Express and Star comment: Can Young Lions reignite our England passion?
England kick off tonight and the nation will look at it with interest but perhaps not the same fervour as years gone by.
Fifty-two years of hurt has drastically lowered expectations.
The squandering of the so-called golden generation through a mix of bad luck, bad attitude and mis-management from a variety of coaches means Gareth Southgate’s men carry little expectation when they kick off tonight against Tunisia.
But there’s a bigger element at play than just achievement.
The disconnect between today’s multi-millionaire players and the fans has never been bigger.
In the days of Billy Wright, Sir Tom Finney, and even Steve Bull, England players earned good money but the fans still related to their sporting heroes as ‘one of them.’
Lately in the era when big salaries have become the norm for players, fans on the South Bank and Brummie Road End will find it difficult if not impossible to put themselves in the overpriced shoes of Raheem Sterling and Jesse Lingard.
These young men undoubtedly have talent, but have been feted and indulged since a very young age in a sport that has long since sold its soul for financial gain.
Players of the Finney and Matthews era would find it simply unbelievable to be paid such vast amounts for playing a game that those two icons would have taken part in for free.
From the overpriced replica shirts to the selling of every element to ‘official sponsors’– it’s all grasping.
Add to this the outrageous expenditure of our state-funded broadcaster, which feels the need to spend tens of thousands of pounds on punditry roles that could be filled for a fraction of the cost.
As an anonymous fan observed: “I detest everything about football apart from the football.”
Let’s hope that the England team can somehow re-ignite our love affair with its national team.
