European Football Archives - Financial Planning in Surrey

Lionesses changing the game

As the Summer winds down and draws to a close, for every football fan in the country it’s a fresh start. A clean slate for their teams to build a strong foundation for the long gruelling season ahead. However, this year, football came home. As an avid fan of the sport from a young age, seeing England lift a major international trophy for the first time sent me into hysteria! But once the initial elation simmered down, I thought about the magnitude of what they had actually just achieved. Not only had they won the tournament, they had dominated it. Our ladies were relentless, scoring 22 goals in six games. For comparison, only one other team scored more than ten. This unprecedented performance isn’t possible based on ability alone, the margins are too fine at the highest level of any sport. We need to talk more about their mindset and character.

All of us, at some point, have experienced considerable pressure (though the weight of a nation on your shoulders is surely an entirely different beast?). The knowledge that millions of people will be watching, pinning their hopes on you. Every decision made will be scrutinized across social media and in passing conversation. Ruthless critics will poke fun at every mistake, belittling women’s football at any opportunity. Which brings me to the point I really wanted to focus on here:

MENTALITY AND BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

In the case of football teams, each player and member of staff needs to be absolutely committed in order to achieve peak performance. But perhaps more importantly, they need to have resilience. Ultimately footballers are human, just as anyone they’re susceptible to good days and bad ones. They experience swings in mood and form. This is where the Lionesses’ ability to face the test of adversity shone. England overcame an equalising goal from Germany in the second half of the final, by scoring the championship winner deep into extra time. In the past I’ve seen many an England side crumble in those situations. But The Lionesses stuck with it. (The moniker is well deserved).

But when I look inward, do I see that level of dedication and commitment within myself? How do I respond to adversity? Introspection can be difficult but valuable … identifying and isolating weakness or deficiency in your own character is never a comfortable task; though it is something we must do in order to grow as people and better ourselves.

That is precisely why the England women’s national football team has been a revelation. Each individual from that team possessed an irrepressible desire to do what the team needed of them without wavering. Earlier this year, I read an article on how Leah Williamson had been dealing with imposter syndrome ahead of the Euros. She talked about how there will always be critics, but after all the training, preparation and hard work; all that’s left to be done is enjoy the moment and give your all. Leah went on to lead the team to glory as Captain. And as we know – diamonds only form under intense pressure.

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk

BACK TO ALL BLOGS

Howzat?

James Anderson recently became England’s most successful bowler as he took his as he took his 384th wicket, that belonging to Denesh Ramdin and overtaking Ian Botham in the process. This is of course an incredible achievement in International cricket – congratulations Mr Anderson. So I was surprised to see an item on the BBC sports website that attempted to work out who really was/is the best bowler England have ever had.

Sport as you will know has become increasingly dominated by statistics – attempts on target, completed passes, distance run, speed of delivery the list is very long and naturally varies from sport to sport. When winning any sport tournament, many rather dull teams/individuals have argued that its not the manner of the victory, just that there was a victory. I cannot help but think of the time Greece won the 2004 European Football championship (sorry Greece)… or for that matter many Champions League finals, where one team essentially set up camp in their own penalty area hoping to counter attack and steal a victory.

Cricket is not new to adopting statisitical analysis – arguably starting the statistical obsession with John Wisden’s annual almanac started in 1864. So anyone wishing to pour over cricket statistics has had plenty of opportunity to do so. Anyway the BBC asked its pundits to assess England’s top 10 bowlers and ascribe a value to the wicket taken. In short a batsman that averages 50 runs is worth more than one that averages 5. Recompiling the data provides a different twist with Matthew Hoggard topping the list (248 wickets). Whilst this is “all very interesting” sport, like life cannot be metered into a nice, neat formula. There is always a context, which even with a lengthy span of statistical data is flawed. For example – the quality of the opposition is a key ingredient, the prevailing rules, TV replays and so on, let alone the context of the pressure of the moment. Statistics are cold, unrepentent and have no context other than a time period.

Investment returns and the charts that you see plastered on advertising boards or in any media are similarly misleading. Most investors probably know that this is the case, but few behave as if it is. Most investors are tempted to invest once returns are good, most sell when they have been poor, on average chasing returns, receiving below-average market returns at above market cost. Sadly the equivalent best investment “gongs” or awards also measure historic data (there is no other) and the context of this is against peers. Who is the best fund manager? well it rather depends on which sector, what timeframe, what measure of risk is used, and what luck was involved. In short, its an impossible task, yet many play the game and attempt to quantify who is “best”.

In practice, the only investment returns that matter are the ones that you actually get. Cricket, motor racing, football, tennis, golf…are all enjoyable escapes, but again the only best that any sportsman/woman can be is their own best, in the context of their sport, time, team and luck. I have nothing against awards for best this or that, (they can be a lot of fun – especially if you win one or two) but as ever, context is everything. I can only be the best financial planner that I can be, constantly striving to improve and be better than I was last year, last month, last week… and of course our service (like most) is not for everyone, but for those that want and need it… well we try to make it the best possible.

Dominic Thomas