Member-only story
The Whole England Thing
What’s Important
The result wasn’t really important to me either way. I tuned into the match because I wanted to be part of it and I did want England to win. I just couldn’t invest myself in the “Coming Home” thing. We can’t go through life not being invested just because we don’t want to be hurt or let down — disappointment is the yang (black) to life’s ying (bright). However you don’t have to spend all your time on the see-saw when there are swings and slides in the park. The result, as it turned out, was an aside to what everyone is talking about, footie fan or no.
I commented on a Facebook thread, before the final, that England was nothing special and by that I meant we are not exceptional in our heritage, culture or values. If anything, the behaviour of fans before, during and after the match only underlined that. I am many things other than English and I could relegate my nationality to the bottom of the pile but I have to question what that means. Hoping we’d win the cup when I’ve been feeling brittle wasn’t something I could immerse myself in and when you see the consequences of England winning or losing in terms of domestic and other kinds of violence, it’s an unwise investment for many.
While this tournament has revealed, once more, the ugly underbelly of English nationalism, racism and bigotry there is an upside. Though I wouldn’t…
