In recent times, there’s been a notable shift in the perception of footballers.
A decade ago they were presented as spoilt, overpaid and ignorant, obsessed with cars and WAGs, and completely distanced from the common man.
But Raheem Sterling, once portrayed in that manner, is now considered an intelligent and thoughtful young man and was awarded an MBE for services to racial equality. His England team-mate Marcus Rashford led a selfless and highly effective campaign to help feed children in poverty, for which he was also awarded an MBE — as was Jordan Henderson, for his charitable work during the pandemic.
Footballers are happy to become involved in political issues, often appearing to attract more support than politicians themselves. Something equivalent to Tyrone Mings’ criticism of the home secretary after England’s elimination from Euro 2020 would not, you suspect, have happened in the “golden generation” era.
There are, certainly, those who don’t appreciate this sort of thing and would prefer footballers to stick to playing football. But even they probably wouldn’t dare of going for the old stereotype about footballers being dim-witted. It no longer works. The public no longer think of footballers as being detached from society. They think of them as, broadly speaking, decent people.
The next shift in perception should concentrate not upon what footballers are like as people, but what they’re like as footballers.
