Well it has happened. England were beaten at Wembley 3 - 2 by Croatia, and football lovers nation-wide are in a state of consternation at their failure to qualify for the European Championships in 2008. All they had to do was draw to qualify, but within thirteen minutes they were two goals down. A penalty, and a classic David Beckham free kick, made it 2 - 2 in the second half. But Croatia, who were altogether more skilful, and have already qualified, were not giving up, and as they say, "ran out" winners.
Well as you may know from my previous blog, "Looking for Sex", I enjoy football. But there are aspects of the game that I don't like, and especially when it comes to England as the national side. Surrounding them is an ugly nationalism, that is deeply damaging. And I don't know how, for the future, those who are in charge of football, can get around it, so that fans, gripped by football fever, will enjoy international matches as festivals, rather than seeing them as opportunities to put the rest of the world in its place.
For me, that ugliness finds expression in two ways: In the singing of the national anthem, and in the famed song, "Rule Britannia".
The unfortunate thing about the English national anthem is, that it is unashamedly triumphalist:
"God save our gracious Queen.
Long live our noble Queen.
God save the Queen.
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us
God save the Queen."
_____
In a temporal sense, the Queen is not in any danger, and therefore doesn't need saving. So for me, it is the words "victorious" and "glorious", with their obvious historical overtones, that are the killer. They feed into that siege mentality, that in the fervour of a crowd, produces a mood of defiance, of arrogance, and a misguided sense of superiority.
You, on the other hand, might want to tell me that these words are a prayer, a pious sentiment with a view to the Queen's eternal salvation. Not so, which is why the fans have taken to singing them on the terraces during the game.
Add to this the famous piece, "Rule Britannia", that apart from football, many of you will know from the BBC's annual broadcast, Last Night of the Proms:
"Rule Britannia! Britannia rules the waves!
We shal never-never never shall be slaves".
In this, we have a double dose of nationalistic triumphalism, that, in the context of an international football match, reduces still further, any chance that the fans will see the event as the celebration of a sporting occasion. Instead, these confrontational sentiments echo the confrontational nature of the English parliamentary system, where the respective political parties, the "government" and "opposition", face each other across the chamber of the House of Commons, and bare-baite one another.
And the ultimate expression of this ugliness, came at Wembley yesterday, as it has in the past, when there was audible booing at the start of the Croatian national anthem; something that the television commentators, (perhaps for reasons of decency), choose to ignore.
Well the truth is, that the government are more likely to loose another set of computer disks containing the personal details of 25 million of its citizens, than they are to run a competition for a new national anthem. So it is safe to assume that, "God Save The Queen", or King, as the case might be, is here to stay. For state occasions? Yes. For football-matches? No. So what's the alternative?
Well, for a maritime nation how about the players and officials lining up for, "The Sailors Hornpipe", a jolly tune that would set just the right festive tone. And for the crowd, when the team need a lift, why not follow the example of rugby and outsing them with "Swing Low Sweet Chariot". Or as an alternative, this, from the Beatles, so that the fans don't take themselves, (or the occasion), too seriously. "We all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine, yellow submarine". It has just the right bounce to it; and surely from the terraces, they could make something of this, from the same song:
Full speed over here, sir!
Action station! Action station!
Aye, aye, sir, fire!
Heaven! Heaven!"
For unless the flavour changes, the expectations and assumptions on which they are based, will continue to be unreal; and it will be a long long time, before those in England, who truly love football, enjoy the international success that they would so love to see.
From my own, very personal perspective, the appointment of a new England manager, is only to scratch the surface of the problem; because it is "the fans", egged on by a largely nationalistic and triumphalist media, and fuelled by the sense of occasion, that are driving the players to mediocrity.
__________© Cormac McCloskey
Note: This blog, "England! England!", was first published on Windows Live Spaces, by me, on 22nd November 2007
No comments:
Post a Comment