You remember attending your first England game in the same way you remember the first time you shared a kiss. There have been others since but the first lingers in the memory.
My first England game wasn’t even that remarkable. It was in 1976 and I watched a 2-1 England win against Finland at the original Wembley in a World Cup Qualifying match. I was 9 years old and had gone with my dad. I’m not sure why we had gone; it was an evening game on a school night.
Anyway on this day we had travelled to Wembley. It wasn’t my first trip to Wembley. Living close to North London my dad had developed an infinity for West Ham United and somehow I ended up at the 1975 FA Cup Final. I was lucky enough to get to a few Wembley games around this time such as the 1976 Charity Shield, 1980 FA Cup Final, 1981 League Cup Final and some other England matches. My memory has faded of these games – i’m left with a vague recollection of a Trevor Broooking headed goal and some equally faded and battered match day programmes.
Remembering that 1976 England Finland game is hazy at best. I have memories that I couldn’t see very well and had to perch on the metal railings on the terrace. I know Dennis Tueart scored but I didn’t see the goal. But I felt the throng of the crowd and surfed as the fans moved around in wild celebration of the winner. What I remember most though is my rosette purchased from a seller outside the ground and my match day programme, the cover with its iconic red and blue stripes.
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Watching England games in the decades since has not recaptured any of those feelings for me. In fact England was always a bit like waiting in the car whilst your dad was in the pub as a kid, with your bottle of coke, plastic straw and packet of crisps. Watching England was always ok but there was always a strong sense there was something else better going on just around the corner.
I enjoyed the 1978 World Cup but England hadn’t qualified. I have no recollection at all of the 1982 World Cup – I was 16 at the time and had better things to be doing. 1986 was an exotic World Cup where the TV pictures had that American blurriness there used to be before HD.
1990 World Cup was the moment. A good England side came so close to becoming a great side. The Euros in 1996 were also different as England were the best side in the tournament and beat themselves to get knocked out.
The intervening years have been consistently poor as an England fan. As a Man City fan they’ve been even worse because the poor performances have been achieved through teams largely made up of players from Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. So England has really had nothing much in it for me in these years.