Local Life - Wigan - July 2018

4
Tears &
Tantrums
Iwas just eight months old and teething when
England won the World Cup. Not that I can
remember anything about it, but my mum said it
was a time of tantrums and tears, which describes
pretty much every World Cup finals and European
Championships finals involving England ever since.
As a young football fan, my best memories of the
World Cup was the total football played by the Dutch
in 1974 when they lost to West Germany in the final,
and the 1978 finals with those magical Argentines.
England didn’t qualify for either event, so perhaps
there’s a sign that, in order for an English football fan
to truly enjoy the experience of the World Cup, the
national team needs to spend their summer in the
local tattoo parlour or jet-skiing in Marbella.
However that thought won’t stop me, along with
about 60 million others, from cheering on the boys
to the hilt and hoping with somewhat unrealistic
expectations for the England team to finally make up
for 52 years of hurt since 1966. According to a sports
data company, England has a miserly 4% chance of
winning the World Cup and, when you remember
we have won around half a dozen matches in the
knockout stage of all major tournaments since 1966,
that’s probably a pretty optimistic forecast.
You just never know though, do you?
And it’s that miniscule modicum of hope, coupled
of course with copious amounts of alcohol, which
will drive us nuts over the next few weeks whenever
England take to the field.
Tears and tantrums? Bring them on!
Chris Pearce, Publisher
chrisp@locallife247.co.uk