The European football championships are breaking records, but they are hardly visible in the street scene outside of game days, even at the game locations, writes Urheilu’s Hinni Hirvonen.
Finland will face Germany in the final game of the first group on Saturday at 22:00. Live broadcast of the match from 21:00 on TV1 and Areena. You can listen to the match on Puhe from 21:30.
The center of Milton Keynes is almost deserted on a Friday afternoon. The office buildings surrounding the center are slowly starting to empty, and people are heading to spend the weekend.
England are playing their last match of the pre-season in a few hours, but there is not a single football shirt to be seen. In two weeks, we have seen two roadside advertisements about the Games in the city, one of which was located near the stadium.
It is impossible to tell from the environment.
On match days in England, we have been looking for a pub with cats and dogs where we could watch the match with commentary – without success. We have sprinkled the game on screens smaller than your own home television, which have been placed in a restaurant with more than a hundred seats that calls itself a sports pub. Many times we have given up and watched the game on our own laptop while eating dinner.
That is, in the homeland of football.
Also our mission today is to find locals to talk about football culture and city pride, the England captain from Leah Williamson, is proving to be one of the most challenging of the career. When we finally find an old gentleman who is passionate about football, it becomes clear after talking for a while that it is about men’s football – unfortunately he does not follow women’s football.
Most people pass us by saying they don’t care about football.
After an hour of hunting and a few changes of places, we manage to get a few football lovers in front of the camera. This old gentleman knows how to tell that the whole town is very proud of Williamson. He describes Milton Keynes’ football culture as divided.
– Most of the city’s residents have their roots elsewhere and their love for their hometown has remained, the man opens.
Let’s be honest: Milton Keynes is an unfair benchmark. The city’s football pride, MK Dons, was founded just 18 years ago, on the remains of Wimbledon FC. Due to financial difficulties, the traditional London club moved about a hundred kilometers away to Milton Keynes, despite the opposition of the club’s supporters, because Milton Keynes, a city of more than 200,000 inhabitants, lacked a football club, and the city, known for business and prosperity, was considered a good place for business.
In 2007, a stadium for more than 30,000 spectators was completed in the city, where four matches of the summer European Championships will also be played. The other countries in the group will play two matches in London at the Brentford stadium, but Helmarit will play all three of their matches in Milton Keynes.
Quick visits to Manchester and London haven’t spoken about its bigger addiction. According to a street poll conducted in the center of Manchester, 95 percent of the city’s residents hate football.
That is, in Manchester, which breathes football!
There are also exceptions: the waiter at the fast food restaurant knows that Helmarit is playing in the death block and regrets the hard fate. A young boy says he’s a fan Lucy Bronze and that he is looking forward to tonight’s match. At the bus stop, you may come across an ad for a soft drink company, whose mannequins are the players of the English women’s national football team.
In your own soccer bubble, social media shows pictures of full fan zones and passionate fans in full or nearly full stadiums. These pictures and videos have been a pleasure to watch.
Finnish fans have brought color and atmosphere to gray Milton Keynes as well. On Tuesday, Danish fans also crowded the fan area and the atmosphere was sometimes downright rowdy.
However, that is only part of the truth.
Outside of game days, another reality quickly dawns on the eyes: in London, the board at the train station already reminds of the Commonwealth Games that will be held in Birmingham at the end of the month.
You can find everything about the European football championships: games, background stories, news and highlights on ‘s competition pages.