Finally, a story about the high-profile England WAGS

How can we be this deep into the European Championship, and we have not written about the England WAGS?

I feel a staff meeting coming on about this obvious oversight, this stunning threat to the public faith of ProSoccerTalk’s ability to point out the important matters in our game.

Or is it, just perhaps, not our fault? Can it be that there’s not much to write about with the notorious England Wives and Girlfriends? (“Wives and Girlfriends … see? WAGS?)

Hmmm. It’s all making sense now that we’ve seen this story emerge from Poland, where England’s men and their high-profile women have pitched their expensive tents for the ongoing tournament. There has been an apparent effort to tone down the wow-wow factor of it all where the once highly styled partners are concerned.

Past major tournaments have seen the meter of sartorial style cranked up to 11 where this Three Lions subset was concerned.  As the Guardian piece linked above explains about England’s 2006 World Cup, when the WAGS fuss factor reached crescendo:

The women tottered around the cobbled streets in vertiginous heels, while their stadium outfits were a treat. Hot pants, hair extensions and £10,000 Hermès handbags were the order of the day for Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole – then married to Ashley – while Nancy Dell’Olio, partner of former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, favoured garish trouser suits.

The Wags shopped for England; one clothing spree came to £57,000. They spent wildly at their hotel, too; almost £600,000 in all. Frank Lampard’s former fiancée, Elen Rives, managed an extras bill of £28,607.

Now, apparently, order and sanity have been mercifully restored. And the team is doing better, too! Connection? Stranger things have happened, I suppose.

(Pictured are Theo Walcott and girlfriend Melanie Slade in a photo taken late last year.)

ProSoccerTalk is doing its best to keep you up to date on what’s going on in Poland and Ukraine. Check out the site’s Euro 2012 page and look at the site’s previews, predictions, and coverage of all the events defining UEFA’s championship.