It would be untrue to suggest that positivity alone would be enough to see England win the likes of the World Cup, given the manner in which other countries are also hoping to win it. Even so, one thing that is difficult to deny is that the negativity that surrounds the Three Lions when a major tournament comes about won’t have a positive impact.
It isn’t just in footballer where English people tend to be quite negative, with anything from the cricket through to the Summer Olympics often seeing the English assuming that they’re going to fail or end up with little to show for their sporting endeavours during any given competition.
It’s Naturally English to be Self-Deprecating
Self-deprecation is something of a sport for the English. It has always been quite the English thing to play down one’s accomplishments. In a 2024 global survey that was carried out by the company Randstad, just 42% of British workers described themselves as ambitious. That compares unfavourably with the 90% of workers in India who had ambition and even the 56% global average.
It might well be down the British press that the country tends to put itself down so often. After all, it is typical of the English newspapers to build someone up only to then shoot them down, so why not do that ourselves before the press can do it for us?
My pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of other pessimists. #JeanRostand
— English Quotes (@english_quotes) August 8, 2023
The English generally love to be self-deprecating, making a joke at their own expense. In social settings this is often done in order to put others at ease, but when it is done with regards to the nation’s sporting success, it can often come across as negative to others.
Many English people are far more inclined to imagine that success is something for other people rather than themselves, perhaps because in a nation where having a ‘stiff upper lip’ is the way that things are done the idea of self-promotion seems entirely at odds with the national psyche. Rather than bigging the country up, most people only know how to put it down.
It is Often Circumstance Dependent
The truth about English pessimism is that it is often depending on the circumstances that the country finds itself in. In the 1990s, Cool Britannia was the vibe and many felt hopeful for the future. England hosted the European Championship and there was a general feeling of positivity around the country. The football team rode on the wave of that positivity and, under manager Terry Venables, made it to the semi-finals of Euro ’96.
A defeat to Germany on penalties was painted as inevitable after the fact, but there was a belief around England that the team could do the unexpected and make it to the final, with Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightening Seeds telling us football was ‘coming home’.
Self deprecation is an English quality so here’s my one and only attempt tonight. pic.twitter.com/BWKvnByLGu
— Liddle_4_ever (@liddle_4_ever) July 11, 2021
That phrase of ‘football’s coming home’ has been used in virtually every single tournament in which England have appeared ever since. Sometimes it has been used mockingly, whilst on other occasions it has seemed like a genuine appreciation of what the team was doing on the pitch.
Again, it depends largely on how the country is feeling at any given moment. If the weather is nice in the summer, people will be significantly more positive in their mindset than if it is cold and has been raining almost non-stop. In fact, the weather that people in England have to put up with often has an influence on their overall negativity.
Moaning is an English Pastime
The truth of the matter is that moaning and complaining is something of an English pastime. For a lot of people, they are at their happiest when they’ve got something to complain about. Any possible positivity is certainly not helped by the fact that the wealth in the country is limited to just a select few.
People have to work hard for little reward, believing that that is the limit of their lot in life. Whereas the likes of American people are brought up to believe that they can achieve anything, English people don’t have the same sort of culture and that naturally flows into the way that they think about sporting tournaments and competitions.
@mrandrewtt the curse of being english it’s cold all year. so we moan about it. then out of nowhere the sun comes out so we moan about it and this is the curse of being English trapped in a never ending circle of moaning we love it #curse #cursed #english #englishperson
When a sporting tournament such as the Summer Olympics or World Cup is about to get underway, English people absolutely could get behind the athletes due to take part in it. It has happened before, with Euro ’96 being the quintessential football example and the 2012 Olympics being the athletic one.
In both instances, though, the events were being hosted in England and therefore people were more willing to get involved and enjoy themselves. When it is taking place elsewhere, that enjoyment is going to be limited by the fact that the majority of people are watching from the outside and are therefore unable to influence the outcome.
We’ve All Learned From the Past
Perhaps the key reason why English people tend to be so pessimistic about sport is that they’ve learned that failure is the most likely outcome over the years. If you look at something like Grand Slam tennis, for example, the Open Era took until Fred Perry in the 1930s before a male tennis player won.
In the modern era, only Andy Murray has enjoyed any major success and he’s Scottish. The likes of Sue Barker and Virginia Wade managed it for the women, but when Emma Raducanu won the US Open in 2021 she failed to win anything else in the years that followed. It is significantly more likely that the English will lose than win.
The same sort of thing is true in the Summer and Winter Olympics, where the likes of the Americans or Chinese are much more likely to dominate. In football, England has won just one major trophy in the form of the 1966 World Cup. Of course few English people are going to feel engaged enough to get excited about the possible outcome of a major tournament. It is an attitude that holds people back.
Scotland qualify for few major tournaments, so there is little to no expectation for them to do well when they manage it. The supporters turn up wanting to have fun, whereas no English people seem to enjoy themselves, instead assuming they will lose and being angry about it.
