A World Cup plea: spare a thought for England fans based in Ireland

Sir,

France ‘98 and I’m living in Dublin about a year. After a less than brilliant tournament, England go out to Argentina, in less than glorious circumstances and amid the controversy of David Beckham being sent off. Watching it in a pub in Blackrock, I’m amazed to find that far from sharing my uncontrollable grief, my fellow drinkers are at the least highly amused, and a good deal of them celebrating boisterously in a manner befitting their own country winning the damn thing.

Fast forward two years and it’s the turn of Belgium and the Netherlands to host Euro 2000. England go out again in a blaze of mediocrity, but I shrug my shoulders and get on with it. The next day I’m at a conference for work, trying not to look as bored as I am, when the main speaker snaps me out of it. “Apologies if I seem a little jolly today”, he begins, but it’s difficult not to be happy after the events of last night. England got knocked out”. I gawp incredulously.