Of Mice And Men

“Three Lions on a shirt;
Jules Rimet still gleaming;
Thirty years of hurt*
Never stopped me dreaming!”


I was explaining to my son Noah [aged 3] that “Three Lions on a shirt” means that it is an England football shirt; and I pointed out the three lions on the badge on his chest so he could see that. His eyes opened very wide, and he nodded his head gravely, and said…


…“Yes. And there are Three Blind Mice too!”

Yeah. I think Sven substituted them on for the England defence in the second half last night.**


*Okay, so it is forty years of hurt by now…but England’s ’96 European Championship song remains the greatest World Cup anthem never written for a World Cup.

**Not that I think England’s Swedish manager had any conflict of interest; nor wanting to take anything away from a team England haven’t beaten since 1968. Just to be clear. I love Sweden; I have lots of Swedish friends; and I’d like to keep it that way!


World Cup , out of the mouths of babes