“Football’s coming home again, with Thomas Tuchel…”
One of my earliest memories of FEJS came a good few weeks before my first event. When I was added to the WhatsApp group and was faced with a bunch of strangers from across Europe – a few months after the end of EURO 2024, I realised I had to make an impression that would make me stand out. So, I went for the bold strategy of using football to make friends/enemies:
It was, admittedly, very cheeky of me, and I’m quite surprised members of the Dutch delegation actually talked to me by the time we got to Dortmund…
Nonetheless, two years on I’m now a FEJS regular (and current Executive Board Treasurer) and have even began to take trips to see the friends I’ve made beyond just our conferences. But let me bring it back to football.
As someone who happily watch any sport you put in front of me, nothing brings the world together like football. And that’s something I’ve found out all too well through FEJS. I mean, where else would fans of PSV Eindhoven, Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Coimbrões and Doncaster Rovers come together twice a year and swap merchandise? But if the 2026 World Cup has proved one thing to me, it’s that football truly transcends borders.
It has been so much fun to be part of WhatsApp groups discussing matches as they’re unfolding, reacting to news surrounding the tournament and sending each other reels and memes on Instagram and beyond. And yes, obviously there is some good-natured banter between nations represented at FEJS when they are playing, but it’s been great to go into games involving countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and Portugal actively wanting them to win, rather than simply being indifferent, because you know it’ll make your friends happy.
If, this time two years ago, you’d have told me I’d have been watching an England match at 2.30am alongside my friend from Germany, who was also watching it, and you were both rooting for the same side, I wouldn’t have believed you. Same with the fact I recently went to my local pub with someone from Germany and someone from the Netherlands (both of whom I met through FEJS), and we were all backing the Three Lions. I can’t wait to basically turn my family home into a European hotel when EURO 2028 is held in the British Isles…
It’s only thanks to FEJS I have been able to experience these wonderful moments and share them with such wonderful people. If you have never been to a FEJS event before and are considering Ljubljana, DO IT! The friendships you make will go beyond journalism networking, and they will last for life. I am truly privileged to have found such amazing people who are united in their love for the beautiful game, regardless of the flag they represent.
Have you read this and now yearn for similar experiences? Applications are still open to join us for our next event in Slovenia! Find more information here and apply here until Monday 20th July. See you in September?