It is Saturday, so it must be Sepia Saturday. It is the day of England's first match in the 2010 World Cup, and therefore the logical choice of subject has to be football. And note I say "football" and not "soccer" : I have never quite understood why we need to apply such an uncomfortable nickname in order to distinguish the beautiful game from a raft of other games that may involve balls but have little to do with feet. I suspect our friends in the USA are responsible for this, and let's face it, what do they know about football? (Note to myself : remember to come back and edit this bit if things don't go according to plan in the game this evening).
My picture - which is taken from the collection handed down by my great Uncle Fowler - shows the local football team in Longtown, Cumbria. I have carefully looked at the faces to see if there are any I recognise from the bowling photograph (See my Sepia Saturday 25 and 26). If I examine as many group photographs as I can from Fowlers' collection and narrow down the common denominator from all of them, I might finish up with a picture of Fowler. But there again, I might just settle down and watch the game tonight instead.
If you are not a football fan you can always spend your time looking at all the other wonderful Sepia Saturday posts which are listed on the Sepia Saturday site. If you are a football fan - there is always half time.
ADDENDUM
On re-reading the above post I realise that I might have given the mistaken impression that (a) England can play football, and (b) the United States of America can't. If that is the case, I would like to sincerely apologise and state that, in future, I am quite happy to refer to the game as "soccer"
ADDENDUM
On re-reading the above post I realise that I might have given the mistaken impression that (a) England can play football, and (b) the United States of America can't. If that is the case, I would like to sincerely apologise and state that, in future, I am quite happy to refer to the game as "soccer"
Oh, I will be the FIRST person you hear from should England lose their SOCCER (a strange abbreviation of "association football" that Americans wisely adopted to differentiate from rugby football and American football) match!
ReplyDelete;)
And if you are a football fan, you'll probably be upset with the English performance. Fantastic league and clubs, never quite make it at the national level. Be nice to be wrong though.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that it only shows 11 players. No reserves? Maybe they weren't needed for the photograph. I presume the player with the cap must be the "goalie".
ReplyDeleteJust remember, Alan, that it was your people who named it "soccer". Apparently college students in the late 1800s/early 1900s (all male in those days) had a slang that changed words around to end in "-er"; breakfast became "brekker", a practical joke was a "pragger-jogger", etc. So Association Football, which was the official designation in those days to distinguish it from Rugby Football (known as "rugger", of course), became "soccer".
ReplyDeleteSo you see, Alan, you have nobody to blame for the name but yourselves.
Although known as soccer in Canada too, maybe we can just agree to call it the beautiful game.
ReplyDeletedelightful photo!
ReplyDeleteregarding the world cup....may the best team win!
I seem to remember some boys callng it 'footer' when I was young. I hope it goes according to plan (or dreams) and no editing will be necessary.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your holiday!
That is quite a "kit", isn't it? Wow!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to show this to my footy-fanatic husband. We are under the onslaught of vuvuzelas in this house and I expect to be for the duration. (How 'bout a brew for every nation?)
That ball looks like a medicine ball. Either way, I'd be going down!
Kat
Good luck to England today! (Go Denmark!)
What a great photo. Oh, what I would give to have family photos like that. As for football, I have never really understood American football. It probably should have another name, but I'm not sure what it would be.
ReplyDeleteMy sons were never into soccer, as we call it over here. But my youngest did play high school football, the American version! Wonderful photo from your uncle Fowler.
ReplyDeleteIngerlurlaaaaaand!Here we go here we go & now your gonna belive uz![I too will edit if England lose\I sober up OR BOTH!]
ReplyDeleteThat'll do, Yanks... that'll do.
ReplyDeleteOr should that be: That'll do, Green... that'll do.
;)
Jeffscape : OK we may not have lost, but you are perfectly justified in being the first person to add your comment after the end of the game.
ReplyDeleteIf only he hadn't ... if only he hadn't ... if only he hadn't ...
ReplyDeletebeen called Green.
What a great photo. I love how tough all the guys look.
ReplyDeletewell you had me going there because I was sure it must be soccer to which you referred, but then I finally got it....good photo. I admit to being completely ignorant and oblivious to soccer and all it's names...
ReplyDeleteNot much of a sports fan anymore but I did play "soccer" as a high schooler. It's baseball forme. But watching the World Cup somewhere such as a bar in San Francisco's Mission District where's there's a big hispanicpopulation is really exciting.
ReplyDeleteWell clearly England and the US were well matched unlike us who have the dubious honour of being the team with the most goals scored against it so far! Why I stayed up until 4am I'll never know, what a debacle. We call it soccer too! Travesty.
ReplyDeleteha. is that your subtle way of slinging mud alan...smiles.
ReplyDeleteFootball makes much more sense than soccer! Much like the word "post" for mail...we have a post office with a post master using a postage stamp...to put in the mail? Odd, indeed.
ReplyDeleteFootball you use your feet...I see the logic.
The World Cup looks to be exciting, now that England and US ended in a draw. Though, that goal the US got was quite lucky, indeed! Poor goaltender..he's bound to get endless grief for that catch.
Nice photo. I'm surprised it's a "junior" team. I wonder what the senior team members look like.... I've read the other comments regarding football and soccer. I enjoy soccer but not American football. I did always wonder why what we call football here in the U.S. was called such considering how little contact feet have with ball. On the other hand, since soccer is feet only, I always wondered why it wasn't call football.
ReplyDeleteIn this photo, could mustachioed man on the left be the kneeling bowler of the bowling photo? In this photo, could the mustachioed man second from the left be the man 3rd from the right in the bowling photo?
Just found your post while watching the match between Spain and Switzerland. The Swiss scored their second goal as I type! Love that illusration!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great picture .... its always interesting to see their sports ware...
ReplyDeletethanks again for sharing!
:) The Bach
Your football is so much more interesting than our kick the ball game. I am sure that whatever the outcome, it still seems to be a game of chance. As we walk away from a great hockey team Canada, and they got the extra point first. I like the look of the shirts. It is funny our referees where the stripes today. We do get confused over here.
ReplyDeleteI like your British Football picture.
ReplyDeleteBut aside from the possible inability to play the game over here in the US, they do all LOOK like American prison inmates in their costume/uniforms! -J
HAH!!! WV anibili
It's "futbol"! Did Slovenia beat the U.S.? They were leadin' one-nil last I checked.
ReplyDeleteI'm behind again...as usual!