I’m American and I grew up listening to this record. My father was in the US Navy, stationed in Rota, Spain in 1982. He was such a supporter of the 1982 England squad. 41 years later, my son heads to Leeds in August to play. ⚽️🤍 best sport on earth.
The three golden rules of footballers singing... 1 - Listen intently to a big ass pair of headphones. 2 - Know what tune you're singing to, yet don't know the words well enough to put the lyrics sheet down. 3 - Frequently jostle in a blokey manner, so as not to get mistaken for Aled Jones.
What a song I have this on vinyl lol and what a squad Hoddle Keegan Thommo Regis RIP Anderson Brooking Wilkins RIP Clemence Woodcock what an amazing bunch of players we had
Yes Indeed. Take a look at that lot. Apparently the Late-Don Howe did the team selection,and left Hoddle out,only bringing him on as Sub,but helped produce the goals in matches played. They went out without losing a game. This was their Best ever chance.
I was 17 too. England,for the first time since 1970 ending that long wait,Scotland and Northern Ireland were all at that World Cup,though Scotland were pitched into a group with one of best Brazil sides ever as well as the sometimes dour,sometimes not but still handy USSR. England,or "Force 22" in the words of the song,had France in their group and beat them in their first game,though that great French team went further in the end,and Northern Ireland took on and beat the hosts Spain. Great days!
What a great squad we had, I just wish England would have been more positive against Spain in the second stage game, we needed to win but hardly threatened the Spanish goal until Keegan and Brooking came on with about 25 minutes left. We should have beaten Spain just like the Northern Irish did in that same tournament. Anyway, a great song , great memories, and an England squad full of top players.
My dad always loses his mind about that game cos Keegan and Brooking were bought off the bench cos they were under injury clouds but as my dad says “if you’re worried about their injury then start them and you can always take them off but if you sub them on and their injury flares up then you’re screwed”
Reminds of the joke/apocryphal story about George Best. A waiter delivers champagne and caviar to the penthouse suite and finds George Best lying on a pile of money he won at the casino. Next to him is the current Miss World dozing in post coital bliss. Around the room, the trappings of success are visible. The waiter asks “So, Bestie, where did it all go wrong?”
Who would have thought in 1982 that England would still be waiting 42 years later to win anything. It’s shocking a football nation of England’s stature have under achieved so badly. And I say that as a Welshman. Best football song of all time by the way 👍🏻
In the psychedelic / folk rock age of 1970 the England team wore Evening Dress c/w bow ties & sung a rousing Victory March . In electropop obsessed 1982 they do a 1972 Lindisfarne style drinking song abeit without Sideburns. This time It won’t matter whether they go Hip Hop or Soft Rock because the mainstream soundscape hasn’t changed over the previous 30 years.
@@gwangi64 I noticed the kazoos more this time :-) of hearing it,and was thinking what other football songs have we had that feature them? Not that it ought to be encouraged TOO much,much as it tickled my funny bone.
correct about the best world cup song... and brazil was definitely the most attractive team to watch. .....but italy played brilliant thinking games, and within their ability. italy deserved to win 1982 world cup!
what a song and what a squad, how the hell didn't we win!! 1982 was when we could actually say we should have done better, which hasn't happened lately
We had a really good squad but the time I felt we really could have won it was more Italia 90,though I had this feeling that,what with the fall of the Berlin wall and reunification and a modern,confident new Germany taking shape it was destined to be their year somehow.
England had a good tournament in 1982, winning 3 and drawing 2.They were unlucky to go out after draws against West Germany and Spain due to a bizarre group system.
That bizarre group system mate is returning from 2026 onwards thanks to Mr Infantino, the new Fifa President. In his f**ked up matrix of expanding the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams to allow lesser nations to get a better crack at qualifying for the finals what we'll have from then on is instead of 8 groups of 4 like we have now it will be 16 groups of 3 (so only 2 games for each side just like that 2nd round in Spain 82), from which only the BOTTOM team will be eliminated and then a round of 32 to start the knockout phase. As well as raising more revenue and making himself more popular with the member states, his idea is that it will encourage more open attacking football because if teams know they have only 2 games to get through instead of 3 then they'll buck their ideas up! I'm not convinced. What it will certainly do is place these 'lesser' countries (who aren't good enough to qualify currently!) quite possibly in a group with a 'big' team and therefore they will probably get completely slaughtered 6 or 7!! Yeah, maybe we'll see an increase in the goals tally but what good is that gonna do for the quality of the World Cup going forward? I'd be interested to see anybody's take on it.
Got off to a flying start with Bryan Robson scoring in the first minute and scoring twice as England beat one of the great France teams 3-1,and put himself on the world stage as an internationally renowned star. Though he was Manchester United's and often England's driving force for years to follow,he had desperate luck with injury at the next two World Cups. Kev and Trev getting ruled out injured until returning looking less than fully match-fit in that frustrating last game against the hosts Spain was a blow,though England won all three of their group games then drew 0-0 with losing finalists West Germany in the first of their two games in that second group phase that decided the four semi-finalists (Poland,France,West Germany and of course Italy after they knocked out both the holders Argentina and the favourites Brazil).
@@andycross9840 I agree. I think they had it just right with 32 teams in 8 groups of 4 at the World Cup and 16 at the Euros,good as it was for Wales and the Irelands and some of the other nations not seen there often to qualify. It's becoming a tricky trade-off with the World Cup because,unlike several decades ago when it was mostly just Europe and Latin America,football is so global now that so many more countries spread around the globe have a credible claim to be there.
@@andycross9840 agreed and quite worrying that thought is. It is now about having as many games as possible and making as much £££'s as possible. No thought on the welfare of any sports person just more wealth for the corrupt fifa mob
I remember it. Fastest goal in the tournament, Bryan Robson. My father tried to explain why we went out I didn't understand it, he said it was a stupid system. Heartbroken 8 year old. 4 years later Maradona. Gutted, then 1990 on penalties lol.
What a squad of players!!😮 How on earth didn’t we win that World Cup?! So much quality in that 22 player squad. I was at a speech/dinner with Phil Thompson a couple of years ago & I asked him the question. He said....”without making too many excuses, Trevor Brooking & Kevin Keegan were both injured at the same time, which that didn’t help, it was extremely unlucky” Maybe Thommo has a point? I think if they both remained fit, the trophy would have been back in England, not Italy! It’s all ifs & buts though & Paulo Rossi had a outstanding tournament for the Italians.
We got knocked out without losing and produced by far the best World Cup song ever made in the name of the England squad. Not a bad year.... Except it ended with Italy winning the trophy. And they hadn't even won a single game in their group... Where's the justice in that? Shoulda been Brazil.
Italy beat Argentina, brazil, poland, and Germany. They 100% deserved the world cup in 1982. Unlike 1966 England who needed a ghost goal to win.vs germany.
Wow I was 18 when this came out, I was thinking of having the Bobby Bulldog mascot tattooed on my neck at the time I'm glad I didn't as I'm 59 now. I settled for a sports bag with the Mascot on instead 😂🤣 Great memories 🏴🏐🥅
That time, with just a little luck going our way, we had a squad worthy of going far. This time...nah, doubtful in the extreme. Pessimistic though I am, I'm still here listening to this for a reason though, and that is pride as we head into yet another World Cup. C'MON ENGLAND!
Imagine if this squad had Gazza. It was a great team Keegan,Brooking,Francis,Wilkins,Robson. To got knocked out without losing is crazy. The last couple of games was only because of injuries to Keegan and Brooking.
mickeyjupp Why do I hear your reply i my head as being in the voice of Kenneth Williams. And 'tourney' is lazysodese for tournament - which is quite ironic, given how much time I'm now taking over this. Back to the meths for me!
+BrendonChase2012 Erm yeah, well... I really should stop leaving comments after I've had a few. (it's Saturday night now, and - surprise, surprise - I've had a few,) What I meant to/should have said, was that we were the only team to bow out without losing a single match. It hurt at the time! Just watched us against San Marino this evening, and couldn't give a monkey's by comparison.
The blue jumper bloke is Steve Foster who played for Brighton and Luton. He had only played a couple of friendlies but was included because I remember England having a bit of a centre-half crisis at the time. One of the reasons was that the man next to Keegan, Dave Watson, was a bit past his best, a bit ponderous and old school. Russell Osman was tried but had a mare in Norway. In the end I seem to remember that they settled on Terry Butcher and Phil Thompson with Alvin Martin as cover.
A great tournament,Maradona,the legendary Brazilian team,rossi hat trick,its a pity Ireland best ever side was cheated out of our rightful place in the finals!!!!some theings never change eh?
Not a bad attempt I'd say. Hey at least England bowed out from Spain unbeaten from the 5 games they played and Bryan Robson scored an incredible goal in 27 seconds against France to beat them 3-1 on a sweltering afternoon in Bilbao.
