Footie Wig Fabrication

Overheard in the House:

Hay: "Dad had a 12 lead ECG this morning."

Chairman: "Is that a bit like a Stratocaster?"

Is Michael Fabricant just Martin Freeman in a really bad wig?

Those who know me know I have little interest in football. I suspect interest in football to be not so much an interest in the game itself, but a willingness to engage in uncritical partizanship for a locale. I've never really lived, as an adult, in one place long enough to become emotionally attached to it, hence the lack of interest in the various football leagues. The nearest I come to having a leaning to a place in the UK is Southport, but I'm not even sure they still have a football club. I do remember they played Everton once in the 60s in the first round of that year's FA Cup, which was a massive event. Needless to say they didn't progress much.

Only when the game is played at a national level do I feel a vague stir in my loins; even then I have to admit it is only a small stir, and I put that down to being widely travelled as Merchant Navy officer. I will, however, support Holland and England - the former due to me being born there and out of a strong sense of family allegiance, the latter due to it having been my home for the last 50 odd years. If the two were to play each other, then family allegiance would take precedence, as I'm sure it does in many foreign-born Brits. I'm obviously somewhat tribalist at heart - I think most men are - but it does give me a sense of unease; it's a bit like biting the hand that feeds you.