On the subject of British football, I stand corrected. The funny thing is, I can remember exactly when and where I learned the expression ‘I stand corrected’: it was in fifth grade at the Smith College Campus School, sometime between baloney sandwiches and recess. However, when and where exactly I learned my preconceived and incorrect notions about British football (American soccer) I have no clue.
While it may have something to do with the 2002 film, Bend It Like Beckham, or more likely the 2005 film, Goal, when I found out I would be studying in England for six months, I honestly expected to step off the plane and into side-streets full of little Ronaldinhos.
Watch this video of Ronaldinho the “king of freestyle” if you’ve never heard of him:
It’s true, there are many fanatic football fans here and walking through downtown Lancaster, it is hard not to notice how many pub doors have signs for coming football matches. Still, I soon learned that football does not play the influential role in British life that I was (somewhere) taught to expect. For example, televisions on campus show just as many rugby games as they do football games and Lancaster University offers every sport and club team that St. Olaf does – not just football. People do not walk around in only fan jerseys and I see more Lancaster University sweatshirts than those with the names of famous British football teams. In fact, many students at my university have told me they don’t have a favorite football team, some don’t even watch football, and some admitted they are bigger fans of American football!
Even so, I continued to hope that my stereotype of British football would be proven true. Surely, I thought, if I could just go to a professional football game I would see everything I was used to in the movies. It didn’t take long before I got my chance, and I can tell you exactly when and where: this past Saturday, February 26, in the Wigan Athletic Football Club’s DW Stadium. The best part: Wigan Athletic was playing none other than the one club team I actually knew about, Manchester United.
The real reason I am a Manchester United fan is because, well, my brother is. Since my brother is a great football player himself, I obviously trust his opinion. I also trust (my researched) fact that Manchester United is one of the most successful clubs in the history of British football. So, there I found myself, sitting in the stands at a real British football game (technically here a game is called a ‘match’) a meat pie in one hand, my camera and program in the other.
The biggest surprise was that what I saw around me was no big surprise, in fact, it looked much like a view from the stands of a Minnesota Vikings, Twins or Wild game (I’ve been to all but a Wild game). In fact, it probably looked just like a Minnesota Stars game, however, I can’t say because I only just heard of them after searching: ‘Minnesota Professional Soccer Team’ online. As the 90-minute game progressed, the whole experience even felt like any other sports game I’ve been to in America. I was surrounded by cheering and jeering fans, faced with an assortment of souvenirs and junk food for sale, and excited to see such famous footballers – Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez, Dimitar Berbatov – in person instead of on t.v.
Below: a photo I took during the game of Wayne Rooney (clapping)
As the game ended all too soon with Manchester United crushing Wigan Athletic ( 4 to 0) my own original assumptions were finally crushed as well. As I left the game with a new perspective, I also left with a question. If as I suspect, American football is to Americans the equivalent of football to the British – judging by the number of fans, the fame of the players, and the budget of the industry – do British students traveling to America expect to see little _(insert your favorite American football player)_s everywhere? Rudy is still a popular movie, and what about Friday Night Lights?
In the hope of saving these hypothetical British students embarrassment, time and money (NFL tickets never do come cheap) let me say that at least in Northfield, Minnesota, little boys in pads and helmets do not overpopulate front yards – just as little boys in shin guards are similarly missing from the streets of Lancaster, England.
*Lucy Casale ’13 is studying at Lancaster University in Lancaster, England for second semester.