The English Game – copyright. Netflix
With football canceled all over the world, Netflix was on hand to provide that sporting fix with one of its latest Original series The English Game. After a successful season showcasing a fraction of the history of football, sadly The English Game isn’t going to be returning for a second season on Netflix. Here’s why.
The English Game is a Netflix Original period drama written and created by Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes. The series offered a dramatic take on the early years of football’s history as it transitioned from an amateur sport to a professional sport.
Why won’t The English Game be returning for a second season on Netflix?
Official Netflix Renewal Status: Miniseries (Last Updated: 23/03/2020)
The easiest answer to the question is The English Game is a miniseries, and there was never any intention to go beyond the single produced season.
Netflix has had some smash-hit miniseries, and despite the overwhelming popularity of some, they have still remained as limited.
Other popular limited/miniseries Originals on Netflix are;
- Godless
- Green Frontier
- Maniac
- The Defenders
- Unbelievable
- When They See Us
Only in the rarest of circumstances have we seen what was supposed to be a limited/miniseries receive multiple seasons. The best example would be the Korean horror series Kingdom. Originally, Kingdom was ordered for eight episodes but was later split into two respective 6 part seasons.
Could The English Game inspire further spin-offs?
Football has a long and inspiring history containing some of the most dramatic sporting moments ever. From the national stage, all the way down to grassroots football, history is constantly being made in the game.
With such a ginormous selection of history to pick and choose from, a spin-off series would be spoilt for choice.
To continue with the theme of ‘The English Game’, we think the following would be best suited for a miniseries:
- 1900-1901 FA Cup Final (Tottenham Hotspur vs. Sheffield United)
- 1952-1953 FA Cup Final (Blackpool vs. Bolton Wanderers)
- The 1966 World Cup (England vs. West Germany)
- The 1986 World Cup (England vs. Argentina)
- 1986-1987 FA Cup Final (Coventry City vs. Tottenham Hotspur)
- 1996 European Championships (England vs. Germany)
Outside of The English Game, the series could inspire a spin-off for some of the most famous individuals of the sport such as;
- Pele
- Maradonna
- Johan Cryuff
- Zinedine Zidane
- Michael Platini
- George Best
The biggest historical inaccuracy of The English Game
For drama purposes, we understand why The English Game was written with some historical inaccuracies in mind. One of the largest that The English Game is guilty of is its depiction of Blackburn Football Club.
During this period of time in the Lancashire town’s history, there were two successful Blackburn football clubs, that being Blackburn Rovers and Blackburn Olympic.
The FA Cup final showed in The English Game was actually between Blackburn Olympic and Old Etonians. Fergus Suter never played for Blackburn Olympic.
Blackburn Olympic winners of the FA Cup in 1883.
Fergus Suter signed for Blackburn Rovers in 1880 and played in the 1882 FA Cup final against the Old Etonians, which his side lost 1-0. Suter would later win three FA Cup Winners medals with Blackburn Rovers in 1884, 1885 and 1886, but never faced the Old Etonians in FA cup final again.
Blackburn Rovers fans may not be so forgiving for the changes made. The Lancashire team has always played in blue and white kits and never once played in Claret (to our knowledge). Claret (and blue) is the color of their heated rivals, Burnley.
Would you like to have seen another season of The English Game on Netflix? Would you like to see a spin-off series? Let us know in the comments below!
