Englaland, England, Ingerland?

An end to cries of 'Ingerland' will, for many, be one of the silver linings on the cloud that was England's world cup exit. If you're supporting your country, you should at least be able to get the name right, surely?

And yet, of course, it didn't start off as 'England'. When the name first came into use, more than a thousand years ago, it was 'Englaland' – land of the Angles. That's also what it continued to be for hundreds of years thereafter. So, while it's not quite the same, you could say that football fans are, by adding the extra syllable, just returning the nation's name to a closer approximation of the original.

Is there anything wrong with that? And does it matter why it's happening?

Presumably, the reason is to do with the many chants and songs. The additional syllable just seems to make the word fit a little more easily. In this respect, it's not unlike the extra syllable often added to the ends of French words in songs (think of 'Frère Jacques', for example).

As to the rights and wrongs of it, irritating as it is to many, it's difficult to see why it should be seen as any more reprehensible than the mutation of 'Englaland' into 'England'.

So, come on Englaland!

Just not this year, obviously...