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Favourite period supporting England
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So with the World Cup fast approaching, what era do you remember most fondly supporting The Three Lions? (Or Ireland, Scotland, Wales etc)
In 1986 I was eleven and from that tournament to the end of Italia 90, were my halcyon days of international football. The realism of our place in the grand scheme of things hadn't hit yet, yes we had the 88 Euros, but I was still blissfully optimistic.
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Definitely 1990 followed by Euro 969
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Was juat.a touch too young for Italia 90.
Mine was Euro 96. Went to England v Scotland, it was amazing.
The 2002 World Cup was decent - drinking age and a bit of a decent run.
2018 was nice to not as be fed up with the England team anymore.0 -
Bedsaddick said:Definitely 1990 followed by Euro 96
Agreed!
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I can remember when England won the world cup in 66, but was too young to appreciate what we had achieved.
So for me my favourite memories are definitely from Euro 96.2 -
Has to be 1966, had all the stickers, kept a log of everything… went downhill from there.🤷♂️2
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Loved Euro '96, was just getting into Football thenBut the run from 2018 > 2024 has probably been the best era3
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Italia 90 was still the zenith of world cups for me but watching England especially in the group games nearly turned me off football! A lot of the games were stinkers but the volume of football and the characters, stories had me. I'll love that England team forever
Euro 96 the country really felt together
But the best time has been the Southgate years, Harry Kane absolutely walking past the goalscoring record, Harry Maguire and John Stones looking menacing from set pieces, Raheem Sterling carrying the ball and getting kicked shitless but not giving up and let's not forget routinely winning penalty shoot outs and getting to the late stages of tournaments including two finals which I genuinely never thought I'd see
I genuinely did not like that golden generation period, the games stank, no cohesion and we were relying on moments of individual class. Always supported and expected it to come good but as a group we were always fucked. Groups of exceptionally talented individuals will always get done by the team greater than the sum of its parts8 -
none! always deeply frustrating!0
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Italia 90 for me. Coming home from school watching all the world cup games. Probably more sentimentality for youth - but that and Euro 96 are my most memorable tournaments.
World in Motion over Three Lions every day of the week too.5 -
Mexico 86 through to Euro 96. Not necessarily the best football or greatest results.
Ultimately, for most people, mid teens through to mid 20s are the period that set your choices in many things - football, music, fashion etc.4 -
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On the very few occasions when England had a Charlton Athletic player playing.
That’s my favourite.
Other times have not been exactly without interest, but the question is about favourite.
Mind you I clearly remember 1966 watching the final on the old black and white telly, and when West Germany took the lead my grandmother flicked some holy water on the screen and England equalised.4 -
The periods of extra time when all hope is still there and we haven't yet lost on penalties.3
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1982! It was the first I remember watching. Still can't believe Brazil didn't win1
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Another 1966 survivor here, World Cup Willie and all the fun of it being in England. I was 13 so remember it well. Black and white tele and the first (I believe) action reply which confused my mum as she thought they had scored twice 😀. Happy innocent days, who would believe that it would lead to 60 years of hurt.3
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Old enough to remember 66 but too young (9) to fully appreciate it. 1970 was the first WC I was immersed in- England/Brazil with Banks save, Moore’s tackle and not feeling disappointed when we lost unlike the quarter final loss to W Germany that I’m still not over. And the joy of watching Brazil who I still believe are the best side ever - the Spanish side were great subsequently but Pele’s Brazil top the lot.
As others have said Italia 90 was very special and my favourite WC by a mile. Gazza’s tears, Lineker in him pomp, and the shear class of Sir Bobby. We should have won it that year.3 -
I half remember 2002 but the first world cup I properly remember is 2006. England have been fairly turgid for the period since then so the Southgate period has to be it for me. The miracles he worked in 2018 with a terrible squad and then the hope of the next few tournaments. It wasnt quite enough to get over the line but that period re-connected me with the national side and reignighted the excitment about tournaments.3
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Remember watching bits of '98 but was only 4 so very patchy (best mascot though!). The world cup coins you used to get from the BP I think it was were amazing. Used to try to convince my dad he needed petrol daily
2002 was my favourite though. Remember watching a few games in the mornings at school which was great fun.0 -
1998 from a football perspective was a great tournament
Some genuine giants of the game and attacking football
Like with Rooneys red card in 2006 I blame excitable, attention-hungry referees rather than the player. Certainly in Rooneys case, he was fouled twice and as much as he is capable of stamping on someone's genitals intentionally there was no intent
Beckhams silly leg flick, how that justified a red card I'm still not sure
Those games actually bought the best out of the players and gelled them as a group in 2006, 1998 we should have won in extra time, fuck all wrong with Campbells goal. Coupled with my intense dislike of the Argentine national team I still struggle to accept that defeat3 -
1966. I had just finished my first year at university and I had a summer job in the Parks Department down at Hall Place, Bexley. (There are rose bushes growing in that field full of waist high weeds, go and find them. Bring some gloves tomorrow and you won't cut yourself so much!). Anyway, a mate of mine was working in the City, and he told me that he could get hold of "packets" of tickets. Thanks to those rose bushes, I could just about afford a package which included all the games at Wembley, EXCEPT the final. I can't remember what the package cost, but it can't have been that expensive, as I wasn't earning a fortune from that summer job.
Unlike Alf Ramsey, I didn't think that England would get to the final, but, as it turned out, England played all their games at Wembley, and won them all except the opener against Uruguay. I saw all the games, I just missed out on the final.
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Mexico '86 (just getting into my football at 10), Italia 90 (at 14 was brilliant, watched every game after school) and Euro 96 (20 and most games were in the pub!).
My interest in international football has been decreasing ever since tbh. Will watch us in tournament games but rarely watch the qualifying games or friendlies .4 -
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The first tournament I remember was Euro 96 but I only remember the losing on penalties part so that wasn't a great start. Without a doubt my favourite period of supporting England was the Southgate years. 98 was heartbreak, I never felt like we'd win anything under Eriksson, I was foolishly a little bit optimistic under Capello but that didn't last long and I knew exactly how it would go with Hodgson.
Southgate was such a breath of fresh air though, no expectations going in to a tournament and we got further than we had in decades with a team of non-superstar names playing in a different way. The focus was off individual players, they seemed to be enjoying playing for England for once and they came back as heroes instead of villains for the first time since 96. It just went on after that, I didn't hate the England players anymore, I wasn't annoyed at them for clearly not giving a shit or having little grudges, qualifying was basically a procession of wins instead of getting a miserable 0-0 draw against Macedonia or celebrating barely drawing with Greece like it was an achievement. The players spoke well, were encouraged to open up about the vulnerabilities and were made to acknowledge how lucky they were to represent England instead of us reading about WAG trips or how bored they were during camps. We managed to go semi-final, final, quarter-final, final and even though we didn't manage to win we got incredibly close against some top teams. We also threw off our penalty hoodoo for the most part and beat Germany at Wembley in what was a hugely cathartic moment for me and I imagine a lot of others who started following England at the time I did. It was all ruined quite a bit by the constant moaning of fans about the style of play and how Southgate was somehow the problem despite his record but it's so far the only time in my lifetime where I have liked the players, liked the manager and watched us get within a hair's breadth of winning a tournament, and so consistently.4 -
Whippersnapper...😉ForeverAddickted said:Loved Euro '96, was just getting into Football thenBut the run from 2018 > 2024 has probably been the best era1 -
Myself and Mrs A had tickets to all the England games at Euro '96, as did a few mates, so that will always be very special, for three weeks it was like following Charlton - meeting at the same pub before the matches, timing it to get in the ground at the optimum moment, feeling like the players were "my" players - recognising them from the way they moved, or stood etc. A marvellous few weeks.
England failed to qualify for the first two world cups within my memory span, therefore Spain '82 was my first WC - so scoring against France before their keeper had a chance to put his water bottle in the net was pretty darn special. A fully fit Keegan and Brooking would have seen us go a long way that year.
Italia 90 - that was pretty good too, of course, a gnats away from being finalists and I was in Luton for that remarkable homecoming.
For personal reasons I liked Japan/Korea. We were in Portugal and staying with the friends who ran the pub we all gathered at for matches, so we were up early and boozing with a huge crowd of tourists and residents (it was a very big pub) until lunchtime, and then after a long afternoon kip, going out and doing holiday stuff in the evening.
By 2006 we were running our own pub in Albufeira and had our own crowd, there was a big (mixed) group of Geordie regulars out for the tournament, who were great people and great spenders. I put together a play list and the bar was rocking before and after the actual games. We also had a few Ecuadorian regulars, so when we played them, they brought a bunch of pals in and we had an absolute blast - they were fucking minging by the time we poured them into taxis...
However, from a purely football point of view the Southgate years have been great, but, as Garrymanilow says, the constant carping from armchair "experts" - which is so much more visible in these days of social media - is the negative aspect.2 -
Really got to be 66,i got married this year(60th anniversary yesterday) my parents lived in Springfield I had moved to a flat in Blackheath,we had no TV ,so spent much of my early days of marriage backwards and forwards watching the games.Also saw the France and Uruguay games at Wembley,you could pay on the day to get in.Dont think we will ever replace,the Likes of Moore and Bobby Charlton,or see a performance like Alan Ball gave in the final.Euro 96 also excellent,Saw the Spain game and the Semi against Germany,the rendering of 3 lions at the Spain game really made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.5
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Congratulations on your Diamond Wedding t&t!thickandthin63 said:Really got to be 66,i got married this year(60th anniversary yesterday) my parents lived in Springfield I had moved to a flat in Blackheath,we had no TV ,so spent much of my early days of marriage backwards and forwards watching the games.Also saw the France and Uruguay games at Wembley,you could pay on the day to get in.Dont think we will ever replace,the Likes of Moore and Bobby Charlton,or see a performance like Alan Ball gave in the final.Euro 96 also excellent,Saw the Spain game and the Semi against Germany,the rendering of 3 lions at the Spain game really made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.1 -
Southgate era,
We actually looked like a team that had prepared for tournaments rather then turning up and hoping.6 -
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Club before country every time.Although Italy '90 was very exciting, and imo a defining moment in the changing of behaviour between supporters in England.0
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Italia 90 definitely. ‘All Played Out’ by Pete Davies is well worth a read if you want to learn about England’s route to the semi final.2
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Still waiting for one.
I've never really enjoyed watching England.1
