The reason ‘Three Lions’ remains popular is because it captures the nations mood around failure and the dreaming of success.
I never seen Lineaker, Moore, Gazza or Psycho play football yet the sentiment of the song is just as relevant in 1996 as it is today.
For the women’s team, they had never won a major trophy before so the feelings of ‘thirty years of hurt’ and ‘It’s coming home’ is just as relevant.
In other areas, the women’s game piggy backs on the men’s to a degree. This song, however, belongs to everyone because it captures the national mood when it comes to football.
I have to disagree unfortunately.
So that's it then. No more years of hurt for the England men's team?
Women's football here in England didn't even become professional until the 2018/19 season.
The men's World Cup started in 1930 and the women's equivalent didn't even start until 1991 and we didn't complete until 1995.
I think this "no more years of hurt" and "it's come home" just cheapens the whole notion of what it was all about.
I have been all over the women's game lately and have really loved this tournament and been utterly positive about the England team and players, so no-one can describe me as at all negative on this topic, but the hurt IS still there for the men and the whole notion of 30 years of hurt and it "coming home" was in the MEN'S game, because England HAD been playing and competing and won the World Cup in 1966 and it was thought as a sea change for the England team and game back then and it's all been pretty much downhill since.
England men have on the whole, been very much in decline since 1966 and the England women have been on the rise, so the "no more years of hurt" doesn't make any sense really in the women's game.
Where do we go from here for the England men's game, now we have "no more years of hurt?"
It was definitely about the men. The song, the sentiment, the timescale.
Let the women be the women.
I feel this just cheapens it. I am so delighted we won and I have watched every England warm up game and friendly for a number of years, so have felt fully invested in the England women's game, but the hurt is still there for the men, so how can it be no more years of hurt? It doesn't even make any sense.