The historian Peter Hennessy has argued that Britain relies upon what he called a “good chap theory of government”, under which the precise wording of its parliamentary rules and even the absence of a formal constitution remain largely irrelevant so long as the people in charge of stuff have the right kind of moral fibre.
Football might never have been closely associated with good chaps, but it works the same way. The nation’s fields have always been prowled by genuine rotters, individuals who have thoroughly deserved such terrifying nicknames as “Chopper”, “Psycho”, “Bites yer Legs” and “Keano”, and the sport’s lengthy list of laws has only ever kind of governed them. There is much that remains beyond the control of referees, most obviously the passage of time.
