从兰开夏郡到伦敦，从南安普顿到谢菲尔德，球迷们分享他们的足球故事，以及主客场支持英格兰对他们意味着什么。   

 

Ed Wellard 在大曼彻斯特经营着一个名为 Withington Walls 的社区主导街头艺术项目，他喜欢和他的儿子 Dougie 一起为英格兰队加油。 

 

壁画与回忆

 

我叫埃德·韦拉德 (Ed Wellard)，今年 46 岁。我在肯特海岸的一个叫圣玛格丽特湾的村庄长大，路的尽头有一座灯塔和著名的白崖。这是一个可爱的地方。

 

2010 年，当我的第一个孩子即将出生时，我搬到了曼彻斯特，致力于扩大有轨电车网络。我以为这只是暂时的举动，但我们最终还是喜欢上了这里。我们生活在一个美好而多元化的社区，家门口就有一座令人惊叹的城市，并且有大量的机会。 

 

足球一直是我生活中的常态，我一直热爱它。从看到一个孩子在公园里踢球到专业人士在最高水平上踢球，这让我脸上露出笑容。

 

我喜欢观看国内外的比赛并体验不同的足球文化。我去过全国各地的比赛，还有欧洲和南美。在我的雄鹿赛期间，我安排了加莱对阵欧塞尔的比赛，以及柏林赫塔对阵莱比锡红牛的比赛来庆祝我 40 岁生日。十月份我会和一些朋友一起去米兰看几场比赛，这是我们过去几年所做的。当我们全家度假时，我也会尝试和我十几岁的儿子 Dougie 一起观看当地的比赛。 

 

足球就像音乐一样，具有通过创造共同点来建立联系和建立关系的巨大力量。这是我许多最亲密、最长久的友谊的起点。

Withington Walls

 

In my spare time, I run a community street art project called Withington Walls. Check us out on social media @withingtonwalls - vibrant public art as a catalyst for change. 

 

In late 2019, a group of local people got together and crowdfunded £5K to rejuvenate the area with public art. In the summer of 2020, we started painting murals on walls, shop shutters, and other structures around town and it has gone on from there. 

 

Four years later, we filled the area with colour and creativity and provided a platform for expression for around 50 artists through over 100 public artworks.

 

Alongside championing local artists, we celebrate positive role models with local connections, highlight important issues, support campaigns and promote inclusivity through our artwork. We also hold events that bring the community together. 

 

Street art has the power to connect with, and inspire, hard-to-reach audiences that might not otherwise be engaged with mainstream arts or culture.

 

I like that we have put Withington on the map. I hope it has helped make people proud to live here and inspired creativity or community spirit in others.

 

From a personal perspective, it has been hard work but worth it. I have met so many great people and I love that there is incredible artwork where I live that is accessible to everyone. Withington is a brighter and better place now. It is nice to hear how the artwork helped people through lockdown or their treatment at the Christie Cancer Hospital.

 

My son started playing for the U9s at Kingsway AFC in 2019 and I have since started to help out with coaching, fundraising and raising the profile of the club. The clubhouse was in disrepair, heavily vandalised after years of being unused and unloved. Artwork from Withington Walls was an immediate means of addressing how unsightly it had become and making the club's mark on the building. The clubhouse and its Hope Beats Hate mural from OskarwithaK, painted after EURO 2020, subsequently featured in the artwork for Noel Gallagher’s latest album.Art for good

 

The mural by artist AkseP19 of Marcus Rashford, who lived in Withington when he was young, that we painted in 2020 to celebrate his campaign against child food poverty, has become our most famous mural. It got a lot of interest in 2020 and even more in 2021 after being vandalised after the EURO Final. 

 

I recently took a group of six to eight year olds from a local primary school on a tour of Withington Walls’ artwork. It was interesting working out how to explain to them, in simple language that they would understand, why we had done the mural in the first place and what the "Take pride in knowing that your struggle will play the biggest role in your purpose" quote from Rashford’s mum meant. I explained how the people of Withington had become famous around the world after the last EUROs for their messages of love and support, and how it is important to look after one another and stand up to bullies.

 

We are planning a ‘Paint Jam’; a two-day paint festival of street art, walks, talks, workshops, music, craft beer and street food over the weekend of the EURO Final. Over 20 artists will work on a huge collaborative mural that will transform a derelict area behind Withington Baths into a space that can be used for classes and community events. 

 

I hope we are all racing off to watch England in the final somewhere afterwards.

 

Beyond that, I want to keep Withington Walls going. There are some great artists I would like to work with and great spots that I would like to paint. There are more causes and campaigns I would like us to support.

Through the years

 

At eight years old, the Mexico World Cup in 1986 was huge for me. I did the Panini sticker book and remember the portraits of all the England team clearly. That tournament planted the seed for a love of South American football - in particular Maradona, despite the handball. I remember the ticker tape, the Mexican waves and the Azteca stadium shadow. I remember Lineker’s exploits but, in truth, I cannot remember actually watching the games. 

 

Italia ‘90 was incredible and I was a lot more aware of that tournament at 12 years old. I remember the games and tournament panning out. I distinctly remember all the excitement of watching England v Cameroon at my dad’s pub, The Hare and Hounds, and the despair of losing to West Germany. 

 

As a kid, I would spend time at my dad’s on the weekends. It was a classic village pub with an open fire, real ales and great food. It was not a sports pub and my dad had no interest in shelling out for a satellite TV, but he would always find a way to get a TV on the bar for the FA Cup or when England was playing in tournaments. 

 

EURO 96 was a huge tournament for me at 18, and going to pubs or house parties in Dover brings back so many happy memories. Gazza lunging at the ball in the six-yard box and just missing a ’golden goal’ in the final moments of the Germany game is etched in my memory. So close yet so far. 

 

France ‘98 while at uni was a big deal too. It was not easy balancing watching the matches with revision and end-of-year exams but I got home for the later games and remember the fury in the local pub at Sol Campbell’s goal not standing.

 

More recently, since I moved to Manchester and became a dad, Russia 2018 was a big World Cup for my son Dougie, who was eight years old. We watched lively games in my local The Vic with the dads I play five-aside with and their kids. It was packed out, with condensation running down the windows. It was a really special experience for him.My boy Dougie

 

So many memories of time with my dad, or feeling connected to him, are associated with football. On some level, I suppose, I am looking to replicate that with my own son. 

 

I honestly love watching footy with my boy Dougie. I love sitting or standing beside him. I love the chat. I love his passion, enthusiasm and knowledge. 

 

I adore those days out to a football match with him, just hanging out, talking football, sharing the highs and lows. 

 

I know he is entering those teenage years where he will think I am an idiot and will no longer want to hang out with me - football will always be that safe space for us to connect.

England at the EUROs

 

I have the group stage dates in the diary and am working out which routes we might have through the knockouts. I love the intrigue of it all, and sorting out where and who I will watch the games with. Whether it is having people round or going to a mate’s house or my local pub The Vic early enough to get a seat, it is a great way to get together with friends and family. 

 

For the U14s team I help coach, I am trying to sort out an end-of-season team outing to Almost Famous for mad burgers and the last group game on TV. They stock the Withington Walls Ultra Pale Ale collaboration we did with Burton Road Brewing, and it is great seeing the cans with our artwork in the fridges there, plus we get a small donation for each sale.The England greats

 

I love Harry Kane. He is an incredible player, with a great range of passing. He is intelligent, hard-working and a deadly finisher. 

 

I look forward to seeing what Jude Bellingham does in an England shirt at the tournament. I love how calm and self-assured he is. He seems like the nicest of young men too.From the pub to the pitch

 

When I was a kid, I loved playing football for my school and club sides and then Sunday League. My glass ankles mean that I have stopped playing Sunday League and five-a-side. I miss it so much.

 

Being a football fan and a big Spurs fan has been a massive part of my life. My dad took me and my two brothers to most home games during the late 80s and early 90s. We would race up after playing football in the morning and race back for him to work at the pub. 

 

God only knows how many games I have been to, home and away, since then. It has been the bedrock of family relationships and there are loads of friends that I am close to because of Spurs. 

 

Helping out at Kingsway AFC allows me to give back to the game I love. It is nice to think that I might help shape the lads as both players and young men. Plus, in truth, I am not wired to just stand and watch. I want to get involved and do what I can to help and it is important that kids have access to a safe and nurturing environment to play football. 

Shared allegiance