Nutmeg Radio

I was watching the Liverpool/Manchester United game earlier today in a pub with some friends of mine. At some stage during the match I noticed the camera concentrating on injured Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard and his wife sitting in the director’s box. A friend shouts out, “That is Alex Curran and what’s his face…. her man….. Gerrard… Steven G, right?”  For a minute I thought she was pulling my leg.

Then came my response in jest, “For your information, it is not “Steven G.  It is Stevie G.  Just out of curiosity, what did Alex Curran do before marrying Steven Gerrard anyway, or even what did Colleen McLoughlin do before she married Wayne Rooney?”

To be honest, I cannot believe I actually know some of the WAGs’ names. To make a long story short, for the remainder of the game, I was lectured on the discipline of WAGS and its ethos.  In fact, I was even referred to the online section in The Telegraph titled “Wagshire”, (which I checked out immediately following the game) and right underneath the heading appears the tagline, “Don’t miss a story about your favourite WAGs, their insignificant others, their cars, their houses, their extra-curricular activities – all at Wagshire, the place that shouldn’t exist.”

Okay… what are WAGs  you ask? The actual definition is “ladies who date and marry footballers are given a higher profile, and appear more valued in today’s society than women who work hard in public sector vocations” as per the www.debatewise.com website. The appellation, WAG, being shorthand for ‘wives and girlfriends’ of famous footballers, was coined by the Daily Mail, who came up with the anthropomorphic term after Euro 2004 when the wives and girlfriends of the English national team received more attention than the actual team for their fashion accessories than the team’s progress in the tournament. While the tabloids cherished the moment, the WAGs posse themselves appreciated the tabloids in kind, even though it was not seen to be in the best interests of the English team during Euro 2004 – that thing they were in Portugal for in the first place. Today, the undisputed queen WAG is Victoria Beckham who in reality made it easy for the Daily Mail in creating the term.

It got me thinking.  Maybe a factor that has made a lot of Premiership-based players underachieve in recent years or the English national team could be the invasion of the WAG culture. When I was a kid, I never knew who John Barnes, Eric Cantona, Alan Shearer, or even Ian Wright were with or wedded to.  Nevertheless, today we know of lesser players like Peter Crouch, Jermaine Defoe or even Danny Murphy with regards to who they are with. For instance, Crouch’s better half Abigail Clancy, who was runner-up in TV show Britain’s Next Top Model (life aspiration) prior to ‘falling in love’ with Crouchie was to marry a footballer, get pregnant and then shop and have fun for the rest of her life. Seeing that the Gerrards, Lampards, Owens, Terrys, Ferdinands, A Coles, Rooneys of the national team were taken, Clancy had to settle for the next best thing.  It was either Crouchie or I am probably guessing Sven Erikkson would have made himself available.

I realized the straight-talking Roy Keane was right! You may know Keane lost his mind when an un-named player opted to join Fulham FC instead of signing with him at Sunderland FC.  According to the Manchester United legend, it was because his transfer target’s wife preferred the shopping in London as oppose to the Sunderland area.  In short, the player was putting his better half’s social life ahead of his football career. And I wholeheartedly agree with Keano on this one and he was quite right to feel a little let down.

Which leads me to my final point, football fans are wondering why England have done so well under the Fabio Capello?  The simple answer is when he came aboard, he simply had no interest in making friends amongst his new playing staff, and the demise of the WAG culture was predestined. In South Africa, it’ll officially be over – and the England team may have a better than average chance of getting past the Quarter-finals of the competition due to Capello having put his foot down. The England manager laid down rigid rules for his players’ families immediately after the Three Lions qualification. The legendary WAGs – will only be able to visit their husbands or partners on the day after matches in South Africa. ‘Don’ Capello said, “We are there to play, not for a holiday. The players will have one day with their family. It will be one day a week, after each game and that is enough.”

Well there you have it….Sven….. Steve… and Glen… are you listening?  Having said that don’t go and squander all your cash on betting on England to win it all.  After today’s Liverpool and Manchester United game, I am sure Fernando Torres would not mind running into Rio Ferdinand again …