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The English Game
The English Game is a British historical sports six-part television drama about the origins of association football in England. Developed by Julian Fellowes for Netflix, the six-part series was released on 20 March 2020. While the series is set primarily in Lancashire, it was filmed in Yorkshire.
In the 1870s, football in the United Kingdom was a sport for the wealthy. A working-class star and his upper-class counterpart come together to change the game forever.
In April 2018, it was announced Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes would write and executive produce his first Netflix series. Birgitte Stærmose and Tim Fywell are directing, Rory Aitken, Eleanor Moran and Ben Pugh of 42 are executive producing, and Ben Vanstone is co-executive producing.
The cast was announced in May 2019 as production began in England, mostly in the North.
The epilogue reads: "In 1885 the FA changed their rules to allow professional players. An amateur team never won the FA Cup again. Arthur Kinnaird became President of the FA, serving 33 years until his death in 1923. Fergus Suter and Jimmy Love are recognised as pioneers of the modern game, which now has over four billion fans across the world."
After the first couple of episodes the exact dates of events is not explicitly mentioned, though it is suggested that the entire series takes place over just over one season, with Suter winning the cup with Blackburn the year after he joined Darwen. In fact Suter did not win the FA Cup until his sixth season in Lancashire.
At the time, Blackburn had two teams: Blackburn Olympic and Blackburn Rovers. The English Game appears to merge the two sides, with the club only ever referred to as "Blackburn Football Club" or just "Blackburn" and shown playing in maroon shirts – both Blackburn Olympic and Blackburn Rovers instead played in a combination of blue and white. The maroon colour may have been chosen to differentiate Blackburn from the Old Etonians, who are always shown wearing Eton blue shirts. Blackburn Olympic were the first club of working-class background to win the FA Cup, triumphing in the 1882–83 season. Of the two teams, Suter in fact joined Blackburn Rovers, with whom he lost the 1882 FA Cup Final 1-0 against the Old Etonians before winning the cup three times in succession later in the decade.
The matches depicted in the show most closely resemble Blackburn Olympic's 1883 victory. Old Etonians' and Blackburn Olympics' matches in the quarter-finals, semis and the final are all referenced accurately except for Old Etonians' quarter-final where they in fact played Hendon. Darwen are shown as being eliminated from the competition by Derby St Luke's but the Derby club did not actually participate in the FA Cup until the 1884–85 season, and the two sides never met in a competitive fixture.
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The English Game
The English Game is a British historical sports six-part television drama about the origins of association football in England. Developed by Julian Fellowes for Netflix, the six-part series was released on 20 March 2020. While the series is set primarily in Lancashire, it was filmed in Yorkshire.
In the 1870s, football in the United Kingdom was a sport for the wealthy. A working-class star and his upper-class counterpart come together to change the game forever.
In April 2018, it was announced Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes would write and executive produce his first Netflix series. Birgitte Stærmose and Tim Fywell are directing, Rory Aitken, Eleanor Moran and Ben Pugh of 42 are executive producing, and Ben Vanstone is co-executive producing.
The cast was announced in May 2019 as production began in England, mostly in the North.
The epilogue reads: "In 1885 the FA changed their rules to allow professional players. An amateur team never won the FA Cup again. Arthur Kinnaird became President of the FA, serving 33 years until his death in 1923. Fergus Suter and Jimmy Love are recognised as pioneers of the modern game, which now has over four billion fans across the world."
After the first couple of episodes the exact dates of events is not explicitly mentioned, though it is suggested that the entire series takes place over just over one season, with Suter winning the cup with Blackburn the year after he joined Darwen. In fact Suter did not win the FA Cup until his sixth season in Lancashire.
At the time, Blackburn had two teams: Blackburn Olympic and Blackburn Rovers. The English Game appears to merge the two sides, with the club only ever referred to as "Blackburn Football Club" or just "Blackburn" and shown playing in maroon shirts – both Blackburn Olympic and Blackburn Rovers instead played in a combination of blue and white. The maroon colour may have been chosen to differentiate Blackburn from the Old Etonians, who are always shown wearing Eton blue shirts. Blackburn Olympic were the first club of working-class background to win the FA Cup, triumphing in the 1882–83 season. Of the two teams, Suter in fact joined Blackburn Rovers, with whom he lost the 1882 FA Cup Final 1-0 against the Old Etonians before winning the cup three times in succession later in the decade.
The matches depicted in the show most closely resemble Blackburn Olympic's 1883 victory. Old Etonians' and Blackburn Olympics' matches in the quarter-finals, semis and the final are all referenced accurately except for Old Etonians' quarter-final where they in fact played Hendon. Darwen are shown as being eliminated from the competition by Derby St Luke's but the Derby club did not actually participate in the FA Cup until the 1884–85 season, and the two sides never met in a competitive fixture.