Every nation has one team that regularly disappoints. Despite all the promise of success and the hopes of an expectant nation riding on their shoulders, they fail to deliver time and again. The All Blacks seem to do it at the Rugby World Cup. The Proteas do it to the South Africans at the Cricket World Cup and we Aussies have Greg Norman and the Wallabies to drive us mad.

Imagine then, a nation whose every sporting endeavour falls into this pattern. Imagine the frustration; imagine the cumulative effect this must have on that nation’s psyche. Imagine ... England.

Ever since they lost that first Test match to Australia’s cricketers in 1882, whenever there is a major sporting trophy on offer, you can be sure that England's name is on it somewhere – as runner-up. More likely, though, is that they were eliminated at the quarter-final or semi-final stage, a tradition personified by Tim Henman in his Wimbledon career. They are outrageously good sports about it but, as a nation, they are genetically pre-dispositioned to finish anywhere but first and the tradition continued over the last week in football, Rugby Union and Formula One.

‘... whenever there is a major sporting trophy on offer, you can be sure that England's name is on it somewhere – as runner-up’


England’s Euro 2008 hopes took a battering with the narrow loss to the Russians on the artificial turf of the Luzhniki Stadium. While they can still make the finals, their fate now rests with others. Whether or not the artificial grass has anything to do with the loss is debatable, but it is hard to imagine any of the other football superpowers so meekly accepting the decision to play on the controversial surface.

Were they the only ones to actually believe Guus Hiddink’s claims that it offered no advantage to the home side? It’s hard to say, but this is just the latest effort in a long line of English football campaigns that have failed to live up to expectation. They’ve been doing it since 1966.

Lewis Hamilton has been lauded as a national sporting hero. To be sure, he has had an incredible year for a rookie but, because he’s shown some ability, the entire country has got on board. In a sport where every milligram makes a difference, the last thing that Hamilton needed was 50 million people in the car with him.

Hamilton blew the world crown in a staggeringly English manner. He didn’t crash out spectacularly in a last-ditch effort to clinch the title or have his engine blow up so that he could feel cheated. No, he toiled manfully and ended up finishing in the exact position necessary to lose the championship by the smallest possible margin.

The English Rugby Union side completed the inglorious trifecta. Curiously, they had over-achieved for the entire tournament. They had managed to overcome every hurdle put in front of them – until the final one that is. Again, just when the fans dared to dream, they bottled it.

Perhaps this runner-up mentality explains why, when they finally screw up and win something, there is a massive over-reaction. After winning the Ashes in 2005, the team were anointed with honours, given ticker-tape parades and national tours. They became national heroes. When the Australian team won them back earlier this year, the reaction was more “about time, what took you so bloody long?” That’s the difference in mindset between winners and those who aren’t supposed to.

All of these not-quite success stories would drive fans to drink. Wait a minute; perhaps that explains the one thing at which the English are undisputed world champs. All is not lost after all.

Are England the world's greatest sporting also-rans? Give us your view below or write your own Sportingo article