This was our year?

7pm. Saturday 1st July 2006. It's all over...

...and to be honest, I'm not that surprised. Sure, I'm gutted, sad, angry, disappointed, bu not that surprised. Watching England had been a painful process since the end of the first half against Paraguay three weeks earlier. Ignoring all the hype, I tried to be objective as possible about our chances for the months leading up to Germany 2006. This self-defensive form of cynicism stood me in good stead and mentally prepared for the inevitable - it dawned on me quite early on (suffering in the heat against Paraguay in that first match? struggling against Hungary in the pre-tournament friendly?) that we would struggle to win the world cup.

There have been recriminations and arguments aplenty since that July evening and column after column of opinion from our "star" players ("we deserved to win", "this was our year" - sorry but we you watching the same competition as the rest of us?) but this is not what this blog is about. Everything starts afresh with a new season.

I decided, much to the bemusement of friends, that devoting my time to watching England was increasingly frustrating. I've been accused of abandoning ship just because we haven't won anything (I've been loyal since my "first time" - 1990). I've been told that I should remain loyal, faithful, not give up hope, and so on. But at the moment, my England shirt resides at the back of the wardrobe, and it will be a while before I can get it back on again - it's funny, but I feel let down like you might by a relationship that didn't quite work out - almost like I can't wear the shirt or watch the film we used to like together out of embarrassment! Now, I'm not a "glory-hunter" or a "turn- coat" - I'm proud to be English and I will always be an England fan at heart. I really, really hope that Steve McClaren can turn it all around and make us proud again - hopefully, all those St Georges flags will not be packed away for too long!

However, away from football, I'm still proud to be British too. So, partly in response to all those friends, and partly because I feel hurt, or maybe even because I want to try something new, I hit on the idea that next time, Euro 2008, I would try and follow the fortunes of the other home nations too and see where it led me? Who knows, maybe next time it will be England's year? Or maybe I'll be there cheering on someone else? This is my story.