A Reflection on The Beautiful Game

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I can assure you, it is much, much more important than that.” – Bill Shankly

In 1824, a century before the inaugural World Cup took place, a group of miners known as the Company of Gentlemen Adventurers arrived in Mexico from their hometown of Cornwall, in the south west of England. They brought with them modern pumping equipment and techniques to extract water from the deep silver mines in Pachuca and Real del Monte. This reinvigoration of the local industry brought with it a turnaround in fortunes for the local people, which is commemorated to this day in various museums across Hidalgo state.

But mining expertise was not all the Company of Gentlemen Adventurers shared with their Mexican comrades.

They introduced parcels of meat, potato and onions, encased in shortcrust pastry, known as Cornish Pasties, now known on these shores by the name pastes.

And they taught the locals the beautiful game.

That football was and remains England’s favourite sport is beyond doubt. What is more dubitable, however, is the origin of the sport. Tradition states that football began on the streets and fields of Medieval England, where crowds of people would chase an inflated pig’s bladder. The game was violent, chaotic and occasionally resulted in death. Henry VIII, himself no stranger to fatalities, was supposedly the first ever owner of a pair of football boots. Later, in the 19th Century, football was developed and codified in England, and the first Football Association was formed.

But in spite of all that, the English cannot take all the credit.

In fact, the sport originated in various different countries at different periods in history, often independently.

On these very shores, the Aztec sport tchatali represents the first recognisable precursor of football, first played over 3000 years ago. Under the Shang Dynasty in Ancient China, the sport of cuju involved a leather ball, kicked around a square. In Japan, a similar sport was known as kemari. Aboriginal Australians had the game of Marn Gook, in which participants kicked a ball in order to keep it airborne. Even the Ancient Greeks had their own version of a foot-based ball game; although sports involving balls were considered lowly and vulgar in comparison with javelin-throwing, running and chariot-racing.

The Greeks were not alone in their disdain of football. The sport was banned multiple times by English and French Kings in the Medieval Ages, and was considered the lesser cousin of the more gentlemanly sport of rugby when the two were codified in the 19th Century. In fact, even the great bard, William Shakespeare, wrote disapprovingly of football in two of his most celebrated plays: The Comedy of Errors and King Lear.

It is, perhaps, precisely that association with vulgarity which has fuelled the widespread popularity of the sport. It is a sport of the people, a game in which the poorest child from the lowliest barrio, favela or street corner can attain global superstar status; in which the only equipment you need is a kickable sphere; in which raw skill and hard work so often triumph over wealth and status.

And so it was in Real del Monte in the 19th Century: working men and women coming together to bring about great change.

In the 200 years since that fateful cultural intercambio, the popularity of football has come to dwarf all other sports. The hope, the despair; the joy, the agony; the glory and the ignominy: all shared by billions of people across the globe. More than a sport, it has become a societal phenomenon, spawning international news stories, movies, television series, video games and so much more.

Each nation has its own history to describe how football conquered its people. How fitting for the Edron that the history of football in Mexico should be one that binds our countries to one another. From the Aztecs to the Tudors, through to the Cornish miners in Hidalgo, there is a narrative connecting Mexico and Britain that traverses through time. It is not too much of a stretch to say that our school represents a continuation of that narrative.

As the two nations at the heart of our bicultural school prepare to do battle with their rivals in Qatar, it is only appropriate that our community stand together, whether in victory or in defeat. The World Cup presents a golden opportunity for us to celebrate our similarities, our differences, our past and our future. Our cheers will echo across the hills; let us hope that our tears do not flood the valleys.

¡Viva Mexico!

Come on England!

James Hughes – Head of Primary