“Nice to see your own fans booing ya!” Wayne Rooney’s outburst to camera as he trudged off the pitch in Cape Town was neither intelligent nor incisive, but Chris Nee thinks it highlights a more complicated phenomenon. Has England fallen out of love with its national football team?
International football may have been overtaken in pure quality terms by Europe’s major first divisions, but there are so many social and cultural nooks and crannies that club football just can’t force its crooked, boney fingers into. That patriotic edge and sense of unity heighten everything about the way we experience matches. England’s goals, tournament exits, qualification failures and against-the-odds successes are potent moments made all the more dramatic and exhilarating by the fact that the pub was unusually united, or our mates who don’t usually watch football were there to go through it all with us in the living room. At its best, international football is unbeatable.
Thinking back through some of the good times detailed in this post, it’s strange to consider them in their context: the gradual demise of a nation’s affection for its football team. It’s also disheartening to think back to my first real England memory, the penalty shoot-out defeat to West Germany in Turin at World Cup Italia ’90, as the beginning of the beginning of the end.
But England has, without a doubt, fallen out of love with its national football team since then, and while there have been competitions and individuals that have restored our faith and revived our adoration in the intervening period, I don’t think this is a temporary distaste. The realities of modern football (in which it has become impossible to relate to the players or even to afford to attend the matches they earn millions to play in), combined with repeated failure and institutional incompetence, have changed supporting England forever.
Genesis
The next World Cup was the re-birth of American football and the summer that transformed it – eventually – from the spectacular over-commitment of a few convinced and influential people into a going concern. England weren’t even there, and despite the fact that they’ve been to every World Cup since it was two matches in qualifying that contributed to the early days of the current England malaise, quietly combining with a new dawn in English football (the gentrification of the game, to be precise) to begin a process of decoupling between the supporters and their national team players.
Truthfully, the first of those games was not really the fault of Graham Taylor and his England team, but of referee Karl-Josef Assenmacher and, bluntly, Sod’s law. There’s no telling how a game would have turned out if different decisions had been made but Assenmacher’s failure to dismiss Ronald Koeman left a scar that haunts England fans to this day. Koeman’s free kick was the goal that took the air out of England’s qualifying campaign and the following month England faced San Marino needing a clear seven-goal margin to qualify for USA ’94. They got seven, but had conceded a Davide Gualtieri goal after just 8.3 seconds.
England’s failure to score an eighth goal against San Marino did not fatally wound a nation’s love for its team, but the media farce that surrounded the end of that campaign was a premonition. Taylor’s portrayal as a turnip by The Sun continues to live in infamy and serves as a portent for future England managers. Channel 4‘s Cutting Edge documentary ‘The Impossible Job’ helped to turn Taylor undeservedly into a laughing stock and change the England job forever. Do we not like that.
Nadir
The premise of this post is that England has fallen out of love with its football team, but at least we’re not at rock bottom. By February 1995, England had missed the 1994 World Cup but were gearing up for hosting the European Championships in 1996. They were at Lansdowne Road in Dublin for a friendly match that would never be completed because of some of the worst violence seen inside a football stadium in the British Isles in my lifetime.
It was a sickening moment and the implications could have been far more severe. Not only were England due to host the Euros, but the game in this country was just starting to emerge from a particularly sensitive spell in its history. Supporters, finally, were not considered sewer-dwellers before being given the opportunity to prove otherwise.
The 1995 riot dragged English football right back into the gutter and we knew it. The team was failing, and a violent, vocal minority of the fans were rolling back the years in the worst way. For the rest of us, young or old, a part of our support for the national team was eroded that night in horrendous circumstances.
Redemption
Football did come home in the summer of 1996 and it heralded a brief period of upwards momentum in the reputation of the England team (after a pre-season “incident” that would be etched into folklore thanks to one of England’s finest moments of the last 20 years, and before the violence that further spoiled the night England exited the competition). Paul Gascoigne’s brilliant volley against Scotland and England’s 4-1 thumping of the Netherlands were restorative moments, revitalising influences for a football nation finding its feet again after the first, dark half of the decade.
Stuart Pearce, England’s fearsome defender, even underwent a moment of personal redemption. Having missed in 1990, Pearce took responsibility and blasted his spot kick home against Spain in the quarter-final, his celebration coming across very much as the release of six years of frustration. Gareth Southgate’s own missed penalty effectively ended England’s hopes in the semi-finals, but the fact that we felt that exit so acutely suggested that our love of international football might not be disappearing after all.
Then, there was the last great England captain, the last England hero. David Beckham takes a lot of unfair criticism (and some deserved, particularly from MLS fans) but for England the man was a giant and steered the team back into the good books. From disgrace in St Etienne, Beckham’s redemption was a high-profile fairytale told through leadership, hard work and the kind of patriotic pride that his successors with the armband, regardless of their bombast and chest-thumping, can’t even comprehend.
The lacklustre England performance in Euro 2000 was followed by a near miss in World Cup qualifying for World Cup 2002. With England trailing against Greece at Old Trafford in October 2001, Beckham cemented his place as the greatest England captain of the last 20 years by taking the game by the scruff of the neck, leading by example and scoring the goal that took his side to the World Cup. There, his penalty against Argentina completed his redemption and his transformation into a national icon. At that moment, England and its football team were united. It wouldn’t last.
Denouement
The Football Association knew that Steve McClaren wasn’t the man to replace Sven-Goran Eriksson, whose spell in charge will be looked back upon as a relative success; he wasn’t the manager they wanted. So, instead of Luiz Felipe Scolari, England were lumbered with a man so unsure of his own credibility that he chose to make a statement by axing Beckham, the only real positive England have had in recent years, from the squad. Regardless of his age or unfounded criticisms about his dedication to football, Beckham has always worked his way back into his coaches’ thoughts and McClaren came out of his own Beckham debacle looking like a prize idiot. Of course, failing to qualify for Euro 2008 from a group even the most pessimistic England supporter had down as an easy one didn’t do much to contradict that.
By now, the Premier League era had really taken its toll. They weren’t our players any more, merely mercenaries on stratospheric salaries who couldn’t possibly understand what it would mean for any of us in the stands to be pulling on the shirts and stepping out onto the Wembley turf. Another effect of the modern game is that club supporters have somehow become more partisan and less willing to embrace day-to-day enemies of an international weekend. Our loss of affection is not simply a result of England’s fortunes and behaviour, but a construct of the realities of football in the 21st century and the internet age.
Into this malaise came Fabio Capello, a man with an unquestionable curriculum vitae and a bit of attitude to boot. Finally, this was a manager bigger than the players – more talented, more successful, more charismatic. He started well – England qualified for World Cup 2010 at a canter and tales of Capello’s disciplinary demands swelled the hearts of frustrated and irritated football fans around the country. In South Africa it all went wrong. The performances of an England team disgusted millions, and the behaviour of some members of the squad was wearing in its brattishness. Our players, players earning in some cases over £100,000 a week and spending a few weeks in South Africa while the rest of us wasted holiday on their disgusting performances, were bored. Doesn’t that just say it all? John Terry was even bored enough to attempt a mutiny, which amusingly fell flat on its arse.
South Africa 2010 was the competition that ended a nation’s love for its football team once and for all, though we’ll all continue to watch them with that hint of contempt tempering the experience. There have always been fans who just weren’t interested, always been people who couldn’t bring themselves to cheer on the players of other clubs. But in 2011 it just isn’t the same as it was. We’ve been beaten. Supporting the national team has become a minority pursuit that offers no reward, no enjoyment and the knowledge that too many of the players involved are laughing at us – and if they’re not, they should be.
It’s been pointed out to me on Twitter that Holland also played a part in the final night of qualifying for USA ’94, and that 8-1 wouldn’t have taken England through. So, consider this comment a correction. Do I not like that.
Didnt watch yesterdays match and Ive no interest in watching any in the near future.
I just dislike the manager and too many of the players to get behind this current England team.
Sven making 8-10 substitutions every friendly cheapened international games to the point where FIFA had to change the rules because it was driving fans away from football. I still don’t think we have recovered from that. England friendly games still aren’t ‘events’ like they once were.
You’ve hit the nail on the head there. I won’t hide from the fact that after the W/C, I’ve joined my dad/brother in not really giving a toss about the Eng team. I was and up until the W/C had been a believer of the team. I didn’t think we’d win the W/C, but I thought that we stood a great chance of getting to the semi’s – what a fool I was, mind you at least I wasn’t like Harry Redknapp who I remember writing in The Sun saying that we’d win it.
Anyway our performance as you’ve put it was downright dreadful. Excuses such as our players being knackered or injured or just unlucky were not worth a leg worth standing on as the boy’s – not all of them mind you – were just down right dreadful.
I’m a fond believer that Capello should’ve been sacked right there and then, would the French, German or Italian team settle for an embarrassment like that no – but that’s what’s wrong with the FA. They never have the balls to do the right thing – and when they do, in the case of Sven and Mark Palios with regards to Faria Alam, it gets them in trouble – and that sadly is a reputation that reflects back on the England team. The sad part is the FA thought about themselves and chose to save their money rather than get rid of Capello which is what the fans wanted to happen.
It’s a shame that we are losing faith with our national team, as it’s funny that the other home nations who are not as talented as us have struggled on/off for years but their fans have never lost faith with them – because they know that their players despite losing and not qualifying for tournaments for a mixture of reasons always give 100% and they make up for their lack of talent by putting the effort in.
I can remember as an 8 year old loving the summer of Euro 96, as for that summer football really did come ‘home’, as everyone got behind the team and the team played with the kind of spirit, emotion and determination that made us love them.
Sadly though rightly or wrong the money that the guys earn means that playing for the country doesn’t mean as much now as it did back then. Yes our media don’t help by hyping the players up and waiting for the first chance to kick them whilst they’re down like snipers – but the fact of the matter is, the results and performances have just not been good enough – and when they start to go down it makes it hard for people to care.
I’m not ashamed to admit that yesterday I didn’t watch the Eng game watching Redbridge’s tenants Barkingside play London APSA which kicked off at 3. I doubt I’d have watched the Eng game anyway had the kick off times not clashed – as honestly I’d rather watch a team that I care about struggle than watch a team who offer as you’ve put so brilliantly nothing in return.
In the end the joke was actually on me as both ‘Side and APSA were truly shocking yesterday, in what was probably the worst (and I’ve seen some crap games over my 4 years in Non League football) game I’ve ever seen. But despite that, watching that was something that wasn’t a waste of my time – when sadly ‘wasting people’s time’ is something that the Eng team have been doing for the country.
It’s a shame as with guys like Wilshere about and some proven quality in the U21′s like Wellbeck, Henderson and Danny Sturridge, we’ve got some exciting players to look forward to watching. Hopefully they can herald a new era of a team that will offer us something in return. There’s no problem with losing or drawing games, as long as the boys put in the effort and give 110% like the lads did in Euro 96 and Italia 90.
Rant Over!
I find we journalism more annoying than the England team, you don’t speak on my behalf. Skipping lightly over the comical Beckham comments what people have fallen out of love with is failure. Just like a club side, when a team is consistently unsuccessful the glory-hunters and bandwagon jumpers drift off leaving just the hard core. England’s hardcore numbers far more than most other team’s; if England are at a low ebb what does that make nearly every other national side? The slightest sniff of success and they’ll flood back.
Disgust at player’s attitude and wages comes from a general disenchantment with football, it’s hardly national team specific; footballers don’t metamorphose when they play for your club, despite supporter’s fantasies (see Torres et al). And if having a minority of hooligan tossers turns people off, again, why hasn’t doesn’t that go for club level too? I don’t see interest in lfc, mufc or CFC dwindling despite the well publicised boreholes who follow them.
If you think this is a post 90 phenomenon, if you want facts rather than fiction look at the crowds for England in the 80s and compare it to now. I think there’s always been a certain cynicism towards footballers despite some people’s nostalgia for the supposed apple-cheeked innocence of yore, yeah… Although it is satisfying the see the English FA’s attempt to buy success die on its arse.
The crowds were low in the 80s for a different reason really. You were likely to get your head kicked in if you went to a game, which scared lots of people off. How many kids or women, or men over 40 went to the game when the hooligans were marauding around?
It’s always nice to read something that you agree with 100%. Great article. I’ve always supported the national team and thought I always would. After John Terry’s return as captain I think I’ll be sitting it out until we’ve seen the back of him.
A few glory hunters won’t watch England any more. Big deal, we won’t miss them. Time was that an England friendly wouldn’t fill a third of the seats at the old Wembley. England are bigger now than they’ve ever been.
So we didn’t win the World Cup? Tough. Supporting your country isn’t an ‘investment’, there’s no divine right to a ‘dividend’ in the form of trophies.
Most of England’s problems are not the fault of the team anyway. Witless fans who lack patience when the team try to pass the ball around methodically (remember the boos at Capello’s first match during an 18-pass move that led to Jenas’s goal?) and confuse clumsy blood-and-thunder football with ‘passion’. A cynical, sneering Sky Sports who talk down England and the FA Cup just because they lose the TV rights to some upstart network from Ireland.
Casual fans, spoilt by the successes of their Premier League sides who think if England don’t win it must be because they are overpaid, apathetic jessis, and not because the French/German/Croatian opponents happened to play superbly. People whinging about ‘demeaned’ friendlies when the coach experiments (as he should) rather than flogging the established players; it is as if they bought tickets to England-Ghana to go celebrity-spotting rather than watch a sporting contest.
International football is still the zenith of sport. Dull of soul is the person who prefers the largely contrived contests between corporations in the soap opera that is the Premier League to the pure drama of a World Cup qualifying weekend, the most exciting dates in all sport. The Germans, Dutch and Spaniards are better at it than we are. Perhaps it is because those countries have a better relationship between team and public, and more discerning, less embittered fans. I don’t begrudge their wages at all; it is private money and they are world leaders in their trade. Stop sneering at England, stop bullying the players through the media, stop obsessing about their wages when they represent their country effectively for charity. Stop treating England as a reality television programme and remember that, if you’re English, they are the only team who truly represent you. I support Chelsea for excitement; England for love.
Brilliant comment from Mike Martin there, and I have to say I agree with him.
I am not English, so I don’t really have a say in this conversation re: England specifically. What I do want to say though is that you are using fatalistic terms and phrases like “ended a nation’s love for its football team once and for all,” when the content of your article actually argues quite strongly against that possibility. So an event that happened 9 months ago has the capacity to end England support for all of eternity? Within your article, public attitude swung back and forth repeatedly, but there were always upward moments, and there always will be. A bad tournament sucks, sure, and will always lead to a period of disillusion. But time marches onwards, and hey, it sounded to me as though the game against Ghana was actually quite something. (Unlike Germany’s against Australia, lordy – only a Germany die-hard like myself gleans anything from those matches, and that’s one of the positive examples you’re holding up.) Your U-17s are making an impression. There will always be cycles, with any national team, but if France and Italy are gathering the shreds of their dignity and looking to the future with heads held high, then so can you.