Celebrations began last night with a victory over Brazil. One hundred and fifty years of history, a length of time unmatched by any association around the world. The first. The founders. The missionaries. Yet, there was a telling statistic from last night. The win against Brazil at Wembley was England’s fourth. Ever. That is one win every 37.5 years. Of course the Brazilian FA did not exist until 1914, so it is 4 wins in 99 years, one every 25.75 years. England and Brazil have only faced each other on 24 occasions, Brazil have won 11 times. Plus, when it really counts in tournament football, Brazil have come out on top, 1962, 1970 and 2002. Only in 1958 were the spoils shared in a 0-0 draw when the nation that gave birth to the game managed not to lose against an upstart nation. The upstart nation that is revered globally, while England, well….
There was a time when England were glorious. The work spreading football around the word will forever be lasting. In some respects it is one of the great achievements of empire. Britain lost it’s empire, but the legacy of sports and language mean that the empire is never truly lost.The evidence is there simply by looking at team names and strips. Corinthians of Brazil boast the name of an English amateur side. Famously Juventus wear the kit of Notts County. The club badge of AC Milan has the flag of England on it and the name is Milan, not Milano because an Englishman founded the club. There are countless examples around the world like these.
While the word was being spread the traditional battle with those from north of the border reigned. Only in the early 1900s did England begin playing overseas opposition. Indeed there was a proud record that England did not lose against a non British team until losing 4-3 to Spain in Madrid, that was 1929. It was not until 1949 that England lost at home to an overseas team (Republic of Ireland) but that is often overlooked with the 1953 loss to Hungary being sited as the first lost. The defeat that followed in Hungary, 7-1, was even more devastating. Even so this represents 99 years of not losing at home, which is staggering. Forgive me if I am not including the Scots and the Welsh in these statistics, because up until this point the strength and history of the Home Nations are linked so tightly, certainly for the first 50 years of the English FA.
Given these records is it any wonder that England suffered from arrogance? Pre World Cup the only global football tournament was the Olympics. England/Britain entered in 1908 and 1912, winning both times. And winning convincingly. When the World Cup came along in 1930 England decided they did not need to enter. They had nothing to prove. At this stage the problems began. Seventy five years of domination have been followed by 75 years of papering over the cracks and catching up. Yet it was during that period of domination that the problems started.
Inventing a game will only get you so far. Especially if you are a closed.
Jonathan Wilson goes into the importance of the open boundaries of central Europe to exchange ideas in his wonderful Inverting the Pyramid. The coaches of Austria and Hungary and Switzerland were able to share thoughts and plans to create wonderful teams. This is also reinforced by a paragraph from the book Soccernomics in reference to European football since 1957.
” The core five countries won twelve European championships and World Cups between them.
The countries at the corners of Europe, the Brits, the former Soviet bloc, the Balkans and Scandinavians north of the Baltic Sea won one: Greece’s European Championship in 2004, delivered by a German coach.
Europe’s only other trophy in these thirty years has gone to Denmark and Czechoslovakia. Denmark enjoys an utterly permeable border with the five core countries. ”
Drawing on their own experiences and indeed, those of the English coaches who had introduced the game. Or should that actually be Scottish coaches? As there was a distinction between the Scottish passing style and the English running game. The Home Nations only shared with each other. The refusal to enter a World Cup until after the second world war meant that new ideas had to be dreamed up, rather than harvested. Harvesting is faster and the slide began. There was still enough knowledge and enough strength in depth to win a World Cup, but this really was papering over the problems. An opportunity to open up the doors of knowledge was presented in 1955 with the inaugural European Cup. The English champions (Chelsea) were invited but did not participate. It was in the second season that Manchester United entered. Again, this is emblematic of a seeming refusal for England and it’s FA not to want to acknowledge ideas unless they are their own. Those who think this is a thing of the distant past need only look at the attitude towards the World Club Championship and indeed the African Nations cup. Being constantly told that the Premier League is the best in the world does not help the arrogance. People question why African players would miss a chunk of the season to play in the Nations Cup, would they raise the same question if it were the European Championships?
This arrogance has translated into coaching. For many years players felt they did not need coaching. For many years there was a perception that ‘our’ methods are the best. Results and simple visual evidence have shown otherwise. The 150th year may well show that the last 75 years of catching up are beginning to pay off. Although the Premier League has had many negative influences, it has opened up the available resources. The knowledge pool has grown through foreign players and foreign coaches. Those doors that were closed for 130 years have been flung open in the last twenty. If Alan Hardaker had been told there would be not just one, but two foreign coaches of the England team, he would have laughed at you. It may be that the next ten years are spent finding a balance between encouraging in that foreign knowledge but allow local talent to thrive. Perhaps we have finally caught up with our past selves with help from our overseas friends? The new guidelines and methods for coaching young players are in place and have been put there by an increasingly outward looking FA.
A glorious beginning, followed by peaks and troughs. A glorious future? Who knows, but there may at least be a peak around the corner.
http://www.thefa.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_clubs_in_the_European_Cup
http://www.11v11.com/teams/england/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Brazil
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Soccernomics-England-Australia-Turkey–Iraq-Are/dp/1568587015/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360242503&sr=1-2