As an Englishman I've never had a massive connection with the national team. 96 probably the closest I got, but even then I'd choose Saints. But I can see why your bond is a lot stronger. Respect for answering......it was a tough question!
Funnily enough, the reason why I chose Saints [well, chose is the wrong term. You are chosen by your home city] was because England won the World Cup during the summer. Simple as that. I'd never considered watching any sport. I was always playing it. So back then I had a huge affinity with England, but you could keep the two things separate. Southampton FC was really special because the team existed just for my city. We didn't share it with the rest of the country. And England was a team to be really proud of too simply
because they represented the whole country. But then, when I was getting into my teens and starting to take a bit of notice of these things, I realised that the players singing the English National Anthem weren't lustily singing about the country [they never sang lustily anyway]. They were singing about an allegiance to one pampered family, who were largely nothing to do with me. So my disconnection started there. When I heard other national anthems being sung, they were all about the countries and the people. People like me. They were being represented. I know our royal family are meant to be a symbol for the country. Queen and Country, one and the same, but I've never gone for that BS. And GSTQ is such a ****ing dirge anyway. Add to the fact that the England football team began a slow disconnect from the nation's supporters, hardly ever playing to the sum of their parts, barely opening their mouths to sing that awful song, that I almost completely turned away, because to try to retain a connection was becoming laughable anyway. It didn't feel right. Yes, I am sort of pleased when they win, but it means surprisingly little [it even surprises me how little]. Seeing the Welsh win tonight meant an incredible amount to me because they played with intelligence, heart, fervour, soul, passion, and skill. And of course, they were the underdog, long unfairly cast in England's shadow. England did none of that against Iceland and barely did it at all in their three previous games. Yet they should have been able to play like the Welsh. I had tears in my eyes when the Welsh won tonight, just as I did when Italy won. I felt like Wales were representing me [sorry Helen]. And that Welsh anthem is so rousing too.
I don't expect England to play with the tactical skill of my other country Italy, as they are the masters of tactics. But I expect them to have conquered this lethargy by now. Nobody has ever tried to get to the bottom of why England routinely play so badly, when the expectations are raised. Even when they play well they are not
really playing well. And generations of extremely good players international careers are going to waste. As is our national footballing pride.
) and started thinking about what HistoryRepeating said about not having a connection with the England team. This may be more to do with rugby but could also bleed over to the football team - a lot of people, especially where I live in south west Wales, actually know a lot of the ex and current Welsh rugby internationals. One of my colleagues' best friends is Shane Williams, another is Dwayne Peel's brother-in-law; I was in school with Mike Phillips' parents; the referee Nigel Owens lives two miles away from me and lots of other players and coaching staff live within 5 miles. You can walk up to one of the current or ex-players at a pub and have a chat. They're a damn sight more accessible than any England player would be and I do wonder whether this makes a difference. Welsh sport seems to be much more... inclusive isn't the right word but I don't know what is. As I said, it's different for the football team, especially in this part of the world, but I love the fact that Joe Allen not only comes from 10 miles from where I was born but also speaks Welsh.
It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.
