For club and country?
First things first. It is patently obvious that the English national team enjoys a committed and ardent following. A loyal core do commendably support them home and away, whilst many more are happy to nail their colours to the mast come the big tournaments.
That said, there is an ocean of indifference between the committed fan and the casual Sainsbury’s shopper, who attaches St George’s flags to their Ford Focus every couple of years. For tens of millions, football is everything, but the national team? Not so much.
But why is that? Why do so many football obsessives of English stock proudly advertise their chosen club emblem on screen, shirt and skin, yet would never dream of doing the same with the three lions? We look at some of the possible reasons…
1) Club > Country
For better or for worse, the Premier League dominates the thoughts of most fans in the country and if anything, international football is perceived as an unwelcome break from something they truly love. It is possibly why you tend to see so many St George’s flags advertising lower league clubs at national games.
It also runs deeper, and could be a more profound question of identity. Such is the nation’s rich tribal culture that many Scousers, Geordies, Mancs and others far more identify with their own region than the country as a whole. It’s hard to hate a player for club one week and love them for country the next.
2) AÂ nation of cynics
Every time there’s there an England game of even mild significance, and especially in the run-up to a major tournament, we are bombarded with wall-to-wall coverage and a plethora of England-related commercials. You can’t open a tub of Doritos or turn on the telly without Wayne Rooney smiling back at you.
It’s as if we are being forced into a sort of prescribed patriotism; a shamelessly self-fulfilling promotion of all things Team England. As a nation we’re a cynical bunch and such a hard sell can perhaps put otherwise interested parties off. We don’t like being told what to think or how to behave.
3) Ever-changing, ever-crap
Forget for a second that England have one solitary trophy to show for over a century of international competition. What really irks many fans – even diehard followers – is that they’re quite often very dull and incredibly plodding to watch. There’s often no tempo, clear tactics or discernible shape.
And whilst other nations have pretty much set starting elevens that play all through qualifying and then into tournaments, England seem like a team constantly in flux. It’s hard to identity star performers and hang your hopes on a set of players if they’re likely to change from one game to the next.
4) Guilt by association
No one is suggesting that all active England fans are mindless thugs  intent on causing trouble and hurling street furniture in foreign drinking holes, but there is still something of a stigma that hovers over the national team’s fans. It may be unfair and increasingly undeserved, but it is still there.
Of course there are also right-wing groups and political parties that seek to take patriotism and bastardise it into something with all the worst aspects of nationalism. They seek to be exclusive and divisive. If anything perhaps this should make the masses even more resolute to reclaim the national team.
5) It’s just not cool
Football is so omnipresent in every aspect of our culture, that many (particularly men) almost feel compelled to feign an interest – even if they really couldn’t care less. So everyone from bank managers to the Prime Minister has a favourite club regardless of their actual affinity.
But passionately supporting England is somehow seen as a bit lame. “I’m really looking forward to United on the weekend” is very different to “I can’t wait for the England game tonight!” Perhaps it’s a secret passion that many don’t readily admit to…like Adele and voting Tory.
…that said
It could be that the times they a-changing. Maybe we’re in a post-London Olympics era, when proud Englanders can get as wholeheartedly behind their country as the Irish, Welsh and Scots. Maybe a fresh and zestful England side full of Spurs and Leicester stars can bring everyone together in bipartisan unity.
Then again, maybe not.
