Villa or England

[ChicagoLion]

I can’t believe the question has been posed 😄

Its a bestest fan competition.

[Villa Lew]

Villa every time, but I am surprised at how many H & Vs are anti England, when the cricket and rugby World Cups took place in 2019, from I can remember everyone was pretty much 100% behind those teams.

[JD]

Someone said to me they'd rather see Villa win the FA Cup than England win a tournament. I replied that I'd rather see Villa win a game than England win a tournament

I'd take Villa winning a free kick over England winning anything.

It's Villa, Villa Reserves, Villa Youth, Villa Women and the England (but only if they have Villa players in the team).

[Risso]

Villa every time, but I am surprised at how many H & Vs are anti England, when the cricket and rugby World Cups took place in 2019, from I can remember everyone was pretty much 100% behind those teams.

I don't think many people support County Cricket to any great extent, (including me) so for the average cricket fan, England cricket is about as far their interest goes, and the team isn't full of people from teams they dislike as a result. Same with rugby mostly.

[AV82EC]

Villa every time, but I am surprised at how many H & Vs are anti England, when the cricket and rugby World Cups took place in 2019, from I can remember everyone was pretty much 100% behind those teams.

I don't think many people support County Cricket to any great extent, (including me) so for the average cricket fan, England cricket is about as far their interest goes, and the team isn't full of people from teams they dislike as a result. Same with rugby mostly.

I wouldn’t call it “anti England” just “not bothered about England” or “I’m not English” or “not interested in International football” or a myriad of other reasons. Each to their own.

[Nelly]

I want to love England the way I used to when I was younger. I still get a sense of joy and pride when I see the name, the fixture, the flag, our anthem, etc. I think maybe I'm disenfranchised after years of seeing players who didn't seem to particularly care, other than seeing an International call up as a way to increase their value. Also, years of seeing Villa players being disregarded by England. I do wonder if songs like 3 Lions and World In Motion are so popular still because they link back to an era where more of us strongly believed in the England team?

I suppose you could argue that Villa have let us down far more than England ever have, but Villa is us. We live that all day every day, regardless of how the team play. It's not something I can turn off, whereas England I can and do.

It's a tough one for me. I would love England to win the Euros, but I know I love Villa way more than I do the England team. I could just about take a draw against Watford for England to win the Euros but I feel sick typing it. A trophy for Villa would be worth a hundred times a trophy for England.

[Axl Rose]

I want to love England the way I used to when I was younger. I still get a sense of joy and pride when I see the name, the fixture, the flag, our anthem, etc. I think maybe I'm disenfranchised after years of seeing players who didn't seem to particularly care, other than seeing an International call up as a way to increase their value. Also, years of seeing Villa players being disregarded by England. I do wonder if songs like 3 Lions and World In Motion are so popular still because they link back to an era where more of us strongly believed in the England team?

I suppose you could argue that Villa have let us down far more than England ever have, but Villa is us. We live that all day every day, regardless of how the team play. It's not something I can turn off, whereas England I can and do.

It's a tough one for me. I would love England to win the Euros, but I know I love Villa way more than I do the England team. I could just about take a draw against Watford for England to win the Euros but I feel sick typing it. A trophy for Villa would be worth a hundred times a trophy for England.

Good post, mate. I'm at about where you are, basically. That first paragraph certainly resonates. I've never been one for the flag, anthem etc-just because they're both drab and uninspiring. But I loved going abroad to watch England, particularly Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006, and met loads of nice people. Also saw loads of dickheads, but have met plenty of them living abroad, and watching football in said countries, too.

Living in places like Italy, Poland, Hungary, Korea, China and now Japan, I've had more than my fill of nationalist bullshit, I can tell you! It's certainly not just an English problem. The Japanese have been utter wankers at times about the Olympics and how superior they are to other nations/foreigners are to blame for coronavirus in the country/ruining their giant Japanese sports day etc etc.

England to beat Italy or Villa to beat Watford? Hmmm, if Jack plays, England on this one occasion.

[Three Spires Villa]

Its Villa first, Villa second, Villa last

[amfy]

Villa of course. I can get excited about England, but it doesn’t MATTER like Villa matters.

The only way I would feel gutted for the following week if England lose this would be if Jack or Tyrone did what Southgate & Vassell have done. I’m not spelling that out anymore than that, its my nightmare.

[boozey182]

I was speaking to my brother about this the other day. He's even more apathetic towards England than I am, but there definitely was a time, when we were younger, when we both really got behind England (mainly in the 90's). Never as much as Villa, but it was still a big deal to us.

I did wonder whether it's a Villa thing. I get the impression that supporting a club of our size doesn't really lend itself to supporting England. I understand why fans of Man U, Liverpool etc get excited about England - they see their teams win a lot of the time and it loses some of the meaning after a while. Supporting England, with the 55 years of hurt etc etc, maybe makes them feel a bit more like a regular fan - the disappointment, the yearning for better. I don't know. Plus, a lot of those fans don't get to go to matches, so watching England with their mates in the pub is a rare occasion to get that feeling that so many of us get from going to the game.

On the other hand, you have fans of lower league clubs, who will likely never see their team win a major trophy. England give them a chance to get passionate about football at a high level.

Villa fall into the middle here. Most Villa fans have seen us win a trophy, and some have seen us win the really big ones. However, it doesn't happen anywhere near enough to lessen the impact - seeing Villa win something is everything to so many of us.

When you add in the fact that England and Villa players has rarely ended well, whether it's ignoring our greatest ever team, players getting in the England squad and almost immediately looking for a transfer or the penalty misses - I don't think it's surprising that so many of us could take or leave England matches.

I'm finding myself trying to get behind this team, I really am. I'm going to take my 4 year-old to watch the match with some friends on Sunday because I want him to have a story to tell about this in years to come. I really hope England win.

But I'm more excited about watching Villa in a friendly than I am about this game.

[Lastfootstamper]

I think it's the excitement, or rather lack of it, that's done me in. As it stands, in two years' time, what would be your takeaway memory of England in this tournament? Where's your Platt roundhouse, Gascoigne flick-over and volley, even your Sheringham lay-off?

[Lucky Eddie]

I think it's the excitement, or rather lack of it, that's done me in. As it stands, in two years' time, what would be your takeaway memory of England in this tournament? Where's your Platt roundhouse, Gascoigne flick-over and volley, even your Sheringham lay-off?

We'll have our answer to that on Sunday.

[Vegas]

Definitely Villa over England.

If Villa’s 10/10, England used to be like a 7 for me. Now it’s about a 3.

This tournament in particular I think the Jack situation hasn’t helped - is not particularly logical or mature but I’ve found myself wanting England not to score when Sterling / Mount / Foden etc are on and Jack isn’t. But it was trending down towards a 3 even before that; as an atheist and an anti-monarchist I absolutely hate the anthem, and the rise in nationalism / xenophobia / booing of anthems doesn’t exactly make you proud either.

[Villa Lew]

Regarding the FA Cup Villa, 64 years waiting, have let us down more than England, a mere 55 years waiting.

[Hopadop]

I can’t believe the question has been posed 😄

Its a bestest fan competition.

I don't know, I'm certainly not bestier than thou.  I just find it hard, as others have said, to get behind players I love to loath normally.  Not as much of a problem as it used to be maybe, but it's still there.   And again, I'd always support a team with a Villa player in it against one without.  Most flags you see tend to be for smaller clubs, and that's definitely no coincidence.

The penalty against Denmark sums it up for me.  If it was Villa getting an advantage I'd like to think I would know it wasn't fair and my player cheated, but I wouldn't really care.  England do it and all I can see is Boris Fucking Johnson in his shirt showing again and again that cheats can and do prosper, on and off the pitch.  I just can't let go and enjoy it.

Not clever or logical, but that's how it is for me.