Not much hurt over here I can tell you part I

England has the TV deals. It has the sky high wages for footballers. Ticket prices are continuing to rise in most places. It is marketed as ‘The Best League in the World’ TM. English teams are starting dominate European competition as they once did in the early 1980’s. And yet the national team can’t so much as not beat an egg, more can’t even break the shell to get the yolk out.

England have won the World Cup once. At home. With the benefit of an exceptionally dubious linesman’s decision (who is rumoured to have answered ‘Stalingrad’ when asked by the referee if the ball was over the line for the third goal). And that’s it. Oh, there have been a couple of vague stabs at glory, such as Mexico in 1970, Italy in 1990 and, unsurprisingly, in England again in 1996, but all that has really resulted from these near misses is that a nation vaguely remembers why they don’t like someone called Peter Bonetti and some half arsed Pizza Hut commercials. And Paul Gascoigne cried a bit.

Now consider Germany. You can still get into a ground for under ten pounds (about fifteen Euros). Lots of ‘true fans’ attend games(or less prawn sandwich munchers, depending on how you look at these things), meaning a terrific atmosphere at a lot of games. Lots of new stadia, which still include terracing, due in no small part to having the World Cup staged here last year. Ok, the players cost less and are paid less, but the DFB aren’t raking on ₤400mm plus per year in television income. Total Bundesliga outlay on transfers may be less then Chelsea’s in any given off season. And yet, the Germans continue to dominate the international stage.

Let me take you on a walk down memory lane (in a strictly plutonic sense). The Germans have won three World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990), and taken part in a total of seven World Cup finals. They have also won three European Championships (1972, 1980, 1996) and taken part in a total of five finals. That’s six major championship victories. And a further six finals appearances.

Even if we disregard the relatively recent influx of cash into the English game, there must be reasons for this disparity. Going back over sixty years, England have been mostly poor, and Germany have been mostly good. Why?

Tbc…