Part of the reason England hasn’t been trying to qualify for the games was a decision in 1972 to stop allowing ‘amateur’ players to play, which impeded those planning to play for the British team who fell under such a category. While these players were able to compete again in 1984, they simply opted out. Their playing again this year will make exactly one hundred years since they last won the gold (before that, in 1908 and 1900). Maybe in this revisiting of past ideals, the Brits will stumble upon some of whatever steam-powered them to glory in the early part of the 20th century.
英国并没有尽力争取足球比赛的资格，部分原因是因为1972年的一项决议，决议中拒绝让“业余”球员出赛，这阻拦了一些想要为英国队效力的球员，因为他们被归为此类人群。当这些球员终于能够在1984年出赛为国效力时，他们选择了退出。这次比赛，距离他们上次在奥运会夺金恰好是一百年（在那之前，他们还囊括了1908年和1900年的金牌）。或许通过这次旧梦重游，英国人会偶然撞见20世纪初蒸汽时代的辉煌。