For anyone that subscribes to The Athletic, here is an extraordinary interview with ex chairman Rupert Lowe posted yesterday. He is now an MEP for the Brexit party.
https://theathletic.co.uk/1179554/2019/09/06/rupert-lowe-interview-england-has-strong-bloodstock/An extract:-
He says: “The key to club and to English football is to improve the quality and structure of our coaching. If we get the right people instilling not only the right skills but also the right moral basis into these people, then I think we really have got the ability to win World Cups. Because I am absolutely convinced, having looked at it, that we have the best raw material.”
What do you mean by raw material?
“The best players. Our stock of players. Our people from the north east, Yorkshire; our strong bloodstock. You shouldn’t really call people bloodstock but that’s what you’re talking about because you’re talking about an industry.
“Bloodstock” is a term from breeding race horses, meaning the original ancestors of a bloodline. We get back to this later.
“If you studied football in France, you’d tend to find that a lot of the best French players come from the Camargue. It’s a region of France, you’ve got very tough, mentally strong people, physically strong people. It’s quite similar here.
But don’t France’s best players come from the multicultural Paris suburbs, like Paul Pogba?
“Pogba’s originally not from France, is he? He would be from Africa.”
Pogba, the Manchester United midfielder and France’s World Cup-winning star was born in Lagny-sur-Marne — an eastern suburb of Paris.