To wish England hadn't won (almost)

[littlegreybird]

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?

@MagicSummer

I'm with you OP, I absolutely loathe football and all it stands for. I hate the spitting, the hugging and kissing, the histrionics when they lose, the rolling around on the ground in agony when someone has hardly touched them, but most of all recently, this ridiculous kneeling down!

I really hope they don't win because we will never, ever hear the end of it! The endless bus trips, the interviews, the stupid amounts of money they will get, the awards and Knighthoods - all for kicking a ball around!

And the booing by the audience? Absolutely disgusting.

So don't watch it then🙄🙄

[quote CoralSparkles]@OutComeTheWolves I’m part English, East Asian and Irish so I’m not your typical English loving White person so your comment doesn’t apply to me. Half my family are immigrants to this country (immediate family) but the rest live in another continent. EVERY country has done shameful things in the past. Most of Western Europe were colonisers and contributed to slavery and rape etc. Britain actually outlawed slavery decades before other European countries and the USA.[/quote]
You realise your stance makes it worse not better. It’s still not okay even if you were from Mars, green with yellow spots.

@Rosegoldfan of course OP won’t as it’s only ok to bash what is seen as a “working class” sport.

I am (regularly) appalled by Boris Johnson, and have little confidence in our Government and the idea of 60k fans at Wembley up close to each other and then all cramming into pubs, and on to trains made me feel quite nervous and worried.....
but at the same time it was amazing to have something to feel really positive about. The players and the manager are great role models, and in a year where there has been so much doom and gloom it was exciting to have a glimmer of hope.

I will admit I’m not sure why if anyone isn’t interested in the football how they realise national anthems were booed. I haven’t watched a single match cause I’m not interested.

@zippy1510 " This government are about as competent as a bunch of brain damaged hamsters rolling around in their own faeces. How on earth can you be proud of anything they do?!"
The vaccine rollout has been impressive.

Why not focus on the positives instead? As you've said Gareth Southgate seems like a pretty great role model - I don't know loads about him but he seems like a really decent bloke. He's also comeback from missing that 'career defining' penalty in 96 which I think is also very positive.

There was also the guy who set up a page for the crying German girl to show not everyone in the UK was horrible and raised something like £36,000 which is to be donated to Unicef. I know he was Welsh but I'm sure there were a lot of donations from all over the UK to raise that sort of money.

I know there's all this awful booing which seems to have become a thing with some England supporters but even then I'd rather some pantomime booing than the horrendous violence, racist taunts, fights and general hooliganism of the past. It's rude and ignorant but still preferable to that.

I agree though that Boris needs to keep his sticky paws off this tournament - unless he wants to give everyone a day off if we win - this should be about Southgate and the players and has absolutely nothing to do with bloody Boris.

I get where you are coming from OP, but YABU.

The England football team is nothing to do with the UK government (despite how they might try and spin it afterwards), and so we should take joy in it (and lord knows there's little enough to celebrate!). Don't let our corrupt, sleazy, incompetent government spoil the pleasure you could be taking in our hard working national side's achievements. They've ruined enough already

The football was fantastic. Denmark played a tough game and England were on excellent form.

I assume the booing was from a loud minority of yobs with no manners or sportsmanship. It was embarrassing. However I don't think it was representative of England fans.

I think OP just wanted any excuse to whinge about the government and Brexit, which have nothing to do with football.

If it helps, Harold Wilson lost the next election after 1966, so hopefully it won’t help Boris.

I come from a family that doesn’t normally support England, but the fact that this team comes across so well makes me want them to win!

@araiwa

So many threads about football that are negative within hours after the first time England have qualified for a final in nearly 60 years.

So boring and predictable

This exactly.

CrouchEndTiger12, I agree and I'm Scottish living in Scotland. There's been a lot of 'banter' here about England being in the semis, except it's banter with a really nasty undertone.

I’d like the team who took the knee to highlight racism - in spite of the dickheads booing - to be the team that wins.

The thing I don't really 'get' is the whole National collective thing with all the flags and default "But it's England playing" that you must be interested. That's probably just me though, and not being a very keen 'joining-in' person though.

I don't have any interest in watching football, and there are many things about the things that go with it I dislike, so I'm not going to start now. I don't watch badminton for example either, so I'm not going to start watching just because the England mixed doubles team were playing in the European championship. I can fully appreciate and and happy for people who do follow and have an interest though.

It's not a bad thing, but it's just an interesting phenomenon where there's people who have said they watch no other football at any time suddenly feel compelled to now, and are cheering/crying at it. I guess it's a group thing, and feeling part of that.

Wow.
Page 1. ‘Can’t quite articulate why it’s not great that England, who we all should obviously hate, might be feeling happy’.
Page 5. ‘Colonialism, Grenfell, Windrush, Brexit, Boris, racism‘.
FFS. Do you collect misery and store it all up to make sure everything fits your world view? When something good happens do you whip out your list and make sure to tell yourself and everyone around you that it’s NOT good because….’
I’d hate to be you.

I’m pleased they won because as others have said the team seem like mainly decent people who’ve used their celebrity status to promote good causes and the vast majority of football fans are lovely and deserve something that will cheer them up after a really hard year and a bit. I’m a bit unimpressed the government chose to open up the games to so many fans and that the pubs (at least local to us) seem to be getting away with ignoring social distancing entirely for the matches while kids are out of school isolating in record numbers. I really hope if even more are off next week the blame is squarely laid at our illustrious leaders door but suspect instead “fans behaving irresponsibly” will be rolled out.

[quote Jk987]@zippy1510 " This government are about as competent as a bunch of brain damaged hamsters rolling around in their own faeces. How on earth can you be proud of anything they do?!"
The vaccine rollout has been impressive. [/quote]
Because it was organised by the NHS

Just enjoy the England win

@SimonJT

Its fairly standard to boo the opposing teams national anthem, it isn’t something that just England fans do, nor is it football specific.

It isn't standard and it certainly shouldn't be!

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.

And then you go on to list all the reasons why, which basically boil down to not getting your own way in the referendum and not getting your own way in the general election either.

You are still so bitterly sanctimonious about that, that you'd rather see your own country lose in a football tournament as some sort of punishment for Brexit and to bring us down a peg, at a time when

a) they are at their best and deserve to win and

b) the country desperately needs a boost and a reason for us to all be on the same side for once.

Well aren't you a mean spirited and vengeful delight? Jesus. The saddest thing is that I know there are loads of people who will be agreeing with you.

Another negative thread to do with football.

Bore off the lot of you moaning whinge bags and let the people that like it enjoy it. Is your life so utterly boring that you have nothing better to do at 5.48 am this morning but have a go at people celebrating. If you look for the negatives in life you will find them - there are many different things in life that bring joy to people - let us have our moment.

I’m with you. I don’t like football, have no interest but understand others do. That’s fine it’s a game.

What I hate is a game being used to political advantage, boosting corrupt Johnson’s standing with those too dim to see that the football is very little to do with out government. What it does is allow increased nationalism that accepts some of the appalling and illegal activities of our cabinet.

At the same time our PM puts on another fancy dress outfit, they decrease sentences for rape, make any protests illegal and suggest that anyone pulling a brown child from the sea is a criminal (in contravention of the international law and Maritime laws). Our government are suggesting we will criminalise asylum.

Meantime domestic violence and alcohol related injuries increase for the duration of the competition.

Proud? No, I’ve done nothing to feel proud about. I can’t see anyone other than a football team have. That said, they seem to be better role models than our government.

For me it is complicated . I found myself smiling and happy for the fans and yet also worried about the hugging and close contact etc .

If England win, I'll be delighted for the team and the fans that we have won after so many years but the fact that deaths will very likely be a result from the event as a whole tinges that with regret and sadness for me.

I think it will always colour any football victory in this particular time and history may well have that perspective on it . I can imagine future historians talking about the Covid spread and how many deaths came out of the victory ( whoever wins).

I am not saying the football shouldn't have gone ahead , life has to carry on at some point and we are where we are. It is just that it makes sense to acknowledge life can be shit sometimes while still finding the joy where we can.

Sadly some fans will always ruin it...

I'm no football fan in general but am pleased about the win for them and agree the current team seem good role models.

I'm using this team in my work as an example of persistence, determination and effort to promote a growth mindset with disadvantaged and send students.

Maybe instead of beating on the team and what others might do with them, everyone else can take a leaf out of their book.

In a period of time when people have not been able to live 'normally', the England football team have been a beacon of hope. Hope for a positive win, a positive future. Continuing in the face of adversity and against a history of defeat which has weighed heavy in the hearts of many a footballer and fan. They have pushed themselves at the same time as recognising that others are not as fortunate as themselves over this last year.

Honestly, people will do what people do with regards to yobbish or risky behaviour. Instead of that, which we can't change, focus on what you can. Which is to see the benefits.