Tuesday 13th July 2021

 I'm going to write this before I forget, so here goes. England team qualified for the final of the Euro cup against Italy. I walked (or almost ran) on the Sunday to St Paul's church where they had put a huge TV screen up.

There were barriers along the Bridge Street, because England had won the last game to qualify, and people came out of Wetherspoons and the Bridge tap pub and went crazy apparently. 

There were two policemen in Bridge Street a woman complained That some boys had spat at her in the street. And some kids came along on their bicycles, and she identified it as being them. We are going through a pandemic, and they had to do something stupid like that!

I've got to church just as a match was just beginning. Sat near the front then moved again as there was too much glare on the screen.

The game was noisy and raucous, there was a lot of cheating going on in the Italian football team. One of the English strikers was going for the ball when an Italian football player came up behind him and yanked him backwards by the collar of his shirt! Most of us shouted 'off off off!'

All he got was a yellow card, I think you should have been sent off with a red.

The game was certainly nail-biting, then we went to the dreaded penalties. Sad to say the Italians beat us in the end, but next year we have the world cup so we may get our revenge then.

It was almost midnight by the time we finished, I was worried about how to get home. I tried 50 50 50 taxis, but my stupid mobile kept hanging up. So I went to the office with Kim and rang a different taxi service.

I had to wait 45 minutes, so in the meantime, Kim and Craig kindly invited me to the vicarage. I was a bit worried but I was intruding, I wonder what it would have been like when the Rev Cooper was there?

Rev Cooper was the one who married my parents in 1968, times were different then. I can imagine my parent's excitement when went off on their honeymoon to Teignmouth, who was different it all must have looked then.

Waited on the corner for the taxi to arrive, at least it had stopped raining. Everywhere seems subdued after the sad loss to Italy, but as I said we have the world cup next year and we are sure to beat them then.