“The English Game” wants to be a grand origin story for football, and it mostly gets there — but the grandeur often comes at the cost of the story itself. This six-part Netflix drama, created by Julian Fellowes, Tony Charles and Oliver Cotton, follows two men on opposite sides of a class divide in 1870s England. One is a working-class star, the other an upper-class captain, and both are trying to change the game forever. That premise is promising. The execution is less so.
Trailer, via Netflix.
Fergus Suter and Arthur Kinnaird
Kevin Guthrie plays Fergus Suter, a working-class striker who brings physicality and grit to the game. Edward Holcroft plays Arthur Kinnaird, the gentlemanly captain of the upper-class team who believes football can unite the country. Their friendship is the spine of the series, and when it works — in quiet scenes of shared laughter or late-night conversations — it lands with real weight. But the script leans on their rivalry and their class conflict so heavily that the drama sometimes feels forced.
Niamh Walsh plays Martha Almond, Suter’s wife, who pushes him toward greater ambition even as she resents the attention football demands. Charlotte Hope plays Margaret Alma Kinnaird, Arthur’s wife, whose social ambitions drive her husband’s push for recognition. These women are meant to complicate the story, but the series often reduces them to extensions of their husbands’ desires rather than full characters in their own right.
Craig Parkinson plays James Walsh, Suter’s manager, who sees the commercial potential in football long before anyone else does. James Harkness plays Jimmy Love, the upper-class teammate who struggles with his inherited privilege. Ben Batt plays Cartwright, the referee whose integrity is tested by corruption. Joncie Elmore plays Ted Stokes, the journalist who documents the rise of the game. Gerard Kearns plays Tommy Marshall, the working-class player who faces prejudice from the upper classes. Henry Lloyd-Hughes plays Alfred Lyttelton, the aristocrat who funds the sport’s expansion. Kerrie Hayes plays Doris Platt, the actress who becomes Kinnaird’s lover. Kate Phillips plays Laura Lyttelton, Alfred’s wife, whose political views clash with her husband’s wealth.
Class War and the Game
The series is set primarily in Lancashire, though it was filmed in Yorkshire. Its central conflict is the tension between the working class and the landed gentry. Suter and Kinnaird are friends, but their world views are fundamentally opposed. Suter sees football as a means to escape poverty. Kinnaird sees it as a way to elevate society. The series tries to have it both ways, showing the friendship as genuine while also using it as a lever for broader commentary on 19th-century England.
The problem is that the class war is not subtle. The script tells you exactly what to think about each character based on their background. The working-class characters are loyal and honest. The upper-class characters are entitled and manipulative. There is some nuance, but it is buried beneath a surface that is too quick to judge.
Sports Drama Mechanics
As a historical sports drama, “The English Game” has a few mechanical tricks it leans on:
- Period Detail: The production design is meticulous. Costumes, sets and locations feel authentically 19th-century. The football matches themselves are shot with a sense of spectacle that draws the eye.
- Character Arcs: Both Suter and Kinnaird have clear arcs, moving from outsiders to pioneers. The supporting cast fills in the rest of the story.
- Class Commentary: The series uses football as a lens for looking at social hierarchy. This is the most interesting aspect of the show, but it is also the most heavy-handed.
What Works
The best moments in “The English Game” are the quiet ones. When Suter and Kinnaird talk about the future of the game, the series feels alive. The performances are strong across the board, particularly Guthrie and Holcroft, who sell the chemistry between their characters even when the script stumbles.
The series also captures the physicality of early football. The rules were still evolving, and the matches look rougher than anything we see today. That roughness is a strength, not a flaw. It grounds the story in a specific moment in history.
What Doesn’t Work
The biggest problem is pacing. Six episodes is a long time to tell a story about the origins of football, and the middle stretch drags. There are stretches where the show feels like it is repeating itself, retelling the same conflicts from different angles without adding new information. The class conflict, in particular, is hammered home again and again until it loses its force.
The romantic subplots also slow things down. The affair between Kinnaird and Doris Platt adds tension to the story, but it is a subplot that the show never fully resolves. It feels like padding, and it distracts from the main narrative.
Comparing the Leads
| Character | Actor | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Fergus Suter | Kevin Guthrie | Working-class striker |
| Arthur Kinnaird | Edward Holcroft | Upper-class captain |
This table captures the core dynamic of the series. Everything else — the matches, the politics, the social commentary — circles back to these two men and the friendship that bridges their worlds.
Final Word
“The English Game” is ambitious, and it mostly succeeds in telling an important story about the origins of football. But ambition alone does not make for great television. The series is uneven, weighed down by its own message and its inability to trust its audience. When it commits to character and scene, it is excellent. When it commits to lecture, it is tedious.
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