Distracted Dad
Richard Hearn on the World Cup in Hove, 2010
I’m writing this column on day four of the World Cup: Italy have just drawn with Paraguay. By the time you read this England will no doubt be in the semi-final against Uruguay/have gone out in Round 2 to Serbia/long since exited and the nation’s switched allegiance to Mexico (*delete as applicable).
But at this early stage, I’m still trying to work out which World Cup it’s going to be? Each has their own mood and setting, as much to do with my own life and circumstances. I could rename Italia ‘90 as Eastbourne ‘90, and France ‘98 was Glastonbury ‘98 – at least for me. This one – Hove ‘10 – is heavily entwined with being a dad, with phrases like “Feed the baby? But I’ll miss Algeria versus Slovenia!” setting the tone. Or “I would have changed his nappy, but Greece are bringing on a sub.”
It isn’t my first World Cup as a parent. I remember watching England lose to Portugal in 2006 with The Boy. I had thought of him as a lucky mascot. I was wrong. He was at an age where he didn’t speak.
“I had thought of The Boy as a lucky mascot. I was wrong”
To be honest, after going out on penalties, I couldn’t either. Further back, I watched England play Columbia on a big screen at Glastonbury in 1998. Beckham’s winning free kick made the experience a bit more comfortable, like a metaphorical extra groundsheet.
USA ’94 became Leicester ’94, or ‘The William Hill World Cup’ as there were so many small bets made to compensate for the fact England hadn’t qualified. These bets were often for one team to be winning at half-time and the other at full-time. You’d get odds of 25/1 or 33/1.
This rarely happens – hence the odds – but I did make money on my pound bets, although you have to make an emotional U-turn each game, as well as the weirdness on 40 minutes of cheering anything but a draw. Amongst others who don’t know your bets, you appear not so much fickle as schizophrenic.
For many people my age, Italia ’90 was both the high and low in World Cup memory. At the time I lived in Eastbourne and was working in Gateways supermarket. Going out to Germany on penalties was a depressing time for me on so many levels.
So which World Cup is this going to be? Well, I should mention I’ve drawn England and Mexico in the sweepstake. That normally means I’ve jinxed both of them. You, the reader, will have more idea if this is true and whether this column has a happy ending…
