Being able to watch mighty Togo take on the power of South Korea, everyone joining together in their hatred of Argentina and families sitting together to drink too much while screaming at the TV as England miss another penalty to go home early in disappointment.

But the sudden, temporary obsession with football is very annoying to those of us who live for the game.

And it's not just women - I know loads of women who love their football and know what they are talking about.

It's the fat bloke in the pub who starts telling everyone how rubbish Peter Crouch is (because five goals in four internationals isn't good enough), there are the lads who start chanting 'Theo, Theo' because Aaron Lennon is warming up - while everyone sits rubbing their lucky Rooney's foot for luck.

People who have no interest in football for 47 weeks of the year suddenly start wandering around wearing three lions pretending they know their Scott Carsons from their Frank Carsons.

Just because you watch England games doesn't suddenly mean you are an expert on football. So, don't make a fool out of yourself by trying to talk about it.

I know how tennis fans must feel when Wimbledon comes around. They stay up all night watching the Chinese Open and all everybody cares about is the one week in the year when there are any British players left at Wimbledon.

At least that's only a mercifully brief period though.

The worst thing about all of this is that football doesn't really benefit.

Michael Owen sells a few curries, David Beckham sells some razors and all the companies who have cashed in on the tournament sit back and count their pennies.

I know some of the cash trickles down, but the fans are nowhere to be seen after July.

Clubs like Wrexham, Macclesfield and Rotherham struggle to keep their heads above water - while all the people who spent hundreds of pounds on England merchandise in the summer go back to whatever it is they do.

If you are going to be a summer football bore - at least show you really care about the sport when the real thing starts again in August. There are lots of little teams who could do with your support: Warrington Town, Runcorn, Bolton ...

Football is not just for June - it's for life.