In 1990, after England had been knocked out of the world cup by Germany on penalties, I remember driving back from my mates in a daze of total despair. The feeling was compounded when I arrived home by my wife’s comment, “don’t worry, its only football”. Bless her, she just didn’t know. As I fumbled for my solicitor’s phone number, my one feeling of comfort was that the new football season would soon be upon us and my beloved Arsenal would again be challenging for honours! It took a bit of the sting away from losing to the German side.
In 1996, as I shuffled out of Wembley Stadium in total silence after once again losing out to Germany on penalties, you could hear a pin drop. The sound of 3 lions was a distant memory of a barmy summer when England could have, and should have, won Euro 96.
It was yet another feeling of despair and I then realised why that feeling of loss was so strong: these opportunities only came around once every 4 years and the true passion generated by England, in England and by the English supporters is a feeling I will never forget.
However, those 2 semi-final losses in the nineties cost England more than we first realised at the time. They convinced a nation that England was better than in fact we were. From it a false dawn of expectation emerged, which led to the so called “golden generation”, led by Sven, only to be smothered by the Premier League.
Hands up, everyone who this weekend thought,said, or tweeted that they hate these international breaks. Let’s see them. And this despite England being one win at home from qualifying for the World Cup in Rio. Can we afford to take qualification for granted?
Why has the Premiership eclipsed the English national team, and when did club become more important than country? It’s never been for me, yet I now hate international breaks as much as the next fan. The truth is, the expectations of England fans have disintegrated back to the early eighties when just qualification was adequate enough. We no longer think we can win the World Cup and, unfortunately, we are right – at least not now. The way things are going, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar of all places won’t be a problem for England or the Premiership because we might not have qualified.
The fact that this time around we are struggling to win a group containing the likes of the Ukraine and Montenegro as our main rivals speaks volumes for where English football is today and the decline in British football as a whole is a direct result of the success of the Premiership and the Champions League, which has become Mecca for every world star. How many of the world’s top stars play in the Champions League? I don’t know the number, but it’s a lot. It has become the world stage that the World Cup used to exclusively be! International tournaments no longer have the same significance they once did. When you can play against the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Naymar and Falcao on an almost weekly basis, that who needs another world stage or even the World Cup?
That’s not my rationale, but it’s how I feel football is evolving.
Foreign ownership and the influx of foreign players in the Premier League have been at the expense of the development of the English national team, and unless The FA finds a way to restrict the volume of foreign players that are stopping English players from evolving, than England will become Scotland in waiting. No offence meant to our Scottish neighbours.
I am desperate for England to qualify tomorrow night at Wembley, but the reality is I just don’t want a summer without having an English interest in Rio. It really would be a long summer, even though deep down I don’t think we can actually challenge for the World Cup .
Being an Arsenal fan you get used to the feeling of qualifying for tournaments you know you can’t win. Wenger calls fourth place in the Premiership a trophy, which reflects the power of the Champions League and the influence of foreign ownership in the Premiership.
If we qualify for Rio tomorrow, Greg Dyke needs to properly evaluate the state of English football and do something radical to change things. The first thing I can remember playing football in the school playground as a kid was being Bobby Charlton of England, long before I became Alan Ball of England and Arsenal. It’s country before club for me. England winning a World Cup would mean more to me than Arsenal winning the Champions League – I was English long before my Arsenal became an American brand name and that has become the fundamental difference between club and country.
So come on England, let the 3 Lions roar above the 20,000 Polish that will be at Wembley. Let’s win tomorrow and make sure we have summer football.
Thanks for Reading, you can follow me on twitter @R1chierichguner. Give the site a follow while you’re at it – @LastWordOnSports.
Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands of fans at r/football.
Interested in writing for LastWordOnSports? Find more info at our “Join Our Team” page.
