People Review the Tattoos They Got When England Were Being Surprisingly Good at the World Cup

We all got a little bit ahead of ourselves this World Cup, didn't we? The "It's Coming Home" thing was obviously a joke, but also, actually: was it? When your national football team is performing better than they have in years, bringing England together in the process and making weekday work hangovers totally justifiable, it's very easy to get carried away.

So carried away, in fact, that you might want to get a World Cup tattoo to memorialise those glorious few weeks. I spoke to a few people who did exactly that, asking them how they feel about their tattoos now the tournament is over.

Two weeks before the World Cup, SoccerBible had launched the new issue of their magazine, and this guy called "Learntohate" was doing free tattoos. In hindsight, it was probably me being in the pub that triggered the reckless mode, even if the tattooist said it was a great choice for a first tat.

The reason I got the tat was because, when I was younger, I'd seen France '98 on and I'd fallen in love with the French team, especially being a Gunner, and I was determined to meet my heroes. So one day I packed my Paddington Bear suitcase and passport, and headed for Bristol airport. I stayed at the bus stop for two hours and got cold feet, came back home and my mum didn't seem to care, or have noticed I was gone! Essentially, the World Cup represents my first love, and seeing it every day does genuinely make me feel all warm inside.

As much it hurts, being an Arsenal fan, I was convinced Kane would carry England past the semis. But in terms of the future, England has a vast amount of talented players with huge potential. I'm sure Southgate will be able to build on this World Cup and utilise the squad available to him. It'll be tough, but I feel like the experience from this current crop of players, mixed with some hungry, fearless youngsters, will help England go a long way in the Euros.

I got it after the Panama game, at about 5AM. Bear in mind that it kicked off at 1PM and we'd been getting on it since 11AM. I guess that's what 16 hours of booze and drugs in the Algarve does to you. It was a long day, interspersed by plenty of 90s dance music – "Sandstorm", "Sing It Back" and so on.

I think – there's a slight blackout period – but I think I went straight from the club to the tattoo parlour. Suddenly I was in the chair, and the tattoo artist did it pretty well considering how fidgety and fucked I was. She literally said, "Pay me 50 euros," and that was that.

At that point I didn't think we’d win the cup, but once we got past Belgium I thought the run was achievable. The way I see it, if I live until I'm 70, that's another 13 World Cups, so it isn't dated. It'll probably come home at some point. I do work for a beer company, so I live a life of semi-drunkenness, choosing not to think or regret much.

In terms of the Euros, it depends how much the younger lads who've had success in the youth teams get a chance in the Premiership. Nobody can predict it, but I feel like people actually give a shit about England for the first time in years, so the support will be there. We'll just have to see if that comes with overwhelming pressure like it has before.

It was just after the Panama game finished. Londonboy [Londonboy Tattooer] was at my house with a few mates, watching the game, and was tattooing something else on me, and the game was just goal after goal, so I just went, "Whack the score line on me too, will be funny." I was actually pretty sober, only had a couple cans, but it's funny because I don’t even follow football – I just wanted something to annoy a load of Scottish people. The majority of my tattoos are just 'cos I think it's funny at the time, but they mean something too because they bring back good memories.

Me and Londonboy were just laughing. He initially wanted to do it smaller, but I just thought, 'If I'm gonna do something dumb I might as well go full whack.' I did think we'd make the final, but thought France would win. I loved what it did to the country, though. I've never seen the country be so nice about itself – like, everyone was proud for once.

My girlfriend hates the tattoo, though, like proper hates it. She's fuming about it. I just laugh at it, me. It went a little viral and ended up in some podcasts and stuff, so it's all just a laugh. I rate that, though, 'cos I'm that type of person – like I'd rather laugh than cry. It gets me mad tips at work, too; fellas see it and are like, "Yoooo, that's sick, here's a tip." Made about £25 in one shift last week from it, bonus.

I'd had a few to drink, and I rarely drink, so was feeling elated after the Sweden game and just decided that I would get a Southgate tattoo if England won the World Cup. Then my mate tweeted me asking if I would get their version of him done if their fundraising for cancer research reached two grand. I'd had another couple at that point, so I thought it was a worthy cause to get behind. We've all been affected by cancer, and the kids at the school [he works at] were drawing Panini World Cup stickers to sell for the Bobby Moore Fund and Above and Beyond to raise money after two parents had died from bowel cancer, so I thought I'd get one of their Southgates to commemorate that.

The tattoo artist was really good about it, after a little initial hesitation. He's called Jay – he works at All Style Tattoos in Barrow-in-Furness – and once he knew the meaning behind it he was more than happy to do it for free.

It's been such a great summer with the weather and England getting to the semi-finals, especially when the country's been so divided in recent years. So I look at my tattoo with pride for helping a great cause, and to remember a great period where we all united behind the team for a few weeks, until the divisions started again, what with Brexit and all. In terms of the Euros? Suspend betting, we've got it in the bag already.

@tom_usher_