ENG-ER-LAND is Hannah Kumari’s semi-autobiographical play about her experience of football fandom.
Set in 1997, it follows 14-year-old Lizzie as she excitedly ventures out on a Saturday morning with a ticket for a football match in the afternoon.
In the play, Lizzie explores her relationship with football and the role it plays in helping her to navigate her own identity as a mixed-race teenager in England. We spoke to Hannah about ENG-ER-LAND and the power football has to bring people together.
Book your tickets for the performance of ENG-ER-LAND at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday 3 August via our website.
How did the play come about and what inspired you to start writing?
I was an actor for 15 years and did office temping on the side but when lockdown happened the office closed, so I took up a free online playwriting course.
Around the same time, counter-protests were organised in London in response to the Black Lives Matter protests, with people travelling from across the country, and some trying to drag football into it, brandishing club names and so on.
I saw videos online of people attacking police and some misogynistic chanting aimed at young Black women, and also chanting of “ENG-ER-LAND”.
As a Mixed-Heritage woman living in London, I had my guard up that weekend.
It made me think about my own relationship with football and question why football has a connection with these aggressive attitudes, so I wrote the play about my experience of loving football as a woman of colour.
What made you become a football fan?
Football is the best thing ever! I’m a lifelong Coventry fan and I love the feeling of being in the stadium, and I love those games where you can’t believe what you’re seeing.
Football can be an escape from reality. One of my favourite playwrights said she often leaves the theatre early but would never leave the football early because you never know when a miracle might occur.
I can also look back at my life and say that my experience of football has been very positive. It’s helped me navigate my Mixed identity, which wasn’t discussed in the same way in the 90s.
It also helped me deal with other things that were going on at the time; football provided a release for me.
What is it about the England team now that speaks to you?
I fell in love with football in 1996 watching England play in the Euros, but today’s team feels more representative of modern England.
There’s more of an acceptance of people of different heritages, and that’s because of the feeling of togetherness that Gareth Southgate gave the team.
I would like to see other South Asian people involved in the squad, and travelling to away games, but our players’ attitudes have changed, and it gives you something to be invested in.
The play explores the blending of cultures and how the "English identity" mixes with "South Asian identity". In your experience, how do you think football shapes identity for people in England?
Football traditionally has a White, male, heterosexual, working-class identity.
For some people, following their club is like a religion; for others it might be the only outlet they have for a release. I think it makes people a bit defensive of football and that space.
Now that players and clubs are global brands, and you can watch so much football at any time, it has increased the game’s reach. New people forming their identity around football might make traditional fans feel like it’s being taken away them. But diversity in football doesn’t have to mean less for some, it can mean more for everyone.
Football can create a sense of belonging and community for so many people. Why is this so important?
Because not everybody has a community, let alone one that they can enjoy the football with.
At Coventry, the work that Proud Sky Blues have done to connect LGBTQ+ fans that would otherwise go to games on their own has totally changed their matchday experience and improved their mental health.
As a woman, you don’t necessarily have a ready-made group of friends to go to the football with.
Since I was young, football has always been a place that I can find community. It doesn’t matter what background you’re from, it’s a place where you can feel a part of something bigger than yourself. I think that’s what we all want.
What will football fans get out of watching the play?
Lizzie’s story is about her first game, walking up to the ground, those moments that still give you butterflies that fans will resonate with.
It’s also a play made by football people. I’ve been a fan my whole life, the director is the founder of Southampton’s LGBTQ+ supporters group, so it’s very authentic to a fan’s experience. All this, and very niche 90s references!