It seems that our players revel in this contradiction, and in a strange inversion, use a love of fashion, along with all the negative connotations of effeminacy that might entail, as a means with which to assert their alpha-male masculinity. That’s why David Beckham’s sarong by Jean Paul Gaultier made front-page news when he wore it off duty during France 98’. You had to have bottle to wear that, especially when open homophobia was still sadly rife in public discourse. Footballing fops, such as Beckham and Grealish, turn the game on its head with their embrace of fashion and vanity. In doing so gain they gain legions of female and gay fans and become pop cultural icons in the process.
Another quirk of Britain’s football culture is the importance of pop music to both fans and players alike. David Beckham used to go to the legendary club night, Twice As Nice, whose influential attendees consider the Studio 54 of UK Garage. Grealish too has legions of fans amongst rappers and is regularly name-checked in freestyles and underground bangers, such as Stormzy’s remix of “Sore” in which he raps, “Slide in the middle like Grealish”.
Neil Bedford
The midfielder is also friends with the rapper, Tion Wayne, with whom he can be seen on youtube shopping for Rolexes at the Bethnal Green jewellers, Trotters. His England teammate, Declan Rice, celebrates goals by doing the dance from Wayne’s ‘Body’ video. There’s a long history of this kind of thing. What other country would get New Order – New Order! to record its World Cup song? “World In Motion” is now a classic that brings tears to the eyes of young and old alike. When it comes to being cool, our players and fans are genuinely world-beating.
While sadly tainted by hooliganism, England fans are also the world’s most fashion-forward and innovative. Jackets by Stone Island, CP Company and Moncler, Stan Smith trainers, and Lacoste polos, were all worn on the terraces of British football clubs before making their debut on catwalks and music videos.