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St George

 

The story started on a Sunday in the end of April.
That WE I was simply in Manchester wondering what I could do while spending the long WE alone in this big city. I finally made up my mind with to go a bit outside the city to breathe the fresh countryside air.
So I took the bus and got off to catch a train. En route I saw some people wearing a fresh red rose in their hair or on their shirt. Later on I saw other people in English clothes mostly white with a bit of red. I then thought that most probably the English football team was playing that day. Then I noticed even more flags, this time on cars, taxis or trucks...


Definitely something was happening that day. When I came back home I then remembered about one of the numerous leaflets I had picked up at the tourism info centre. 23rd of April: St George's day, the English National day.

Shame on me, I missed the big animations in Manchester centre...

Then I thought that those flags would be quickly forgotten until next year. But I had forgotten a small detail: The Fifa World Football Cup of in June!
Football is a national sport. Usually Britons go to pubs to watch football matches together and drink beer. This a way to socialise.
More and more shops are displaying accessories in the national colours (white and red), from caps, baby clothes or flip flops.
Flags are more and more presents on windows and nothing is easier that finding flags from the mini format to the giant one.

The well known Mars chocolate bar  has even changed its name for the big event: "Believe" (as in "believe in our team")...



Manchester United, the Red team is a very popular football team.

Once I returned from work as usual at about 4 or 5 in the afternoon. From the bus I could hear and see a lot of animations in the streets. It started from the entrance of the city where I saw a lot of football fans in green and write strips shirts. Once the bus got to Piccadily garden I saw even more people celebrating something by jumping, singing and flying banniers!


It was only the beginning. But what was going on?
Further on I saw a T-shirt saler: that day there was a football match on: Manchester United versus the nationaI Irish team. And the Irish won, as I couldn't see any red T-shirts!
The craziness was everywhere in every bus or tram. I thought that the tram would collapse (something like what happened in Grenoble, my university town, a couple of years ago during a huge student event)! People were singing endlessly in the street and happiness was in the air!

Football is a way of life, and the social life seems to be centered around this sport. If you don't like it, you will have to bear it anyway ;)