START AGAIN!

As a marketing exercise it was brilliant. As a PR campaign outstanding. In every shop the Three Lions appeared on the packaging of virtually every kind of product and service you could imagine. Beer and Barbeques filled the isles of the supermarket at prices never to be repeated. Well they weren’t supposed to be repeated but I bet they will be now the furore has died down a bit. The flag of St George and England was on cars and flew from all sorts of posts and windows in every town and village. The Media was full of it, and still is. The World Cup was upon us and we stood a good chance of winning it….it said in the scripts. 

Like millions of others I watched in dismay and with great sadness as the England Team was given a lesson in modern football by the Germans. And like millions of others I wondered why our players were so second rate. In the lead up to the World Cup we were sold the idea that this team would be the best we have produced for ages. In the event it was the worst. They looked so slow, out of condition and lacking in energy and ideas that the wonder was that they didn’t loose by a greater margin.  Compare those shortcomings with the skill, enthusiasm , talent and above all attitude  displayed by the England Ladies Teams in both cricket and football where they are virtually starting from scratch and the differences become very pronounced. If the girls can compete on international terms, why can’t the men?  

The games before the German lesson were just as bad, and to any observer with even the smallest knowledge of the game, were boring and a bell weather of what was to come. I have been watching the game of football since 1939 and I can honestly say that the Algeria match was the worst football game, at any level, I have ever watched. But why should it be so? We invented the game, countries with much smaller resources than we have produce much better players, and those that aren’t better play with such pride and enthusiasm that their lack of skill is amply compensated. In every other country to wear the shirt, and play in the national team is such a privilege and an honour that their pride in doing so shines from them like a beacon. Those in the white (or red) shirts of England looked disinterested and as if they take their inclusion in the team for granted. I’m sure they were not, and do not. I’m equally sure that when asked, every one of our players would say they want to play for England and consider it an honour to do so. So why don’t they give that impression on the field? 

I can’t help thinking that it all began at school. To play for my school at football or cricket was the first ambition I can remember. I achieved both though I wasn’t a star player, but my enthusiasm for the games and desire to win made me a useful team member. I have carried the love of those games with me ever since. If I pass a field on which some kids are kicking or hitting a ball I must stop and watch them, see how they address the ball, their balance and judgement when in possession of it, their appreciation of where their team-mates are. I just can’t resist watching and often I still feel the urge to join in; to show what I can do with a football or a cricket bat or ball. I saw none of that desire in the England Team and I can’t help wondering why. Perhaps, since they are all of about the same age, the desire and fierce will to win that should motivate them, was drained out of them during the period when so many schools were selling their sports fields and promoting the idea that competition was divisive, that there were no losers, that everyone was the same. Thankfully that nonsense seems to have passed and whatever the reason it must surely be time to start again. 

In my opinion there are two things that can done very quickly and would be immediately effective.

First, limit the number of foreign players in all teams in the Premiership and Football League to a maximum of six, this would then allow home grown talent to get used to the bigger stage and play with and against those they will meet in international competition.

Second, if they do not already exist, there should be instituted area football leagues or cups for schoolchildren. Likewise with a national schools football league or cup; that’s where we should start to rebuild. Introduce a league or cup on a county basis, the county champions to play for a national trophy. That would create the desire to be in a team and allow modern methods of playing the game to be taught from an early age. In days past the cry would have been that such leagues couldn’t be contemplated because of a lack of finance. That certainly couldn’t be an excuse now, the game of football is cash rich, so use some of it to put back into the game some of the life that is being drained out of it. Local leagues for children and teenagers would also have a knock on effect on social behaviour. Wembley could provide the stage for the finals of a schools cup. Lords or other famous grounds could do the same for cricket. Sponsors would queue up to get involved, and there would be no shortage of teams and players wanting to take part I’m sure. Marketeers would fall over themselves to win the chance to tackle that project.

We’ve all recognised that the England Team players were just not good enough, so something must be done and quickly. The alternative is to carry on as before and I don’t know about you but I don’t think my nerves would stand another performance like the one we just witnessed. No! We must start again.