It suddenly dawns on me quite how momentous this occasion is.
As a teenage England fan, I’ve only been alive for 22 per cent of the matches this historic football team has ever played.
So I can’t claim to remember England’s emphatic victory over the Dutch at Euro ’96. Nor do I recall that last-minute David Platt winner against Belgium at Italia ’90. I never saw Gary Lineker’s Golden Boot showing at Mexico ’86, and it seems an age ago that Bobby, Bobby and Nobby lifted the big one in 1966.
Alongside Scotland, the England national football team is the oldest international side in world football. It’s a team steeped in history and a team that has captured the hopes and dreams of countless players, managers, fans and pundits over the years.
Football itself had to grow from somewhere, and that somewhere was the very first moment that the sport and its rules were codified – an event that founded the FA, back in 1863.
From this day on, the FA and the England team have been at the forefront of success and evolution in football, both on and off the pitch.
In England’s first match, they faced Scotland in 1872; a 0-0 draw had kicked off what now stands at 147 years of international football.
The players that represented England that day were almost universally drawn from the aristocratic, cricket-playing corners of the country. It was commonplace for England players in the 19th Century to also sit on a committee for a cricket team and to pursue a career as a successful lawyer, all at once.
Today, England’s players are millionaires. They dedicate an incredible amount of their early lives to becoming one of the best players in the world at the most competitive sport in the world. The sport, and thus this team, has changed over time.
But what has, and always will, remain a constant is the hunger, pride and passion that each and every England international feels when they represent their country at the activity they love so much.
When England’s players step out onto the pitch on Thursday, they will have the chance to secure qualification for next summer’s UEFA EURO 2020 Finals – a tournament in which England could play all their group-stage matches right here at Wembley.
But this week’s game with Montenegro has been dominated by a different matter altogether. The match will mark England’s 1000th fixture and the eleven players that step out for this milestone match will carry immense pride in their hearts at being one of the chosen men.
And so will the fans. Because Three Lions fans are some of the best and most dedicated supporters anywhere.
When the players line up to sing the national anthem, a white and red mass around Wembley will pick itself up and do the same. What brings them all together? The passion of England’s national football team.
Thursday’s fixture is the 1000th chapter in a carefully crafted, never-ending thriller. It’s a book you just can’t put down.
You can read more from Dom Smith on his blog at EnglandFootball.org or follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
