Euro 2024: Mixture of support and schadenfreude for England from disappointed Northern Ireland fans

Even then, loyalties will be divided between England and Scotland – with several fans saying they would like to see England do well… up until the point “where the English media becomes insufferable”.​

Euro 2024 gets underway on Friday with hosts Germany taking on Scotland in Munich.

Northern Ireland failed to make the finals following a disappointing qualifying campaign, with Wales and the Republic of Ireland also coming up short.

On social media, former Ulster Unionist MEP Lord Kilclooney has declared his support for Scotland.

Other football fans in Northern Ireland have also been sharing their thoughts ahead of the Euros online.

In response to a request for those supporting England to make themselves known, Glenn Speers summed up what many in NI feel about England at major tournaments, saying: “I’ll root for them up until the point where the English media becomes insufferable, then when they fall at the late stage I’ll indulge in a bit of schadenfreude.

"Just like every other tournament.”

Gary McAllister of the Amalgamation of Northern Ireland Supporters Clubs (AONISC) has described England as “a bit of a Marmite team for some people”.

He said: "There are people who will want the other home nations to do well, but other people see them as other rival teams, and look on them as local rivals.

"So there are different opinions. One friend of mine will support the Netherlands, because he grew up watching the great Dutch teams over the decades and developed an affinity with them as a second team. He loved watching the likes of Rijkaard, van Basten, Gullit when he was a kid.

"There certainly will be divided loyalties during the tournament, but I think people are looking forward to it, because when you don’t have a tournament at the end of a season it’s a long time to wait for competitive football to come back around.

Asked if some local fans have no interest in a Euros without Northern Ireland involvement, the AONISC chairman said: "I think there is still a lot of interest in the tournament. Obviously we are not part of it this time, and more often than not that is the case, but fans will just look forward to getting their football fix".

Commenting on the prospect of Michael O’Neill's young team having a good qualifying campaign for Euro 2028, Mr McAllister said: "People realise that we need to be patient, but they can see that we have a lot of potentially outstanding young players.

"Conor Bradley is obviously the stand-out player, but even players like Ethan Galbraith… who came on for us on Tuesday, and Ross McCausland and Shea Charles.

"People have hope, but they realise it’s going to take a little bit of time”.

In terms of his own prediction for a winner, he said the Euros has a habit of throwing up surprises.

"The Netherlands might do okay. It’s always hard to see past the big nations – the likes of Germany, France and England – but sometimes in the Euros it’s one of the less fancied teams that does well, as we’ve seen in the past with Denmark and Greece winning the tournament.

"But I do think it’s hard to see past Germany with home advantage. They will certainly be in with a shout.”