Nostalgia. It's not what it used to be

Some people say nostalgia isn’t what it used to be but I have been reminiscing about Euro 96, which took place in England 25 years ago.
Now I know this event probably isn’t celebrated by many but the football tournament meant a lot to me and my BIL (brother-in-law).
We had become England members a few years earlier and watched home games whenever we could. We lived in different parts of the UK and these games gave us a chance to enjoy a regular boys’ day out if nothing else.
We would meet just off the M25, leave one car there and then drive to Wembley in the other.
At one match in late 1993/ early 1994 I picked up a brochure offering England members first dibs at applying for tickets for the 1996 European Championships being held in eight cities across the country.
Worth a try, I thought. Probably won’t get any. So early in 1994 I applied for tickets for each of the six matches at Wembley.
Much to my surprise I received a letter in March that year informing me I had been successful and had been allocated two tickets for each of the three England games, a quarter final, a semi-final and the final, all at Wembley.
Total cost £580. I called BIL and asked him if he would send me £290. Why, he said. I had to admit that I hadn’t mentioned applying for the tickets as I didn’t think I would get any so it was something of a surprise for him.
Fortunately he was delighted and said payment would be on the way.
Two years later, on June 8, 1996, we were at Wembley Stadium for the opening ceremony and the first England game, against Switzerland, which ended 1-1.
Wins over Scotland (2-0) on June 15 and the Netherlands (4-1) on June 18 followed.
A rather squeaky penalties win over Spain in the quarter-final on June 22 set up a semi-final against Germany on June 26. Spoiler alert – Germany won on penalties.
Although disappointed that we wouldn’t see Shearer, Gascoigne, Sheringham et al in the final on June 30 we still enjoyed it, with Germany edging the Czech Republic 2-1.
We thought football was coming home after 30 years of hurt. It didn’t completely but it made for a wonderful summer.
I’ve been a bit of a football fan (can you tell?) all my adult life and have been fortunate to see many memorable finals.
It all started with the 1973 FA Cup Final, Leeds v Sunderland, at Wembley. In those days I played for a local Sunday morning team and we applied, via our county football association, for FA Cup Final tickets. Our team was allocated two. Two of us left leafy Hertfordshire that Saturday morning – but only one of us watched the game.
As we walked down Wembley Way we were asked if we wanted to sell our tickets. I said no every time. So did my teammate. Until someone offered him ten times the ticket value. That’s the last time I saw Dick until our next Sunday game.
I ended up with a wonderful, vocal group of Sunderland supporters and had a magical day. And evening in the West End!
Then there was the last ever FA Amateur Cup final in April 1974. Bishop’s Stortford was where I lived and whose team I followed.
A memorable away day by train to the North East for the semi-final again Ashington at Roker Park ended in a 0-0 draw. With the replay at Brentford won it was on to Wembley and a 4-1 win against Ilford 1.
I have also seen a league cup final, between Chelsea and Arsenal in 2007 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff and a Charity Shield game between Arsenal and Manchester United at Wembley in 1993.
But I guess the most unusual game I have ever seen was the Gambia’s 1-0 Africa Cup of Nations 1st round win over Togo in April 1979.
I was in the Gambia on a press trip and our hosts had planned a visit to the Roots Village. Roots was a massive TV show that had first aired in the UK in 1977 and the Gambia opened the village as a new tourist attraction.
A fellow hack and I decided this wasn’t really our scene and asked the concierge at our hotel if there was anything else happening in the Banjul area that day.
Which is how we ended up watching our first, and last, Africa Cup of Nations match.