"Hey Jude"

13 June 2024

2 mins

England expects.

Every football tournament only has one winning team, and England's men have been longing for it to be them for a very long time. The expectation of the fans sometimes becomes something more akin to entitlement, and the pressure this places on the players has often appeared to be a decisive factor in their failure to secure a long-awaited trophy.

This year, much of that burden of expectation falls on the shoulders of a young man called Jude Bellingham, who is not quite 21 years old. After an outstanding debut season with Real Madrid which culminated in the Spanish giants becoming champions of Europe for the fifteenth time, Bellingham is widely recognised as one of the best players in the world.

This compelling film examines the serial disappointments over the years as England fans' hopes have been raised and then dashed with cameos from some of those who participated in those failures including David Beckham and Frank Lampard.

Superstitious fans will worry about the lionisation of Bellingham, with Paul McCartney's rousing anthem 'Hey Jude' leaving no question about which player will carry the heaviest burden of expectation when England kick off against Serbia this weekend.

Director Greg Hackett marshals the material perfectly... first issuing a reminder of past misadventures before hitting a new crescendo of hope as McCartney's song hits its most joyous phase.

Will England's latest 'golden generation' finally achieve a tournament win? Probably not, but at least we can share the joy and misery of watching them try... and it seems highly unlikely that this will be the last time we hear this song during the tournament.

UK

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