Football (or soccer as it is also known) is generally acknowledged to have been invented by the English and the first ever football club, Sheffield, was founded in 1857. Within a few years a professional Association Football league was established and, as the British Empire prospered and expanded the game was exported to all corners of the globe. (The name “soccer”, by the way, is derived from the word “Association”). Soon the game was played the world over and by the middle of the twentieth century football was the most popular game on the planet.
In England, the domestic football league thrived and every town in the country had a team in either the national Football League or in one of the many so-called feeder leagues in the lower reaches of the football pyramid. Football had truly become the nation’s favourite sport. By the l960s there were four divisions of the professional Football League although, by the turn of the century the top division had broken away from the League and had become the self governing Premier League or Premiership as it is also known.
As well as the League competition the top clubs compete in two major cup competitions, the FA Cup and the League Cup and at the elite level clubs also compete against European opposition for two further cups. You’d think that since we invented this game and boast the home of football in Wembley Stadium, Londonthat, nationally, we would be European or World Champions on a regular basis. Sadly not and, in fact, our record would seem to indicate that we’re not very good at football at all!
Apart from one isolated World Cup success in 1966, and even then we were the tournament hosts, our history is one of near misses and unmitigated disaster! Many football experts have tried to come up with an explanation for our repeated failure and have tried even harder to find a remedy but to no avail. Will we just have to accept that Johnny Foreigner is invariably blessed with superior skills and leave it at that or can there be further glory just around the corner for the English?
Whatever the future holds for English football there are still those among us who can remember that wonderful summer’s day in July 1966 when Bobby Moore and his band of immortals lifted the World Cup bringing joy to the nation, causing old men to weep with pride and a generation of younger men to yearn for the day when England can once again be called the champions of the world!
Common Sense 