English Football Quotes

• Football's not just about scoring goals - it's about winning.

  Alan Shearer

  Inspirational, Motivational, Soccer

  19 Copy quote

• People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.

  Vince Lombardi

  Motivational, Teamwork, Football

  29 Copy quote

• Football's a difficult business and aren't they prima donnas. But it's a wonderful game.

  Queen Elizabeth II

  Soccer, Football, Games

  39 Copy quote

• The level of football in England is the top. English football is the leader in the world.

  Pele

  Inspirational, Football, Leader

  5 Copy quote

• I couldn't settle in Italy - it was like living in a foreign country.

  Ian Rush

  Funny, Soccer, Football

  'It Was Like Living in a Foreign Country' by Lee Honeyball, www.theguardian.com. February 06, 2005.

  28 Copy quote

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• English football is in a bad way because the foreign players here are so good, so dominant.

  Kevin Keegan

  Football, Player, Way

  "The Saturday interview: Kevin Keegan" by Stuart Jeffries, www.theguardian.com. June 24, 2011.

  14 Copy quote

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• There are lots of concerns facing English football but for me the major one is the way in which football clubs are run by owners, whether they are growing organically and sustainably and how that is being policed by the football authorities.

  Gary Neville

  Football, Running, Growing

  7 Copy quote

• Some people tell me that we professional players are soccer slaves. Well, if this is slavery, give me a life sentence.

  Bobby Charlton

  Soccer, Sports, Football

  1960 Quoted in Peter Ball and Phil Shaw The Book of Football Quotations (1989).

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• In England, it's a rare thing to see a player smoking but, all in all, I prefer that to an alcoholic. The relationship with alcohol is a real problem in English football and, in the short term, it's much more harmful to a sportsman. It weakens the body, which becomes more susceptible to injury.

  Alex Ferguson

  Football, Real, Player

  "Smoking Barthez ignores Ferguson" by David Barnes, www.theguardian.com. February 24, 2001.

  7 Copy quote

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• When I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started...

  Jose Mourinho

  Motivational, Soccer, Games

  "Look, listen and learn" by Simon Garfield, www.theguardian.com. May 12, 2007.

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• I'm sure sex wouldn't be so rewarding as this World Cup. It's not that sex isn't good but the World Cup is every four years and sex is not.

  Ronaldo

  Soccer, Sex, Years

  20 Copy quote

• I feel I have a lot to learn from English football and I am completely open to good influences in my way of thinking. But I also have things to give them.

  Jose Mourinho

  Football, Thinking, Giving

  "Look, listen and learn" by Simon Garfield, www.theguardian.com. May 12, 2007.

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• However good an English team is, they will always have an additional advantage. It is that European players know that their English opponents will come at them in the belief they will win, and they can always be guaranteed never to stop fighting. They have a natural aggression that they are born with. If it ever goes, English football will lose its most valuable dimension.

  Johan Cruijff

  Soccer, Football, Team

  5 Copy quote

• You see how Spanish, Italians, Portuguese play football. I don't say they are perfect, I say English football has a few things to learn from them in the same way they have a lot of things to learn from English football.

  Jose Mourinho

  Football, Play, Perfect

  15 Copy quote

• What United have got that Chelsea haven't is Paul Scholes. I think he is different to anything else in English football.

  Kevin Keegan

  Football, Thinking, Different

  18 Copy quote

• When Im in town on Sundays, I sometimes go down to the Central Bar in the East Village to watch English football. But my natural inclination now is to get in the car with my wife and kids and get out of town.

  Joe Scarborough

  Football, Kids, Sunday

  4 Copy quote

• If we had a starting XI that no one could argue about it wouldn't say a lot for English football. We'd probably be on a downward spiral. It's good that people have different ideas about who should play.

  Rio Ferdinand

  Football, Play, Ideas

  "This time it's for Rio" by Paul Wilson, www.theguardian.com. May 20, 2006.

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• The chairmen of the largest companies in the world can cancel an appointment or move a board meeting; a manager cannot change the date of a game. In the combined 42 years that Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have managed in English football, I can only remember one occasion when Sir Alex did not attend a Manchester United game.

  Howard Wilkinson

  Football, Moving, Years

  "Howard Wilkinson's LMA survey reveals depth of managers' dedication" by Louise Taylor, www.theguardian.com. November 20, 2012.

  4 Copy quote

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• It was the proudest moment of my career to lead my team out at the home of English football. I never, ever dreamt that would happen!

  Casey Stoney

  Football, Team, Home

  "Casey Stoney: England defender on Messi, Ronaldo and Arsenal". BBC interview, www.bbc.com. March 8, 2016.

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• I have come to know well that fates are fickle in the business of English football. And I feel that I have pushed mine well past the limit.

  Randy Lerner

  Football, Fate, Past

  "Paul Lambert to have crisis talks with Aston Villa owner, Randy Lerner" by Stuart James, www.theguardian.com. May 12, 2014.

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• Winning the Championship is like taking a 26-year ball and chain from around our legs. Now we can go forward, and hopefully dominate English football for the next 10 years, like Liverpool did.

  Bryan Robson

  Soccer, Football, Winning

  6 Copy quote

• Is this good for English football? In the short run, Chelsea's rise has broken up what was turning into an irritating Arsenal-Manchester United duopoly. But football leagues (look at Scotland, look at Spain) can get along OK with duopolies. A monopoly, however, is a disaster. Everyone else in the Premiership has to operate on some kind of business footing, and the terror stalking Highbury and Old Trafford is that Chelsea will be immune from financial discipline forever.

  Matthew Engel

  Soccer, Football, Running

  5 Copy quote

• I played English football - soccer - instead of American football, because we couldn't afford the equipment.

  Wally Schirra

  Soccer, Football, Equipment

  7 Copy quote

• I am delighted to be here at Arsenal and to be part of one of the great teams in English football. It's a huge satisfaction to join this great club and it’s been a dream since I was young to play in the Premier League. I was attracted by the philosophy of football and Arsène Wenger’s 'touch' at this club. I have always admired Arsenal with its great history and reputation, and I now hope to achieve great things here. I’m very proud to be a Gunner and I will give my best for all the Arsenal fans.

  Olivier Giroud

  Football, Dream, Philosophy

  "Arsenal complete signing of Olivier Giroud from Montpellier", www.theguardian.com. June 26, 2012.

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• In my first season I was learning about English football in a new team. I scored 13 which isn't bad, but I think I can do better.

  Luis Garcia

  Football, Team, Thinking

  4 Copy quote