Sam Friedman
Prof. Chappel
15 April 2014
HIST475S
English Football and English National Identity: Late 60s to the Mid 80s
“Let us hope England wins the World Cup today. I shudder to think what will happen if we get beaten. It may be only a game, this business of 22 adults kicking a ball around, but many Britons would regard it as final evidence of our moral and financial collapse” -William Davis, July 30th, 1966
Commonly referred to as the “home of football”, England has held an extremely important place in world soccer throughout the centuries. Because of the nation’s esteemed position within the sport, the beautiful game has become an integral part of the English national identity. However, after a brief period of post-WWII economic and football prominence, the country experienced a sharp decline in both areas that spanned from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. During this time, the parallel decay of England’s performance in football (accompanied by its
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Politicians, who had already turned to foreigners as the source of economic troubles, began to institute restrictive legislation that limited the ability of commonwealth citizens to move to England. Conservative MP Enoch Powell delivered his famous Rivers of Blood speech, expressing intense criticism of immigration and anti-discrimination laws, and was surprisingly supported by many English citizens. Waves of racism within the nation, stemming from the encroachment of foreigners on national pride and memory, began to wash upon the shores of both domestic and international English football. As James Walvin states in his book Football and the Decline of Britain, “Not only did the offspring of black immigrants begin to face a bleak economic future…but they found themselves blamed in certain political circles for the nation’s misfortunes” (Walvin
In a generation focused on social justice and the elimination of prejudice from our society, there is still a use of offensive language and terminology in the area of professional sports. In “The Indian Wars” by S. L. Price, Price attempts to make the reader aware of sports teams that use derogatory terms as their team name and their mascot. He does this by highlighting football, and trying to determine whether Native-Americans are offended by team names in sports, or more specifically, the Redskins. Price’s essay is ineffective because although he raises good points, he doesn’t help the reader to form an opinion by adding historical context to the derogatory names used. He also uses inaccurate poll results to make assumptions about the feelings
The Odessa football players couldn't be objective about criticisms of football. Their total self-esteem depended on how they did on Friday night. This was the glorified culmination of their football career: wearing the black MoJo uniform in the stadium under the big lights. Football was more than just a game to them; it was a religion. It "made them seem like boys going off to fight a war for the benefit of someone else, unwitting sacrifices to a strange and powerful god" (Bissinger, p.11). Because football was so meaningful in their lives, to criticize it was to criticize everything they'd worked so hard for and lived for.
…There was no question of celebration in the minds of the fans who invaded from the West end of the ground. They had violence in mind and no sooner was it offered than it was returned with enthusiasm. The brutal and disgusting scenes which followed as bottles flew and drunken supporters charged and counter-charged from one end of the field to that other, brought disgrace upon the two clubs concerned, upon Scottish football generally, and were an affront to Scotland as a nation (Murray 196).
In an Article about sports and society, Bridget Lockyer discusses the 1950’s onwards, as being a pivotal moment for black Americans. As they were increasingly active in speaking out about the injustice of American society; the segregation of black and white; the discrimination black Americans faced in employment and housing; the disenfranchisement of black people on electoral registers and the widespread violence and prejudice they were forced to endure, (Lockyer, 2009). Before marchers, bus riding freedom riders, boycotters and other protesters began their crusade for freedom, the Jim Crow laws prevented blacks and whites from integrati...
...will decide how much tribalism they wish to get involved in, even if it is simply wearing the jersey; or getting involved in heavy duty teasing with the rival fans of their favorite football team; or even if they simply decorated their own home with every piece of team collectables available for purchase. Whatever an individual does or decides to continue to do I remain convinced that it is actually the tribalism that is more important that the football and if that tribalism dies, than professional football becomes starved of its founding roots and dies. And that my friends, is the scariest thought of it all. Even though I am a strong supporter of tribalism in football, I do feel as that the extreme football hooliganism violence that takes place in the book “How Soccer Explains The World” is unnecessary and the violence does not need to happen along with tribalism.
Black Contributions to American Professional Football Are Many." Welcome To The Black Box, Personal Narratives in High Definition. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
He writes “Our teams didn’t have names. We had jersey colors that we used to refer to ourselves: “Go Maroon!” Our coach, a bearded German named Gunther, would bark at us in continental nomenclature that didn’t quite translate into English.” Here it can be observed that the author flawlessly combines light humor with a serious phrase like “continental nomenclature”. Later in the third part, the author recalls a scene from a soccer match: “They mercilessly booed the linesman, softening him up by insulting his slut of a mother. It might not have quite ascended to the atmospheric wonders of a game played by the English national team, but it wasn’t far from that mark.” Franklin is trying to tell the readers that even though the American supporters was not as passionate or enthusiastic as an English supporter would be if England was playing however they nearing reached that level of excitement. Now, it can be seen that Franklin explains such a simple situation in a way that gives life to the text and the reader can picture the whole
In the meantime that Edwards and other researcher activists were composing in popular sources and freely debating issues related with race and sports, researchers in various disciplines started research that factually reported examples of racial isolation and separation in sports a...
Known as the world’s most popular sport, professional soccer has helped create and define different groups of people around the world for longer than a century. The hoopla surrounding teams, geographic areas fans dwell in, and political ideals associated with individual clubs have carved an identity for millions of supporters whose heart and soul becomes dedicated to their favorite players, stadiums, and coaches. Soccer teams and their fans can give us a window into how people can be divided and defined by their allegiances and ideals, and why those with similar views band together to create a familiar environment for themselves.
Shropshire, Kenneth L. 1996. In black and white: race and sports in America. New York: New York University Press.
Football or Soccer is a sport which is played worldwide and is very popular in all ages of people and everyone regardless of their cultural backgrounds. It is controlled by an International body known as FIFA. My topic is Racism in football which is a very popular and important cause in today's date. All of the associations around the world which control football and everything related to it are introducing the best strategies that they can to get rid of racism from this beautiful game. My research is going to address about the level, effects, reasons and information and incidents which the victims had to face due to this discrimination that they had to deal with. Racism is not something new in football, it has been there in the sport since a really long time and initiatives taken to resolve this problem have
The growing debate about the mascots, logos, and team names used in sports has been an issue since the 1960’s-1970’s. The argument that is at hand is depicting if these symbols are a representation of pride or if they can be classified as racist. There are many supporters to both sides of this debate. Many on one side are arguing that the symbols are clearly racist while others on the opposing side are making claims that the symbols are an honor to whom they are portraying and are negatively connected to racism. There also the individuals who do not identify with either side, obtaining the belief that these symbols are a representation of the organization itself rather that creating a backstory or an image associated to anything other than the organization represented by an image. With many debates and issues regarding the topic happening annually, the question remains, what should be done about the racism issue in the sports industries?
Dealing with the issue of sport and ethnology, three major factors come to mind; prejudice, racism, and discrimination. These factors span across gender, ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural groups. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss how these factors have played a part in the evolution of sport in our society. The first issue tackled in this paper will be racism in sports, followed by prejudice and discrimination.
Though America is a country that built its foundation upon racism and segregation, we in the 21st century would like to believe that racism no longer exists in our nation. While that is a nice thought, the brutal truth is that it is still prevalent in America and the rest of the world. It may not be as vocalized as it once was; but it is still a major underlying issue of today’s society. We are ignorant to the amount of racial incidents that do occur, and the only times racist acts seem to be brought public are when they occur in sports. Despite the Jackie Robinson break through in 1947, the racial discrimination in sports has not disappeared. Instances like the Wayne Simmonds incident in 2011, to the Donald Sterling controversy a few short weeks ago, it is apparent racism in sports is still very much existent. With racism’s obvious existence in sports, in a country that is extremely dependent upon the popularity and success of professional sports, we have to deduct that racism in sports is an indicator of a much bigger racism issue.
Football is a full contact sport that millions of fans watch every season even though it is not a worldwide sport yet. Baseball may be America’s past time but football is America’s obsession. It is played on a field but the athletes seem more like gladiators fighting for blood in the arena for the amusement of their fans. The sport has changed drastically over the years into an event unlike any other, from gaining fans to implementing new rules and regulations in order to keep players safe.