You won’t read about it in the history books but, our mundial locali correspondent Phil Ascough reports, it definitely happened.
The sun blazed down, the bands punched out a pulsating musical backdrop and the aromas wafting across from the adjacent field lured spectators to an array of international cuisine. This was the Hull and East Yorkshire World Cup, a remarkable sporting and multicultural event which brought together people from more than 30 nations. It even had its own anthem.
The project was organised by the Goodwin Trust with sponsorship from Hull-based business consultancy MWS Group. The rationale was that that with the 2010 World Cup having taken place in South Africa it would be good to have something closer to home. A quick look round the local community identified enough nationalities to put together a sizeable competition and, after an initially cautious approach to the huge logistical challenge, it soon it became clear the sky was the limit. Everyone at Goodwin was bursting with ambition, and everyone at MWS was ready to back them.
Whether any short cuts were taken in building the numbers, I wouldn’t know. Some of the footballers supposedly from Colombia looked rather more like rugby players from Ireland, but 31 teams assembled on the outdoor pitches at the former Bonus Arena on Sunday 10 July 2011. Aficionados of the beautiful game would have been disappointed that Brazil failed to turn up. They would also be unconvinced by the excuse – that the team playing in the name of Pele, Garrincha, Socrates and the rest had to come all the way from Goole.
The Hull World Cup was covered as a news event and was also reported in some business publications. The TV crews came along, captivated by the buzz of communities coming together. Events on the pitches have faded somewhat over the years but Chris Warkup, writing for Sport Humber, recalls (as I do) that Iraq won the cup. I thought they beat the Kurdish team in the final; Chris reckoned it was the Democratic Republic of Congo.
England, true to form, fell in the semi-finals, losing on penalties to the eventual winners. The headlines in the Yorkshire Post the next day focused on South Sudan, a nation only established on the Saturday and making its international sporting debut in Hull. The media were on board from the outset, intrigued by the level of ambition and enlightened to find so many different nationalities uniting in our city and region.
When the time came to give the story another push as we counted down to the big day we asked ourselves what we needed that would really make the Hull and East Yorkshire World Cup fly. An anthem! Where could we get one? Ted Key!
As luck would have it, the founding member of The Housemartins had just launched a new venture, Your Songs, accepting commissions from business and from individuals to write music for their special occasions. He’d never written or performed an anthem for a World Cup of anything, but he came up with the perfect composition. “We’re all in the World Cup” was one of those bouncy, sing-along numbers that you can’t get out of your head however much you try. Ted demonstrated his genius by including the name of every competing nation and managing to make them scan. We invited them all to join in when we invaded the studio at Hull Community Church where engineer Nick Langley recorded the chorus. The place was packed with World Cup wannabes clapping, cheering, waving their national flags and heading a football around the room.
Before the session Ted said: “I was delighted to come on board because writing songs for celebrations is what I do. We’ve recorded a rough version of the track and now need to put a few more groovy sounds on it and tidy it up a bit. Then we’re going to get the footballers to sing the ‘la’ bits and the chorus.”
The TV loved it as Ted coached the footballers through their musical duties, and he took centre stage again to lead the Iraq team in song as they celebrated after their victory. JJ Tatten, now CEO at The Warren and at the time Marketing and Communications Manager for the Goodwin Development Trust, said: “The song is a great way of promoting the event itself – it underlines the hard work everyone at Goodwin is putting in to make the event a real community festival with fantastic football, music and food from around the world. We’re in the same position now as most other World Cups of the modern age. We know the footballers can play a bit – we’re about to find out whether they can sing.”
JJ also hit the nail on the head with his comments on the wider benefits of the tournament – even more valid now than they were 15 years ago.
He said: “The Goodwin Hull and East Yorkshire World Cup Football Festival is about so much more than football. The event is all about celebrating what unites us – our community, our city, our family and friends and our passion for sport.”
Phil Ascough