Football’s Not Coming Home, And Some Fans Aren’t Either

In the summer of 2006, I was between jobs, so I sold my soul and worked for FIFA as a volunteer during the World Cup. I ended up in an information booth in the city centre of Nürnberg. It honestly was great fun, and all the visiting fans were really nice, especially the English. We were very happy about that since we had been warned to be careful of English hooligans.

Some of the England fans had come by car and parked in the city instead of out by the stadium. A few of them ended up at our booth because they couldn’t find their cars after the match. They were quite proud, though, that they had written down the name of the street they had parked on. They showed us a piece of paper that had “Einbahnstraße” written on it. We then had to explain that this wasn’t a street name, but a sign saying, “One-Way Street.” We did manage to find their cars, though.

Two days after the England game, a man in his early twenties stumbled up to our booth. He had gotten so drunk after the game that he had fallen asleep in a bush and missed his plane back home.

Since he didn’t have any money, we called his mum and then took him to Western Union to pick up the money she had sent him. We then booked him a flight and took him to the airport.

His mum sent us a thank-you letter for looking after her son.

All of them were absolutely lovely. It just goes to show that one bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole bunch.