Why I support Spain

This Eurocopa has been the most enjoyable of experiences mainly because England weren't in it. This has meant that I've been able to give my undivided loyalty to Spain, and there's been a lot more 'buen rollo' down the bar with my mates.

The whole experience has been a revelation, and only hints at what supporting a football team really means in emotional terms. Furthermore, as this is the first time I've been a Spain fan after 20 years in the country, it has made me think about what my pluricultural identity is made up of.

The team I first supported was (and is) Nottingham Forest. There's no mystery to this. I was born in Nottingham and I think my Dad took me down the City Ground for the first time when I was three. When we moved up to Cheshire when I was 11, supporting Forest was a statement of my difference, already obvious because of my accent, from the other kids, who supported Liverpool, Everton, Man U or City. Their success (or lack of it) is something burned on my soul. I could never not support Forest, even though I'm not particularly active - it's difficult to follow a team that isn't in the Premiership, if you live abroad because there's very little in the press or on telly. This means you can't talk about the team with your mates because only the diehard fans (and luckily I do know some of these loonies) bother to follow the lower English divisions. Also, for me, football has always been a social event. I prefer to watch the match down the bar rather than at home so I can argue the toss with fellow (and opposing) fans.