I remember my first great sporting doctrine well. It came out of a defeat that caused more heartache, tears and tantrums than any England qualification effort.

“It’s all right Harry, it’s not the winning that counts, it’s the taking part.” Wise words, indeed, when your seven-year-old has just hit the corner flag from the penalty that could so easily have sent Upton Junior Under 8s home with their tails between their legs. Rather less so when grown men, paid more in a week than the average fan sees in a year, seem to be clinging to the same motto when asked to play well for a measly 90 minutes to see their country through to qualification and glory.

Isn’t it always the case that the young boys (and girls) of England seem to be drilled in anti-winning ways from a young age? ‘'It’s the taking part that counts, so long as you did your best. No shame in being the underdog, you don’t want to be one of those poncey little show-offs, anyway’'.

'How important is winning if you still get to take home more in a week than the average person makes in 12 months? Sometimes it seems that only the prospect of trampling an old rival like Germany will inspire a true will to win'


Even the dizzying heights of the Premier League seem to infuse people with the idea that avoiding relegation and humiliation is the No.1 priority. Winning can come later, far down the list, somewhere beneath getting a high-enough gate to pay for a new coffee stand with the club logo on the cups, surely a far worthier effort.

Maybe the lack of desire to win comes not from the players themselves, but from the environment in which they play. How important is winning if you still get to take home more in a week than the average person makes in 12 months? Sometimes it seems that only the prospect of trampling an old rival like Germany will inspire a true will to win.

Even if the will to win had not already been lambasted with an ideal of underdog over top dog, the will to avoid defeat has surely been stifled out of the England side by giving them so little to lose. Compare the fans, to whom winning would mean so much, with the players, to whom it doesn’t seem to matter that much at all. It would be nice, certainly, but it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t happen. After all, if a beautiful wife, a giant house, a fleet of cars and an indoor swimming pool don’t make you happy, why should winning a football match?

Perhaps the England team need a larger incentive not to lose if it is so difficult to give it one to win . Or maybe it is time to remove the glory from defeat and the shame from victory that is taught to the youngsters who will one day make up an England side of their own.

All together now: “It’s not the winning that counts, it’s the taking part.”