Crossing the Line?

Franz Beckenbauer once observed that, in England, «war correspondents get their say whenever their team plays us.» In Crossing the Line?, Christoph Wagner surveys German football rivalry in the second half of the twentieth century as it was played out on the pitch and in the press. The Second World War undoubtedly cast a long shadow, framing the way in which matches were previewed and reported. The contrasting fortunes of the British and West German economies and British anxieties regarding German unification also impacted on sports coverage.

An intense Anglo-German international football rivalry was forged against this backdrop. Newspaper readers often turn to the back page first and first impressions are important. Press coverage helped to shape what the English thought of the Germans and what they thought of themselves. Crossing the Line? – which includes an important chapter on the German media – focuses largely on the part played by English newspapers in generating a simplistic sporting commentary heavily dependent on stereotypes before it overreached itself in the mid-1990s and the German popular press began to hit back. As English football pundits often remind their viewers: «You can never underestimate the Germans».