By Mattanza M Fedora

It is the morning after Euro 2024’s Final, and England’s dreams of a major trophy have, once again, slipped through our fingers like grains of sand. The atmosphere upon my exiting Overdraft in Winchester that night was one of melancholy contemplation, as women’s faces, painted with Saint George’s Crosses all around me, were crying their hearts out, and the men echoed the immortal cries of Charlie Brown’s catchphrase “AAUGH!” Indeed, many England fans would feel the Peanuts Comics by Charles M. Schulz is among the most relatable to our situation, with perhaps the most telling being the end of the short film You’re the Greatest Charlie Brown, where Charlie is so lost in his head after taking the lead, runs right off the race track as he compares himself to former decathlete, Caitlyn Jenner – then known as Bruce, prior to transitioning -.

Everyone is sharing hugs with their nearest and dearest friends, and the air outside is polluted with the stench of tobacco smoke as I down what’s left of my Rhubarb Cider and bid my friend Nick goodnight and thanks for the invitation to watch the game. On my mind, as I wandered back home up the hill, feeling like Ron Lyle struck me, was where we went wrong and how we can fix it going forward.

This is as much of a question about England’s football team as it is about England’s chances of building a more progressive society going forward. The weight of our second-consecutive hanging overhead to go along with the heavy rainfall, it as though Anglia’s despair has manifested in the form of a weeping angel, showering our valleys and braes in a Mid-Summer sorrow.

Where it went wrong?

On the Football side of that issue, my friends who work at The Arc and I each surmised it was for all the issues pundits have pointed to about Harry Kane having too much on his shoulders, Declan Rice’s performance not living up to expectations, and the lack of a meaningful break between the semi-final and the final, one thing the Spaniards have over us is organisation.

Both the English Premier League and La Liga have enjoyed reputations as the best two leagues in the world for years, and not undeservedly, as both of them are able to attract players from all across the globe to play at the height of the sport’s competitive pedigree.

The difference is that English football is more about strength and playing the ball forward as quickly as possible, whereas, in Spain, more emphasis is put on controlling the ball, playing the ball to the feet and keeping possession of the ball. And that was on full display last night, as whilst England had their moments of intense bursts of skill, speed and power, the Spanish played with an emphasis on teamwork, ball control, and conserving their energy for when opportunities arrived. In short, La Roja looked like a team, whilst the Three Lions looked like a load of individual players.

Of course, I am not arguing against the idea of England maintaining the style we have played for so long. However, if the nation that gave the world the Cambridge Rules – which led to the modern game of Football as we know it – wishes to make anything out of ourselves, we need to pick up a few things and learn from those outside of our country to build a team. Instead of fooling ourselves into thinking athleticism is the be-all-end-all of the Beautiful Game, we should look to the greats of our recent past and try to imagine what could be achieved on top of that in terms of enhancing individual talent.

Such players that spring to mind are Paul Scholes – praised for his ball control, passing, shooting, vision and ability to read the game by Zidane, Iniesta and Xavi -,  Stanley Matthews – the Wizard of the Dribble, who pioneered modern athleticism and never sacrificed his creativity to meet it -, Paul Gascoigne – another talented creative midfielder whose dribbling skills were the best of the 80s and 90s -, and finally, Joe Cole, whom the late great Pele claimed had the natural flair of a Brazillian with his exceptional dribbling, close-ball control and the audacity to challenge multiple players at once.

Why does it hurt to see England come so far and fall short?

Gareth Southgate has, of course, done a remarkable job at prioritising the start of this team-building over individualistic talents. What’s more, as brilliantly explained in the video on YouTube by Tifo Football – (16) England Didn’t Really Lose – YouTube (at Euro 2021) -, our players in recent times “are not detached millionaires, but young men with social consciences, who are happy to stand up for what they believe in and the process become proxies for the people watching on.” Indeed, with Marcus Rashford’s staunch campaigning to end child poverty and fight for child literacy, Raheem Sterling’s laying siege to vindictive British Media biases and racism, Harry Kane’s display of solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community, and Jordan Henderson’s raising millions for NHS where the British Government feel short, these were role models who have the character of champions, and we’d naturally want to see winning in the final.

However, these cultural paradigms – both in terms of team play and – don’t shift overnight, and this is only the start of something new for us all.

Changing England’s Political Climate.

Now we get to the parallels between England’s political landscape and the influence we can take away from our football. As George Caulkin wrote in The Athletic in the July of 2021, “There was a time, not too long ago, when football was presented as the worst of us – brutal, rich, arrogant, intolerant – and now, right now, it feels like the best.”

As such, we need to remember that wearing an England shirt means making a statement for England and the kind of nation we all want to be. How we carry ourselves in both our work and personal lives are mutually as important as one another, and if a group of football players can stand up for societal change with such confidence, then so can all fellow Anglians.

We can learn as a culture to prioritise teaming up with our fellow countrymen and women from Marshall Meadow’s Bay to Land’s End, and we can do so because the living proof came from a group of lads who grew up, just like you and I did, playing football in the streets, watching it with our friends and loved ones from childhood, and going to games as children.

Again, organisation is the key thing that we need to foster wherever we see an opportunity for change. The whole of England is greater than any individual Premier League Club, or in a broader sense, city, county or historic region within its boundaries, and we see the clear evidence of that in this squad of diverse talent coming together, not just for a sports tournament, but the greater good!

That’s what we strive for here at the CEP. England’s lack of a voice in her domestic affairs allows others to control the narrative shaping our present, and if you want to make a difference, you have a place within our team. 

#JoinTheCEP – #EnglishDevoREF