Kane & Able

Finally, England are actually going to play a game of football.

In Dallas. In Texas. At the newly built Dallas Cowboy’s Stadium which can apparently take anywhere between 80,000 fully seated spectators to 100,000 when standing is allowed.

All my pre match anxiety about a 3pm local time kick off and the 90+ degrees heat was to evaporate as soon as we realised that the stadium had a roof and was air conditioned! But more of that later.

For us it’s a 6.30am start from our haven in San Marcos for the minimum four hour drive to Dallas. We travelled with our friends Mark and Sam, fellow West Ham supporters and truly good and funny people who were also staying in San Marcos.

But first, let’s talk Buc-ee’s. Apparently this really  is a Texas phenomenon which is now spreading throughout the US. All along the Freeway, you see Buc-ee’s advertised. There’s a consistency in the use of the logo and a very welcoming feel via a number of seemingly unique messages. Think motorway filling stations but instead of say 24 pumps, think 120 -150 pumps and a car park the size of a small housing estate.

That’s what comes when land is so plentiful I guess. Forget your average services with food and drink, think a mini Costco. It’s all sweet, sugary, salty, kitch, naff and totally unnecessary. Absolutely everything is Buc-ee’s branded. Yet it sells. And boy does sell. If you ever wanted the perfect embodiment of class A UPFs, Buc-ee’s delivers it to you eyes and nose, with bells on, and brightly coloured sugar coated ones at that. 

Locals extoll the virtues of crystal clear toilets. Rightly so. The Buc-ee’s staff are everywhere and working hard. And that is one of the many reasons why Buc-ees clearly works. Outside there’s a sandwich board with Big-ee’s jobs, starting with hourly dollar rates leading all the way up to annual salaries of $200k for store managers.  You cannot but admire how these places are run and how much loyalty to the brand there is from their millions of customers who actively seek out Buc-ee’s to get their essential gas for their journey. Oh and the company is privately held and is estimated to have revenues of between $3-5bn annually.  

On the road we had to do a video for BBC Six O’Clock news. You can see it below, look out for my match score prediction.

We hit Arlington, Texas for 11.30am ahead of the 3pm kick off. It was incredibly hot and the location was home not only to the AT&T stadium where England were playing, but also the Global Life Field home to the MLB’s Texas Rangers and the historic Choctaw Stadium which was the former home of The Texas Rangers and is now home to North Texas SC and Dallas Jackals Rugby. It’s all really impressive and accessible. 

Fans were everywhere, plenty of Croatian and England shirts everywhere, many of whom had travelled from their homelands for this and many who had heritage. We decided to get to the stadium early and it was a very easy process. I must admit my experienced eye got me thinking that it wouldn’t be too much of a problem to jib in. Only later did I read reports that some England fans had done exactly that. Hey ho.

We bumped into our friends Ashley and Thomas (Pompey and The Toon’s finest) and their colleagues from the FSA just inside the concourse. The FSA do a brilliant job for England fans and have been such a key force for good allowing the voice of fans to be heard at the highest levels of football. Long may that continue!

Beer inside the stadium was $19 for one can of beer. And of course they want a tip on absolutely everything. As Kirsty says, ‘you’ve not even moved, I’ve come to you!’ As all of you will know you don’t buy anything in the US without giving a tip, usually 20%. It’s utterly ridiculous to non Americans, but don’t tip and you will be on the end of a tirade of passive aggressive abuse! 

The stadium was truly magnificent, but my nerves were kicking in. I get pretty stressed by the whole thing and am guilty of questioning exactly who fellow fans are, why they are here and what credentials they have. I have to check myself otherwise I can get a little noughty. This World Cup is the most expensive ever and loads of my friends can’t come because ticket prices alone are off the scale. We got ours through the FA via their loyalty scheme, so they are amongst the cheapest and our travel and accommodation is super budget, it has to be. The thing is, out here, Americans are used to paying top price for sports and music events and appear to be completely accepting of the ticket prices. 

Two quick observations about booing.

First, it was good that the vast majority of England fans stopped a small minority booing the Croatian National Anthem. Second, that same vast majority of England fans did a grand job of leading the booing of the ‘hydration breaks’ or advertising breaks as most of us know them to be. Booing for good is the way ahead. Well done England fans!

You all watched the game so you don’t need me to tell you what happened, suffice to say at half time I was more than nervous and thought we may have given the advantage to Croatia. England’s  second half performance was to prove just how much I know about football! It felt like a one off knock out game, Croatia game us a proper fight but the spirit of the England players, every single one of them, was something else. The leadership shown by Harry Kane who is now for me my modern day Bobby Moore, was at an even higher level than I have seen before and he carried the day. Whatever the (soon to be) great Thomas Tuchel said to the boys at half time worked. 

By the end of the game I felt completely and utterly rinsed out. Emotionally spent. All I wanted  was to get home. Thank god that stadium was fully air conditioned with a roof, it would have been a completely different game for both teams and all the fans under that intense Texas sun.

We met up with Mark and Sam, went back to the car and started on our four hour plus journey. We needed petrol on the way, so guess where we called in? Yep Buc-ee’s again.

We needed to be back in time to do a live piece on BBC5Live Breakfast with Rick Edwards and Rachel Burden at 12.50am local time. It’s always a laugh with those two you can hear it below. 

What a day. England won a crucial game of football and won it well. We had a ball. But you know the best thing that happened? I got a message from the woman looking after my Mum  which said ‘Your Mum has just gone to bed, she’s exhausted after watching the football but she really enjoyed it and knew you and Kirsty were there’.

That brought a tear to my eye. Just like Harry and the boys did a few hours earlier. Nashville next. Fun times ahead.