As England laboured to a dull 0-0 draw in Slovenia last night, it occurred to me that I had wasted my evening watching it. Now, that could be forgiven if it was a one-off, but in reality most England games are like that. In fact, I can't remember the last time I enjoyed watching a game played by the Three Lions!
So, maybe it's time to start doing something else when England play'rather than wasting a couple of hours of your afternoon/evening! Here are some suggestions I have come up with!
Go to the pub
Okay, I'm writing this with the assumption that people watched the football at home as I did. So, an alternative to nearly falling asleep on the sofa is heading to the pub with your mates for the match.
This is a win-win situation; you can watch the match whilst enjoying a few cold ones with the lads and if the game is crap (like last night) you can just ignore it and have a piss-up! It's a perfect excuse to get out the house during the week and if the match is a good one, you'll get a cracking pub atmosphere'which will beat the sofa at home with the Mrs complaining!
Play football
So, this is meant to be suggestions for alternatives to watching the football and the first one still involves watching the footy. Apologies for that! This next idea is to go and play football yourself.
During Euro 2016 I cancelled playing 5-a-side on a couple of occasions to watch England'safe to say I regret that decision now! It's common knowledge for all football lovers that nothing beats the feeling of playing, no matter what the level!
Therefore, if you are given the opportunity to play next time England are on the box; you should definitely say yes! You can always record the game and watch it later, you can't pause your own game!
FIFA night
If you don't fancy embracing the cold weather of a November evening, why not get all the lads round for a FIFA night? Beers, pizza and FIFA 'what more could a football fanatic male want?
Put your management cap on to choose how you would line up if you were Gareth Southgate and see if you can make England entertaining at last! Make things interesting by setting up a mini tournament with the lads with a bit of money on it'things can get really heated!
Earn brownie points
Need to get in the Mrs' good books? Well, this is a golden ticket! Assume that England are going to be as dull as usual to watch and offer to do something with your other half.
Let's face it, you won't miss much. But, that's not how you sell it to her! Say that you don't mind sacrificing watching the footy for the night to do something like go out for a meal, or to the cinema. This will come in very handy in the future, trust me!
All gifs via giphy.com
Date Posted: Wednesday 12th October 2016
Author: George Crewe
