Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1391768
SPORT matters to national identity. The pageantry of flags, emblems and anthems (both of- ficial and unofficial) load sport with symbolism and imagery of the nation. One of the key reasons governments spend bil- lions of dollars to host sporting mega events is to build or rein- force a sense of national identi- ty. However, national identity is fluid, not fixed. Sport offers an arena in which national identity can adapt and change. In England, where many civic institutions represent Britain as a whole, the men's nation- al football team is particularly important to English identity. In 1996, the country hosted the European Championships tournament. This coincided with the so-called awakening of English national identity, sym- bolised by the supplanting of the union flag with the waving of the Saint George's cross at Wembley football stadium and the singing of a new fans' an- them, Three Lions (Football's Coming Home). In recent years, celebrating Englishness has often been linked to a narrow and exclu- sive imagery, which is said to marginalise ethnic minorities and those with a more social- ly liberal perspective, and has been tied to a football culture often associated with hooligan- ism. Yet now, as England have reached the finals of the Euros for the first time, the team and its manager, Gareth Southgate, have put football at the centre of a debate about English iden- tity for the opposite reason. Is a more proud, inclusive version of Englishness emerging? Multicultural teams in a glo- balised world A recent graphic promoted by the UK's Museum of Migration shows a stark picture of what England's starting 11 would look like without immigration over the past two generations. With only three players without a parent or grandparent born overseas, the national team is held up as a microcosm of a di- verse, multicultural population (although the absence of Eng- land's significant Asian com- munities is glaring). To paraphrase historian Eric Hobsbawm, the imagined com- munity of multicultural Eng- land seems more real as a team of eleven named people. As Southgate said before the 2018 World Cup: "In England we have spent a bit of time being a bit lost as to what our modern identity is. I think as a team we represent that modern identity and hopefully people can con- nect with us." In many ways, this is old news. Sport in England and the UK (akin to national identity) has always been a multinational affair, owing to its colonial ties with the countries of the for- mer British Empire. Whether it was Jamaican-born John Barnes scoring against Brazil in 1984, Kevin Pietersen (South Afri- can born) winning the Ashes in 2005, or Greg Rusedski (Ca- nadian born), Johanna Konta (Australian born) or, more re- cently, Emma Raducanu (Cana- dian born) performing at Wim- bledon, British sport has long reflected its colonial history and the tensions and contingencies that brings. Nor is this issue unique to England or the UK. In 1998, the French World Cup-winning team was both celebrated and attacked by pro- and anti-mi- grant voices for the multira- cial makeup of their "rainbow team", as a large proportion of its players – including its star Zinedine Zidane – had ethnic backgrounds in former French colonies in Africa and the Car- ibbean. The imperial legacies of Belgium, Netherlands and Portugal are also evident in the diversity of their respective squads. Beyond former colonial pow- ers, most national teams are now more ethnically diverse than they were 30 years ago, due to globalisation and the natural- isation of foreign athletes. Eng- land's quarter-final opponents Ukraine have fielded Brazilian born players Júnior Moraes and Marlos this year, and their cap- tain Andriy Yarmolenko was born in Russia. In addition to historical, cultural and linguis- tic connections, there is a clear performance imperative: teams that embrace ethnic diversity often outperform teams that don't. 'Englishness' and immigration What is significant about this moment is the wider political context in the UK – particular- ly the uncertainty over what is "English" national identity and, critically, what should it be. All this comes amid the fray of polarised debate over the is- sues of immigration and race in England, and the UK more generally. The prospect of a tighter, points-based system of immigration, which has now been introduced, was one of the key themes of the Leave cam- paign in the 2016 EU referen- dum. Had such a system been installed several decades ago, the graphic about the English team's immigration history may well have been approaching re- ality. And without the talents of Raheem Sterling, Kalvin Phil- lips, Kieran Trippier and oth- ers, England fans may well have been lamenting another disap- pointing tournament campaign. Amid the euphoria of reach- ing a final, there remains much soul-searching, as well as divi- sion, among the English on the key questions of "who are we" and "what exactly do we want to celebrate"? Fans, quite rightly, are cele- brating the achievements of the whole English team, as well as the activism of individual he- roes like Sterling and Marcus Rashford. Yet while many fans embrace the diversity of the team, the booing of their own players taking the knee against racism – a gesture that originat- ed in the US – shows that iden- tity politics can still divide, on and off the pitch. In spite of the positive image of diverse modern England pro- jected by this group of players and manager, it is unrealistic to expect football to navigate the current "culture war" and be able to consolidate a more progressive, inclusive vision of Englishness – at least on its own. Other civic, and possibly political, institutions are need- ed if England is going to mean more than "the 11 men in white shirts at Wembley". Notwithstanding how people identify themselves in terms of their nationality, research shows that both hosting a football tour- nament and making success- ful progression through it can have a positive impact on na- tional feelings of happiness and well-being. If England beat Italy at Wembley on Sunday and win Euro 2020, a feel-good factor will inevitably abound, which may be a springboard to unite a country that is still deeply divided. TheConversation.eu 6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 JULY 2021 OPINION England's identity: fans sing football's coming home, but what is home? John Rewilak and Daniel Fitzpatrick Johan Rewilak is lecturer in economics, Daniel Fitzpatrick is lecturer in politics, Aston University