"The English Game" - the series that showed us how football began in Great Britain

"The English Game" - the series, which us showed how football beginsthe in Great Britain

270 minutes for lovers of the most popular game, which are worth it

Football is the most loved and watched sport in the whole world. Easy to understand, with clear rules and format, it becomes something we can no longer live without. There are times when the matches and analytical shows that television provides us are not enough for us and we need to look for something with more artistic value. Something like a book, a movie, and why not a whole series. In March 2020, when football stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic, Netflix brought us back to the basics of the beloved game through its series "The English Game", translated into Bulgarian.

It is a British drama that focuses on the development of football in Britain in the 19th century. The series follows a number of characters on both sides of the debate shaped between amateurism and professionalism. A debate that appeared in many other sports at the time. "The English Game" follows real events and quite closely, with the idea of revealing history as it really was. In it we will see how Fergie Suter and his friend and teammate Jimmy Love move from Scottish club Patrick to the Lancashire Darwin team to become one of the first professional footballers. The two hope to help their new team become the first team made up of working-class people to win the FA Cup. At the time, the predominantly so-called gentlemen's teams dominated the tournament, but felt increasingly threatened by the fact that the game was becoming a professional sport. So they want to ban paid players from participating.

This series certainly has a lot of promise and its components make it a work of inevitable success, considering the well-known director and writer Julian Fellowes and famous actors in the lead roles such as Edward Holcroft, Kavin Guthrie and others. "The English Game" offers us a fascinating social, cultural and political-historical background, spilling over the central theme, which is focused on the development of the greatest game known to man - football.

Some critics are of the opinion that at times the series distorts the story at the expense of the plot, but still these are small details that go unnoticed by the simple eye of a viewer who does not know the first steps of professional football very well. It's not a documentary, it's a drama, so the slight twists and turns of details are what should accompany it to get the more curious development of the characters themselves and to draw our attention to them Fellows.

One thing is for sure, The English Game shows us much of the finer points surrounding football's tactical development as well as the physical nature of the sport. The role of the women is also well represented, some of whom are busy just gossiping and following their husbands to and from the dinner table, but especially the character of Alma, Kinnaird's wife, is quite influential and suggestive of the social activism of the ladies of the upper class in Britain at the time.

Despite the criticism, this series remains a good experience and definitely deserves your attention. It will hardly overwhelm you with too many facts and convoluted moments, but it will show you something that you cannot see anywhere else. Stereotypes and clichés are present at times, but they are by no means irritating. If you love football, The England Game is a must watch.