Why the United Kingdom Loves Football (Soccer)
The impact that football has on UK culture is pretty incredible. It’s a gigantic part of British life and is interwoven into the fabric of the society. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say football is more like a religion than it is a sport for a lot of football fans in England, Scotland, and Wales. But why is football so popular in the UK?
First and foremost, England invented the game and was the first country to develop modern rules through the Football Association. In addition to this, the access to the sport, the inclusivity it brings, and the sense of belonging the sport provides to fans are unparalleled against any other.
The reasons for football being so popular in the UK is rather complex. It has deep-rooted connections with social class status as well as politics to a certain extent, which is what makes it such a passionate and involved topic for many British football fans.
The inclusivity of the sport for people of all classes, education, and ethnicity means that the door is open for anybody to both spectate and partake in the sport. On top of that, the level of access to the game is extremely low when you compare it to sports such as golf or cricket; all you need is a football and some open space.
Let’s take a look at some of the main drivers in the popularity of football in the UK and why they have such an impact on British life.
Spectatorship and participation
The English Football League consists of 92 professional teams spread across four leagues. The most famous league out of them all is the elite competition, aptly named the Premier League. It comprises the top 20 teams in England and Wales, which include some of the very best teams in the entire world.
However, if we look at the semi-professional and amateur leagues, the numbers can get quite staggering. According to the Football Association (the FA), there are currently over 119,000 football teams in the UK, with over 11 million people playing the sport. This gives football the highest level of participation out of any sport in the UK by quite some distance.
As far as spectatorship goes, the Premier League stands out above the rest. The Premier League is the most successful football league worldwide, and in total, there were 13.6 million spectators in 2017.
Family and culture
Football is deep-rooted with UK culture. If you’re a Brit, even if you don’t like football, the chances are you will still have a team that you support. This is typically based upon family allegiance and the town/city on which you were raised.
Football, in some senses, is an illustration of modern-day tribalism when it comes to the Saturday and Sunday kick-off games.
Opposition teams become sworn enemies, and fans from both sides wear their team’s colors with pride, resembling something akin to a temporary hatred for the other team. Often, this can verge close to a boiling point, but over the last 30 years, the state of football in the UK has become far less volatile when compared to the days of hooliganism in the ’70s and ’80s.
Supporting your team is a sense of pride that you represent your city and where you come from. Your allegiance to your club is above all, and there is absolutely zero tolerance for switching teams. While there are some people who support teams from outside of their hometown, this is relatively rare and usually only occurs due to one of their parents being a die-hard fan of that team.
The UK is considered to be the home of football
England is the home of football. The game was invented in the UK, and the world’s first football club, Sheffield Utd, was established there in 1857. Shortly afterward, the modern rules were first drawn up in 1863.
Since then, the popularity of football has been on a meteoric rise and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Nowadays, some of the most successful clubs play in England, such as Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, and so on. The trophy list of some of these clubs is staggering, and you’d be hard-pressed to find any other teams in the world with such deep-rooted and cultural impacts for the towns and cities they represent.
It’s brilliantly simple
One of the main reasons football is so popular is its simplicity. It’s incredibly easy to pick up and play, all you need is a football and an open space. There are many varieties that can be played depending on the number of people that you have and the size of the space in which you’re playing.
There aren’t too many rules for players/viewers to learn either, especially when you compare it to a sport like American Football.
The beautiful game
From a spectator standpoint, the game is extremely easy to watch and is often filled with controversy, which makes it exciting. The best times typically play in a style that is aesthetically pleasing to watch, which is why it is often referred to as “the beautiful game.” Teams play slick passes to each other while others display amazing levels of skills and flair which get fans on their feet.
It’s a typically low scoring game, with games usually settled with a one or two-goal difference. While this may sound dull to some, this is precisely what makes the game so enthralling. The game never stops for a timeout. The clock is constantly ticking from the moment the game starts, which creates a huge sense of urgency, particularly if your team is losing.
Football is the most popular sport in the world
While football is immensely popular in the UK, it’s worth remembering that football is the most popular sport in the world, with an estimated 3.5 billion fans. That’s almost half of the entire global population!
On top of that, the World Cup Final, which is the ultimate game in the largest international football tournament, is the most-watched event, with between 3.2 to 3.4 billion viewers. In fact, the 2018 World Cup is the third most-watched live television events in history, only losing out to the Rio and London Olympics, respectively.
When you compare this to the Superbowl, which pulls in around 100 million viewers, you can see the sheer size of the football and the profound impact it has across the globe.
Historical Cultural and Societal Impact of Football in the United Kingdom
When you consider the historical, political, and cultural impact football has had in the UK, it’s easy to see why it has become so popular. Supporting your local team is a badge of pride for most people, and it gives them a tangible way of being able to symbolize where they are from and their loyalty to their hometown.
When you couple that with how easy the game is to pick up and play, as well as its extreme accessibility to people of all backgrounds, it’s no wonder football has the attention that it does today.
As the world has become more globalized, football, in a sense, becomes a global language that gives people from every corner of the globe, a chance to share a common interest. Nowadays, the same reasons that people wear their club’s crests to show their allegiance to their city, they now do so on a European and even an international scale.
If you’re still unsure what football means to UK citizens, there here is a famous quote from Bill Shankly, who was the iconic manager of Liverpool Football Club throughout the height of their success in the 1960s and ’70s:
“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I’m very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” – Bill Shankly.
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