn't able to be consoled by her sons during a funeral because of someone telling her she needed to keep her distance thinks of it all.

onlyhereforthecake · 08/07/2021 09:56

I only agree with this:

the booing during the other teams' national anthems is sickening
it truly is embarrassing.

Beendownthisroadmorethantwice · 08/07/2021 09:57

the fans are loud and obnoxious 26 million people tuned into the Ukrain match - and probably more last night. Are you suggesting that a third of the U.K. is loud and obnoxious?

HarebrightCedarmoon · 08/07/2021 09:58

@whatistheworld

I agree with you entirely! I feel this country has been ruined by the flag waving nationalists and politics has crept into football. The booing is disgraceful and i have heard so many comments calling the Germans Nazis etc after that game. I am ashamed to be English, I hate Johnson and Brexit and i hate his handling of the Covid pandemic. The football team themselves seem great, think Marcus Rashford and for that reason alone I support them. I can't bear to wave that flag and i truely hope that domestic violence doesn't rise on Sunday if we lose.
Er, were you alive in the 1980s and 1990s? It was much worse then, and such attitudes were all over the mainstream press.
User135644 · 08/07/2021 09:59

@Arrowheart

I'm not a fan of football but I do think the team are are something to be proud of. I do hate Boris and his government and the management of Covid but especially the way that 67,000 fans can all hug and sing together yet basic human dignity has been taken away from so many during this pandemic. I can't help but wonder what the people like the mum who wasn't able to be consoled by her sons during a funeral because of someone telling her she needed to keep her distance thinks of it all.
The whole thing is sickening.
IcedPurple · 08/07/2021 09:59

politics has crept into football

Politics has always been a part of football, both club and international.

It didn't start because England won a semi-final yesterday.

WutheringTights · 08/07/2021 09:59

I don't think booing national anthems is that big of a deal. It's all part of the theatre. Think of it like a pantomime. It's part of the fun. Look at how fans behaved when Erickson collapsed, opposing fans chanting his name. Most football fans are decent people these days, look at how many kids have been at the matches - that wouldn't have happened years ago.

And Gary Neville's comment about Southgate tells you everything you need to know about football these days:

“The standard of leaders in this country the past couple of years has been poor, looking at that man, he’s everything a leader should be, respectful, humble, he tells the truth.”

It's time for the hysteria about football to stop, frankly.

derxa · 08/07/2021 10:00

If it was Ireland, NI, Wales or Scotland in the final instead of England, and they were also a nice team I'd be cheering them on, not the opposition. Absolute rubbish.

HarebrightCedarmoon · 08/07/2021 10:00

@onlyhereforthecake

I only agree with this:

the booing during the other teams' national anthems is sickening
it truly is embarrassing.

I agree, but England thugs who do it (and who are not all the fans there) are not on their own, other countries' supporters have done it too.

I assume you are aware of the openly racist comments England's black players get shouted at them all over Europe and elsewhere?

YouJustFoldItIn · 08/07/2021 10:01

I agree with you entirely! I feel this country has been ruined by the flag waving nationalists and politics has crept into football.

International football tournaments have always been about flag waving and nationalism. It's literally the whole point of the tournament. - to support your country competing against other countries. The fans from every country taking part do it, it's not exclusive to England.

As for flag waving nationalists in daily life, I think that apart from the occasional EDL type march (which is a tiny, tiny minority of people) it is largely a figment of your imagination. An infintessimally small number of people fly the England or the Union flag in day to day life when there isn't a big sporting event on.

Politics hasn't crept into football AT ALL. The only people who are trying to assert that it has are the people like the you and the OP, who keep trying to make the link between Brexit and flag waving football fans.

One of the most rabid Tory hating, Brexit hating people I know, who is very vocal about her feelings on FB is also one the people who was cheering 'Come on England' the loudest and plastering the England flag on her FB last night, and will be again on Saturday.

Chillychangchoo · 08/07/2021 10:01

@WutheringTights

Spot on.

entropynow · 08/07/2021 10:02

@emilyfrost

Oh calm down and stop being so miserable.

I’m proud of this country and I’m proud of this government. If you’re not and you think it’s so shit nobody’s making you live here.

Proud of this government? Have you actually been paying attention, even a tiny bit?

But of course the answer is for anyone who doesn't agree with you to leave the country. Quelle surprise.

Hmm Hmm Hmm

Stillherenotgoneanywhere · 08/07/2021 10:03

@HarebrightCedarmoon I completely agree! I don’t want to ‘lord it’ over the Irish here or even discuss the win, I just hate the vitriol when anything goes right for the Uk (or the glee when it doesn’t).
I’ve listened to national radio presenters here mimicking the accents of Uk politicians regularly and sniggering after an interview with them. It’s so uncomfortable. I’m sure if Uk presenters were taking off Irish accents they’d be uproar here.
Don’t get me started on the Uk vaccination roll out - there was outrage that the brits were delighted with how it was going.
Apologies to the Irish on here that aren’t like this, I’m sure there are some, but there ain’t many of you as far as I can see.

DilysPrice · 08/07/2021 10:05

I think that’s true derxa. As a neutral I think most English people would be genuinely delighted to see a neighbour and a relative minnow like Wales, Ireland or Northern Ireland win the final. Slightly mixed emotions about Scotland perhaps because they’d never ever ever let the English forget it.

HarebrightCedarmoon · 08/07/2021 10:05

@derxa

If it was Ireland, NI, Wales or Scotland in the final instead of England, and they were also a nice team I'd be cheering them on, not the opposition. Absolute rubbish.
It might be for you, but it isn't for me. I was cheering on Jack Charlton's Ireland team in the mid 1990s and Wales in this tournament. I'm also a Man Utd fan and cheer on Man City when they aren't playing us, because they are also Manchester, so I'd much rather they succeed than Liverpool or Chelsea. My DD was a Man City fan and was the same, always cheering for the local teams, it's how I was brought up. I also cheered for Iceland even after they beat England a few years ago as there was some joyful spirit about them.
HarebrightCedarmoon · 08/07/2021 10:06

DF sorry, not DD.

wed8pril · 08/07/2021 10:06

I don't care if they win on Sunday, but if they do I'm not looking forward to it being a twenty minute lead item on the news for the next month. You'd think nothing else was happening, or that England wasn't only one part of the UK.