Jason Moore17/08/2016 00:00
TW
1

Every time the England football team get knocked out of an international tournament, someone blames the lack of facilities in schools and the fact that Margaret Thatcher sold off school sports fields to raise cash in the 1980s. And of course kids no longer play football because they prefer their PlayStations and Ipads. Well that explains it then. It is a mixture of Maggie and PlayStations that Britain can’t play sports any more.

But excuse me, hasn’t Britain just won a record number of medals at the Rio Olympics? In all sports from cycling to tennis. And England are holding their own in all other sports bar football. It must be remembered that Wales, which allegedly has the same lack of facilities as England, were the sensation of the recent European soccer championships. So what is wrong with the England football team? Answers on a postcard please.

The lack of success by the Three Lions has meant that many soccer fans are now turning to other sports because they are so fed-up watching lacklustre performances from players who are not in the same league as the Olympic heroes (even though, it must be said, that Britain’s golden heroes can only dream of the money footballers get paid). There are no excuses for the football team. It promises much but delivers little or nothing. The Olympic athletes deliver for Britain without even a promise. They are the sports stars of the day not the team of excuses.