Many people seem to have misinterpreted the song
“It’s coming home, it’s coming, football’s coming home.” The chant that rang around every pub, every household, every office in England over the past few weeks, as the Gareth Southgate’s boys inspired hope after years of apathy towards the national team.
It’s easy for people to misinterpret the phrase, which could be seen to mean that the World Cup trophy would return to England this summer. While that was what a nation had dared to dream for, the expression, borne from the song ‘Three Lions’ back in 1996, has a wider meaning, as Gary Lineker explained in a tweet this morning.
The BBC presenter said: “Football’s coming home is a fun song highlighting the lack of success of our football team for decades. No one really thought we’d win it. I totally get why you might think it was arrogance, but it’s more our self deprecatory sense of humour.”
Dear non English football fans.
Football’s coming home is a fun song highlighting the lack of success of our football team for decades. No one really thought we’d win it. I totally get why you might think it was arrogance, but it’s more our self deprecatory sense of humour. 👍🏻— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 14, 2018
In a sense, football did come home. The love affair between a nation and its football fans was reignited. Hope was restored that watching England will no longer be a tedious, tiresome task done out of obligation, but rather something we look forward to.
