Maltatoday World Cup Survey 2014 a6118

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maltatoday, Sunday, 22 June 2014

Italy overtakes England as most ed team in Malta

MaltaToday survey shows Italy are more popular among new generations and anybody aged under 55 years, the universityeducated, and PN voters, while England remains more popular among Labour voters and over-55 year olds A MaltaToday survey conducted

over the past week shows that Italy has overtaken England, by a small margin, as Malta’s favourite football team among the nations battling it out in the World Cup. Previous surveys conducted by MaltaToday in 2006 and 2010 showed England slightly ahead although Italy was already more popular among younger respondents and university educated respondents. In fact in this survey although for England has risen among 18 to 34 year-olds, it declined among the 35 to 55-year-old age bracket. The survey follows similar patterns established in previous surveys, confirming the political divide between pro English Labour and pro Italian PN. But over the past eight years for Italy has also grown considerably among PL voters, while for England has slightly declined among PN voters. The survey confirms Manchester United as the international club with the strongest following but this does not necessarily translate into for the British national team. In fact, 16% of ers of this club other national teams.

Football demographics

The 2010 World Cup showed that England ers outnumbered Italy ers (34% vs. 31%), confirming a similar threepoint gap ed in the 2006 survey. But in the latest survey Italy has overtaken England marginally, by

Football clubs most ed in Malta Manchester United Juventus Liverpool Milan Inter Arsenal Bayern Munich Chelsea Tottenham Roma Others None

% 20.2 12.8 9.2 6.1 5.6 1.8 1.1 0.9 0.7 0.7 9.4 31.5

Favourite foreign national team among Manchester United ers Italy England Brazil Others None less than a percentage point. The latest survey shows that while for the two teams is practically equal among males, Italy enjoys a twopoint lead among females.

% 2.2 83.5 6.5 6.8 1 Moreover while for Italy has grown by eight points among 35 to 55 year olds, which is the generation that grew following Italian TV, for England is rising

among those aged 18 to 34 - the generation which grew up with cable and satellite TV and the commercialisation of club football dominated by brand names like Manchester United. In fact, the latest survey showed that the latter are the most popular club in Malta. While in 2010 in the 18-34 age bracket, 44% ed Italy while 32% ed England, now 44% back Italy while 39% back England. Back in 2006, 46% ed Italy, and only 24% ed England. On the other hand, among those aged over 55, 39% side with England while only 31% side with Italy. This suggests an increase in for Italy among the oldest age group as people who grew up watching Italian TV get older while the pre-war generation which re Italian planes bombing Malta es away. Clearly, although Italy is now ahead, demographic trends which previously favoured Italy in the perennial ‘old firm’ struggle between the former colonial rulers and our Latin neighbours, may be turning in England’s favour as a new generation largely untouched by Italian TV takes over. Still despite the transformation of football into a globalised spectacle, remains low for other teams outside the Italy vs England dichotomy.

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MaltaToday survey

15 maltatoday, Sunday, 22 June 2014

MaltaToday survey

maltatoday, Sunday, 22 June 2014

Next World champions? Brazil While for Brazil has increased slightly since 2010, it declined marginally from 2006. for also has declined. The only other team to be mentioned by more than 2% of respondents is Spain, which won major football competitions in the past decade but was eliminated from this edition. Other teams which were mentioned included , Argentina and the Netherlands. Only two respondents mentioned an African team.

the ancestors of the modern Nationalist party yearned for unification with the Italian patria and the forerunners of the Labour Party striving for closer ties with the United Kingdom. The football allegiance seems to have survived later political developments which saw the Labour Party asserting itself as an anti colonial party. Interestingly, for Brazil is higher among Labour ers.

The political duopoly

Another interesting phenomenon is that university graduates are also more likely to side with Italy than with England. Previous surveys had also shown

Sympathy for Italy or for England also runs parallel with the lines of the political duopoly; with the majority of Nationalist party voters ing Italy and the majority of Labour party ers ing England. Interestingly they do so in equal proportions. While 47% of Nationalist voters Italy, 46% of Labour voters England. And while 34% of Labour voters Italy, 33% of PN voters England. But while among PN ers for England is slightly less than it was in 2006, for Italy among Labour voters has increased by a remarkable 13 points. This may reflect the massive shift which took place in the 2013 general election which saw a massive chunk of Nationalists drifting to Labour. But it could also reflect wider demographics. Possibly the tendency of Labourites to side with England and of Nationalists to side with Italy could be a legacy of the language questions. The pique between Anglophiles and Italianates dates back to the early days of Maltese politics, when

“More women likely to Italy, England and Brazil than ”

ITA ENG BRA GER

Social divides

for England greater among blue collar workers and for Italy higher among professionals. But interestingly even this social divide is crumbling. Because while for Italy has dropped by four points among university educated respondents since 2006, for Italy among secondary educated respondents has increased by nearly 10 points. This suggests that social mobility may be undermining Italy’s dominance among university educated respondents.

27.4% of Italy fans, and 45.5% of England fans share this conviction Thomas Müller takes the German powerhouse forward

The survey undertaken after Italy’s 2-1 victory over England but before England’s defeat against Uruguay, shows that Italy’s ers were more optimistic on winning the world cup than England’s local fans. While 29% of Italy fans think their team will win the world cup, only 7% of England’s fans were hopeful that their team will win the tournament. Brazil is the overall favourite to win the tournament despite the team’s not so convincing showing in the first two matches, which saw the host team struggling to win against Croatia and drawing against Mexico. and Holland, two teams which had a good start, are also seen as favourites to win the tournament.

38 39.8 37.5 38.1 6.5 7 4.6 2.9 ITALY

SIMON BUSUTTIL

Who will win the Brazil 2014 World Cup?

Andrea Pirlo can Italy improve its game?

Italy ers more optimistic

Methodology The survey was held between Monday 16 and Wednesday 18 June. 598 respondents were ed. 450 respondents accepted to be interviewed. The results of the survey were weighed according to the age and sex composition of the Maltese population. The survey has a margin of error of +/-4.6 percentage points.

ENGLAND “Labour voters, 46.3%, more likely to England - up 9.9% since the 2006 finals; while PN voters, 47%, will Italy, up 9.7% since 2006” JOSEPH MUSCAT

35.1 % say Brazil will win the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Italy

Italy fans 29.2% • England fans 1.2%



11.2%

Italy fans 10.8% • England fans 13.2%

Arjen van Robben - the Dutch are hungry for World Cup victory

Neymar - big hopes for Brazil

11.5%

Netherlands 9.7% Italy fans 9.6% • England fans 12%

Argentina

Lionel Messi - Argentina’s great white hope

Italy fans 8.3% • England fans 4.8%

England 2006 28.4 32.1 9.2 4.8

2010 31.1 34.1 5.8 4.1

2014 38.5 37.7 6.7 3.5

...and it’s good night for England and Wayne Rooney

Other

PN voters % change 2006 47 9.7 33.1 -1.5 4.3 3 6 3.3

PL voters % change 2006 33.7 13.2 46.3 9.9 7.1 -5.4 3.2 -2.5

by educational qualification (%)

by age (%)

Italy England Brazil

Italy England Brazil

Uni Post-sec 34.6 36.1 31.1 38.1 6.7 4.1 6.7 2.7

Sec Primary 38.7 31.4 37.7 38.1 6.9 8.2 2.9 3.4

18-34 43.8 38.6 3.9 1.9

6.4%

Don’t know 18%

by educational qualification (%) Italy England Brazil

2.5%

Italy fans 0% • England fans 6.6%

of ‘Big Four’ in last finals (%) Italy England Brazil

5.6%

35-54 41.4 33.5 9.7 3.6

55+ 30.7 39 8.4 0.5