‘I was shocked at Boxpark to see what it meant to fans’
Injury cost Alex Oxladechamberlain his place at the World Cup, but he did not miss the party ‘It was mayhem. I’d never seen that firsthand, it reminded me what it means to play for England’
Alex Oxladechamberlain recalls the “mayhem” of watching England’s World Cup campaign at Shoreditch Boxpark. It was June 2018 and he had been persuaded to go by his friends. There is energy in his voice as he describes the scene – the first time he had ever, he admits, sat with fans in that way.
“I was shocked,” Oxladechamberlain says. “That was the first time I’ve ever watched a football match with football fans, of my team. I’m either always in the stadium or at home. I’ve never been to a pub where there’s a bunch of Liverpool fans or Arsenal fans and watched it with them, never been to a pub with England fans, or in a big place, to see what it means to them, and I was sat there and could see my mates on the screen doing what I usually do, and how everyone around them was reacting and what it meant to them.
“It was surreal. I was almost idolising them as well. Just seeing them do that and what it was creating around me, I was like, ‘Oh,
my God, that’s Raheem Sterling, look at what he’s done, do I really do that?’ But it was special, what it created, and I got to see that first-hand, in the environment, and it wasn’t what I expected, it was another moment where I realised …”
Oxlade-chamberlain hesitates. He wants to swear but says he had better not, but, given what he has been through, it is understandable. “It was, ‘S---, I’ve missed out on something big here, this is special,’” he says. “Seeing what it meant to people, people rushing in from work, their shirts on, still, their ties, bringing their girlfriend who’s rushed in from the City as well, to me, all the lads, and it was like, everyone, the whole nation, people. I met a couple of doctors there, a couple of boys from the City, a couple of plumbers, all came into Boxpark, and it was just mayhem and meant so much to everyone. I’d never seen that first-hand, so it was really special and sort of a reminder of what it means to play for England and how special that is.”
Oxlade-chamberlain is sitting in the bar at St George’s Park, England’s training base, after being recalled to the squad by Gareth Southgate for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Kosovo. That statement in itself is extraordinary after what happened to him in April 2018 when he was flying with Liverpool, with a Champions League final and that World Cup to look forward to, but he went into a challenge with Roma’s Aleksandar Kolarov, suffering multiple serious injuries to his knee and hamstring.
Oxlade-chamberlain, 26, refers to his right knee, which had to be reconstructed, almost in the third person. “I respect that I have a new knee and it is a new set-up going on in there,” he says. “It is my new normal and I respect that and I know what I need to do. There are certain limitations that might creep up from time to time and I have to keep working. You get used to it.”
Oxlade-chamberlain is a natural optimist. He is appreciative of what he has got and being denied a year of football, two Champions League finals and a third major tournament with England – having also been injured for the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016 – is dealt with. “I do not tend to hold things in or allow myself to get to a place where I am really down,” he explains. “I just kept going, the mentality was I have to get back, that is the only option. I did things throughout, I did hospital visits, it sounds maybe cliched, but seeing kids who were really ill.”
One visit was to Zoe’s Place, the hospice in Liverpool for children up to the age of six, talking to families and playing football with siblings. “You do get times when you do feel sorry for yourself, feeling, ‘I can’t play, I’m on my crutches,’ but there are people so much worse off and I kept reminding myself,” he says.
In 2013, Oxlade-chamberlain was asked to do the voice-over – in 150 seconds – for the Football Association’s 150th anniversary celebrations when he was clearly identified as the future of English football. “It hasn’t all been roses for me, for sure, and I maybe got caught up at a certain age and probably overachieved when I was 18,” he says. “I was doing some special things at a really young age and there is only a very small minority who manage to really kick on to be Lionel Messi, for example.
“But at that point, that was where I wanted to go. I’m in a position now where I’ve just turned 26 and in my mind I still want to go to those places and give myself the best chance to be as good as I can be. I remember I used to think, ‘When I’m 24, I want to be right at the peak of my career, and it’s all right because I’ve still got two years before I’m 24.’
“You categorise it into years because your career is only so long, but then every year would go behind me. By 24, I wanted to have won the Champions League and be scoring 10-15 goals a season. I set myself all these goals all the time but sometimes things just don’t go the way you want them to.
“You have injuries, inconsistency, and I have been inconsistent in the past, for sure. Sometimes it is opportunity and selection, the quality of players around you. It is a very competitive industry and sometimes it doesn’t always go the way you want it.
“But one thing I would say, and why I remain proud of myself, is that I still make sure I come back with the same optimism to improve and to do more. I am still looking forward at, hopefully, a good stint of my career still to go. When I’m 50, I’ll look back on it all and see myself doing the voice-over and piece it all together then.”
Now being back with England is “like something new again” and he has returned to a “new-look” squad. Maybe, he jokes, and after all he has been through, “It’s written in the stars for me to score the winner” in the final of Euro 2020 next summer. “We have to respect what is in front of us and we can dream those dreams,” Oxlade-chamberlain says.