THE ENGLISH GAME

Since Shrovetide Football was a feature of this historic blog a couple of days ago, I was not surprised to read in the press that Netflix is featuring a film called "The English Game", produced by Lord Julian Fellowes of West Stafford (from Downton Abbey fame). It is out March 20th.


Actors have been auditioning to show how badly they can play football before they get taken on as part of the cast. They have been trained in how to play like the 19th Century founders of the national game, although they have to have some previous skill for the game.

Obviously the game was in its infancy and virtually anything "went", as the game evolved, so did the "laws" and eventually Football became "The Beautiful Game".

The film refers to the class conflict between the Old Etonians, very much pioneers of the game, and the "toiling workers" from the "lower classes". Below is OEs v Blackburn Olympic FA Cup Final 1882-3, 1-2 at The Oval.

Local lads in northern England and Scotland proved to be victors in establishing the game as they used dribbling skills and neat passing to get round the rugby/mob style of play from the original game that was more like rugby but even more barbaric!

Actors were taken to the Manchester United Carrington Training Ground (courtesy of Lord Fellowes' influence and the generosity of the Glazers) to perfect the violent, cumbersome and antiquated original game. Football historians were employed alongside football coaches to achieve an accurate style of play.Certainly many parts of the game would not be legal in this "snowflake" generation.

The upcoming series stars Edward Holcroft who plays the aristocratic Lord Arthur Kinnaird, a member of nobility, who later sat on the FA committee.

 On the other hand was Fergus Suter, a Glaswegian stonemason, (below) who brought the passing game to England and who is believed to be the first player to be paid to play. It was the working classes who eventually "won" the battle of class in the game. Curious formations, some as strange as 1 (gk)-1-9 and 1-2-2-6 were rigidly kept to with "blockers" acting like NFL players creating a free passage for the man on the ball. "Squashes", rather like rucks, were not uncommon and it was the responsibility of expert, Mike Delaney, to coach the actors in the intricasies of the original game.

The series is launched on March 20th.

I shall add that the Old Carthusians won the FA Cup in 1881, beating the OEs 2-0.