About The English Game

The English Game is a historical sports drama television series that premiered on Netflix in March 2020. The series, developed by Julian Fellowes, narrates the origin of football and its pivotal role in shaping the world as we know it today. It explores the class divide, as it follows two footballers on either side of a class divide, who changed the game, and England, forever.

Making / Production

Produced by Rhonda Smith, the series was written and developed by Julian Fellowes, alongside Tony Charles and Oliver Cotton. The production boasts impressive period-specific costumes and settings, recreating 19th century England and its football culture in vivid detail.

Actors

• Kevin Guthrie: He impressively played Fergus Suter, who is considered to be the first recognized professional footballer.
• Edward Holcroft: Holcroft portrays Arthur Kinnaird, known as "The First Lord of Football". His performance adds a refined nuance to this iconic character.
• Niamh Walsh: Walsh brings to life Martha Almond, introducing a compelling romantic aspect to the series.

Trivia / Interesting Facts

• The creator Julian Fellowes has mentioned in interviews that he wanted to explore the origins of football and how it began as a sport for public schools and eventually became a game for everyone.
• The character of Fergus Suter is based on a real-life Scottish footballer of the same name, who is considered to be the world's first professional football player.

Quotes

• "That's why we love this game, why we all love this game, because it's ours. It belongs to us." - Fergus Suter
• "The English Game – the game that can be adopted by every class, every person in the world." - Arthur Kinnaird

Music, Soundtrack

• The music score was created by Harry Escott, who complemented the drama well with his music background that changed dramatically as per the story's requirement.
• Music supervisor, Amelia Hartley, compiled the soundtrack to not only bring life to each scene but to subtly highlight the emerging cultural changes.