England get my support, but I’m not a fanatic

Sep 12 2007 Red Watch by Andy Proudfoot, Liverpool Daily Post

ARE you an ‘England Fan’?

Assuming that you don’t owe your allegiance to another country through birth, parentage or just because you like the colour of their kit, will you be watching tonight’s match from behind the sofa wearing the latest England away shirt?

Or be casually reading the paper while raising a glance at the screen when John Motson’s voice achieves the level of pitch that sets your glasses vibrating and sends bats flying into your windows?

There can be no doubting the level of interest in the national team; the TV viewing figures vouch for that, and the mass hysteria that accompanies anything like decent progress in the big tournaments is rivalled only by that which breaks out when Nigella Lawson licks chocolate mousse off her finger.

No doubt also that a successful England team is ‘good for the game’, in that it boosts interest at grass roots and professional levels.

So why do I spend most of the England games just hoping that Steven Gerrard gets through unscathed; and why do my interest levels drop alarmingly when no Liverpool representative struts their stuff for the Three Lions?

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking indifference here; and it’s not a ‘Scouse not English’ thing either.

It’s just that the raw, visceral emotion stirred by watching the Reds doesn’t appear when supporting the national team.

England defeats or poor draws are not met with the crushing despair or anger that surfaces when Liverpool stumble; I’m just a bit cheesed off really.

Yet, to judge from the ugly, contorted faces that are often highlighted in the crowd at Wembley and overseas, it’s clear that there are plenty who don’t share my feelings.

This particularly ‘club v country’ battle is clearly a complex one indeed.

The phone-in traffic generated by the great Steven Gerrard toe debate offered some enlightenment here: generally speaking, those fans of relatively successful clubs seemed to be sympathetic to Rafa Benitez’s concerns about the long-term risks involved in his skipper playing either or both games when not fully recovered; and those fans of clubs with less trophies on show, or with no particular club allegiance at all, were the most fervent critics of Benitez’s stance, insistent that playing for your country should come above all else.

This chimed with my own view that, though the most natural affinity for a football supporter is with their local team, years of non-achievement will breed a desire to bathe in reflected glory wherever it can be reasonably obtained, hence the diversion of passion to invest in the national team.

The flags of St George you see draped across foreign stadia rarely bear the motif of Liverpool, Arsenal or Man United; you’re more likely to see representatives from Stoke or Kettering Town pledging their allegiance to the country.

Before I become completely submerged in sociological analysis, I should add from a personal perspective that, although I’ve been to my fair share of England games, being called an ‘England Fan’ is not something I’d particularly welcome.

Anyone who has endured the tube ride from Baker Street to Wembley Park on a match day, entertained by songs protesting ‘No Surrender to the IRA’ and other pleasant ditties will empathise with me I’m sure.

The professed patriotism is really jingoism in its ugliest form, the loutish booing of opposition national anthems compounding the feeling of shame of being inhospitable hosts.

Even our own players are subject to voluble abuse, whether it’s for turning down the chance to represent your country, playing below your club form, or just for being unusually tall.

England supporter, yes certainly.

England Fan? No thanks.