In case you had never noticed before, England is football mad. The sport goes way beyond its basic premise of 22 people kicking a ball around once a week, seeping into every part of life. That is the reason why fans from around the world look at the footballing culture in the United Kingdom and marvel. This culture makes football a cool sport to be a part of it. It also means that football transcends, seeping into different corners of life. When something is so big and connects so many people through playing, watching, even just talking about it, it can be difficult for those who do not play a part.
This is why at We Make Footballers, our aim is to make playing football fun for every child who shows an interest in joining one of our youth football academies. We want to help them fall in love with the sport, become a part of the culture and understand why England loves football more than anything else.
Consumption of professional football in England
There are numerous ways in which you can measure football consumption in England to understand just how big a part of the culture the sport is. How about attendances at live events?
The European Professional Football Leagues Fan Attendance Report looked at average cumulative attendances between 2010 and 2017. The Premier League came top with over 13 million fans attending games.
More impressive was the Championship being the fourth most-watched league in Europe. Only Germany’s Bundesliga and Spain’s La Liga attracted more spectators than the 9 million England’s second-tier managed.League One was ninth on the list with 4 million supporters watching live matches. That puts it higher than the top divisions in Belgium, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Poland, Sweden and a lot more countries besides.
That football has such a strong culture in England and so many people see the sport as being cool and worth taking part in is because of the strength of the pyramid. Football clubs in the National League – the fifth tier – now regularly attract crowds north of 6,000.
From Kevin De Bruyne at Manchester City down to Paddy Madden banging in the goals for Stockport County four divisions lower, football is more accessible to more people in England than any other country in the world. It is little wonder it is seen as being cool.
How football culture went mainstream
At the top level, footballers have become household names. The blurring of the lines between players and celebrities began with the advent of the Premier League in 1992, becoming supercharged when the likes of David Beckham and Ashley Cole came along to date popstar girlfriends.
Football players suddenly found themselves being brand ambassadors, advertising everything and anything as other industries realised the star appeal that cool footballers could bring. Cars, shaving foam, aftershave, fizzy drinks – you name it, and a player has been attached to it.
In the summer of 2021, Leicester City’s James Maddison became a genuine model for fashion brand Boohooman. That was off the back of finishing fifth in the Premier League and winning the FA Cup with the Foxes. Maddison did not even need to make the England squad for Euro 2020 to find himself fronting a campaign.
England performing at major tournaments driving football popularity
Ah yes, Euro 2020. England’s success in reaching the final of a major men’s tournament for the first time since 1966 has elevated the coolness of the sport and the players involved to even greater heights.
You no longer need to like football to know who Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden or Gareth Southgate are. “It’s coming home” was all anyone could talk about over the summer. Imagine not being into football and missing out on all that?
And there is every chance that what we saw in 2021 will be eclipsed in 2022. Women’s football in England has the potential to explode in popularity as the country hosts the European Championships. The Lionesses have a genuine chance of going one better than the men and lifting the trophy at Wembley.
Frontpage headlines are awaiting Sarina Wiegman and her players. This growth of the female game is adding to the culture of football in England, attracting a whole new audience of women and girls who have genuine role models like Leah Williamson, Ellie Roebuck and Ellen White to look up to. Women’s football is cool - and girls have never wanted to be a part of it more.
Kids and footballing culture
Research in the lead up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa claimed that the average person in England spent 28 minutes per day talking about football with family, friends and colleagues.
That is over three hours a week discussing results, players, goals and transfer gossip. With football more popular than ever a decade on, even more time is certain to be devoted to the beautiful game.
The same is true in playgrounds and schools. When kids are not busy learning, they want to discuss Neymar’s latest tricks or Liverpool winning matches. When not talking about football, kids are booting a ball around during their breaks and lunchtimes, imagining they are Nikita Parris or Alex Morgan.
Kids come home and they want to play a football match in the garden or down the park. Football has the power to bring children together, making obvious the benefits of team sports and encouraging kids to become a part of the cool culture surrounding football at an early age.
Football creates friendships and extends social circles. It develops confidence. It provides exercise and a sense of achievement on both an individual and team level when success is experienced. It also teaches the importance of failure and learning from mistakes.
In one way or another, the majority of children in England are involved in football – from those whose interest has been piqued by what they have seen on television to those regularly attending live matches of playing games on a weekly basis.
Young footballers become part of that cool culture and the cultural values that surround the sport – and it is only likely to become ever-more encompassing as football continues to grow. It is an ever-dwindling number of kids who are not involved.
To find out about playing opportunities and training sessions in your area for children aged between 4 and 12 under the guidance of FA qualified football coaches in a fun and safe environment, please see the We Make Footballers website.
