If I ever thought (and I don't think I ever did) that popular culture- sport, music, film, fashion etc- existed in an escapist bubble outside society and politics then the last few weeks have really made it clear to me. When Euro 20 started I had a really hard time summoning up any enthusiasm for supporting England. Given their frequent and regular poor performances at major tournaments I have watched them play in since 1982 this could just be down to England tournament fatigue, but there's more to it than that and much of it is down to what's happened during the last few years.
People like to say that the St George's cross flag was 'reclaimed' from the far right at Euro 96. That may be true but it feels like the far right have claimed it back over the last decade. England flags flying from cars and houses have coincided with the rise of an ugly strain of English nationalism that has been used to drive wedges between communities. The national anthem is a pointless dirge, a celebration of monarchy which I can't sing or feel any kinship to. The never-ending obsession with the Second World war is baffling- it's over, it ended seventy six years ago, really, get over it. The crowd at Wembley booing other nation's national anthems- something they've done for years- looks worse and worse every time it happens. The people booing England's players taking the knee are even worse (and worse than them are those people booing while at home watching on TV and then posting it on social media- grown men filming themselves booing young black men for taking a stance against racism but then cheering them when they score. It beggars belief). You can argue that taking the knee a gesture that doesn't achieve anything but booing people for taking a position against racism is surely showing support for racism. That's the funny thing about modern racists, they want the 'freedom' to be racist but object to being called racist. Johnson's populist government's incessant culture wars are all wrapped up in this kind of politics, button pushing and barrel scraping, appealing to the worst in people, dividing and conquering. The rest of the UK seems to be coming round to a position of wanting to reject England and that small minded version of Englishness, and who can blame them?
On the other hand, the team themselves seem to be a genuinely decent bunch of young men, from multi- cultural backgrounds, led by a manager who is thoughtful and considered. In Raheem Sterling they have a young man from a North London council estate who gets a disproportionate amount of criticism from the press which you can only conclude is due to his skin colour. In Marcus Rashford they have a young man from a South Manchester council estate who has provided more effective opposition to the government and it's policies over the last year than the actual leader of the opposition. In Gareth Southgate you have a man who wrote a much more effective response to and defence of the position the team have taken against racism than any other I've read (a Tory minister has apparently said they regard his statement as 'suspiciously well written'- in other words, he couldn't have written it, a mere footballer, which tells you what you need to know about how this government look down at people they see as beneath them). As the tournament has gone on, I've tried to ignore the flags, the anthem, the booing, the tabloid version of Englishness and just appreciate the matches As they've gone on into the knock out stages (and become more fun to watch) it's become easier to watch and support England, but there's a latent nastiness to Englishness at the moment that is difficult to block out completely.
Overthinking it? Possibly. But none of this stuff- music, football, life- happens in a vacuum and popular culture and pop culture are products of or reactions to the real world. Tonight, England (the team) play Denmark (themselves the true heroes of this tournament with the horrific scenes in opening weekend when Christian Eriksen suffered a heart attack on the pitch and then the rest of the team were given the choice playing the rest of the game then or the day after). For once the England team have a genuine chance of reaching a final. It would be daft not to try to enjoy it.
Back in 1990 pop culture collided with football in a way it hadn't before. Not New Order's best song but the best England World Cup song and one of the memories of a summer that seemed to go on forever.
