Crossing the Line?: The Press and Anglo-German Football Rivalry

When we think of football matches between England and Germany, we often think of 1966 when England won the World Cup final 4-2 and we remember the discussion about the third goal and whether or not the ball had crossed the line or not. We also think of 1996, when the press coverage during Euro 96 crossed the line when the Daily Mirror in particular declared a football war on Germany, thus inciting widespread criticism from the public. However, this fixture also comprises miraculous comebacks staged by the Germans during the World Cup 1970, and how this finally swung the momentum towards West Germany (as was then).

This book covers forty years of press coverage from selected English and German newspapers and how they reported on matches between these two football national teams; it offers a perspective on how the German press covered the World Cup final of 1966 and how these papers reacted to the jingoism displayed by the English tabloids and embeds this into the wider Anglo/British-German relations.