Monthly Archives: July 2026

We had a great night’s sleep and turned our attention to using our last day in Atlanta wisely. We had gambled and booked flights to Mexico City on the off chance we would beat DR Congo. The gamble paid off. But first Kirsty had a BBC interview to do.

I’ve been to Atlanta a few times when the videogames show E3 was here, but it was another new city and state for Kirsty. We were impressed by the ‘Southern Hospitality’ which was pretty evident not least the contrast between cab drivers in Atlanta and those in New York. We had three amazing cab drivers, all quite different and all big advocates for Atlanta even though they had all relocated here from other states, two having come from New York and the other from Detroit.

Donald, no irony please, picked us up from the airport and was so laid back, literally, he was in the back seat with us. With his bandana, Prada shades and jewellery, he reminded me of Layfayette from True Blood and his looks and mannerisms really rammed that impression home. He appeared a tad cold on the current US president to say the least. He loved Atlanta as ‘you can choose your pace in this city brother’ and never wanted to leave.

Rod had what could only be described as a massive 4×4 come truck cab with an array of internal disco lights. He was a big man, with a booming but warm voice. Rod and I discussed the reasons why he loved Atlanta and for him it stemmed from the fact that in his words, Atlanta was the first city in the South to ‘open up’ as a result of the Civil Rights movement. Major US corporations had decided to locate their headquarters here for sound business reasons, something I had not ever realised. CNN, Coca Cola, Delta Airlines, UPS, Home Depot and more were major employers and contributors to the city. Rod was hilarious and just laughed and laughed when I asked him what he thought of the US president. ‘Huh, we stuck wid him now for a few more years, but he’s gone soon, he just wants to make as much money as he can, he don’t care about us’. When I suggested that the word buffoon was potentially applicable, he guffawed so loud it made me jump out of my seat.

Ronnie was a whole different story, but equally hilarious. He picked us up in his Tesla and in between rally driving around Atlanta, he asked Grok some questions. ‘Hey Grok, I am with some Brits and they are asking me about their football’. Grok then proceeded to tell us that we were ‘tea sipping Limey ***s and we loved a game played by ponces who can stand being hurt’. The three of us laughed so loud we forgot to notice the speed we were driving at. When I asked X about his views on you know who, he burst into laughter and told us both that he was a complete ***t.

On a serious note, Atlanta was the birth place of Civil Rights campaigner Martin Luther King Jnr, which all three of the boys and Mitch who we met up with at the match, had specifically mentioned. There is a big memorial park and significant buildings that featured in Martin Luther King Jnr’s life.

So we decided to visit the The King Center which was in Downtown. We went there via the MARTA and had a 15 minute walk from the King Memorial station. This was properly Downtown and I am not sure Kirsty was that comfortable walking. It was so incredibly hot and humid, and as we found out later, the hottest day of the year so far in Atlanta, never great for anyone’s mood!

We saw the Ebenezer Baptist Church where Martin Luther King Jnr had preached to his congregation and the row of houses that he lived in as a young boy.

His actual house was being restored, due to open on Independence Day on Saturday, which was a shame as we missed it by two days.

The Old Fire Station housed a lot of artefacts on a temporary basis as the main visitor centre was also undergoing refurbishment. All in all it was well worth visiting given the historic significance of Martin Luther King Jnr and the Civil Rights Movement in the US.

I can remember watching the news as a very young boy when the reports of his assassination came through on the BBC. Something about Martin Luther King Jnr resonated with me at a very early age and I remember my Mum telling me about the racial discrimination in the US back then. She told me that Martin Luther King Jnr’s mother had told her young son after he had been prevented from mixing with his white friends, ‘you are just as good as them son’. That stuck with me and I think it meant something special to my Mum who had suffered discrimination as a young girl at school during the war given she was Italian and the Italians had started on the wrong side in that war.

At his funeral, his coffin was transported on a simple donkey cart and over 20,000 people paid their respects and lined the streets. The man who had always said that all protest must be non-violent met a violent death, but his example and inspiration was key to the Civil Rights Movement making key changes to equality that the country and the people so desperately needed.

Kirsty and I then indulged ourselves and took a driverless cab back to Midtown to meet Colin and watch Spain demolish Austria 3-0 in a great sports bar called Midtown Hudson Grille.

Two more games to watch, a real thriller between 41 year old Ronaldo’s Portugal and 40 year old Modric’s Croatia. It ended up 2-1 rather controversially with VAR again but delivered the best second half of the tournament so far.

Mexico City awaits now and a date with destiny.

All things must pass, but please god, please not today.

Yet another early start, up and out of our hotel for 9am for a midday kick off in the 95 degree heat. A quick walk to the Midtown Station on the MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transport Authority) public transport system, southbound to Five Points, change and then to Vine City and the stadium.

All the trains were heaving with supporters, loads of England, Columbia, Mexico, USA, Congo and Brazil shirts. We met a lovely American couple, Greg and Amy who we got talking to. Greg had been to nine World Cups, Amy had been to four, Kirsty five and myself 11. So between us we had been to 29. Greg had a 1986 England shirt on and Amy a Spurs shirt, but both had Kane on the back. I did say to them that it was a sign that King Harry would get two goals today. Greg laughed and said he hoped I was right and we made our way into the stadium.

And what a stadium the Mercedes Benz stadium is. Fully air conditioned and built by Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United and founder of Home Depot, this is by far and away the best stadium we have visited so far. Opened in 2017, at a cost of $1.6bn, it’s the most expensive stadium ever built. Famous also for its ‘Pinwheel’ roof which stayed closed and fans first pricing.

We witnessed the Halo Board: A 360-degree, 58-foot-tall, and 1,100-foot-long HD video screen, the first and largest of its kind in professional sports which picked up so many fans during the game and on BBC News later.

Mr Blank has revolutionised stadium food costs, offering significantly reduced “street-priced” concessions, so here a beer was only $9 vs $19 in Dallas and $24 in New Jersey. Every English football team needs its very own Arthur Blank, Mr Kretinsky please take note!

We grabbed a few ice cold beers and found Colin who had managed to get a place in the accessible platform. We picked up a couple of souvenir cups for Barrie and start to get ready for the kick off. We also bumped into Thomas a Newcastle United fan from the FSA. Always great to see him and appreciate the work Free Lions do for us on the ground when England play away.

It’s do or die time now and this always brings me to a very, very anxious place. Not many people understand why I get so anxious, I don’t really understand it either and can only put it down to the years and years of travelling to support England only to end in disappointment. Lose today and we go home. ‘Twas ever thus.

The teams came out and the National Anthems were impeccably respected by all fans. Well done England fans again for showing that respect, the Karma Police and our team always appreciate that.

We were right behind the goal in amongst it all atmosphere wise and as usual we stood up for the whole game. It was so tense and yet again England made a very poor start this time conceding an early goal up the other end. Our defence was all over the place, not for the first time out here and that could be our ultimate undoing.

We drifted through to half time and hoped that the next 45 minutes would yield salvation, although it must be said that the Congo goalie, Lionel Mpasi made at least four great saves. But Wissa also hit the post for them. So the game was wide open.

The ice cold beers on top of a breakfast-free stomach started to take their toll and the gents were definitely calling. Substitutes were being made by Thomas Tuchel and it felt very much the last roll of the dice to all of us. There are screens everywhere in this stadium and just as I was headed back to my seat Harry Kane got his goal. Another cracking header. That was such a huge relief and I felt would get us properly back in the game. I think that goal was on 75 mins, and by the time I got back to Kirsty everyone was going mad.

The family in front of us, a dad Matt and his two young sons, Charlie and Toby all Evertonians, had been properly down in the dumps, one of the boys being in tears as soon as Congo had scored. The young couple next to us, both Baggies fans, had delayed getting a house and a dog to be here for the World Cup, and were now starting to believe too.

A few minutes later, Harry Kane nailed his second goal. It was hit so hard and travelled so fast none of us, including Mpasi, really saw it, and only realised it was a goal until when the net just bulged. Beer went up in the air and limbs were everywhere. The collective joy was simply incredible and the feeling of sheer relief was everywhere. I’ve not seen joy like that since Gary Lineker scored that equaliser in Turin in Italia 90.

It felt like all we needed to now was hold on. I have no idea how much extra time was played, but it ran out eventually along with my finger nails and we won, and that’s all that matters. Mexico in the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City lay in waiting.

At the end of the game, the England team stood in front of us whilst us fans serenaded them with ‘Wonderwall’. It was obvious that it meant a lot to our boys. We will need to be as one inside The Azteca Stadium on Sunday.

Colin and I met up with Mitch, an Atlanta United supporter post game and had a great chat. So many people we have met in Atlanta are so friendly and so proud of their city and region. Mitch was a great example of this and a big fan of Mr Arthur Blank.

Kirsty, myself and Colin then meandered out of the stadium and headed to a bar our friends from New York had recommended. Heidi (the joint host of the rooftop party in New York) and Anthony (who we had also met at the party) had been given tickets for the game at short notice so had flown in the previous day. They were joined by their friend Owen who lived in Atlanta. Taffer’s in Midtown was suitably fitted out with big screens and was more than comfortable.

We watched the Belgium vs Senegal (3-2) game and then the USA vs Bosnia Herzegovina (2-0) game together with Mark and Sam. We had to do another BBC5Live interview live from a toilet this time.

Another cracking evening of football with lovely people was had. It really is what the World Cup is all about.

Kirsty and I walked back to our hotel, exhausted and hot.

We did another quick piece for BBC5Live Breakfast and then to bed.

Footnote – the lovely West Brom supporting couple who we now know to be Eb and George, who we stood next to in the ground, only turned out to be friends of our niece Tabitha. Tabbie had seen us on TV standing next to them and had messaged Kirsty. What are the chances of that happening!!

It’s four hours to go before kick off at midday here in the impressive Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta and my nerves are predictably frayed. Win today and we head back forty years on to The Azteca Stadium in Mexico City for a massive game with Mexico. Lose and we are out of the World Cup and another four years to wait until we can have another crack at it.

We arrived at Atlanta from New York yesterday. Sadly, we missed Norway beating Ivory Coast 2-1. The flight arrived early but we then couldn’t get a slot to unload the aircraft. So early became late and then even more delays happened with everyone’s luggage. We need to get a crack on as we were due to go to the Atlanta Braves vs St Louis Cardinals baseball game at Truist Park 10 miles or so out of the city, which was due to start at 7.15pm.

Colin had got the tickets and was up at the stadium well in advance. Sam and Mark were also headed there too. It was 95 degrees outside and really humid.

We were against the clock, so needs must and public transport gave way to a cab. The traffic was heavy, to be expected given it was match day.

We finally got to the stadium at 6.30pm, met with Colin, Mark and Sam at the Live Bar and sorted the tickets out via the ubiquitous Ticketmaster app and went in. We caught the back end of France demolishing Graeme Potter’s Sweden 3-0. France look unstoppable, I just can’t see them being beaten right now!

The sun was out, the crowd was in great spirits and the tickets were only $17.50 each, so all good.

I’ve been to baseball before, but Kirsty hadn’t. I have a vague idea of the rules but our seats were high up and trying to track the ball from the pitcher was a challenge to say the least. As the game went on I started to understand what was happening more and more. Given time, I could get into baseball.

There were loads of England fans at the game and the between plays entertainment was plentiful and mostly distracting. It’s not hard to see why and how our sports are going this way – think T20 cricket for example. But you can’t knock the inclusive entertainment on offer for the whole family that happens out here.

The game was decent, but the Braves lost 5-3 which was disappointing really.

We had planned to head back to the Live Bar to watch Mexico vs Ecuador. Kirsty and Colin had headed over there earlier to get a spot but it was rammed with Mexican fans and the queue to get in was two hours. Kick off had been delayed by an hour because of an electrical storm in the area and everyone was getting a little tetchy. We made the tactical decision to head back into town and catch the game in a bar. Mexico ran out easy two nil winners, so if England were to beat Dr Congo, we will play Mexico in Mexico City. And that really would be a game.

We did a quick piece for BBC5Live Breakfast and got some sleep.

But all of this is in the future, and that game against Mexico won’t happen if we don’t win today. It’s do or die. I reckon it will be 2-2, go to penalties and we win it, just. Win today and we are halfway there, right now we are all living on a prayer.

And just as I write this we had a call with my Mum and Dad, which was lovely. Mum always worries about me when I am away at football, but Dad has always been calm and wished me the best. He did that again today and it brought a tear to my eye.

Come on Mum and Dad, come on England!

And now….this stadium is off the scale