Football and Class

I am Fill in the blank 1 of 14 proud fan of Fill in the blank 2 of 14 Sheffield Wednesday FC, but not because it’s Fill in the blank 3 of 14 great football team. In fact, in Fill in the blank 4 of 14 25 years that I have been cheering on Fill in the blank 5 of 14 Owls, we have had far more failure than success. But I grew up 10 minutes from Hillsborough, our 36,000-seater stadium, and in England that is Fill in the blank 6 of 14 most important thing.

For many English people your football team is Fill in the blank 7 of 14 part of your identity. Supporting Fill in the blank 8 of 14 local team is Fill in the blank 9 of 14 sign of loyalty to your hometown, while Fill in the blank 10 of 14 ‘glory-supporters’ who support Fill in the blank 11 of 14 ‘successful team’ from elsewhere are considered Fill in the blank 12 of 14 ‘traitors’ and scorned. At Sheffield Wednesday matches Fill in the blank 13 of 14 fans chant

‘Wednesday til I die,
I’m Wednesday til I die,
I know I am,
I’m sure I am,
I’m Wednesday til I die!’

and we mean it. It doesn’t matter how good or bad Fill in the blank 14 of 14 team is. They will always have our support.

Fill in the blank 1 of 24 English people are also very loyal to their social class, especially in Fill in the blank 2 of 24 industrial towns and cities of Fill in the blank 3 of 24 North, where I am from. One reason for this is that Fill in the blank 4 of 24 ‘industrial working class’ was born in Fill in the blank 5 of 24 early 19th century and it remained strong until Fill in the blank 6 of 24 1980s. 150 years is enough to create Fill in the blank 7 of 24 very distinctive culture, which includes Fill in the blank 8 of 24 food (anything fried), Fill in the blank 9 of 24 sport (football, snooker, darts), Fill in the blank 10 of 24 politics (Labour), Fill in the blank 11 of 24 holidays (caravan parks) and Fill in the blank 12 of 24 dialect. Furthermore, each town and city has Fill in the blank 13 of 24 working class areas and middle class areas, so there is not much mixing between Fill in the blank 14 of 24 two.

To understand England, you must realise that ‘posh’ is not always Fill in the blank 15 of 24 good thing. Growing up in Sheffield, I knew that I was ‘posh’ because my parents were doctors and I attended Fill in the blank 16 of 24 private school. I couldn’t hide my ‘poshness’ because as soon as I opened my mouth it was obvious. Fill in the blank 17 of 24 working class people have Fill in the blank 18 of 24 strong local accent. Fill in the blank 19 of 24 middle class people don’t. But I hated being posh. It was fine at Fill in the blank 20 of 24 school – Fill in the blank 21 of 24 posh people were in Fill in the blank 22 of 24 majority there – but at Fill in the blank 23 of 24 scouts and tennis I felt like Fill in the blank 24 of 24 other kids looked down on me because I wasn’t ‘one of them’.

Although Fill in the blank 1 of 10 class differences are fading, especially now that 50% of young people go to Fill in the blank 2 of 10 university and there are fewer traditional ‘working class’ jobs, Fill in the blank 3 of 10 English people are still proud to identify as working class. In Fill in the blank 4 of 10 2024 survey, 56% said they were working class and only 36% identified as middle class. In Fill in the blank 5 of 10 North of England, 64% claimed to be working class. Many of these people work in Fill in the blank 6 of 10 offices, have two cars and Fill in the blank 7 of 10 big house with Fill in the blank 8 of 10 garden, and send their kids to Fill in the blank 9 of 10 university. But culturally they are proud to be working class, just like they are proud to support their local football team.

In fact, sometimes I think that my love for Sheffield Wednesday is connected to my desire to connect with my working class neighbours. I can’t talk like them, drink in their pubs or live on their streets. But I can share their joy when Fill in the blank 10 of 10 Owls win and their pain when we lose again…