England and the FIFA World Cup 1

England and the FIFA World Cup

A How much do you already know?

True False Football was played in England in the thirteenth century. Rules for Association Football were first written down in 1763. The first professional clubs were formed in Germany in 1885. England has won the FIFA World Cup only once. England has always made it to the final round of the World Cup. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have their own football teams. There are 18 clubs in England’s Premiere League, as in Germany’s Bundesliga.

B “The Home of Football”

The FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious prize that a national football team can win. Every nation wants its team to win, but we English believe that we have more right to win than any- body else. After all, football is our game! We invented it and have played it the longest, so we should win. Not only the English consider England to be the home of football; FIFA’s website also awards England (or Britain to be precise) this honorary title. But is England really the home of football or is this just a delusion? Most sports are believed to have originated in many countries at the same time, but most ex- perts seem to agree that football was played most and earliest in England. Whole villages played football against each other in the thirteenth century – although they were apparently often just an excuse to settle old scores (so not much has changed there!). England is also the country where the rules for Association Football were first written down. The newly formed Football Association penned the rules in 1863 so that teams could play against each other fairly. England is also the first country which had professional football clubs, with the first clubs becoming professional in 1885. Paying the players enabled the badly-paid working class employees to take more time off work to practise football.

C Watching the game Although English society has changed significantly from the old upper class, middle class and working class structure, it is still a very class-conscious culture, and this affects which sports are watched when, where and by whom. Football is still mostly watched by working class or less well-educated males. This can be shown by looking at which sports are English football fans watch as their team loses in the World Cup. covered by which newspapers.

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Most of the tabloid news-papers, for example the Sun and the Mirror, use the majority of their sport section for football, whereas the broadsheets, for example, the Guardian and Independent, also focus on cricket, rugby, tennis and golf. Despite a wave of screens set up outside in many big cities, most football is still watched in the pub or at home. How important the pub is for football can be seen by an unusual intervention in pub opening times by David Cameron, the British Prime Minister. The British pub industry asked the Home Office for a country-wide extension of opening times until 1am for England’s World Cup games, which sometimes start at 11pm. This was turned down by the Home Office but Cameron has ordered a re-think so English fans can watch the games in the comfort of their local pub. As one reader commented on the Guardian website, “This will be welcomed in Wales, especially for supporters of *whoever England is playing against*.” The Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish teams were knocked out of the World Cup in the qualifying round!

D England’s results in the World Cup England, the home of fair play, does not like losing the football World Cup – especially to Germany (who wins too often). Losing to Brazil does not chafe the national conscience quite so much for some reason – probably as Brazil is so far away and doesn’t win much else. Actually, England has had a lot of practice at losing the World Cup – 15 out of the last 16 times to be precise! – but in the words of the song, “Football’s coming home,” which was written for the Euro- pean Cup held in England in 1996: “thirty years of hurt never stopped me dreaming.”

Miroslav Klose consoles Wayne Rooney after England’s loss to Germany 4-2 in the second round of the World Cup in 2010 in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

So why does England lose over and over again, especially when English clubs (for example, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal) are still some of the best clubs in the world? This is a question which is discussed – more or less academically depending on the media concerned – before, during and after every World Cup Finals and sometimes during the qualifying round when England makes an undignified early exit from the World Cup, for example, in 1974, 1978 and 1994. There can be no definitive answer, but a number of more or less likely excuses can be taken from the following list, as needed:

1. English football players have a very tough season and are consequently worn out – with 20 teams in the Premier League, two national football tournaments and the European tournaments (in which English teams usually reach the final). 2. England is only a small country (population 53 million, compared to Germany 82 million, Italy 62 million and Spain 47 million – oops, ignore the last one). If Great Britain played as a team we’d probably win every year. 3. We had too many injured players – see excuse number 1. 4. Football is only one of six top English national sports with rugby, cricket, tennis, golf and fishing! 5. Children don’t play football in the streets any more.

E How do we come to terms with losing? There was a time when violence seemed to follow English football about and an early exit from a World Cup would be followed by an even greater embarrassment: the arrest of a number of violent English hooligans. This time seems to have passed – thank goodness – or at least to be taking a break. Now frustration is often vented by passing the blame to somebody else, e.g. bad referees, a bad manager, bad weather conditions or illness, or by resorting to humour. If you can laugh at something, it can’t be that bad. This humour can be seen in newspaper headlines or in the jokes that start circulating after the World Cup. Here are a few (remembering, of course, that humour is entirely cultural and situational and may not be funny years later). Here are some headlines: “Rout of Africa” The Daily Mirror – after England had to leave the World Cup in 2010 in South Africa. The headline makes puns on a famous filmOut of Africa whilst showing how badly we lost. “Franks for nothing” The Sun – after England lost 4 to 1 against Germany and Frank Lampard’s goal was not allowed. “The Hand of Clod” The Daily Mirror – after the English goalkeeper got his hand on the ball but didn’t keep it out of the net in a game against the USA. This makes reference to a goal that Diego Maradona scored against England in the 1986 World Cup with his hand! Later he was asked if he had touched the ball with his hand and he answered that it “was the hand of God”! Some jokes: “I went to a fight and a football match broke out” – trying to take the sting out of an incident with some arrested fans. “Football is a simple game, 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, Germany wins on penalties.” – sports reporter Gary Lineker said this after England lost to Germany in the 1990 World Cup! Well, this might all change in 2014. England might win. And if we don’t, we know why – it was the weather: much too hot!

F Now it’s your turn! 1. Check your answers to the statements in part A and correct the ones which were false.

2. Vocabulary – Find words or phrases in the text which mean the following: a) this adjective means sth gives honour or a good reputation to sb or sth b) this phrase means to hurt sb who has hurt you before c) to write sth down d) to irritate or annoy the feelings of a person e) to give expression to or to let out f) a total defeat g) sb who is a little clumsy or physically unskilled

3. Discussion • Describe the extent to which you watch, play or even like football. • Describe your feelings about the World Cup. • Describe what you plan to do during the World Cup, for example, where you will watch the matches or how you will go about avoiding them! • Analyse other people’s reactions to the World Cup.

4. Research and present: Newspaper articles • Look at some English newspapers (in the library or online) and read the headlines of articles on the World Cup. List some headlines and describe what makes them work as a headline. Are they funny? Do they use puns? • Look at different newspapers, for example, tabloids like The Sun and The Daily Mirror and broadsheets like The Guardian and The Independent. • Now compare the English headlines with those from German newspapers.

5. Writing Do a survey on people’s feelings about the FIFA World Cup and then write an article about it for your school newspaper. Find out how many people want to watch the matches, which particu- lar matches they intend to watch, and where they will watch them. Use appropriate language to express the results and choose a good headline for your article. Useful phrases Numbers Feelings the majority/minority of the class/most of/ are excited/surprised about/are bored with/ only a few people/several/very few/nearly all/ have no interest whatsoever in/are (not) hardly any looking forward to ...-ing/can’t wait until Or: Write an article about a sporting event you have attended or watched live (or even taken part in). It doesn’t need to be a football match. Choose a good headline. Explain how you came to watch (or take part in) the event. Describe what happened and how the participants and specta- tors felt. Give your opinion on the event and explain if or why you would recommend it to other people.

6. Taking a survey Ask people to guess who they think will win the World Cup and how far they think Germany and England will get in the tournament.

Football is the most watched sport in England. Millions go to watch games every year and some people even play it! Feelings run deep but it is one subject which journalists always try to lighten with a little humour. This newsletter is also not to be taken too seriously and its aim is to give a little insight into how people in England view the World Cup and why.

A bit of background on the history of football:

Up until the 19th century, football had been mostly played by the rich – students of private schools and universities – because they were the only ones who had the time and energy to play. Workers had to toil on Saturdays and go to church on Sundays. With time football teams were formed in the north of England but they always lost against the usually better-off southerners. The “richer southern gentlemen” had rather more time to practise than the northerners so at the end of the 19th century a few northern English teams started paying some of their players in a rather unofficial way so that they could also spend more time practising. This was the start of professionalism and the first time that northern clubs beat the southerners. The working class never looked back. They eventually tore the game from the hands of the rich and privileged, leaving them to play rugby, cricket, tennis or golf. This explains why many of the oldest and most successful clubs are in the northern working class part of England.

A The students should tick true or false for the statements. Some students will know some of these facts but the answers are all in the text, and so this can be used as a short comprehension exercise.

True False Football was played in England in the thirteenth century. x Rules for Association Football were first written down in 1763. x The first professional clubs were formed in Germany in 1885. x (in England) England has won the FIFA World Cup only once. x England has always made it to the final round of the World Cup. x (they’ve missed three times) Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have their own football x teams. There are 18 clubs in England’s Premiere League, as in Germany’s x (20 clubs) Bundesliga.

B The last UEFA European Cup which was held in England was given the slogan “Football Comes Home” by the Football Association in England.

C A song called “The Three Lions” or “Football’s coming home” was released for the tournament. The song was very popular in Britain and in Germany and has been played at other football tournaments since then. It could be interesting for the students to listen to the song and the words. It might be worth mentioning that the tabloids are still read more often by working class people and that broadsheet newspapers are read more often by middle-class and more educated people.

D The English do not really expect to win, but would, of course, like to. When teams lose, they always get a battering in the newspaper. The puns and headlines are not easy to understand, and less easy to find funny years after the event. The aim here is that the students can analyse some headlines with some help to see what is usual during the World Cup.

F Now it’s your turn.

1. See table above 2. Vocabulary Answers: a) prestigious; b) settle old scores; c) to pen; d) chafe; e) vent; f) rout; g) clod 3.-4. Class discussion an research 5. Writing The research should be done in class. The students could decide to split their results into a male and female section, if appropriate. 6. Class survey