“I’m not surprised there’s a massive statue of Jesus in Rio. It was bloody heaven!”
Before England kick off their campaign in Qatar today, we speak to County fans who have been to previous World Cups across the globe
Monday 21 November 2022
Morning everyone. So, four and a bit years on from the semi-final defeat to Croatia in Moscow, another England World Cup campaign kicks off this afternoon. When it comes to County fans following the national team, we have supporters at extreme ends of the spectrum. Some have absolutely zero interest, whereas others religiously follow the Three Lions at home and abroad. With just a few hours to go before England take on Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium, I thought I’d bring you a topical piece as part of your matchday build-up, and I’ve spoken to a number of County fans who have travelled the world to sample football’s biggest spectacle.
If you’re off work (or you can get away with an extended lunch hour) and you’re still unsure of where to watch England’s opener at 1pm, Bask are showing the game on their new 75” screens. They’ve kindly sponsored today’s edition once again. Thanks to Benji and all the team.
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Des Junior
Matt Stambach and his brother James flew to Frankfurt, before hiring a car to travel around Germany during the 2006 tournament. Matt’s been a County season ticket holder for 22 years.
Best memory?
Entering the stadium in Frankfurt for the first England game. The atmosphere was unreal and even more so when Beckham curled home the opener.
Worst memory?
About 30 England fans singing the ‘German Bombers’ song in the fan park in Nuremberg. Appallingly embarrassing.
Funniest memory?
Running around with no T-shirt on in the pouring rain just for the hell of it.
Food and drink?
Excellent throughout. We stayed with my brother's mother-in-law (who is sadly no longer with us). She made sure we were well fed - including chocolate sprinkles on toast for breakfast…
England in 2022?
Our results have been poor in the lead-up to the tournament but I fancy us to go quite far. Knocked out in the semis I reckon.
Pete Hornsby spent a fortnight in Brazil in 2014 with his brother John. A County fan since his dad took him to his first game at the age of four in 1987, Pete’s earliest England memory is watching the game on TV in 1993 when San Marino scored that infamous early opener. Pete and John flew to Brazil with TAP Air, but their flight home was cancelled and they ended up on British Airways with the Nigeria team, who flew into London with them.
Best memory?
Spending a great couple of weeks with my brother. We had agreed when Brazil was awarded it in 2007 we would fly out there in 2014. Obviously a lot changes in that time (I'd had 2 kids!), but we kept our promise to one another and went on a trip of a lifetime to Rio and Sao Paulo seeing all the sights. Watching a game at the iconic Maracana is up there as one of the best football experiences I have ever had.
Worst memory?
We watched the start of the tournament like everyone else at home on the TV. The dawning realisation that England had cocked it up before we had even arrived in Brazil was quite chastening. From memory we were flying out just as they were boarding their plane to come home!
Funniest memory?
When we were in Rio, a lot of time was spent in the bars along the Copacabana, enjoying the beach football, and watching the games on the screens and in the fan park. We pitched up one evening at a bar near the temporary TV studios over the main strip where we could literally see right into the BBC and ITV studios. We hung around at the exit and I was able to get photos with any number of legends of the game: Lineker, Shearer, Wright, Dixon, Waddle to name a few. Gordon Strachan was there as well for some reason, and resembled an elderly woman. Bumped into Steve McManaman walking along Ipanema the day after as well. Surreal.
Food and drink?
Incredible. Sipping Caipirinhas and bottles of ice cold Brahma in beach bars doesn’t get much better. A lot of meat on offer too, loads of restaurants doing platters of barbecue meat. Sun, sea, sand, football, cocktails, beer and barbecues. I'm not surprised there's a massive statue of Jesus. It was bloody heaven!
England in 2022?
Semis again. Our squad is decent and we have goals in us.
Nathan Harnett went to South Africa in 2010, the first tournament to be hosted on African soil. He creates special display cases with footballs and posters from previous World Cups. Follow @MatchballD on Twitter or @matchball_displays on Instagram for further details.
Best memory?
Probably the games we saw. Germany beat Argentina 4-0 in the quarter-final; their fans were amazing. The semi-final between Holland and Uruguay was a cracker too. We were sat pretty much front row in the semi with a perfect view of Van Bronckhorst’s brilliant goal.
Worst memory?
Bar our car nearly getting trampled by an elephant with us inside, it would be having to go in the first place! We had tickets for England in the quarters and semis if they got there. Our flights left the day after the last 16 game when England were knocked out by Germany. We really didn't want to go, but would have lost a load of money, so we ended up flying out the same day as the plane carrying the England team got back.
Funniest memory?
I was sat next to a Dutch fan at the semi-final and got chatting to him during the game. They won and he was ecstatic. Said our goodbyes at the end and that was that.
Went to a bar in Cape Town afterwards and couldn't believe the guy was in there. I went up to him and chatted about the game. He told me it was much better live than watching it in a bar like I had. I had to tell him I’d been sat next to him the whole game!
He was absolutely gone. This was past midnight. Told me he was a KLM pilot and he was heading back home at 7am. He was the pilot of his own flight home. I think auto pilot did a lot of the work on that one.
Food and drink?
Beer was good. I got addicted to Biltong.
England in 2022?
Popular opinion seems to be the last 16 or the quarters, but I reckon as long as we don't mess up the group we could make the final. About time we became a team that, even if it doesn't win, is consistently there or thereabouts.
Daniel Smirthwaite “had no choice” about being a County or an England fan, and has been a supporter of both since first arriving on the planet in 1983. He’s regularly followed England abroad over the years, including two World Cups - France 98 and Russia 2018.
Best memory?
Going to France 98 when I was only 15. The campsite in Toulouse was bouncing, full of England songs all night, and people dancing on caravan roofs. I saw us beat Tunisia 2-0 in Marseille in our group opener, my first World Cup game.
Worst memory?
The night we went out to Argentina on penalties in France was a sore one.
Funniest memory?
A famous County fan befriending a tramp during the day, licking his hair and all sorts.
Food and drink?
Can’t really remember much about food and drink in France, but in Russia it was mainly local beer, which did the job so to speak.
England in 2022?
I think we’ll do the quarters or semis.
Thinking back to my most recent office job, I’m sure the last incentive I won was an Easter egg, so I’m not at all jealous of Gary Kimber winning an all-expenses trip to France in 1998, including flights from Manchester, semi-final tickets, and four nights in the “very posh” Scribe Hotel in Paris.
I won a four-night trip to Paris in 1998 as part of an incentive at work, including tickets to the semi-final between France and Croatia at the Stade de France, although a few days before we were due to leave we were told there had been a problem and we may have to source our own from touts before claiming the cost back on expenses. Fortunately, they managed to resolve the issue.
I worked for an American company at the time, and they had inserted a lot of Americans into the business at senior level. It was quite strange watching a World Cup semi-final with people who didn’t understand the game at all. A few of us Brits had to remind them it was a round ball game, lasting for two halves of 45 minutes.
After the game we joined the French fans on the Champs-Élysées then went into the city for (a very late) dinner and ended up on the table next to Gary Lineker, Des Lynam and a few others.
I count myself lucky to have been able to attend such an event, but in all honesty I’d rather see a County v Rochdale game. I find it difficult to really enjoy a match that I don’t properly have an interest or investment in.
Another County fan at France 98 on a freebie was Gary Fosbrook, spending two nights in Paris with his boss, a Stoke fan. Gary’s first season watching County was our 1966-67 Fourth Division title-winning campaign. He’s “been hooked ever since” and still has season tickets in the Cheadle End with his son and two grandsons, despite relocating to Anglesey four years ago. Having moved there, Gary has “a small interest in Wales doing well, as long as they lose to England”.
I worked for a large steel stockholder as a director in the 80s and 90s. Just a week before the final, I got a call from my boss asking what I was doing next weekend. I suspected he was going to ask me to do something work related. I told him I was planning to watch the cup final. He said OK and then asked if I would like to go to Paris to watch the game as one of our suppliers had invited him and a guest. I was gobsmacked.
He knew I was a big County fan so he’d asked me to go with him, rather than someone who wasn’t into football. A quick phone call saw flights booked and off we went on the Saturday.
We met a group of about 30 in the hotel for food and drinks before getting a coach to the ground. As it was a work event, I had been asked to wear ‘smart casual clothes with a jacket’. I noticed that all the French guys had their blue France shirts on. I couldn't miss the opportunity so I did a quick change into my County shirt and grabbed my copy of the latest Tea Party fanzine. My boss thought it was funny as he was a Stoke season ticket holder.
We got to the Stade de France a couple of hours before kick-off and had a few more beers before getting into the ground. We had seats behind one of the goals and walking up the stairs, a guy stopped me as he had recognised my County shirt. He lived in Stockport but told me he was a City fan. My smile disappeared quickly and I shook my head as I told him the error of his ways.
The best part was having photos taken in and around the ground with my shirt and fanzine and being asked by French guys about County.
The worst part of the day was getting back to the hotel. It was only four or five miles from the ground but it took us three hours as the roads were gridlocked.
Ryan Prescott, affectionately known as ‘The Hair’ to his mates, spent four days in Germany in 2006 with his dad Alan, who now works as part of the ground staff at Edgeley Park. They flew to Cologne from Heathrow, before getting a train to Frankfurt for England’s group game with Paraguay.
Best memory?
The banter with all the different nations in the bars, drinking and singing together.
Worst memory?
Losing my suitcase on the day of the game, so my dad had to buy me an England shirt and a pair of joggers. It was 34 degrees.
Funniest memory?
The train journey from Frankfurt to Cologne. The ticket inspector looked like Fabien Barthez, but stopped coming down the train checking tickets because of the abuse he was getting.
Food and drink?
German beer was very good. They brought out a World Cup promotion which was 11 half pints of all different beers. Typically with German food, everything was sausage-based, but really tasty.
England in 2022?
Realistically, I don’t think we’ll get past the quarters.
A big thank you to all the County fans who shared their stories with us. Finally, I’d like to wish a very happy 60th birthday to Adrian Smirthwaite (Daniel’s dad). Adrian, a County fan of 50 years, has been to the World Cup in Spain, France and Germany. He’s celebrating his birthday in Thailand tonight with his mate Jogger, a legendary County fan who now owns a bar in Pattaya, as well as reminiscing about their trip to Spain 82 in a Ford Cortina, 40 years ago.
Book a table for England’s World Cup games at Bask
Whether it’s tucking into a tasty treat from Ate Days A Week alongside a Stockport Gin before the game, or dancing to the tunes of DJ Gareth Brooks after it, many County fans have already enjoyed the splendid matchday experience created by the team at Bask. And now you can do the same for England’s World Cup games as well (plus all the other belters like Tunisia v Australia if you fancy it). Table reservations are now being made, which is certainly well worth doing, to follow all the action from Qatar on Bask’s brand new 75” screens. Email hello@thisisbask.co.uk to book.
The only Christmas gift guide you need this year
34 sleeps to go! The Scarf My Father Wore have curated a beautiful Christmas gift guide this year, from independent businesses across the UK. Check the guide each day, with new items constantly added, before our festive giveaway starts on 1 December. And don’t forget, you have to be a subscriber to take home one of our superb prizes!
Stockport photo of the day
Half Moon Lane, Offerton
The Fingerpost Flyers line up for a team photo in 2012. There’s all sorts of County connections in this picture. A 1996-97 promotion winner, a head groundsman, a football banning order or two…
Today in SK
🥙 I think it’s fair to say a few County fans will be enjoying a couple of Monday beers today for the England game. You’ll need something to soak up the ale, so on your way home today, pop into Fishers of Cheshire (461 Buxton Road, SK2 7HE) for a delicious doner kebab. Just £3 all day on a Monday.