European Championship - Beers, Bars & Balls
Neither the United Kingdom or Ireland has a team at the European Championships in Switzerland
and Austria. Could this, and the local hospitality, be the best reasons for going?
It’s pretty safe to say that for the vast majority of the readers of this magazine, Saturday June 7 is going to be at best a non-event and at worst a hollow, empty and depressing day.
That’s the date the Euro Championships kick off and Europe begins a month-long football fest. At the risk of upsetting our Italian, Spanish, French and German readers, one might assume that most of the people who purchase this magazine aren’t bothered because they live outside Europe, or they don’t care because they’re in Great Britain, Northern Ireland or Ireland.
And that’s because none of our teams are joining what is being billed as a veritable gala of spectacle, soccer, food and drink devoured by jolly football fans under sunny skies.
Probably more jolly than normal, actually, because no English-speaking side is taking part, and there’ll be none of our boys telling them that Britannia rules the waves while dismantling their cities in a never ending search for bad lager and a fried breakfast. Mind you, it does mean that there will be the bizarre and ironic prospect of thousands of Europeans speaking English to each other even though the native speakers will be well and truly elsewhere.
So if you’re British wouldn’t this be the perfect time to visit? Okay, there’s no getting round the fact that the prospect of Switzerland versus Turkey in Basel is a depressing one. Or that no respecting British football fan would expect to sit through Croatia versus Poland in Klagenfurt. But just think, d.....
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By Sally Toms
Section : Beer and Sport
Page number : 16
