Fans

This past Monday marked another disappointing loss for the England National Football Team as they fell to Iceland in the round of 16 in UEFA Euro 2016.  For fans of England soccer, this is going to be a hard pill to swallow for years to come. However, when you look at the recent history of the club, it may be time to lower expectations a bit. Perhaps England's so-called "early exits" aren't as disappointing or unexpected as fans make them seem. 

We’re well into the summer of soccer, and it’s been an all-consuming affair that leaves little time for anything else. The Euros kickoff early; the Copa America keeps us up late. With all due respect to our friends, family and significant others, we wouldn’t have made a single different lifestyle choice over the past three weeks. Here are 8 signs that you’ve spent all of June doing nothing but watching international soccer.

Russian, English, Slovakian and Croatian fans (and other fan groups) have been the talk of Euro 2016.

Like something out of a cheesy coming of age flick, a 19-year-old Wales fan has been reduced to wearing a onesie for the remainder of his Euro 2016 experience after forgetting his luggage on a train.

Owen Midha, from Swansea, is the unfortunate soul you see pictured above, and here’s how he described his unfortunate situation: 

"I managed to lose my bags on the train here and my good friend Luke lent me this.”

First, our becoming-standard and too-often-used disclaimer for negative stories about fans at Euro 2016: not all Croatians. But, some Croatians. Croatia were playing really well and up 2-1 against the Czech Republic Friday when a group of Croatian fans thought it would be cool to bombard the field with flares.

It was not cool.

Sometimes, when two countries with such rich, intertwined histories as England and Wales compete on the biggest stages in sports, feels are felt. One sad Wales fan was caught on camera during Wales's crushing loss to England and he was feeling some serious feels.

He was feeling all the feels.

Drunken Englishmen have developed a certain reputation for unruly fan behavior, and Nottingham Forest fan Liam Fryer proved solidified that reputation by receiving a three-year ban from matches for allegedly biting a security guard in the crotch. We, as noted American humorist Dave Barry would say, are not making this up.

Here's a fun snippet from the Nottingam Post:

It's time for another international tournament in the form of the European Championships, and while Euro 2016 songs are sparse, they're not nonexistent. 

The greatest story I saw in sports this weekend was not the amazing comeback by the Golden State Warriors who were down 3-1 in the NBA's western conference finals only to win the series 4-3. It was not the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. It was not some of the masterful shots made by Novak Djokovic in the French Open. Instead it was an exhibition match between some blind soccer players who won over the crowd at the UEFA Champions festival.

Earlier this year, the Bundesliga announced that the league had recorded its second-highest Bundesliga attendance ever. A total of 6,478,680 fans attended 153 matches over the first half of the season with an average of 42,344 per game. By contrast, the Premier League averaged 36,452 over the entirety of the season.