And while Holland conceded some regret at the passing of these passions, he is pleased that most fans are not "so blinkered any more".
The blinkered insularity prevalent in England may be gauged from the fact that Frank Coles, the Daily Telegraph correspondent, asked himself how the Hungarians would fare against an English club team fighting for points in midwinter.
Setting goals for yourself can be a positive step forward, but it can also leave you blinkered and unable to see the unexpected opportunities that might come your way.
Unfortunately, our blinkered major political parties, business lobbies and media refuse to see the global carbon budget emergency because they are preoccupied with the self-interest of parochial budget figures.
We were wilfully blinkered, probably, on the exact details of this last point.
It's a very blinkered opinion to just think of it as bad.
This blinkered view is alarming.
In October 1997, half of those surveyed said it was more important to be in the right country and only 20% said that the sector was the key.Even so, a blinkered sectoral strategy for Europe is not yet enough.
But such blinkered defence of a middle-class perk can only undermine his efforts to restore some credibility to his party.Mr Blair's problems are, however, mostly with his own party.
More western sensitivity to Arab concerns and a less blinkered Arab prickliness about the sacredness of sovereignty in countries with vicious regimes and about the nobility of "resistance" to any government that is friendly to the United States.
The Taliban's blinkered atavism, for example, is abhorrent to nearly everyone else.
