Just a little memory to toss into the pot... First time I saw England was a Barnsey international at Wembley. To say that I was shocked is an understatement. Went with an English workmate, who had actually served in Northern Ireland btw, who kept myself and my mate on the staright and narrow by telling us when to keep our gobs shut (Irish accents you see) when we walked by certain boozers and certain groups of fans. I could not believe the hatred, xenophobia, racism, bile that I saw that day. Here was me used to going to see plucky Ireland, a few pints and watch them blindly hoof the ball around Landsdowne Road without really caring if we won or not - before we booed ex-Rangers players Now I am sitting beside a sizable bunch of neanderthals doing nazi salutes and monkey chants (at their own and best player!). Just couldn't fathom it... and the stewards did nothing to boot. Maybe us Irish cling onto some idealistic and naive notion of being the underdog and being in it for a bit of craic. Whereas in England the national side is quite a different animal which turns a lot off especially the committed club fans.