The English Press and Anglo-German Football, 1954

395 Pages·2015·2.06 MB·English

by  Christoph Wagner

Crossing The Line: The English
Press and Anglo-German
Football, 1954 – 1996

Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
(PhD)

De Montfort University

Christoph Wagner

Submission Date: December 2014
Content

Abstract ................................................................................................................... 3
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. 5
Glossary .................................................................................................................. 7
Terminology ............................................................................................................ 8
Notes on Translations ............................................................................................. 9

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 10
England and Germany since 1945 ........................................................................ 13
Anglo-German Relations: the wider context ......................................................... 16
Anglo-German Football Rivalry: recent work surveyed ....................................... 21
Methods and Sources ............................................................................................ 27
Thesis structure and chapter summary ................................................................. 38

CHAPTER ONE: Post-War: Anglo-German Football in the 1950s ..................... 43
Wembley Stadium, London, 1 December 1954 ..................................................... 58
Olympic Stadium, Berlin, 26 May 1956 ................................................................ 68
Other aspects of Anglo-German football relations in the 1950s .......................... 74
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 79

CHAPTER TWO: ‘Of course, a little chauvinism was in order’: England and
Germany in the 1960s .......................................................................................... 81
‘Tin soldiers’: the English press and the German team in 1966 .......................... 96
Wembley Stadium, London, 30 July 1966 ........................................................... 104
England’s ‘fatal victory’: 1966 and all that ....................................................... 123
Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 127

CHAPTER THREE: ‘For the loser now will be later to win …’, 1968 – 1978 .... 132
Niedersachsenstadion, Hanover, 1 June 1968 .................................................... 138
World Cup Quarter-final, León, Mexico, 14 June 1970 ..................................... 144
The European Championship quarter-final ........................................................ 154
London 29 April 1972; Berlin, 13 May 1972 ...................................................... 154
‘Friendlies’: 12 March 1975; 22 February 1978 ............................................... 171
Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 187
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Chapter Four: ‘Let’s Blitz Fritz’: England versus Germany in the 1980s and
1990s ................................................................................................................... 191
World Cup, 29 June 1982, Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid ....................... 197
Football in the Dark Ages: England v Germany in the 1980s ............................ 209
World Cup Semi-Final, Turin, Italy, 4 July 1990 ............................................... 220
European Championship Semi-Final, 26 June 1996, Wembley .......................... 236
Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 248

CHAPTER FIVE: The German Response ............................................................ 253
1966: ‘Welcome them like World Champions!’ .................................................. 257
The ‘miracle’ of León, 14 June 1970 .................................................................. 270
The New Germany: Wembley 1972 ..................................................................... 281
‘Rummenigge and ten robots’: World Cup 1982 ................................................ 294
World Cup Semi-Final 1990: ‘Dear Maggie …’ ................................................ 301
Rettungsgriff zum Teekessel: EURO 96 Semi-Final, Wembley ........................... 309
Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 320

Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 324

Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 341
Primary Sources – Newspaper Articles .............................................................. 341
Secondary Sources .............................................................................................. 357

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Abstract
The primary focus of this thesis is on representations of Germany and
Germans in the sports pages of English newspapers from the mid-1950s to the
mid-1990s, when EURO 96 generated press coverage that prompted much
comment and criticism, both in England and in Germany. Studies focusing on
media representations from the mid 1990s onwards, such as those by Maguire,
Poulton and Possamai (1999), Garland and Rowe (1999) and Garland (2004) have
been helpful in deconstructing the language used by football journalists and in
identifying negative national stereotyping. More recently, however, Ramsden
(2007) and Young (2007) have developed our understanding of Anglo-German
cultural relations and how they have changed since 1945. In the light of these
recent developments this thesis seeks, firstly, to analyse the discourses embedded
within the ‘Two World Wars and One World Cup’ meta-narrative which has
characterized press coverage of Anglo-German football since international
fixtures between the two countries were resumed in 1954 and, secondly, to
contextualize them in the broader history of Anglo-German cultural relations and
how they developed over the forty years or so that followed.

Though drawing on some insights from both cultural and media studies the
methodology employed is essential historical. This does not mean, however, that
press reports and comment are regarded as unproblematic primary sources. Recent
methodological approaches the history of sport, notably by Booth (2005) and Hill
(2006), have pointed to the importance of viewing such sources as texts which are
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thus open to deconstruction. A complementary emphasis on historical context is
nevertheless justified, principally because it is important to explain variations that
have occurred over time. Though there were some similarities in the way that
Anglo-German football was covered in 1954 and 1996 – and at various points in
between - there are also striking differences which it is argued here are primarily
explained by conditions prevailing at the particular historical junctures at which
representations were generated. The relationship which existed between Britain
and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) in the 1950s, 1960s and
1970s was significantly different to that which existed between Britain and re-
unified Germany in the 1990s. This was an important contingent factor and helps
to explain variations in the deployment of journalistic discourses over the years.
Thus this thesis breaks new ground in that it emphasizes the historical
contextualization of representations over a long period and seeks to counter any
tendency to look backwards from the viewpoint of the mid 1990s.

The discussion proceeds chronologically from the 1950s to the 1990s in
order to demonstrate variations in the way that discourses were deployed over the
years. Thus the representations generated provide a way of reading the state of
underlying Anglo-German cultural relations at any given point. One chapter is
devoted to representations of the 1966 World Cup Final on account of its
significance in press discourses relating to Anglo-German football and in what in
is popularly referred to in England as the ‘thirty/forty years of hurt’ that followed.
Whereas academic attention in relation to football-related representations has
previously concentrated on the downmarket tabloid press, this study is equally
concerned with quality and middlemarket titles. Thus The Times and the Daily
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Express are considered alongside the Daily Mirror and the Sun. Finally – and in
contrast to previous accounts which have considered the English press in isolation
– a chapter on German newspaper coverage (principally Bild, Die Welt and
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) has been included to allow some comparisons to
be made and to point to directions in which future research might be pursued.
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Acknowledgements
A number of individuals have been vital in the process of producing this
thesis and without whom this effort would not have been possible.

The first person to thank is my first supervisor Professor Dilwyn Porter. He
advised, encouraged and supported me throughout the past six years in equal
measure. His expertise was immensely helpful in the gathering of the material and
under his careful guidance this project took the shape it is now.

I am thankful to my second supervisors, Professors Richard Holt, and
Professor Matthew Taylor who were both supportive with their advice and
experience. Likewise, I am grateful to the team at the International Centre of
Sports, History and Culture at De Montfort University: Neil Carter, Jean
Williams, James Panter, Bharty Mistry and Anne McLoughlin for their help in
various matters or for just being there for a chat, offering some welcome
distraction from academic matters. I am indebted to Julie Nutting from the
Finance Department who extended again and again the deadline for outstanding
tuition payments.

Throughout the last six years, my parents have always supported me – and
not just financially – kept me going through their constant questioning. My sister
Juliane Wagner deserves a special mention for providing me with sufficient
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amounts of tea to keep me awake and writing until late at night and for her
encouraging words throughout all those years.

Of all my friends in Magdeburg and Leicester I am grateful to Michael
Schuster who constantly questioned my research results in long discussions.
Barbara Teske, André Krauße, Christian Sonnet, Tobias Gerlach, Stephen
Zechendorf, Siobhan Urquhardt and Brian Lisowy were encouraging throughout
the project and I am glad to call these people my friends. Since I have begun
writing regularly for various football blogs, I have met some great writers and
editors whose advice helped in the writing process: Stuart Howard-Cofield,
Dominic Bliss and Ian McMullen. A thank you also goes to Hendryk Dillan who
helped me with software matters.

Lastly, my biggest thanks goes to my partner Sandra Dillan whose patience
was endless. It was her support that kept me going during the most difficult times.
This thesis is as much her achievement as it is mine. And my son Matti whose
smile offered some vital distraction.
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Glossary
This glossary does not intend to decipher all positions on the football pitch
or any rules, however there are some terms used in the text or the footnotes that
need clarification. The acronym FIFA stands for Federations International des
Football Federations; the European continental federation, UEFA is a Union
Européens des Football Associations. On the national level, the FA – The
Football Association – represents the English game while the DFB or Deutscher
Fussballbund is the largest single sports association in the world with more 6
million members who all play football in Germany. The competitions FA-Cup and
DFB-Pokal describe the national cup competitions in England and Germany. The
World Cup describes the premier tournament that is staged every four years by
FIFA and should correctly be called: FIFA World Cup. The European Nations’
Championship is UEFA’s continental competition for national teams, also in
football, also held every four years. Its shortened name was UEFA or Euro –
followed by the corresponding year: UEFA ‘88 or EURO ‘96. Another term used
frequently in this thesis for it is European Championship. There are a number of
club competitions organized by UEFA; namely the European Champion Clubs
Cup or the European Cup or the Champions League since 1992. The success of
the European Cup led to another competition introduced in 1960: The UEFA Cup
Winners’ Cup; it was abolished in 1999. The UEFA-Cup was initiated as the
Inter-City/Fairs Cup before it was re-named UEFA-Cup in the early 1970s.

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At some point in this thesis, British and German television channels are
mentioned. The BBC is the British Broadcasting Corporation; ARD is the largest
German association of German television channels. It is short for Allgemeine
Rundfunkanstalten Deutschlands. Germany’s second channel, ZDF caries its fate
in the name: Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen.
Terminology
In the course of this thesis several terms will be used frequently and some
explanations are necessary to highlight their usage in their respective ways. This
concerns geo-political entities such as England, Britain, the UK and Germany.

There is a widespread misconception in Germany which equates Britain
with England. While many English would not see a problem with this, other
nations of the United Kingdom would certainly highlight their representative
nationality. For the English, England is largely Britain. In football however, this
is not the case. There is no British football team competing for the World Cup or
the European Championship, but there are four home nations trying to qualify for
each major tournament. Therefore, when England is mentioned in this thesis, it is
the England football national team that is being written about, not Britain.
Conversely, any political background that is given throughout this thesis refers to
Britain. That is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Throughout this study, the term West Germany is used to describe the West
German football national team as well as the country West Germany. This applies
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