A YEAR today, thousands of English fans will hope to be in uncharted territory – a World Cup final in America.
There will be a scramble for tickets to watch the showpiece at the Met Life Stadium.
Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka – New Jersey boys on the biggest stage.
Three Lions fans might not know what to expect, but I can give them an idea as I have been to a World Cup final in America and witnessed one of football’s most iconic moments.
And things were very different 31 years ago.
For a start, there were very few English supporters at the tournament as the national team failed to qualify.
That – along with the scheduling of Wigan borough’s school holidays – gave us our chance.
My dad and I were members of the England Travel Club and in pre-internet days, every FA was allocated World Cup tickets, whether they had qualified or not.
The English FA doled them out through the Travel Club – and we cleaned up.
It was part football trip, part brilliant family holiday.
We saw Brazil beat the USA in San Francisco (and Tab Ramos nearly take Leonardo’s head off), Sweden beat Romania on penalties in the quarters, Romario win the semi-final for Brazil against the Swedes and then the final, Brazil v Italy.
I became Brazilian for two weeks – just call me Gradinho.
The USA has much more of a football – or soccer – culture now.
In 1994, an old couple heard our accents and politely asked what we were doing in America.
My dad’s mate, Phil, replied: “We’re here for the football”. That confused them as the NFL season had not started.
Know-it-all ten-year-old me leaned over to them and said: “He means the soccer.”
If anything, that confused them even more!
It did not permeate all parts of US society, although the stadiums were pretty much full – certainly more packed than at Euro 96 two years later.
However, that created a problem for dad’s pal Phil. Four years earlier, at Italia 90, tickets had been in plentiful supply from the touts and not too highly priced either.
Dad and Phil managed to get to two quarter finals and the memorable semi in Turin where Gazza and the rest of the England fans ended up in tears.
But in ’94, although we were warned to stay away from ‘scalpers’ there was barely a ticket tout in sight and Phil, who had not been so lucky in the Travel Club draw, had to scour local newspaper adverts to try to get final tickets for himself and two sons.
He managed it, too, but not before a hair-raising trip to a rough part of LA and an impromptu auction with another hopeful fan who, he claimed, had a gun.
Another oddity for an English football fan was sitting on bleachers in the stadium rather than seats – especially at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, just outside Los Angeles.
The final itself was the worst match of the tournament – but what an occasion!
It was packed and boiling hot – as it will be next year – and it kicked off at 12.30pm local time (which contributed to the lack of quality).
Loads of the 94,000-strong crowd were supporting Brazil – although we were sat next to a Scottish Italy fan who waxed lyrical about reserve defender Luigi Apolloni, of Parma.
He did actually get on too, after 35 minutes and helped Italy keep Romario quiet.
After a forgettable 120 minutes, it went to penalties. We were behind the goal that Roberto Baggio skied his spot-kick over, nearly hitting us (OK, maybe not, we were a bit far back for that).
After the match, we even got to Disneyland to watch the parade for a new film called the Lion King.
A dramatic end to a brilliant trip – but things will be different next year.
Thanks to the MLS, Lionel Messi et al, the US public seem to be more into football and there should be more of a buzz throughout the country.
And Kane will not sky his penalty in the final over the bar.
Then, the fans in New Jersey will be watching Three Lions kings…
Read the full article here