Does football reject the middle class and students?

We’ve chosen — in aid of establishing our hypothesis — England’s case, seen as the English are responsible for the creation of football, though this model is applicable, considering the obvious differences and variables, to many other nations across the globe.

One of the problems with British football lies in what happens before Britain’s best football players reach the Premier League. Those that manage to find a way to the top belong to, for the most part, a single and dwindling social group: the traditional working class. The country’s middle class is practically excluded from professional football. This, almost certainly, hinders the national team.

There are many ways of determining the social class into which an individual is born, but a good place to start is the parents’ occupation. Consider the fathers of the British players involved in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups: David Batty (bin man), David Beckham (heating technician), Joe Cole (fruit vendor), Sol Campbell (railway worker), Robbie Fowler (railway worker), Steven Gerrad (builder), Emili Heskey(bouncer), Paul Ince (railway worker), Paul Merson (miner), Wayne Roonye (builder), David Saeman(auxiliary mechanic), Teddy Sheringham (policeman), Jonh Terry (forklift mechanic), Darius Vasell(factory worker).

Only five of thirty-four players on the list –Crouch, James, Lee, Southgate y Walcott-, were sons to men that made a living off something that required schooling past the age of 16. If we define the class in terms of career, 15% of the previously mentioned footballers came from a middle class background.

This dependence English football had on a reservoir of talent from the vast working class proved only moderately adverse in the past. The majority of the English population were workers. By the end of the 1980s, 70% of the British population dropped out of school at 16 years of age to, more often than note, dedicate their lives to manual labour.

At present, more than 70% of the population stay in school past the age of 16. More than 40% access higher level education. Great Britain is every little bit more a middle class country with each passing day. Whilst said football scene is still looking to recruit players from the traditional working class, it excludes a considerable part of the population that only seems to be getting bigger. This, no doubt, entails a halt in progress for the English national squad.

Another issue for the Island is that its working class would consider football something that is learned through practice, as opposed to being taught by specialised and certified educators with specific methodologies. An attitude that could be expected from an industrial society in which few individuals would benefit from a formal education. It was almost as if having one could prove itself almost embarrassing.

There still exists a class-specific tradition that isolates the British middle class from professional football: a notion we could call ‘the anti-education requisite’ for the sake of this case study. The majority of England’s football players are still leaving school behind at the age of 16. The idea that this way they could dedicate their time and energy exclusively to football persists. The simple fact that footballers aren’t too busy to set academia aside isn’t considered. Rarely will train for more than two hours a day.

Much rather it seems that studying isn’t considered highly in this niche section of society. Consequently, English football still isn’t actively welcoming middle class adolescents. The few young footballers that wish to study usually renounce their sporting aspirations to full-time professional football because they tire of being lectured by trainers lacking in academic qualifications. Coming from a ‘middle class’ background, they feel like outsiders and will be often made fun of for attending a private school or not being familiar with street trends.

This is somewhat unfortunate as there’s more and more evidence that sporting talent and academic ability go hand in hand. Athletes are mentally agile which, when focused and trained correctly, makes for great intellectual potential.

To summarise, Britain doesn’t produce better players than the less developed countries it competes with. Instead of excluding foreign players from English football, it would be of more use to include the amount of middle class locals in youth football.

https://marcetfootball.com/en/marcet-investigation/#1519145592063-8a5cbb2c-805d