When I was seven years old, I fell in love.
I fell in love with a
game and I fell in love with a badge.
The game was football, and the badge was
England’s iconic Three Lions.
England were competing at World Cup Italia ‘90, and I would
be swept up in the emotion that people throughout the nation felt. My interest
in the tournament wasn’t immediate, and like much of the nation, my interest
developed as the tournament went on, and by the time David Platt scored his pandemonium
inducing wonder goal in the last minute of extra time against the Belgians, I was
hooked. By the time Gazza was crying during the Semi Final against West
Germany, I was truly addicted.
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| Players celebrate after David Platt scores in the 119th minute to send England through to the Quarter Final of Italia '90. |
I still remember crying myself to sleep that fateful night
of the Semi Final, moments after Chris Waddle’s penalty rocketed over the bar
and into the Italian night sky. The 120 minutes of action plus the dreaded
penalty shootout had been the first time in my life I had experienced a true
emotional rollercoaster. Over 25million people in the UK watched that game. And
for many like me, a love had been established that would never disappear.
Paul Gascoigne (Gazza) and Gary Lineker were very much my
favourite players and soon become my heroes, and the adulation and respect
burns to this day. Both Gascoigne and Lineker played for Tottenham Hotspur, and
with that my lifetime decision of which English league side to support was
decided.
England’s official World Cup song back in 1990 - World in Motion by New Order was number
#1 in the charts, and along with the official
song of the tournament – Nessan Dorma,
these represent what music meant to me in that time of my life. You never
forget the songs during important times in your life, they define the era, and
for me, these two tracks mean the world, and still can bring goose bumps. For me World in Motion is timeless, and will forever be my England anthem.
World In Motion by New Order
The closest that official England songs have got to 1990 were
1996 and 1998 – when we had the legendary Three
Lions on a Shirt and Vindaloo by Baddiel/Skinner/LightingSeeds and Fat Les respectively.
These songs were sung up and down the country and certainly helped link the
football team and the fans. They helped spread the passion. Even people who
were not football fans knew the words to these songs. They were infectious. We await to see what song we will have this summer.
Vindaloo By Fat Les
Every two years, with the exception of 1992 and 2008, in my
football loving lifetime, England have been involved in either a World Cup or a
European Championship. I can remember all of them. In 1992 I watched from my living
room as England were pathetic in the Euros, in 1996 I spent the summer watching
the Euro96 games from the clubhouse of our holiday home as England destroyed the
Dutch, knocked out the Spanish on penalties but lost again to the Germans in
another shootout. In 1998 I remember watching World Cup matches on my Sega GameGear
with a TV adapter in my Maths lesson. In 2000 I watched from home as we crashed
out in the group stage, and in 2002 I was in Tenerife on holiday, having
partied all night and stayed awake with dozens of other revellers to watch the early morning matches. 2004 and
2006 I watched matches with my university friends in the local nightclub who
would show games on a big screen. In 2010 I was the only Englishman in a bar to
watch us be thrashed by the Germans, in 2012 and 2014 I watched with friends as
we would yet again be disappointed due to poor performances.
During the heartache over the years, my love towards
the England football team has fizzled out and the flame has burnt less bright occasionally.
There have been times I have been totally disillusioned with the England
national team. This has usually been due to the man leading the team and the
players within the side. (I am talking about you Steve McClaren and the GoldenGeneration.)
This usually coincides with awful songs! J
(looking at you James Corden). There have been times where the players seemed to think that playing for England was a burden. It appeared they didnt want to be there. There was no passion. It was as if the badge had lost it's appeal.
But recently and just in time for the upcoming Euro 2016
tournament, my interest and excitement in the England team has resurfaced. Players look like they are playing for the shirt and playing for eachother. It
certainly helps my interest that Tottenham have five players in the squad, all of whom will
look to make a huge impression in the summer.
I am excited by the prospect of being caught up
in excitement and expectancy for another summer of hoping England do something
that they haven’t done since 1966, and actually win an international football
tournament.
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| It has been 50years since Bobby Moore lifted the World Cup at Wembley Stadium. Englands only tournament victory. |
We are a young side, with no stand out superstars. We appear
to have the blend of skill and pace, with players in form at the right time.
And once again, I am daring to dream, daring to believe that this could be the
summer that we will remember and talk about for a lifetime… But we have said
this many times in the years gone by.
When I take time and look at that England shirt and to
look at the badge that is upon it, takes me back to the excitement, enthusiasm and
joy that Italia 90 brought me. I felt proud that I could wear that shirt, and
call myself English. As a seven year old boy, playing football in my back garden in my full
England kit, anything was possible. I could grow up to be as skilful as Paul
Gascoigne, I could grow up to be the best striker like Gary Lineker.
In players like Harry Kane and Delle Alli, we have two players who I predict will have a
huge impact in the tournament in the same way
that Gascoigne and Lineker did twenty six years ago. A new crop of children will fall in love with
football this summer, and our players have the chance to become heroes to a new
generation.
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| The new boyhood hero? Harry Kane should have a large impact for England at Euro 2016 this summer. |
When my son is older, I hope he is falls in love with the beautiful
game in the same way that I did. I hope he has heroes to aspire to be like. For
too many years we have had a team full of individuals, opposed to a team spirit
much similar to club football that seems to be forming in our current side.
The current squad who have the honour to wear those three
lions on their chest, and for the first time in many years, we see a squad who
look like they want to play for their country. They need to understand and
remember that they are expected to sing the anthem with pride and then give
everything that they have for the 90mins/ 120mins/ Penalty Shootout. They need to
know that they are not playing for a salary, they are playing for every young
boy who is falling in love for the first time.. Falling in love with football.
"WE'RE SINGING FOR ENGLAND! ENG- ER- LAND!"
