England football fans in Ireland: ‘I want my epitaph to be it’s coming home’

The Letterkenny Babies Facebook forum is one usually populated by parents looking for advice on all things babies and toddlers.

On Thursday, the day after England’s dramatic last minute winner against the Netherlands which propelled them into Sunday’s European Championships final against Spain, an anonymous person posted an unusual request on the site.

“I appreciate this is a long shot but as an English family living in Donegal would there be ANYWHERE I could take my teenagers to watch England in the Euros on Sunday that would have people in supporting England to win?

“I want them to experience the atmosphere but at home with me definitely isn’t the same as in the pub or at a fan park. Anyone got any ideas.”

The capped ANYWHERE conveys a sense of desperation. An English person who didn’t know Ireland would find it confusing that Irish football fans expend so much emotional energy and money on English clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool or Arsenal. When it comes to international football, though, it’s anybody but England.

The Letterkenny Babies forum poster declined to speak to The Irish Times, but one proud Englishwoman on the forum, Belinda Sheridan, said a lot of people assumed it was her.

Ms Sheridan, who is originally from Preston, but has been living in Donegal for 18 years, is out and proud as an English fan. Her back garden has the flag of St George but also one for Donegal who play in the All-Ireland semi-final on Sunday afternoon.

“I live in Rathmullen and I would go to all the bars to watch England games. I get a lot of stick but everybody knows I’m a diehard England fan. I just laugh it off,” Ms Sheridan said.

“It is who you are, it’s your heritage. I said to my husband, ‘if you moved to Switzerland, you wouldn’t support Switzerland, you’d still support Ireland’. My epitaph will be ‘it’s coming home’.”

Pete Reynolds, originally from Manchester who also lives in Donegal, has been to two of England’s games. He moved to Ireland seven years ago and runs a business making branded cups.

“I will be gutted if we win it on Sunday and I’m not with a load of fans. I watched the Slovakian game with two Slovakian fans and it is interesting how different their approach is to the local Irish,” Mr Reynolds said.

“In a few weeks times I’ll be with the same Irish guys who support Man United, Liverpool etc. It will be the same player just in different shirts.

“I get it. It’s part of being English. It took me a while to understand it, but I think I understand it now. The problem is that history in England glosses over Ireland so you have all these English people, me included, who think Ireland is like this friendly little brother and it’s not like that.”

Jason Javis from Birmingham, who lives in north county Dublin, also found it strange when he arrived in Ireland just before the Euro 1996 tournament which was held in England.

[ My kids are supporting England in the Euros and I need to get over itOpens in new window ]

Normally he watches matches at home, but the electricity went in the house when England played Iceland in the round of 16 during the Euros in 2016.

“We went to the nearest hotel and at the end of it the whole pub was cheering because Iceland had won (they shocked England by winning 2-1) so I just snuck out of the pub like Homer Simpson,” Mr Javis said.

One of England’s most famous residents in Ireland, film director David Puttnam, attended a screening of his 1981 film Chariots of Fire in the Stella Cinema in Rathmines earlier this week. It is about another British sporting triumph – this one at the Olympic Games of 1924.

He put on a €50 bet at 9/2 early on that England would win the tournament. “Fate is with them. I’m not sure they deserve it. They were terrible in the first few games. I want [Bukayo] Saka to score the winning goal and I want everyone of those f***ers who were so dreadful to him when he missed the penalty in 2021, I want them to feel like crap,” Puttnam said.