An hour before midday and the car pulls up in Whitinsville, a sleepy village of 7,000 lying south-east of Boston. A St George’s flag flutters in the breeze. That’s probably the house, then.
Andrew Heavens, a Hull City supporter who occasionally slips in and out of a Yorkshire lilt, waits with the teas and tins. Yorkshire tea or Carlsberg. Jon Ashley, Manchester City, has done the hour drive from Boston to come this far, although we’re still a while off the Gillette Stadium of the New England Patriots for Ghana later.
Once Graham Jordison – Liverpool, from Durham – arrives, the trio of expats are complete, regaling tales of their very British local six-a-side team who perennially lose on a Tuesday night.
This is England’s Massachusetts branch and none of them were missing a slice of home, a chance to watch Thomas Tuchel’s side, on their doorstep. The cost is ridiculous, tickets around €700 (£531). By the time we set off on the final leg, moseying through quaint spots like Uxbridge and Bellingham, the lion hats are out, mane and all.
They would later become a serious hit, honking horns as we walk from the car and then steady queues for pictures outside the bars. David Bentley came over for a chat. So did ESPN.
The Three Lions. The Three Lions who paid $100 (£76) for parking. An expensive do for a goalless draw.
Daily Mail Sport spent the day with three expats living in the US for England’s game with Ghana (pictured – Andrew Heavens, Graham Jordison and Jon Ashley)
Despite the frustrating result, the trio still had a memorable day watching their nation in action
‘I was a season ticket holder at City until 2010 and the cost of this ticket is more than any season ticket I ever had,’ Ashley says. ‘I didn’t want to have the fear of missing out. I knew all these people around me who were coming to this game, to have this great experience, and I didn’t want to hear about it second hand.’
They met on the Boston Brits Facebook page, populated by thousands. And there is a belief that those signed up on that are probably more patriotic than they ever would be at home. A craving for British food is particularly obvious among members. ‘Greggs is glorified beyond belief,’ Ashley laughs.
There is a self-reflection to Ashley, married to a Texan and who has been in America for over a decade. He compares the US to the UK, talks the pros and cons of life. Having Tuchel’s England within an hour of his house stirs more than just sporting feelings. Gun crime, healthcare, the finances involved in living in this country.
In Whitinsville, Heavens reveals how in his early years here that the only way of interacting with Hull matches was to find a suspect radio feed. Not so difficult these days, every game beamed live on TV. He wants to gather momentum for a ‘Hull bar’ in nearby Worcester but it feels somewhat unlikely. The Nottingham Forest fan living over the road wouldn’t be overly interested, anyway.
He’s saying this to the backdrop of Arctic Monkeys over the speaker and with books written by Richard Osman resting on cabinets, smirking at the time his partner asked why they were going to Rotherham when visiting his family in Yorkshire. ‘You’ve got to plan an away game around the trip home too.’
As the lion gear comes out, Jamie Cutteridge, who is over in the States for the tournament from Luton, becomes the unwitting photographer.
Ashley sourced his ticket from Cutteridge, who is taking in five matches before flying back. ‘We do need a separate payment plan – genuinely,’ he says. ‘But it’s one of those things where it’s like you could, if you wanted to stick to a budget in America, you would have to miss out on so much. You wouldn’t really ever be able to do anything fun.
‘Everything else has been getting more expensive. And I know that’s true in England as well. But I was telling the guys at the pub last night that everything in America is just extreme compared to the UK.
‘It’s very similar in a lot of respects, but everything’s just more – and bigger.’
Ashley has an engagement later. Tuesday night, six-a-side. A 10pm kick off awaits. Most likely a defeat, even if their day had been a triumph.
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