The Unravelling of a Nation

The last good summer: from Euro '96 to Blair's Britain

In the summer of 1996, Great Britain still recognised itself. The air felt lighter, the pubs were fuller, and the streets seemed to carry a brighter hint of colour. England were at Wembley, Scotland were the old enemy, and yet, for that brief moment of Euro ’96, the rivalry felt like a family argument rather than a rehearsal for a separation. When Gazza…