From the Sublime to the Ridiculous - The Matchgoing Thread

[Artificial Hipster]

The wall chart went up this morning so it must be time to get this thread started. We've got family outings to the opener at Old Trafford and to Italy v Iceland at the Academy Stadium. So who else will be joining the party?

[Nesta]

Got tickets for Germany v Denmark this friday and the Brighton quarter final

[Ray de Galles]

I have tickets for ;

Germany v Denmark at Brentford on Friday
Norn Iron v England at Soton on the 15th
Denmark v Spain at Brentford on the 16th
Quarter-final at Bentford on the 21st
The Final

Hope to make all of them.

[longeared]

All four games at the New York, along with Netherlands v Sweden this Saturday and the semi final at Bramall Lane.

[Bizarre Löw Triangle]

going Ada Hegerberg's Norway (as I'm insisting in calling them) against Austria in Brighton, the Brentford QF and the final.

[E10 Rifle]

Hey Ray, me and our daughter are at Germany v Denmark. Where are you sat? Fancy a pint?

[Benjm]

I'm doing a full run at Brentford, plus the final. It would have been good if Brentford could have played up their Danish links but presumably hosts can't be seen to favour one guest over another. It also would have been nice to see Finland, having just got back from a truly great holiday there, but they are marooned at the Franchise for the duration.

My seats for the final are ones where you get extra kudos for making your way to them without supplemental oxygen, but I can't moan too much at the price paid.

[Ray de Galles]

Hey Ray, me and our daughter are at Germany v Denmark. Where are you sat? Fancy a pint?

West Stand, Block 232. Let's liaise and try and meet up.

[Southport Zeb]

Tomorrow - England v Austria (Old Trafford)
Saturday - Netherlands v Sweden (Bramall Lane)
Sunday - France v Italy (Rotherham)
Wed 13th - Netherlands v Portugal (Leigh)
Thu 14th - Iceland v Italy (Academy Stadium) - depending on what time I get out of work
Sun 17th - Portugal v Sweden (Leigh)
Mon 18th - Belgium v Italy (Academy Stadium)
Fri 22nd - C1 v D2 (Leigh)
Sat 23rd - D1 v C2 (Rotherham)

[Duncan Gardner]

Julie Nelson's NI v Norway this Thursday

[Third rate Leszno]

France v Italy at the New York on Sunday
Denmark v Finland at Milton Keynes on Tuesday
Netherlands v Portugal at Leigh Sports Village next Weds
Belgium v Italy at Man City Academy a week on Monday

[E10 Rifle]

West Stand, Block 232. Let's liaise and try and meet up.

Ah, we're at the opposite end, but will be in touch

[imp]

All six group games in Sheffield and Rotherham.

[Janik]

In theory I'm going to England-Norway on Monday. Which is pretty ideal for someone with both English and Norwegian family connections. I could get a half-and-half scarf and it be genuinely representative of me personally. I say in theory as I was a definite close contact for Covid on Monday, so am very much on tenterhooks about whether I'll actually be going or not...

[Benjm]

West Stand, Block 232.

Brentford were planning to install barrier seating in the whole of the West Stand in time for the start of next season. I don't know whether that has now been done. They have a home friendly on the 30th so waiting until after the QF on the 21st to do the work would be cutting it a bit fine. Presumably it won't be designated a standing area for the Euros games even if the furniture is in place.

[Nesta]

I'm in the east stand tomorrow night- is there anywhere good to drink round there? Are the four pubs on the corners of Griffin park still open?

[Nesta]

Also, ticket query, the app wants both my and my mate's passport (or equivalent ID) numbers. Does that mean you have to show ID as well as ticket to get in the ground?

[E10 Rifle]

It's not asking for mine - yet - though I did have to supply all that gubbins when I applied for tickets last autumn. As you'd expect when you're applying for a Pwoppa Nawty 10-year-old

[Nesta]

itk

[Artificial Hipster]

England 1-0 Austria

A vegetarian speaks: Having as your only hot option an hour before kick off one of those tasteless cheese pasties which erupt with a scalding yellow lava when bitten into would have been piss poor in 2002 let alone 2022.

A tall person speaks: I've not felt so cramped since I last visited Millmoor while the constant stream of various spilt liquids trickling down the rows because grown men can't be trusted with bottles with lids meant that storing bags under seats was an act frought with heretofore unheard of danger. It's a cracking view to distant hills from the Alex Ferguson Stand though.

More seriously it was my daughter, who is one of 6 or 7 white kids in her class, who pointed out within minutes of kick off that there were no black players on the pitch last night. From my admittedly limited familiarity with women's football in England I'm hoping this was an anomaly. The crowd though made Glastonbury resemble a festival of multiculturalism.

Otherwise as all accounts seem to concur this was a wonderful occasion whose whole far exceeded the sum of it's parts, chief among them a decidedly average game of football for which much of the credit goes to Austria's full backs - particularly their right back - who stopped many a promising move in it's tracks. We had a few first-timers in our party - parents as well as children - all of whom were absolutely buzzing at the end. And as well as being a record attendance for this competition I suspect it also created a record for the highest number of people singing along joyously to Sweet Caroline outside of a Neil Diamond contest too.

[Benjm]

I'm in the east stand tomorrow night- is there anywhere good to drink round there? Are the four pubs on the corners of Griffin park still open?

I think three of the GP pubs are still open. I'm not sure how busy/atmospheric they will be for a non-Brentford game. Otherwise, the two pubs closest to the stadium, The Express Tavern and One Over The Ait, are both serviceable. Slightly further away but still within ten minutes walk of the ground, The Greyhound and The Cricketers just across the river on Kew Green and The Steam Packet and The Bell and Crown on the north bank of the river just east of Kew Bridge are all very pleasant locations.

[E10 Rifle]

Thanks for that. We're in the East Stand too, pretty much in the middle of what's usually the away section

[Nesta]

Oh yeah, I forgot how near it is to Kew. The Bees are still the best served club in the country for local pubs then (conversation starter there)

[Janik]

More seriously it was my daughter, who is one of 6 or 7 white kids in her class, who pointed out within minutes of kick off that there were no black players on the pitch last night. From my admittedly limited familiarity with women's football in England I'm hoping this was an anomaly.

Erm, not especially, no. The whiteness of Women's Football in England is something that is often remarked upon. But whether this is because things are actually more equitable in Women's Football is never really considered - black faces are much more common in Men's Football than simple extrapolation from general population numbers would predict.

There are three non-white* players out of 23 in England's squad (Carter, Stokes, Parris). Whilst this is an over-representation against the national demographics (one in total in the squad would be the expected value here), other ethnicities are of course entirely notable by their absence.

Why so many of the white players are blonde is also an intriguing question. That definitely feels like a significant over-representation, and one that has been consistently observable for a long while.

* - that I know of, which is an important caveat. Ethnic background cannot be reliably determined just by looking. cf. Ryan Giggs, son of a black father.

[Nesta]

Pretty obviously an elective blondeness for many of them though, if that doesn't sound too catty.