Shortly before kick-off against Switzerland at teatime, as custom now dictates, Wembley will stand to attention for the recital of England's national anthem.
It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming... football's coming home.
More than a quarter of a century after it became a nation's adopted call to arms, David Baddiel and Frank Skinner's collaboration with the Lightning Seeds remains the discerning fans' party invitation - in the same way that Slade's Merry Xmas Everybody declares the festive season open. “Yes, although remember Christmas happens every year,” said Baddiel. “England playing well in an international tournament does not.”
True enough. And at least it's not the ubiquitous Sweet Caroline, which is surely doomed in its bid for mandatory inclusion at every ground's playlist.“I will only say one thing about that – Sweet Caroline is not actually a song about football,” said Baddiel, who admits it's “very cool, if I say so myself” that Three Lions endures as English football's anthem of hope.
“People ask me if I ever get tired of Three Lions, but no – I don't. I think it’s very rare, if you’re in the creative arts, that you ever do something that gets properly taken to the heart of the people, that really speaks to the people who it was made for, and Three Lions is totally that. When we played Scotland at Euro 96 and after we won, the crowd sung the song for the first time - when neither me nor Frank nor Ian (Brodie of the Lightning Seeds) had any idea that football fans had taken it to their hearts. That has to be my happiest experience watching England.
“To hear about 87,000 people spontaneously bursting into your song was unforgettable. Having said that, beating Germany at Euro 2020 was also amazing - it felt like a huge, redemptive arc from when we lost to them in 1996. Me and Frank, much older and greyer, were there again, with our sons, who weren’t even born then.”
Baddiel and Skinner became standard-bearers for the fanzine generation on their BBC show Fantasy Football League – a late-night mix of fame and obscurity, with Statto in his dressing gown and unlikely guests including former England striker Jeff Astle's karaoke closing number. Astle's premature death in 2002 from Alzheimer's at the age of 59, an insidious condition almost certainly exacerbated by heading hefty leather footballs, is even more poignant for Baddiel now.
Earlier this year, he lost his father, Colin, to the same illness and he will be at Wembley this evening for a friendly designated as the Alzheimer's Society international – to recognise the FA's two-year alliance with its charity partner.
“I knew Jeff was becoming less and less present in his own mind as time went on,” said Baddiel, whose body of work includes stand-up comedy, prolific author, screenwriter and, of course, loyal England fan. "Like my dad, he was an amazing character though, so he also remained very much himself as well. But I remember there was a moment when we were singing the national anthem in a sketch, and he said: 'What song is this?' And Frank (a lifelong West Bromwich Albion for whom Astle was a boyhood hero) replied, 'Come on, Jeff, you must have heard it at least five times!
“He actually played for England five times - which I think is both poignant and funny. We can’t ignore that too many of our football greats such as Jeff have been impacted by dementia, which is why Alzheimer’s Society is providing research expertise and making sure research is an absolute priority for the FA. A recent survey found that half of adults say there’s a stigma attached to dementia. I just don’t like anyone living with shame around an illness. It’s literally nothing to be ashamed of - no-one can help getting ill.
“So it’s good that the partnership between Alzheimer’s Society and the FA is all about breaking the silence around it, because that speaks of shame. Trying to remember that the person living with dementia is still in there is very important - it’s good not to just hide them away . It’s a very complicated thing to deal with, someone who you think of as very basic in your life, slipping away as they do once they get dementia.
“It’s full of pain, the 1,000 tiny ways in which every time you see them something else is missing. My dad was a big football fan – a Swansea City and Wales supporter - and even when he knew very little else about himself, he would still watch both those teams and be pleased if they won. Football may be a tiny bit like music in that way, still resonating even after the person can’t quite recognise who’s playing any more.”
Chelsea fan Baddiel barely recognises the club he started supporting more than 50 years ago.
But blue is the colour of loyalty, and he said: “I began watching them on TV in 1970 when they won the FA Cup. It was a team that included Peter Osgood, Charlie Cooke, Alan Hudson and Peter Bonetti (whose ashes were interred at the Shed end of Stamford Bridge earlier this month). It was a flair side, full of excitement and glamour. By the time I was old enough to go, it was mainly Micky Droy and John Bumstead, but I stuck with it.
“ For me, even now, Chelsea will always be for me a team hovering between the very glamorous and the very mundane.”
*Alzheimer’s Society is working with the FA to understand the causes of dementia and its risk factors, funding world-class research to protect players for generations to come. If you or someone you know needs dementia support go to www. alzheimers.org.uk or call 0333 150 3456.
