Time as I am regularly reminded by others, is purely a human construct. A way for us all to contextualise change. Personally as long as I can remember I have been a ‘date’ guy. Linking events in my life, with music (every film needs a soundtrack) but also by global events, usually of the sporting variety. Perhaps one of the deep rooted reasons I now record things sporadically on my blog for the world to read (if they should desire).

The cycle of football tournaments is every other year. We either have the global World Cup or the regional European Championship. It is always good to capture the moment the tournament starts as it always has been a key point in my life. France 98 coincided with my GCSE exams, Euro 2000 with my A Levels, World Cup 2002 with the end of my second year at Uni with the start of my industrial placement, Euro 2004 with the start of my first proper grown up job (to the point I caught the wrong bus home and missed part of the England match). World Cup 2006 I recall being on a help desk and a colleague watching the opening match (hosts Germany demolishing Costa Rica 4-2) online. Remember this was the days before iPlayer but the Beeb had managed to enable some kind of basic stream on their website. (Does anybody remember RealVideo?). England never made it to Euro 2008 but I recall watching a few matches while on the treadmill at the gym. (A Berkshire gym whom boasted Jim Rosenthal as one of their members alongside Debbie McGee. Kids please just ask your parents!) Spain were about to take over international football for almost a decade. For South Africa 2010, I had high hopes, but as usual we were let down by a group of international wannabes. To the point that I opted for some culture with Shakespeare in a wet country estate by the M40, rather than watch that drabless display against Algeria. Euro 2012 crept up on me from nowhere, I had little interest and had by then fallen out with the England football team. International football I still believe to be the pinnacle in the short career of these athletes. Just a shame our national team cannot show the passion for the shirt we should expect. Our noisy neighbours Wales heroically reach the semi finals while England bow out to debutantes Iceland in the shock result of the tournament. New faces, but overall the same results we have have grown accustom to. Will anything ever change? Hate to say this, I really do, but not in my lifetime. Perhaps the target should be more realistic. Win a quarter final penalty shootout.