Premier League

FOOTBALLERS, eh? What a bunch of loony-left woke snowflakes.Well, not really, no.
Gary Lineker has been a vocal critic of the governmentCredit: EPA
During Gary Lineker’s playing days, the overwhelming majority of professional footballers voted Conservative.
And even now, here are a group of self-made men, many of them who grew up in deprived areas, who have fought their way up in a cut-throat industry, an absolute meritocracy, and become multi-millionaires through their own talent and willpower.
What could be more Thatcherite than that?
And in an export market damaged by Brexit, the Premier League — “the greed is good” league — is perhaps Britain’s most successful global business model.
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It’s hardly a breeding ground for dangerous leftist militants.
But as the Gary Lineker affair has underlined, footballers past and present are increasingly able to oppose Government policy more stridently and successfully than the actual Opposition in Westminster.
Before Lineker’s suspension from Match of the Day and the remarkable near-blackout of BBC Sport, we had Marcus Rashford campaigning against child poverty and the determination of footballers to “take the knee” in support of racial equality.
These are extraordinary times because, until recently, the stereotype of footballers as monosyllabic morons was a staple of comedy sketch shows. They were widely portrayed, unfairly, as a bunch of thickos.
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But in the social media age, footballers have found their voices — and many are intelligent, socially conscious, opinionated and extremely good at delivering messages.
Premier League dressing rooms are some of the most racially diverse and cosmopolitan workplaces in the country.
And the league itself is a success story for multiculturalism and internationalism, in an age when England has become insular and isolationist after Brexit.
When footballers feel strongly about uniting to oppose, for example, racism, they do so from a position of knowledge.
Likewise, Rashford experienced child poverty first-hand.
Tory MPs enjoy kicking footballers and ex-pros in the media but it is not a popular strategy.
After Rashford’s miss in the Euros final penalty shoot-out against Italy in 2021, Dover MP Natalie Elphicke claimed the Manchester United forward “should have spent more time perfecting his game and less time playing politics”.
During that same tournament, several Tory MPs criticised the England team for taking the knee.
And the opposition to that gesture centred around the Black Lives Matter organisation being “Marxist”
Again, the idea of Premier League footballers, some of the nation’s highest earners, following the Communist Manifesto is laughable.
You’d do well to find any coming out for post-match interviews and declaring: “At the end of the day, the proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains, Clive.”
And Lineker himself is fighting the HMRC over a £4.9million tax demand — as part of a wrangle over his employment status.
Marcus Rashford forced a government U-turn regarding child povertyCredit: Getty
That debate over whether Lineker should be regarded as a BBC employee or a freelancer came up again after his “Nazi” tweet last week.
Did he have to abide by the BBC’s vague impartiality guidelines, or was he free to speak his mind?
When peace broke out, and Lineker’s return to Match of the Day was confirmed for next weekend, the unapologetic former England striker repeated his support for refugees.
The whole fiasco has been a PR disaster for the BBC hierarchy.
Thankfully it is now over and the public will be able to watch a proper BBC Match of the Day next weekend, including live coverage of two FA Cup quarter-finals.
There are many football fans who cannot afford subscription TV and they have been let down badly by the Beeb’s ham-fisted approach to Lineker.
But with the solidarity of his colleagues, Lineker has “won” his argument with the BBC.
Just as Rashford forced government U-turns on child hunger and ended up being awarded an MBE.
Neither Lineker or Rashford has ever come out as Labour Party supporters and it’s very possible they might vote for somebody else.
But while Keir Starmer is too scared to speak freely about immigration or Brexit for the fear of losing votes, footballers have become the outspoken voices of reason in a fractured and angry nation.
Maybe they should form a party of their own and stand at the next election. They’d probably win it.
BOYLE IN THE BAG
AFTER Chelsea beat Borussia Dortmund, I sat next to an elderly Scottish gentleman on the District Line, who was chatting to a couple of match-going tourists from America.
They asked the man sitting next to me whether he’d been to the States and he certainly had.
His name was John Boyle who, as well as winning a European trophy with Chelsea, had captained and then managed Tampa Bay Rowdies in the 1970s in the North American Soccer League.
I asked him whether he’d played against Pele and it turns out Boyle had marked the great man, who was “still a fit lad in his mid-30s” when playing for New York Cosmos.
Boyle sounded totally enthused by Chelsea’s performance against Dortmund.
And coming from a man who marked Pele, that’s probably a more ringing endorsement than Blues boss Graham Potter might have imagined receiving a week or two ago.
SOUL FAR AWAY
ENGLAND’S record 53-10 defeat by France at Twickenham — after head coach Steve Borthwick had benched skipper Owen Farrell — was the equivalent of England’s footballers losing 7-1  to Germany in a  competitive match at Wembley after Gareth Southgate had dropped Harry Kane.
But while there was isolating booing at the final whistle, the response of the 81,000 crowd was generally one of mild indifference.
The Twickenham crowd, dominated by corporate day-trippers, will get behind England if they’re winning but it doesn’t actually seem to matter to them if their team loses.
And that makes the whole experience feel pretty soulless.
HORSING AROUND
ANYONE keen on cutting public expenditure might ask why so many mounted police were deployed to the “posh derby” between Fulham and Arsenal.
It is the least menacing fixture in the Premier League.
And the Met’s horses were getting so much friendly attention, Craven Cottage felt like a petting zoo.
BRAIN GAME
ANTONIO CONTE claimed Spurs were “too soft” in their Champions League exit against AC Milan.
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But wasn’t his defensive general Cristian Romero sent off for two reckless challenges — the second of which scuppered an attempted late rally?
Tottenham were too soft? Too brainless, more like. More