The history of English Football
by Ben Girling
The beautiful game is widely regarded to have been founded in England for numerous reasons, with legend instigating that the first football matches were played by mobs at public executions using the unfortunate victim's head as a ball.
Whether this is wholly accurate is debatable, but what is indisputable is that the history of English football as we know it began with the introduction of the game in physical education classes throughout the public school system. The reason behind this was to unify English public school and university football games.
England is home to the oldest football club in the world. Sheffield FC founded in 1857 and last year celebrated their 150th anniversary. England also boasts the world's oldest competition (the FA cup founded in 1871) and the first ever football league association that was established in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor.
The FA has continually evolved over the years and there are now approximately 40,000 clubs registered with the FA. Impressively, this is 11,000 more than any other country and as a consequence, even without taking relative population into account, England has more football clubs than any other country in the world. After the foundation of the Football League by twelve clubs in 1888, the first team to become a major force were Preston North End with them being the first side to win the league in 1888-89. They were also the first team to complete the double, a feat that wasn't replicated until 1896-97 when Aston Villa equalled their achievement.
The achievements of the national team certainly blemish the otherwise proud history of football in England, with one solitary World Cup victory to cling to for salvation. Even the fact that the FA resigned from FIFA in 1928, preventing England from contesting the first three World Cups offers little excuse.
The most celebrated event in English football came thanks to Alf Ramsey's side, who won the 1966 FIFA World Cup after controversially beating West Germany 4-2 after extra time.
After this historic achievement, the national team struggled to dominate or even compete and as a result failed to qualify for both the 1974 and 1978 World Cups. In contrast, this period was largely successful for domestic teams with Liverpool dominating the game from the early seventies onwards. In the period between 1972 and 1990 they won 11 titles and four European Cups. Other successful sides in the 1970s and 1980s included Liverpool's rivals Nottingham Forest, who won a league title and two European Cups in the late seventies.
The game was marred throughout the seventies and eighties through the rise of hooliganism. Problems came to a devastating crescendo in 1985 when fighting on the terraces as well as poor infrastructure, led to the deaths of 39 Juventus fans before the European Cup final. Following the Heysel Stadium disaster, English clubs were banned from Europe for five years and the reputation of English football was in tatters.
The Premier League was formed in 1992 and was largely dominated by Manchester United in its first decade, who won eight titles and four FA Cups (including two Doubles) and a Champions League title between 1993 and 2003.
In recent years, Arsenal (two doubles in 1998 & 2002, and a league title unbeaten in 2004), and Chelsea (who were bought by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2003 and won back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006) have competed with Manchester United.
With the relentless surge of investment from all parts of the globe showing no sign of abating, it seems football has a disturbingly unpredictable future ahead.
The World Cup Final 1966
by Ben Girling
On the turn of 1966, Geoff Hurst began planning his summer holidays with wife, Judith, he had yet to make an appearance for England and could never have envisaged the extraordinary events that would lead him to become a national hero.
The term 'hero' is frequently used to describe sportsmen yet this description, derived from the Greek word heroes, which describes a person recognised for exceptional courage, fortitude, enterprise and superior qualities certainly isn't wasted on Mr Hurst.
On Saturday July 30th, in front of 94,000 spectators and a further 400 million television audience, Hurst became the first and only man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup Final and in doing so secured England's first ever World Cup success.
The memorable conclusion was a distant hope after 13 minutes though when the West Germans took the lead through Helmuth Haller. Fortunately for England Bobby Moore curved a free-kick ten minutes later for his West Ham team-mate Geoff Hurst to head into the net, leaving the game balanced at 1-1 at half time. The second-half was equally contested until the 78th minute when Martin Peters scored to leave England moments from glory. Geoff Hurst's initial drive was blocked but luckily Martin Peters was there to slot the ball home to give England what looked like a winning goal with only 12 minutes to play.
But a Germany free kick 15 seconds from the final whistle eventually found Wolfgang Weber who equalised from close-range to send the game into extra-time. The free-kick awarded by referee Gottfried Dienst was a controversial one, although we'd also be the beneficiaries of a dubious decision later in the game. Following the free-kick a frantic goal-mouth scramble ensued until West Germany's Wolfgang Weber managed to force the ball over the line.
'Look at them! They're finished!' was the famous proclamation from England manager Alf Ramsey before extra-time began. He undoubtedly won the psychological battle by keeping his players standing when the German team were laid out on the Wembley turf.
Arguably the most controversial decision in footballing history was made in the 100th minute, resulting in the second of Hurst's historic hat-trick. Everton's Alan Ball crossed to Geoff Hurst, who latched on to the ball and fired a shot at the German goal. With the goalkeeper well-beaten, Hurst's effort hammered against the underside of the crossbar and bounced down. Amid furious denials by the West Germans, the referee ran across to consult linesman Tofik Bakhramov. After a brief discussion with the linesman he made his decision and a goal was awarded.
With only seconds of the pulsating game remaining, Bobby Moore fired a long ball to an unmarked Geoff Hurst who collected the ball and unleashed a ferocious shot into the top corner to seal victory.
Geoff Hurst will be eternally remembered in footballing history and for a man who was only included in the squad as back up to Martin Peters and Jimmy Greaves, that truly is a special accomplishment.
International Friendlies
by Ben Girling
Ever since Sven Goran Eriksson brought his unique style to the country there has been great debate over whether international friendlies are necessary. As national manager, he would virtually entirely transform the team at half time and as a result infuriated fans and pundits alike.
England's recent friendly at home to Euro 2008 co-hosts Switzerland gave Fabio Capello his first opportunity to assess the credentials of his future squad, allowing it to be exempt from the endless mundane 'contests' that fans have had to endure.
Friendlies are widely bemoaned by supporters and some advocate the abolition of them altogether, a feeling shared by a number of club managers. In particular, Arsene Wenger has been vocal in his disdain towards friendlies, "…I can't see much point in many of them."
He feels that national managers show disrespect to domestic managers through playing guaranteed first-team players for the duration of a match and therefore wants national managers to change the way they approach friendlies.
"My idea would be to use players who haven't had a chance to show their skills, what they can do at that level.
"Let's face it; we all know that the likes of Thierry Henry and William Gallas will be there when the going gets hot. We know they can handle it."
This may seem perfectly understandable and reasonable from Wenger but it is arguable that friendlies would be further devalued if the likes of Henry were excluded.
An equilibrium could be reached if such players were played for a certain amount of time, something that Wenger clearly feels doesn't happen. He believes national managers almost deliberately play big-name players for the duration of a match to infuriate club managers,
"In a way, they're spitting in our faces. And those are the sort of things that clubs find hard to take."
A question asked by many supporters is whether players take international friendlies seriously. The dull friendlies frequently dished out to fans are a result of players being frightened of injuries and one may feel this is understandable because of club commitments. A way of curbing this tedium would be to blood fresh talent, reaching a balance between fielding first team regulars and future prospects.
Former England national manager Graham Taylor believes friendlies are essential and believes players should show their desire to represent their country and not give in to the influence of their manager,
"At some point the players themselves need to stand up for the right to play for their country - an honour most of us would give our right arm for.
"They must be strong enough to make clear their desire to represent England even when their manager doesn't want them to play."
The FA relies on gate receipts similarly to domestic teams and they are required to fund various activities such as grass roots schemes. Even Wenger understands this, "You can't ban international friendlies, because they bring in money which is essential for the federations…"
International friendlies are, generally, boring but the revenue they accumulate and the opportunity they give players to build a team spirit suggest they have a genuine purpose.
The Current State of the English Team
by Ben Girling
England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 has resulted in a sustained period of soul-searching with questions arising regarding the hierarchal positioning at the FA down to grassroots funding.
Northern Ireland manager, Nigel Worthington firmly believes a centre of excellence to nurture young talent is essential to reinvigorate England's faltering prospects,
"We need to develop young players and go back to the centre of excellence at Burton, which had multimillions ploughed into it but has now been left to ruin.
Take some of the £6m we're spending on the new England manager and get a centre of excellence up and running."
Indeed, with the continuing influx of talented foreign players, it seems that such a base may be crucial for the development of young players. It is arguable though that despite the prospect of such centres, the lack of first team opportunities given to many English players dissipates such optimism.
Former Tottenham manager David Pleat highlights this issue: "There is a problem if only 30% of Premier League players on a Saturday are from England.
"The big problem is the opportunity for English players now; younger players aren't getting a chance".
After England's disastrous Euro campaign, McClaren was replaced by his antithesis, the strong-minded, authoritarian Fabio Capello. We have been offered a glimpse of his potential, albeit through a friendly but the work required to transform the fortunes of the team is incontestable.
Pleat predicts a testing time for Capello, identifying a key failing in McClaren's reign,
"It's going to be hard for him and hard for us because he doesn't really understand the culture and it will take him two years to get to know the club managers, to go to the training grounds.
"With the greatest respect to Steve McClaren, he hadn't done his miles. He hadn't earned the England job."
The omission of Michael Owen from Capello's squad to face Switzerland shows an optimistic future where players will be selected in relation to their current form, not their reputation.
The belief of many fans is that members of the current squad have lacked the passion and spirit expected at international level, after England's friendly against Germany in August, Franz Beckenbauer said,
"It was like a school team, they were not talking and not supporting, that was for me the biggest surprise. There is no life in this team."
After such continued disappointment, once again England supporters find themselves placing all their hopes of success on a foreign manager. Ironically, the very foreign influence many object to and hold responsible for our inadequacies is what we are looking to for salvation.