{"id":1244,"date":"2026-07-14T09:16:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T09:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davethomasonline.com\/blog\/?p=1244"},"modified":"2026-07-14T09:16:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T09:16:36","slug":"gom-world-cup-diary-34","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davethomasonline.com\/blog\/gom-world-cup-diary-34\/","title":{"rendered":"GOM World Cup Diary #34 – Following Your Team Isn’t Cheap…"},"content":{"rendered":"

GOM World Cup Diary #34 – Following Your Team Isn’t Cheap…<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Whatever Happened To Supporting From The Stands?<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

There wasn’t a World Cup match last night.<\/p>\n

Which was probably just as well.<\/p>\n

It gave thousands of supporters the chance to catch their breath, wash a few clothes and work out where on earth they were supposed to be travelling next.<\/p>\n

Following your country in a World Cup used to mean booking a couple of weeks off work, packing a suitcase and hoping your team stayed in the tournament long enough to justify the expense.<\/p>\n

This one feels rather different.<\/p>\n

With matches spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico, some supporters have travelled thousands of miles between games before they’ve even reached the stadium.<\/p>\n

One day you’re in New York.<\/p>\n

The next you’re looking for a flight to Dallas.<\/p>\n

Then it’s off to Mexico City.<\/p>\n

Before long, you’re beginning to wonder whether you’re following a football team or collecting air miles.<\/p>\n

I honestly don’t know how some of these supporters manage it.<\/p>\n

The logistics alone must require a degree in project management.<\/p>\n

Flights.<\/p>\n

Hotels.<\/p>\n

Hire cars.<\/p>\n

Match tickets.<\/p>\n

Time off work.<\/p>\n

Then do it all again a few days later.<\/p>\n

By the time the tournament finishes, some fans will have spent enough money to put a deposit on a house back home.<\/p>\n

Mind you, probably not in London.<\/p>\n

Perhaps somewhere in the North East.<\/p>\n

And who benefits most from all this?<\/p>\n

Well, FIFA will no doubt tell us it’s all for the good of the global game.<\/p>\n

Bringing football to more people.<\/p>\n

Creating unforgettable experiences.<\/p>\n

Celebrating the world’s greatest sport.<\/p>\n

All perfectly admirable sentiments.<\/p>\n

It just so happens they also coincide rather neatly with selling millions of tickets, filling hotels, keeping airlines busy and ensuring the cash registers continue ringing rather enthusiastically.<\/p>\n

Funny how that works.<\/p>\n

The real winners, though, aren’t sitting in executive boxes.<\/p>\n

They’re the supporters.<\/p>\n

The ones who’ve emptied savings accounts, used precious holiday allowance and travelled halfway around the world simply to stand shoulder to shoulder with complete strangers singing the same songs.<\/p>\n

Football would be a very quiet game without them.<\/p>\n

Whether your team wins or loses, they’re back again at the next match.<\/p>\n

Flags packed.<\/p>\n

Voices disappearing.<\/p>\n

Hope somehow fully restored.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that’s what supporting really is.<\/p>\n

Not glory.<\/p>\n

Not trophies.<\/p>\n

Just turning up again and again because your team matters to you.<\/p>\n

Tonight France meet Spain for a place in the World Cup Final.<\/p>\n

Millions of us will watch from the comfort of our sofas.<\/p>\n

Thousands more will somehow find themselves in another stadium hundreds of miles from where they were a few days ago.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure whether that’s dedication or madness.<\/p>\n

Then again…<\/p>\n

Perhaps it’s both.<\/p>\n

Anyway, what do I know?<\/p>\n

I’m just a grumpy old man.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GOM World Cup Diary #34 – Following Your Team Isn’t Cheap… Whatever Happened To Supporting From The Stands? There wasn’t a World Cup match last night. Which was probably just as well. It gave thousands of supporters the chance to catch their breath, wash a few clothes and work out where on earth they were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,13,53,82,111],"tags":[89,96,203,202,79,98,204,102,106,201],"class_list":["post-1244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","category-grumpy-old-man","category-humour","category-soccer","category-world-cup-2026","tag-fifa","tag-football-fans","tag-football-supporters","tag-france-v-spain","tag-grumpy-old-man","tag-modern-football","tag-sports-travel","tag-world-cup-2026","tag-world-cup-diary","tag-world-cup-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davethomasonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davethomasonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davethomasonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davethomasonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davethomasonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1244"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/davethomasonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1245,"href":"https:\/\/davethomasonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244\/revisions\/1245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davethomasonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davethomasonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davethomasonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davethomasonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}