I was not predicting the movie would be about marriage. The English Game explores the historical shift from exclusively amateur football players to including a few who are paid. The upper class teams traditionally won the cup each year, at least in part because they had the luxury of money, and the leisure that comes with it. The working class teams could only scrape together a living by working sixty-hour weeks of physical labor. 

 

Fergie Suter is recruited from Scotland to give an edge to the team Darwen, which is a source of immense pride to the town of mill workers. Arthur Kinnaird is a wealthy businessman who plays for the Old Etonians. At first, Arthur's love for football is a wedge between him and his wife Alma, and his willingness to bend the rules in his favor disappoints her. Her displeasure makes him rethink his values of winning at all costs. Gradually he listens more to her, even to the point of missing a semi-final game. Her love for him grows as she sees him act in integrity. 

 

I loved watching the give and take of their marriage. When he cared about Alma and her tenderness for children, he became more loveable to her. When she saw how Arthur tried to be honorable, she could embrace his love for football. 

 

Most marriages offer the opportunity to disappoint one another. Sometimes it is because our expectations are unrealistic. Other days, we want to be the reason for our partner to step fully into their best selves. Ideally, it gives us the chance to feel the joy of our partner as joy in ourselves.