‘WAGS’ is an insult to these steadfast supporters
Isn’t it time to shelve the term WAG, or at least ditch all connotations of flashy, trashy, look-at-me self-satisfaction?
This year the England team have behaved impeccably and their partners have stayed in the background, supporting rather than upstaging the players.
The often illogical passions inspired by football – whether playing, watching, celebrating or mourning en masse – is the second-best definition of unconditional love. The first is the sight of Ashley Young fiercely hugging his daughter Ellearna, Kieran Trippier cradling his son Jacob, as their wives stood silently by, faces etched with sadness.
I surely wasn’t the only one getting mistyeyed at the photos of Gareth Southgate being comforted by his wife of 20 years, Alison, mother of his two teenage children?
As they stood wordlessly embracing in an empty stand, it was a moment of aching tenderness. His vulnerability, her empathy; he’s a big bloke, standing 6ft in his waistcoat but for that instant, her slender, stoical shoulders took the weight of his woes.
In these pages we recently referred to wives and girlfriends as Every women. Maybe it will catch on; WAG is too dismissive a label for the steadfast women who support the men who represented the nation.