Wargrave Wolves Waltz On.......

Getting the tactics right before the game!

On Saturday, as I stood on Wargrave Recreation Ground in Berkshire watching my grandson, Sam, playing for his football team (see last week’s blog). There were, of course, other footballing events taking place in the country’s great stadia at the same time. At Old Trafford, the “Theatre of Dreams,” mighty Manchester United were defeating West Ham – and in the process, the United and England captain Wayne Rooney was being sent off after “chasing and hacking down” the West Ham player Stewart Downing – a fellow England player.To his credit Rooney accepted that he was in the wrong after the West Ham manager described the event as “crazy and irresponsible” and Rooney’s own manager, Louis van Gaal,  came out with the rather bizarre comment that Rooney “....doesn’t have to change, he just needs to do it in a more friendly manner.” Meanwhile a few miles down the road at Anfield, home of Liverpool FC, the Liverpool player Mamadou Sakho stormed out of the ground prior to the game when he heard that he had not been selected to play in the match against Everton. Again, to his credit he later apologised when he faced a barrage of criticism from both club and fans but events like these make me wonder where it all goes wrong.

A bit of pre-match warm up

Whatever the “pressures” on these top sportsmen they seem to have an insatiable capacity to act like badly behaved children – unable to control their tantrums and, to coin a  modern phrase, “Throw their toys out of the pram”. Of course it is nice to have a get out clause that appears to explain and justify these outbursts – namely the pressures of the game – but it really doesn’t wash. I am always reminded of two things when that excuse is offered. Firstly really great players – Bobby Charlton, Tom Finney, Bobby Mooore, Gary Lineker, Franz Beckenbaur, Pele, Lionel Messi............ don’t get sent off or behave as Sakho did. Their skills do the talking for them. As in life it is the inadequate players that shout loudest  and behave badly to make up for and cover their many deficiencies And secondly, I am always reminded of the wonderful comment by the “golden boy of cricket” the  great Australian player and former war time fighter pilot Keith Miller who, when asked to talk about the pressures of playing  international cricket, colourfully remarked: "Pressure, I'll tell you what pressure is. Pressure is a Messerschmitt up your arse. Playing at the top level sport is not pressure – it’s a joy."

Shaking hands with the opposition 

So I wonder where it all goes wrong for as I watched Wargrave Wolves play Darby Green and Potley Dynamos on Saturday I saw all that is good in sport. I saw two teams trying their hardest to win. I saw every player smile and accept the referee’s decisions. I saw these boys, and their parents, accept the unwritten rules of the game – shaking hands with the opposition, applauding a good effort on either side, acknowledging that there were two teams on the pitch and that both demanded respect. When  players were substituted or left out no one walked away in a bad tempered huff – they sat on the side and clapped when those on the pitch did well...........and so it went on. And yet, despite this, it was still exciting and both sides still desperately wanted to win – just as much as the players at Liverpool or Manchester United wanted to win. When, near to the end of a very close game which either side could have won, the Wargrave player Max Meader broke through and scored the winning goal (and his second of the game) everyone – Wargrave and Darby Green spectators both applauded his effort. And in the last few minutes as Darby desperately tried to equalise everyone both on the pitch and off it were excited and tense........and yet no-one chased after and “hacked down” anyone as the United and England captain did an hour or two later at Old Trafford. So I ask myself what brings about this fundamental change in temperament and human nature in just a few short years?

And we are off!

My hour or so stood at the side of the pitch restored much of my waning faith in sport and those involved. All that I saw and heard was positive  and wholesome. No foul language, everybody willing to take a turn, no confrontations between players or between fans. Everybody giving 100% in their efforts to win the game but at the same time respecting the efforts of others. I saw children ranging from 6 or 7 year of age up to teenagers all learning the sort of things that sport at its best can teach – personal discipline, adherence to rules, acceptance of a decision – even when you might disagree with it – endeavour, listening to instructions and advice, digging deep when the going gets tough, not losing your head when things go wrong.........the list is endless and it was all there in abundance. It was everything that professional sport appears to have lost. And underpinning all this the fact that they were all enjoying a game, learning a skill which will hopefully develop and grow as they become older to provide a long term pleasure and recreation.

Can we get that equaliser?

As I predicted in my last blog, my rose coloured glasses told me that my grandson Sam, of course was the best player on the pitch and that at the end when his team had won the game (they have now played three and won three) their success was all due to him! Of course it wasn’t – rather, it was due to the efforts of all.  And in any case the winning is only a very small part of it. Someone once said that it isn't winning that's important it's taking part. Well I'm not too sure that's completely true. It is about winning - and about losing - that is what a game of any kind is about be it football, cricket, chess or a card game like snap! There are winners and losers and there is nothing wrong in that. What is important is how you win and how you lose. Are you able to accept both with dignity and good humour. And that, indeed was the final thing that the morning gave to the boys as the final whistle blew. Both teams were unbeaten prior to the game so Darby and Potley Dynamo players and fans must have been hugely disappointed not to have won. Wargrave, for their part were very lucky to win.  But to the credit of the Darby boys their disappointment didn't show. Defeat was accepted graciously - they applauded the Wargrave team and for their part the Wargrave players were magnanimous in victory. And, of course, the two teams will both look forward to their next meeting when, I'm sure, Darby and Potley will be anxious to reverse the result - and that is just as it should be. Again, another life lesson - if at first you don't succeed try, try try again.

These are surely important life lessons that I would want my grandchildren to experience and learn from for it is not really about sport it is about life itself – the accepting of what is and being able to rise again from failure or accept that wining or succeeding is a very transitory thing. Enjoy your successes but remember that failure might be just around the corner. That is the real value of sport – it is a vehicle, a metaphor for life where one can learn about yourself and about others – how far you can push yourself and how you must treat others like you. It is a huge lesson that most of the top teams and players in England clearly have not learned – when they see winning as an entitlement and defeat as unacceptable then they “chase and hack down” or “storm out of the ground” when things don’t suit them - it appears to justify their actions to both the player and the fan. Clearly something goes very wrong between the recreation ground and the great stadia across the nation.