Football managers have exhorted their players to greater things, or reined in would-be errant stars, with the phrase ‘nothing is bigger than the game’. Someone said to Bill Shankly, manager of the mighty Liverpool side of the 1960s and ‘70s, ‘football’s a matter of life and death’ to which the orator is said to have replied ‘Listen, it’s more important than that’. But not more important than the death of a Monarch.
And not just any Monarch. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was the longest reigning King or Queen in our British history. The 80% of the UK population under 70 years of age have never known another Monarch. To them she was ‘Our Queen’ and to the Commonwealth and World ‘The Queen’. She came to the Throne after the Second World War and oversaw so much social and national change with dedication to service and compassionate love.
Some said football should go ahead in this heavily congested season like no other, dominated by the FIFA World Cup and Mammon funded by Arabic rather than Russian petro-dollars. Professional sports elsewhere showed us how to keep a minute’s silence. Others said going to a match brought people together, when they needed to be. I recall feeling the need to attend a football match the weekend after Bobby Moore died and felt the emotion of the old White Hart Lane crowd and the sadness in the bitter wind of the silence. The Queen’s death is about distinction, respect, and mourning on a different scale.
Football did resume mid-week, with a narrow 2-3 win for West Ham United in the Europa Conference League, away to Danish side Silkeborg IF. And in the UEFA Champions League, a draw (1-1) for Chelsea at home to RB Salzburg, and an away defeat for Tottenham Hotspur (0-2) to Sporting CS of Lisbon.
Next up for Premier London Derbies (PLDs) is Brentford v Arsenal, on a repeat of the opening Premier League (PL) match of last season, and the Bees’ first in the PL, and first win. Top of the Table Gunners will want to reverse that score (2-0) and regain momentum.
The match will be played on Sunday 18 September 2022, the eve of the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – may she rest in peace. Until next time, enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.