I must admit, I'm not the worlds biggest football fan. I don't actively follow a team although I can certainly appreciate the skill and dedication it takes to excel at the sport. Yes, I think the players are nothing more than overpaid apes, but if they play well and entertain me then I won't question their pay level like so many others undoubtedly are. Some things will probably never change and when you look at the massive amount of money football raises you can almost see how their pay is justified. Anyway, enough of that, what I'm trying to say is that I am not a football fanatic, but I can appreciate and enjoy the sport.
More so when I have the opportunity to go to a different country and immerse myself completely in the entirely unique atmosphere that goes with the sport. I would certainly recommend this for anyone, football fan or noob, it really is a fantastic experience and whilst the celebrations are going on and the game is in play you feel a unique bond with the people around you. It's a kind of bond you really only get with fanatical sports or, presumably, fanatical religions.
But being around such a diverse crowd of people from all different countries and all different backgrounds makes you look at yourself in a different way. It makes you really look at yourself -- and your country -- from an outsiders perspective. Suddenly, amid the different conversations and different languages I came to have a realisation... people are nervous around the English. Obviously, this is not the case in all social situations but when it comes to the 'football atmosphere' there does seem to be an element of apprehension when the English are around.
And you know what? I understand why.
If you're English or understand our strange ways then it's a brotherhood you want to be a part of -- in many ways you're proud to be a part of -- but if you stand there and look at the English from an outsiders point of view it is daunting. Where other teams chanted their national anthems and team name over and over, the English came up with rhymes which belittled and antagonised other teams. Chants such as "Shove your vuvuzelas* up your arse" are a good example of a fairly aggressive approach the English have to football. We really do put the 'fan' into fanatic.
The Vuvuzelas: distinct, cheap and very, very loud
Of course it's all a bit of English fun, but seeing the nervous looks on the faces of people as they stay out of ridicule range was a little disheartening. On the whole the English were well behaved but even in a country which would cost too much for your average meathead to visit, there were small scuffles. I am ashamed to admit that during my time in Cape Town the only fighting that took place was after the England v Algeria match and it was England fans who instigated it.
Don't get me wrong, you don't have to be abroad to be disheartened by the English. I remember during the last World Cup when I was standing in HMV and a dreg walked past with his equally dreggy friend and said, "I bet he doesn't support Engerland." Presumably he made this assumption because I was looking at the heavy metal section and wasn't wearing an England shirt or carrying an England flag or mindlessly throwing insults at people but in that very moment I was very tempted to agree. Afterall, the fucking idiot couldn't even pronounce 'England' without adding an 'er' in the middle of it to lower the word to his grammatical standards.
I bet the above moron is one of the many people who took their England flags down from their houses the second we were kicked out of the World Cup. I really can't fathom how people, who claim to be so proud of their country, suddenly revoke all interest in their heritage as soon as the sport they love is no longer a part of the equation. These people don't know anything about English history or what really makes people English, they only know what they want England to be (a country of mindless thugs who want to win everything) and they act up to that.
In my opinion, defeat is what has made Great Britain 'Great'. If it wasn't for defeat, we would still be a cruel overlord of our colonies and yes, we would be a far wealthier country but war and revolt would be ever looming around the corner. We were very almost defeated during World War II. We may have fought until the bitter end but without the help of the Americans, we would've probably been defeated sooner or later.
One of the greatest Britons, Sir Winston Churchill, only became great through defeat. He managed this by learning from his mistakes and bettering himself. Anyone who looks up the Gallipoli campaign will find that this military disaster was spearheaded by Winston Churchill himself. How he came to be Prime Minister after this is not a miracle, but a testament to the attitude of the man.
Winston Churchill, a truly Great Briton
I really can't understand why people are so proud to be English whilst there is a chance to win but as soon as we are defeated they forget all that makes this country great. I am proud to be English but when I was abroad I didn't want to admit this fact and tried to say 'I'm British' because British doesn't have the same yobbish football connections as 'English'. It's a shame that I feel the need to do this, but it is through no exaggeration of mine that it was a necessity.
I can say it was wonderful how welcoming people were despite my obvious disability of being 'English' and once they got past the initial aversion and realised I was a very friendly chap, we had some polite conversations and I hopefully helped to quash the view that all English are drunken yobs. I only hope that others follow in my example and this fear of our great nation is dissipated because I find it unlikely that we would ever be the host nation of the World Cup whilst other countries are so fearful of mixing with us when football is thrown into the mix.
So next time you meet someone foreign, have a nice chat with them and if they're American and they mention the BP oil leak in the Gulf just do what I did... smile, hold your hands up and say, "Yeah, sorry about that, that was our bad. If it's any consolation, it'll probably be an excuse for our petrol prices to go up."
* for those of you who don't know, the vuvuzela is a traditional South African instrument that someone took and made out of plastic for the World Cup. It probably made someone a millionaire because it's cheap and very, very loud.
Posts
