Football Fan vs fans of football

England 7 v Montenegro 0

European Championship Qualifying, Group A

Thursday 14 November 2019

Played at Wembley

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It's just Modern Football. Your team has won seven nil. Secured qualification for a major Finals. Which will essentially be played at home. But, that just felt flat. Complete mismatch like the old days. No real game plan from Montenegro. Score at will. Thank deity for the UEFA Nations League. The "Mickey Mouse" tournament where Engine had to fuck about playing Spain & Croatia. It's difficult to describe without sounding pompous. But, the FA have " reached out" so far & so deep. That they have reached the pool of people with essentially minus 1% interest in football. I'm a football fan, loud n proud. You might not get what I'm driving at, but the Wembley crowd is now fans of football. There is a difference.

And, it's that difference which ends up with Joe Gomez getting roundly boo'ed by "his own fans" as he came on as Sub. Remember. He's had a "not me guv" bust up with Raheem Sterling in the week. Sterling has been dropped as a disciplinary measure. Fans of football hear Gomez's name on the tannoy. Some WWE gene kicks in. Boooooo. And. Let's start a Mexican Wave. Make no mistake. The FA have a responsibility here. They want to make the game about so much more than just the match. Absolutely great that they're reaching out deep. But, always, always, always keep the match front & centre. I'm in the football business, not the entertainment industry.

I visited the so-called Mikkeller Bar Pop-Up Exmouth Market for the first time in my pre-match warm up. Very welcoming place. Great beer range. Some eye watering prices, mind. But, I had three beers. All were superb. Two just exceptional.

Warpigs Brewpub, Bad Pun IPA on keg at 6.7%.

That was "standard superb". Quite a lot of indiscernible sugar. The nice and rich bitterness came in waves.

Mikkeller, I Wish, Gluten Free IPA on keg at 5.5%.

I felt a bit caught out by that. It surprised me a lot. A lovely malty malty IPA, with a side order of malt. Parkin. Toffee. Hoppy. Got the lot.

Warpigs Brewpub, Mustard Tiger, Belgian Pale on keg at 6.9%.

The first taste just had me. Wow. Ridiculous. Being picky. I'd have liked a bit more sugar. But, basically banging. The yeast kicks in. And you feel the hops are always there. Boooooo 

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