Nope, it's the modern day football fans, lox, that get to me. Corporate Football has taken over and it controls the fans, and the game, in a very different way these days, or so it seems to me.I've got nothing against football, but heck, at Waterloo Station the other day, you could hear the chant, rumbling in the distance.."Inger..land!...Inger..land!" and round the corner they all tumbled. They climbed into the the train and for near on three hours most of us were put through a journey we weren't expecting. Even the guard gave up, and let them pretty much take over the train, where they downed the lager, happily given to them by the steward who was up and down the train with his trolley, doling out alcohol wherever it was wanted.

I lost it at one point, somewhere between the conversations about which porno films they'd watched and what they liked best in them and who they'd er...been with (that's the polite term, their one started with f) the night before,...and that's when I went KERBOING and turned into The Mother From Hell, packing them off to their 'virtual bedrooms' where they all had to lower their voices and consider others.

I used to work in London, and I'd often travel home with football fans going to Wembley Stadium, the train was packed with them, and they were, in the main, just happy lads, a bit of singing, a few scarves here and there, knitted by Mum or girlfriends. There were no problems that I can remember, at all. But now, they're like an army of arrogant aggressors who think they rule the roost.

Keep the football, by all means, it's part of England, yes, but get the fans to behave in a more thoughtful way. Older people, especially the very elderly shouldn't have to sit their cowering, or being too frightened to speak, because some people, old enough to know better, are not giving a tinker's cuss about their feelings. Good manners used to be very much a part of English culture, not any more it ain't...and I think that's a sad loss to any society, because when people stop caring about others, about their feelings, things start going wrong. By all means have a great day out at the football, enjoy yourselves, but remember that other people are also out enjoying themselves too. How come American Football is so family orientated, yet English football has become so loutish these past 10/15 years or so? I guess because our society in general has become that way, perhaps. And, I think we desperately need to get rid of our 'class system' and just view ourselves as people.