The art of face-saving and culture-changing: sculpting Chinese football’s past,present and future

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the football statues of China, whose football team has dramatically underperformed relative to its population size and economic power. Although China lacks a participative grassroots football culture and has struggled to establish a credible domestic league, recent government intervention and investment has seen football’s profile rise dramatically. China’s many football statues are largely atypical in comparison to the rest of the world, including their depiction of anonymous figures rather than national or local heroes, the incorporation of tackling scenes in their designs, and their location at training camps. Through four specific examples and reference to a global database, we illustrate how these statues reflect the tensions and difficulties inherent in China’s desire to integrate itself into global football, and achieve its stated goal of hosting and winning the FIFA World Cup, whilst simultaneously upholding national, cultural and political values such as the primacy of hard work and learning, and saving face in defeat.     

Grassroots Football Development in Japan

Abstract

The history and issues surrounding elite football in Japan have been addressed by a number of scholars. However, grassroots football, although fundamental to the development of the code, has rarely been explored in the academic literature. In Japan, the importance of grassroots football has received heightened attention by the Japanese Football Association (JFA) since 2003, with 20% growth in the number of registered players under 12 years old from 2003 (262,956 players) to 2014 (315,178 players) a result of the JFA’s initiatives in this area. Japan is currently one of the most successful countries in Asia in terms of grassroots football development and the JFA won the Asian Football Confederation’s award, namely ‘The Best Member Association of the Year 2013 for Grassroots Football’. This paper explores the key driver behind the development of grassroots football development, namely the 47 Prefectural Football Associations, which provide programmes and technical, physical and promotional services which include activities to increase opportunities, facilities, coach education, elite pathways, and competitions for grassroots football. The paper concludes that the factors which have resulted in the success of Japan’s grassroots football revolve around governance of Prefectural Football Associations, coach education programmes, increased opportunities by clubs, leagues and schools, and collaboration with stakeholders within and outside of Prefectural Football Associations.     

Understanding China’s School Football Fever in the Post-Beijing Olympic Era, 2009–2016: Policy and Practice

Abstract

This article aims to understand the current policies, practices, and challenges in the sphere of football training in schools of China by investigating campus football development in Anhui province. From 2009 to 2016, China has formulated policies to improve the popularity of football at the school level. With the Chinese government’s investment, the number of primary and secondary schools with specialized football training facilities has increased to 13,382 by 2016. These schools with football as a specialty (SFS) enjoy policy support in teaching, training, competitions, and in many other fields. By employing semistructured interviews, participatory observations as well as an analysis of various policy documents, this article provides an insight into the implementation of China’s school football policies by local government. It shows that these SFS have demonstrated desires and capacities to develop football performance in response to demands from the Chinese government. However, a number of developing issues exist in both SFS and non-SFS, such as lack of football fields for training and shortage of professionally qualified coaches as well as tensions between football training and other subjects learning. China still needs more time to fulfil her task for the promotion of grassroots football on campus and to achieve elite football dreams.     

Developing a sustainable football model with the AFC Vision Asia Philosophy - two grassroots development cases in Zibo and Qingdao

Football development in China has been going through the process of reform alongside the gradually relaxed state control and rapid growth of its economy. As a direct result, the top level football has been commercialized and professionalized from the state amateur model with a market approach, the fully funded state academies are dissolved. Due to lack of the community-based club football culture, grassroots football is very difficult to develop without the government involvement. This article looks at two different development cases at the grassroots level through the researcher’s own work experience with the Asian Football Confederation in two Chinese cities; the report is not only to shed some light on particular local football development programmes, but also to provide an opportunity for discussion of the game’s sustainable development models under China’s market economy.     

Children’s voices in mini soccer: an exploration of critical incidents

Since being adopted by The English Football Association as the preferred format of football to be played by children aged 10 and under, mini soccer has evolved and expanded into a popular activity for children. Yet little is known about the experiences of those participating in the game. In addition, adult-organized activities such as mini soccer are increasingly seen by parents and adults as suitable pursuits for their children to participate in. Yet the perspective of the child participating in mini soccer, as with many other activities, is largely ignored in academic literature. This is especially true in the social sciences, where research has historically been done ‘on’ children, rather than ‘with’ children. In this study, we seek to address this imbalance by including children as active participants in the research process. In doing so, we devised a methodology based on audiovisual methods to create participatory conditions between children and researchers interested in investigating their experiences of mini soccer in England. Children were asked to identify aspects of their experience which they felt were noteworthy to create video recordings of critical incidents that directly involved them participating in mini soccer. These were used as a discussion tool in focus groups to explore how and why children felt the incidents were critical, and how their experience of them shaped their participation. The methodology employed helped capture children’s differentiated views of the same incidents, and highlighted the diversity of their experiences. It is recommended that similar audiovisual methodologies are employed to inform future policy and strategy development in grassroots football that includes children as participants.     

Caught between passion for the game and the need for education: a study of elite-level female football players in Denmark

This article focuses on the passion of Danish elite-level female football players for the game and the challenges they face. How do they manage to combine the tough demands of a football life with the need for education? A quantitative survey (2010) was sent out to female players in the Danish 3F Ligaen and Danish national team players. The findings indicate challenges faced by players in pursuing their passion, as they struggle to combine everyday life, education and work with a football career, either as amateurs or on a playing contract. In the light of the Scandinavian sport model inspired by Victor Pestoff, we may be operating with a different form of elite in women’s football in Denmark. Future focal points for clubs and the Danish Football Association are to continue supporting the players’ passion for the game and Team Denmark’s focus on ‘the whole human being’ in athletes.     

‘We’re the lassies from Lancashire’: Manchester Corinthians Ladies FC and the use of overseas tours to defy the FA ban on women’s football

ABSTRACT

The FA banned women’s football from the grounds of Association-affiliated clubs in 1921, on the grounds that the organisation perceived that football was ‘unsuitable’ for women and too much money raised for charity had been absorbed in player expenses. But women continued to play. This article analyses how Manchester Corinthians Ladies Football Club, which had been formed in 1949, was able to sustain a varied range of overseas tours and domestic matches in spite of the ban. Using a range of methods, including oral history, family history interviews, a reunion of the surviving players and player memorabilia, firstly, the article provides a history of Corinthians and Nomads from 1949 onwards. Secondly, the article uses oral history to reflect what the players felt about playing for the club and particularly its overseas tours, and charity work. Not all of the players are represented due to constraints of space, but this is an introduction to a larger ongoing project to reclaim the teams’ history. Finally, the article argues that it is important to examine the 1950s and 1960s, decades when women’s football was an unregulated activity, in order to understand that which followed once the FA ban was lifted in 1969.     

‘Equal play,equal pay’: moral grounds for equal pay in football

In this paper, we investigate three different ways of defending the claim that national football associations ought to pay their men’s and women’s football teams the same amount. First, we consider an argument that appeals to the principle of equal pay for equal work. We argue that this ‘labor rights’ argument provides a good reason for some national football associations to pay their men’s and women’s teams the same amount but that these are the exception rather than the rule. Next, we consider an alternative argument, which appeals to the ‘expressive power’ of paying women’s football teams the same as men’s. We argue that this argument can be applied more generally than the first argument and gives a good reason for many football associations to pay their men’s and women’s teams equally. However, this argument struggles to show that associations have a moral obligation to pay their men’s and women’s teams the same. We finish by considering the ‘argument from historical injustice’. We argue that this argument provides plausible grounds for thinking that many associations not only have moral reasons to pay their men’s and women’s teams equally, but that they also have a moral obligation and a political responsibility to do so.     

淄博市草根足球联赛现状调查

采用文献资料法,访谈法和逻辑分析法等研究方法,以淄博市业余足球参与者为调查对象,通过对淄博苹根足球大联盟联赛的组织过程度其相关的方面进行了调查,得到当前淄博市草根足球的发展现状,探讨了淄博市革根足球运动开展中存在的问题并提出建议,为推动淄博市业余足球运动的进一步发展提供参考。     

Aboriginal Football in Australia: Race Relations and the Socio-Historical Meanings of the 2014 Borroloola Tour to the Brazil World Cup

Abstract

This paper tells the history of the Borroloola Tour to the 2014 Brazil World Cup, when eight Aboriginal adolescent footballers from the remote town of Borroloola in Australia’s Northern Territory were selected to be part of a tour to Brazil. In Brazil they followed the Australian team from the stands, socialized with football idols such as Tim Cahill, and visited a Brazilian Indigenous tribe. John Moriarty, the first Aboriginal Australian to be selected to Australia’s national football team executed this excursion. Considering that race relations within the Australian sporting arena have historically, been tense and contested, this paper brings to light an under-explored aspect of football in Australia. It is timely too, given the insertion of Australian football within the Asian Football Confederation. The paper examines the historical meanings of the Borroloola Tour through the lens of its key participants; as well as by unveiling John Moriarty’s history as the first Aboriginal person to be selected to play for the Socceroos. In conclusion, it reveals that both the past and contemporary history of Aboriginal people’s involvement in Australian football has an emerging face that will shape football in Australia and in Asia in the coming years.     

Xi Jin-Ping’s World Cup Dreams: From a Major Sports Country to a World Sports Power

Abstract

Football is among the world’s most popular sports. It is also one which China has sought to develop in the field of global professional sport. Nevertheless, the professionalization of football in China has not to date actually improved China’s Olympic achievement in the sport. In stark contrast to the glory of being the country that won most gold medals at the 2008 Olympics, China’s poor football performance has been troublesome for the country’s leader. In 2009, newly elected Xi Jin-Ping made a public statement about promoting elite football and expressed his personal hope that China would be capable of both qualifying for the final stages and winning the FIFA World Cup. With such concern on the part of the state leader, attention turned to football, with many private enterprises beginning to echo government policy by demonstrating a willingness to promote elite football. In addition, to accelerate football development, the Chinese Government promised to take action on the separation of government football associations. Research on this process was based on the theoretical framework of state corporatism derived from Schmitter’s work of 1974. Semi-structured interviews were conducted as the method of data collection aimed at helping us understand how Chinese Government either integrated or controlled relevant stakeholders such as NGOs and private enterprises, and further, to discuss the interactions between them.     

Playing left wing; from Sunday League socialism to international solidarity. A social history of the development of Republica Internationale FC

Republica Internationale FC is a socialist football club that is part of a broader international network of like-minded alternative grassroots clubs. Collectively the members play and campaign worldwide on a variety of issues in a variety of settings. This article reveals how the club has struggled to define and sustain itself more than 30 years. It explores what socialist football is, how the club was conceived and nurtured, how it is organized and how the international network was cultivated. It spans the clubs operations from the Sunday League mundane to the international spectaculars. It tracks how the club has adapted to confront many social and political challenges. It examines external and internal ideological conflict, the club's successes and setbacks, and how gender transforms the club. The article critically evaluates the club's credibility. It offers an insight into how leftist culture can flourish and be sustained in grassroots sport.     

The football club: spaces for capital accumulation

This paper focuses on the various forms of capital that are used and accumulated through the interactions and development of an amateur football team specifically in relation to issues around social class. Formed by the author in 2009, the team plays in an amateur Sunday football league and is based in a public house in the North East of England, UK. The overall purpose of this study is to assess the transformative potential of the team through various interactions that members have through different spaces and times. A key influence for the research developed from an initial year’s experience within the club where many interesting issues and situations arose for me as a football manager and what Jarvie calls a ‘public intellectual’. For the purpose of this paper, Bourdieu’s explanation of cultural fields, cultural capital, social capital and symbolic capital will be adopted in a critique of how players acquire status via forms of ‘legitimised capital’ considered important to football players in the research setting. Attention is also drawn to the various uses of capital by the researcher in his role as manager/coach. Empirical data are incorporated in a discussion of sites and expressions of capital and how these inform processes of transformation through sport. These empirical data are in the form of extensive diary entries collected over two years. Drawing upon Murray’s work, the structured format of this journal covers the four areas of observational notes, theoretical notes, methodological notes and personal notes.     

The determinants of stadium attendance in elite women’s football: Evidence from the UEFA Women's Champions League

Women’s football struggles to build a solid platform in terms of fan interest. However, while an increase in gate receipts can help assist its long-term sustainability, there is limited evidence in the academic literature on the factors influencing spectator demand in women’s football. The authors investigate determinants of stadium attendance for UEFA Women's Champions League (UWCL) matches. Using regression models deployed on 554 UWCL games played between 2009/10 and 2017/18, the authors examine contextual and sport-related variables as the main predictors of stadium attendance. Findings show that there is no continuous growth of attendance over the period examined, and highlight that spectators’ interest is positively associated with five factors: stage of the competition, uncertainty of match outcome, competitive intensity, away club’s reputation and weather conditions. Football governing bodies should put in place initiatives to ensure match outcome uncertainty is maintained as this represents a key determinant to maximise stadium attendance. Based on the specific context of European women’s football, recommendations to foster its development are discussed. These include incentivising investment into the elite women’s game and designing sport policies to encourage participation at grassroots levels.     

‘Darling of the Gods’: Tom Farquharson,Irish footballing migrant

This article examines the footballing career of Dublin-born goalkeeper Tom Farquharson. Using his appearance at the 1927 FA Cup final when Cardiff City beat Arsenal as an anchor this article seeks to explore Farquharson’s career both as a Cardiff City and Irish international player as a case study of Irish men playing their football in Football League in the interwar period. Farquharson’s refusal in 1931 to accept his selection by the Northern Ireland-based Irish Football Association was a significant moment in the attempts of the Irish Free State’s own Football Association to be recognized as the rightful association to use the term Ireland in international competition, being the first time a player refused of their volition. Analysing this and his footballing career more generally, we can intersect sports, labour, migration and diaspora history and begin to understand what it was like to be an Irishman playing football in interwar England.     

Transcultural football. Trajectories of belonging among immigrant youth

Football can play different roles in the lives of immigrant youth. It can be a site for leisure, sport performance and socialization. Even more critically, it can be a place where to negotiate sense of belonging to a local community and to gain access to national sporting cultures. Football can also represent forms of exclusion and discrimination. This article aims to elucidate the meanings that participation in football hold for black immigrant males in a country of recent immigration such as the Republic of Ireland. The article discusses the findings of a long-term ethnographic study with a youth team based in a working-class area of Dublin, the Irish capital. The youth football club plays a special role as a term of identification for the local community. Teenage players of different African backgrounds are presented with the challenge of acquiring different levels of inclusion. They can attempt to appropriate cultural codes that define local working-class men on and off the pitch or they can practice forms of ‘resistance’ that emphasize their own racialized positioning in Irish society. Overall, these dynamics affirm the importance of grassroots football as a venue for young people’s transcultural encounters.     

Exit,voice and loyalty: the dislocation of football fan communities

The creation of a new non-league community-led football team, borne out of opposition to the commercialization of the modern fan experience, presents a range of challenges both on and off the football pitch. FC United of Manchester emerged from the fan protests at the Glazer family takeover of Manchester United FC (MUFC) in 2005. Positioning itself in direct opposition to the corporatization of league football, it has come to prominence as a model of democratic and innovative cooperative social enterprise and, as such, a viable alternative for football fan self-organization. The sustainability of the FC United model requires long-term financial and cultural security. This article applies Hirschman’s lexicon of exit, voice and loyalty to the process of dislocation of fans from MUFC and their relocation to an area of relative deprivation in east Manchester to illuminate the challenges of creating shared community assets between an extant community and football’s arrivistes.     

近10年我国校园足球政策：回顾、审思与建议

运用文献研究、问卷调查、实地调研等方法,对近10年我国校园足球政策的演进历程与总体特征、实施成效和存在问题等进行了全面梳理和分析,进而提出我国校园足球政策的未来发展建议。10年来我国校园足球取得了令人瞩目的发展成效,但基于公共政策发展与运行的整体视角进行全面分析与考察发现,校园足球政策仍存在政策之间内在逻辑衔接不足,校园足球整体与协同性推进受阻;政策传导差异化反应,执行效果产生较大偏差;评估机制不够完善,政策评估实效性不强;基层权益表达渠道不畅,政策调整内生动力不足等问题。据此,提出我国校园足球政策的未来发展建议:加强政策统筹治理,促进校园足球系统性与整体性推进;健全政策监督体系,增强校园足球发展协同效应;建立第三方评估参与机制,提升校园足球政策评估实效;推进科研成果转化应用,助力校园足球政策调整科学。     

‘A lesson in football wisdom’? Coverage of the unofficial women’s World Cup of 1971 in the Mexican press

ABSTRACT

When Mexico hosted the 1971 Women’s World Cup, it raised considerable challenges for local journalists. The domestic game had never received significant press attention, but mounting public interest in such a prestigious tournament demanded a response from national and sporting newspapers. In this chapter, we analyse the extent to which the masculine hegemonic environment of the newsroom dictated the perspective, language, and imagery deployed by journalists in their reports. While underlying sexism and cynicism characterised more traditional, conservative sections of the printed media, our analysis reveals a surprising degree of willingness to adapt and learn new ways. In tracing the dynamics of this process we assess the extent to which a more enlightened appreciation of Mexican women’s football only lasted for as long as they continued to win matches.     

Psychological support for sport coaches: an exploration of practitioner psychologist perspectives

In the present study we add to the literature by exploring the degree to which UK practitioner psychologists perceive themselves able to support sport coaches, and how professional training prepares psychologists for coach work across performance domains. Ten participants comprising seven sport and exercise psychologists with Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) practitioner psychologist status and three trainee psychologists studying towards the British Psychological Society (BPS) qualification in sport and exercise psychology (QSEP) were individually interviewed. All participants reported prior experience of working with coaches across all performance domains. We explored: practitioner’s understanding of the challenges coaches face within their job; practitioner’s experiences of coach work; perspectives about the ways in which practitioners could and should support coaches; and, the degree to which professional training prepares practitioners for coach work. Using recommended procedures of Connelly and Peltzer, content analysis revealed practitioners perceived the challenges faced by coaches are different at grassroots level compared to those working with elite athletes, and that practitioners require skills to provide one-to-one coach support and group-based interventions. All practitioners perceived that training programmes do not adequately equip trainees with skills required for coach work. We discuss the implications for enhancing practitioner training in the UK.