This piece could just as easily have been titled "What’s wrong with me?"—half the time I would like to say I’m an English sports fan myself.
Half of us would rather see a Brazilian, or rather anyone other than Lewis Hamilton, win the Formula One World Championship this year. Some of us openly booed Ashley Cole when his misplaced pass let Kazakhstan score; a few of us, dare I add, even wanted the Kazakh’s to win—High five! (One to us.)
I do want Hamilton to win this year, just as I wanted Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell to win before him. I was heartbroken when England lost to Germany on penalties in Euro '96; yes, that’s how long it’s been since I felt any emotion there. I desperately wished for Tim Henman to make a Wimbledon final. Not a semi, even though that’s fairly hard to achieve, and I felt proud when team GB did so well in Beijing.
But when Amir Khan got knocked out earlier this year, I cried—with laughter.
Back in the good old days, people would rally to support our national teams—flags would hang from windows, car horns would signal every goal of a football tournament, and people would dance in the street. What has happened to the passion we once shared?
Where has it all gone?
It could be that we’ve fell out of love. It could be we feel a bit cheated. It could be we put so much into a relationship and got so little out we had no choice other than to call it quits. It might just be that if one of the "Mr. Men" was an England supporter, his name would me "Mr. Fickle."
Why is this, and what’s wrong with English sports fans?
10 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
Michael Griffin 8 months ago
National prdie is dwindling, especially when you consider that 4,000 of the England fans at Wembley were immigrants. Yep, that is a great way to present National pride. I would like to see Hammy win the title, but I'm a Kubica fan so I side with him. But, I do support the Brits of F1, just not as passionately as my faves, even though I'm not British. I'm Irish, and I still cheered whenever Eddie Irvine retired.
And I was in the same boat as you, crying, on the floor, with laughter when that little Bolton twat was put on his arse.
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Salomon Gonzales 8 months ago
That little Bolton twat? Mate, I took offense that blatant dig at Amir Khan. Who d'you think you are mate...
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Simon Williams 8 months ago
Where are you plucking that figure from Michael? How would anyone even know how many immigrants were at the game? I was at the game, and I didn't see anyone doing any surveys asking people where they or their ancestors were born.
Have you never heard of the vikings, angles, saxons etc etc. England has always been a country of immigrants, you live in Manchester but describe yourself as Irish for god sake, or do Irish immigrants not count in your twisted view?
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Michael Griffin 8 months ago
I know there were 4,000 immigrants amongst that crowd because myself and my colleague had to trundle down to London to arrest two Lithuanian people who raped a nine year old girl, we had to go through a list of 4,000 people of "foreign persuasion", whatever the hell that means.
Where did I attack immigrants? Your second para' implies that I attacked immigrants, when I am one. Think again.
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Michael Griffin 8 months ago
Hold on a sec, myself and my colleague? Scrub that, my brother and his colleague. ha, 18 and in the Police, as if.
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Long John Silver 8 months ago
the ONLY reason why people cannot stand very talented English athletes - is MEDIA
but i guess you knew that already
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mark andrew 8 months ago
Ha Ha Ha i laughed so hard when Amir got KO'd , did you see his poor little legs do a dance because he was that sparkled ha ha .....funny as fook mate , and apparently he stood up n said "yeah i got knocked the Fcuk out , good on him " , must have hurt him and loosened his brain eh :0)
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Jamie Arnold 8 months ago
to be honest mate I think that the real english people have fallen out with england, as in the way it is run regardless of who we choose to run it, the weather and the fact that genuine nice people are few and far between, everybody is scared, of thugs, of money issues, its worse than ever in both departments, anybody who is really really good at something leaves england and I would too given half the chance, also I dont choose the people I support by their race, by their nationality or by how good they are at what they do, although the last one does have a larger effect that the others, the reason I support the little brazilian is because I like him, I liked the way he drove when he entered Formula 1, I liked the way he behaved and how he was eager to learn, I also like that his style of driving is similar to mine albeit vice-versa, not that I am comparing my skill to his, just the style.
I was extremely happy when Amir Khan got knocked out and I'd be even happier still if Joe Calzaghe got the same kind of beating, I wanted Hatton to beat Mayweather as I want Andy Murray to win a major tennis title, I even liked how well we did in Bejing even though most of the titles we won nobody cares about, I hope England will do well in the next world cup as I want England to win the Rugby world cup, both union and league.
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Anne Doe 8 months ago
Do what I do when in doubt, blame the EU.
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Eric Samuel 8 months ago
Lets not blame politicians, EU and the rest of the world. The fact is simple. Britain was great ... years ago. They conquered almost half the world and top credit to them for dreaming up a lot of the sports we see today. As my favourite mayor said in China, Whiff-whaff was dreamt up in Britain as an after dinner entertainment. That said, who are the top Ping-pong players today? Who are the top Badminton players? Who are the top Tennis players? Golf? hmm, world cup? Formula One? Damn,.. is there any sport that is owned by the home land?
Nope and thats the answer to your title. Whats wrong with English Sport Fans? Nothing really. They are a great bunch of sport fans / fanatics. Sadly its the British sportsman that have let us all DOWN. They lack skill and fall on fan support to edge them on. Good case example, Tiger Tim.! Frankly he was crap at his sport but the fans willed him on to at least get to the quarter finals.
In the end, when the fans place blind support on a sportsman that just lacks the skill, when things go pear shaped, its inevitable the let down is too great to handle. Thats why you get dejection. disappointment and anger towards the sportsman. One has to blame the media (local), the sports person for opening their gap too much before the result. They build us all up into believing the cup will finally be ours. And true to form, the lack of skilled British sportsman will mess it up. Case history? Lewis last year. Damon Hill, Coultard, English Football team (past), Tim Henman, Andy Murray, and the list goes on and on.
Honestly, all it takes is dedication by our sport industry and sports people. Give 100% and not 100% lip-service. Its not about the fame (as some crave, eg Lewis Hamilton), its about going out there and doing 100% for the sport that they love. There is no arrogance, no gibes at fellow team-mates, competitors, etc. Just DO IT and let the results do the talking. Stop bitching, stop complaining, stop over-stating ones skill, stop trying to win before the flag drops. Can our British sportsman do that? Huh,.. not in my life!
If they could, we the fans would be 100% behind them through the good times and even the bad!
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