The UK and Spain are very intense about their football and take it very seriously. Both countries show each other’s games live on the telly. Wherever you are in England, you are never far from a pub that’s showing a match from La Liga. Likewise, in Spain there is great interest in the Premier League. Both countries appreciate the football of the other. Besides, YouTube has various bilingual channels that show highlights of all games.
However, in Spain there is a channel that has gone one step further. It’s called La Media Inglesa. On its homepage it says, “Founded in 2011, La Media Inglesa is a channel in Spanish dedicated exclusively to English Football.”
It’s founder, Ilie Oleart, is a Catalan journalist who presents videos alongside Nacho González. The pair of them take an interest in all aspects of the English game and they do not limit themselves to the Premier League.
Their message is simple: without football from the lower leagues there can be no football. Don’t get me wrong. These are energetic presenters and their output is prolific. They generate hundreds of videos and many of them have to do with the fate of clubs in the Premier League. I’ve just watched their review of the surprising, scandalous and madcap history of West Ham and I recommend it: 125 AÑOS DEL WEST HAM: SUICIDIOS, BOBBY MOORE Y EL 66, REDKNAPP Y TITTYSHEV, Y JACUZZIS CON SORPRESA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxIGyOmUKx0
Less known, but equally interesting, is the history of Barrow, promoted this season to the Football League: EL INCREÍBLE ASCENSO DE BARROW: GOLES DE ÁRBITROS, MERMELADA Y GUARDIOLISMO (The incredible rise of Barrow: Jam, Goals by the referee and football in the style of Guardiola). This video not only highlights the referee’s goal that gave Barrow victory over Plymouth Argyle but also the astounding expedition organised by 23 fans in order to watch their heroes in the away game against Dover last season in the National League. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLSaejuuofA
Last year Ilie and Nacho visited Wycombe Wanderers, another small yet successful club. Beforehand, they had written to all 92 clubs in the Football League asking them why the people who watched their channel should support their club. Not all the clubs could be bothered to reply, not even in English. But both presenters were stunned when one club (and one club only) wrote back in Spanish. For that reason, Ilie and Nacho decided to pay a call on Wycombe Wanderers. The resulting video was entitled, UNA NOCHE EN WYCOMBE: UN CLUB FAMILIAR, UN TÉCNICO ROCKERO Y ADEBAYO AKINFENWA (A night in Wycombe: a family club, a rock star as a manager and Adebayo Akinfenwa).
Wycombe have the longest-standing manager in the English professional league. Gareth Ainsworth has been there for 8 years although he confesses that his alter ego is Mick Jagger and he would like the option to be the lead singer of the Stones. They interview him in English with Spanish subtitles and even if you don’t watch the whole video you ought to take a look at this part. He’s a genuine bloke who loves the fans. And they’ve got great loyalty and affection for him. Ainsworth explains that the club hasn’t got the money to be youngsters with big price tags. He puts his efforts into “spotting the players who aren’t always the top players, seeing something different in the players, so when we go scouting players….we look for character, we look for the psychology of the players, rather than the best players….We see something in them we can develop, but it’s not there yet….Then you have your generals, your experienced boys to add to that group…a few experienced boys bringing these boys through.”
Gareth Ainsworth’s remarks echo some of the recurrent themes on the channel: an appreciation of traditional football values and the way in which the manager copes with limited funds. Ilie and Nacho recognise that money is no guarantee of success. I also suspect that they have a slight scorn for those exaggerated fees that some clubs are willing to pay to obtain international star players.
They also interview Adebayo Akinfenwa, a Wycombe player, a great favourite of subscribers to the channel and a very likeable guy. His interview also deserves a watch, just to appreciate his warmth and sincerity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgBKdDXo2Cs
And if you are asking yourself what is the origin of the title “Wanderers” that Wycombe has in common with both Wolverhampton and Bolton, it refers to the fact that when these clubs were founded in the 19th Century they didn’t have their own pitches. They always played away. Obviously, they eventually acquired their own grounds but, by then, the term “Wanderers” had stuck.
On the other hand, at the other end of the spectrum, Ilie y Nacho worry about clubs like Macclesfield Town, a side that has been in the Football League for 142 years but which is about to disappear beneath the weight of its own debts. It’s what happens when a club with a financial crisis allows itself to be purchased by a foreign investor who hasn’t the least human interest in the club or its fans. It’s a tendency that they have denounced in many videos. Indeed, La Media Inglesa has published its own instruction manual for all would-be lamentable owners: GUÍA PRÁCTICA PARA SER UN DUEÑO LAMENTABLE: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI6MRBcWt5M)
It surprises them a great deal that the English FA offers such little control over the finances of clubs in the lower divisions or the existence of unscrupulous owners who do what they like with these clubs which end up on the scrap heap.
The presenters also take an interest in the personal values of players. Just a couple of weeks ago they dedicated half an hour to Marcus Rashford and the successful campaign he waged to ensure that free school meals continued during quarantine. His actions moved them so much they told the story of Rashford’s life. He grew up in Wythenshaw, Manchester where two thirds of children live in poverty. Marcus Rashford’s mother raised a family of five children on her minimum wage but never had enough money to feed them properly. The family survived thanks to food banks, the generosity of neighbours and free school meals. Christmas dinner came courtesy of a charity.
Rashford wrote a letter to all MPs asking them to guarantee the continuation of free school meals while the schools were closed as well as during the school holidays: “As a Black man from a low-income family in Wythenshawe, Manchester, I could have been just another statistic. Instead, due to the selfless actions of my mum, my family, my neighbours, and my coaches, the only stats I’m associated with are goals, appearances and caps. I would be doing myself, my family and my community an injustice if I didn’t stand here today with my voice and my platform and ask you for help.”
What he says about his platform is correct. If Rashford had been a young unknown black man nobody would have paid him any attention: at best, after a wait of several months, he would have received a standard letter from Boris Johnson’s office thanking him for his interest in the matter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43xR3xjSDt0&t=609s
This underlines what I was saying in the blog of January 7 this year: football has the power to change the World, to stand up to racism and to reduce xenophobia (see the side bar or use the link below). I don’t claim that it can eliminate poverty on its own but its star players enjoy much more prestige than politicians, and if they have the courage of their convictions, they can change the course of any government. https://wordpress.com/post/ingleses.blog/94
It’s a real pity that British fans can’t enjoy the full benefit of this channel. But here is a splendid opportunity for La Media Inglesa: it could widen its fan base if it had English subtitles. Unfortunately, you can’t rely on the automatic ones provided by YouTube. For example, in the Barrow video ‘sausage rolls’ appear as ‘Seychelles’. It’s worth a try as many of the most pertinent perceptions of a country and its culture come from outside. This observation is true of football just as much as anything else.
Somebody called Lucas left a commentary on the Barrow video. For him, La Media Inglesa is an antidote to “conventional sporting journalism: top ten goals from only the elite players, the private life of the stars, the conflict between the management and the staff, speculation about the big clubs and the transfer market, monotonous and superficial reporting”.
It’s not that Ilie and Nacho ignore the Premier League. On the contrary, they pay great attention to the details of the Premier League: they examine the style of each club, they visit them, they delve into their history, they take an interest in their strategy, their atmosphere, the reserves and what the club does to promote youth football, the criteria that the club takes into account when scouting, they interview Spanish players who have or who have had careers in English football and much, much more.
But for me, the most outstanding thing about this channel is the great affection that the presenters demonstrate towards English football and everybody involved in it. What surprises me is the profound depth of knowledge that they possess about our game.
They are famous amongst their followers for their jokes. Every video contains a collection of amusing anecdotes. As well as acute observation, they give you laughs.
A winning formula.
PS I wrote to La Media Inglesa and they tell me they have been intending to do English subtitles for a while. So, keep an eye out.
Ingleses 