The Origins of Football Debate: Football and Cultural Continuity, 1857–1859

This article seeks to add to the growing volume of evidence of a broad, tenacious and visible footballing culture throughout nineteenth-century Britain. It is argued that football persisted among the general population in a variety of forms, none of which required the assistance or involvement of the public schools or public schoolboys to ensure its survival as some historians had previously believed. Indeed, the sheer number of games, evidenced in a variety of forms and a variety of settings, suggests beyond reasonable doubt that most forms of football being played across the country were not formal matches but small-sided games played on church, works' or schools' outings, at rural fetes, galas and celebrations, or as street or casual football, the latter taking place on meadows, fields and greens. Contrary to orthodox historians, these games did survive through mid-century. Importantly, these were predominantly small-sided games and are the ones which are closest to Association football as it was codified in 1863 and hence of most interest to the debate on origins. Common sense then dictates that football can be seen as a cultural continuity, especially as far as the traditions of male youth are concerned, across the nineteenth century.     

Football,Migration and Industrial Patronage in the West of Scotland,c.1870–1900

This article examines the history of football, migration and industrial patronage in the counties of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, Scotland, during the formative years of the Scottish Football Association (1870–1900). It begins with an overview on the formation of clubs and associations in the two counties up to 1900. The article focuses on two specific case studies: one investigates football's relationship to Irish migration in Larkhall, Lanarkshire; the other examines the patronage of football clubs by paternalist coalmasters Bairds of Gartsherrie. Throughout this article, local football is observed in the context of class and religious identity within the two counties, as well as analyses of both the significance and limits of elite patronage in early Scottish football.     

Tennent's Lager,National Identity and Football in Scotland, 1960s–90s

Consumption of Tennent's lager, brewed in Glasgow, served as an important means of expressing Scottish national identity from the 1960s. The role it came to play in the Scottish psyche ensured that this was no ordinary alcoholic beverage. It soon commanded more than half the lager market in Scotland, a dominance unrivalled among English breweries of lager south of the border. Given this ascendancy in Scotland, Tennent's, consumed in pubs with males as patrons, became linked closely with masculinity. Cans of Tennent's lager began featuring Scottish women in provocative poses from the late 1960s, much to the delight of male drinkers. In the marketing of this beverage, the brewery broadened the basis of Scottish national identity, which now became intertwined with Tennent's lager, masculinity and, soon, football. Sponsorship of Scotland's World Cup Football teams in the 1970s and later the Scottish Cup placed the brewer of Tennent's lager in the forefront of how Scotsmen saw themselves and defined their Scottishness.     

Bribing Referees: The History of Unspoken Rules in Chinese Professional Football Leagues, 1998–2009

The topic of corruption in football has recently shifted from the periphery to the centre of social scientific attention. Although it is a topic of growing interest, research into corruption in football has been empirically limited and not adequately developed in theory. In this paper, the author studies referee bribery in Chinese professional football leagues, which would be helpful to compensate for the relative absence of experience and theories. By qualitatively analyzing primary and secondary sources, the author, using unspoken rules as a theoretical perspective, reviews referee bribery related to corruption in Chinese football. According to this study, bribing referees in Chinese professional football leagues between 1998 and 2009 was a common practice and deemed to be an unspoken rule by all football clubs. This paper identifies three forms of bribing referees to manipulate matches: paying off referees, manipulation of referees by CFA officials, and investing in emotional bonds. By describing bribe giving as an unspoken rule, the author looks at the widespread referee bribing and its tacit acknowledgement by clubs. This study focuses on examples related to Chinese football leagues; however, it also provides a framework under which corruption in international football can be understood and analyzed.     

Football in Australia before Codification, 1820–1860

Though the focus of this article is Australia, it is intended as a contribution to the debate about what was happening in the UK and elsewhere before football was codified by the Football Association in 1863. There is mounting evidence that a football culture existed far beyond the public schools and universities and that small-sided predominantly kicking games, often for monetary or other rewards, were being played by migrants to Australia who drew on their British heritage. Not only that but the game was being presented and encouraged by public authorities who would not have countenanced doing so had there been a risk of a breakdown in public order or violence accompanying the games. The article provides support for the arguments developed by Adrian Harvey in the UK.     

Manchester and the Emergence of an Association Football Culture, 1840–1880: An Alternative Viewpoint

This paper provides a critique of the article by Gary James and Dave Day on ‘The Emergence of an Association Football Culture in Manchester, 1840–1884', published in Sport in History. We suggest an alternative interpretation of Manchester's football history during this period, arguing that Association football was a minor form of football in a city largely dominated by the rugby code. Furthermore, by employing an artificial construct of Manchester the authors have produced the wrong answer to the wrong question. Rather than trying to prove that Manchester developed an important Association football culture, we suggest they ought to have addressed the question of why such a culture did not exist. The contribution to the development of Association football of three isolated ‘transitory’ clubs in a city as large as Manchester is certainly not ‘substantial’. Subsequently, James and Day also fail to exploit fully their evidence for early football in the Manchester area by omitting to relate this properly to the much wider ongoing debate surrounding the origins of football. Conversely, there is ample evidence that ‘substantial’ Association football developments actually occurred in East Lancashire, centred on Bolton, Blackburn and Darwen, developments that are scarcely noted in James and Day's account.     

The Singapore Football League, 1904–1941: Towards the Institutionalization of Football in the Colonial Port City of Singapore

Abstract

The Singapore Football Association (SFA) was founded in 1892. In 1904, the YMCA initiated the first football league with 12 teams from military and European clubs and School Old Boys’ teams. The first phase from 1904 to 1913 was restricted to European and Eurasian only. The military teams won six out of the nine tournaments. The second phase of the league began in 1917 and from 1921 to 1941. The Straits Chinese Football Association (SCFA) took part in the league and the rejuvenated SFA included a representative from the SCFA. The Singapore Football League started with two divisions 1921 and participating teams from the SCFA in the same year and the Malaya Football Association (MFA) in 1924. The SCFA won the league for the first time in 1925 and subsequently in 1930, 1937, and 1938. In 1929, the SFA was renamed the Singapore Amateur Football Association (SAFA). The MFA won the League for the first time in 1931, and the first local team to win three years in succession from 1931 to 1933. From 1931 to 1941 the local teams won seven league titles out of 11. By 1940 the League grew with 44 teams in three divisions.     

The ‘Chimera’ of Origins: Association Football in Australia before 1880

It is generally accepted that organised Association football (soccer) commenced in Australia in Sydney in 1880. This article challenges that starting point by revealing earlier games of codified soccer – not in order to establish an earlier point of origin but to challenge the very idea of origins. Recent work on football in Australia in the 1850s has begun to gather the unearthed traces of rule-bounded small-sided games brought to Australia from Britain and Ireland. Some of these were games with a strong developmental link to present day soccer in Australia. Yet the nearly disabling problem for this kind of research is that as researchers venture archivally backward in time the images become more blurred and the distinctions between codes become harder to make. Even as potential origin points become temporally closer they recede into the shadows of archival absence. The dilemma for football historians lies in the necessity of engagement with the established origins that lie at the heart of the historiography of all major sports, origins that both orient and limit debate. Present-day administrators use anniversaries of origin to generate publicity. They help to get stories rolling: ‘Once upon a time Wills or Webb Ellis or Doubleday did something so special that they got a great game started.’ Aside from often being simply incorrect, origin theses tend to nurture hegemonic narratives that by their very nature rule counter-narratives out of bounds.     

The HMS Malaya Cup Football League, 1921–1941: Towards the Institutionalization of Football in British Malaya

Abstract

This research is part of a larger phenomenon about the diffusion and transmission of football in various British colonies, particularly in Asia. After the British occupied the Straits Settlements of Penang, Malacca, and Singapore and enforced indirect rule in the Federated Malay States of Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang and Unfederated Malay States of Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, and Trengganu and Johore, they established sports clubs and played football. They also introduced the game to the Malay, Chinese, Eurasian, Indian, and Sikh communities. In 1921, the British donated the HMS Malaya Cup for football. The inaugural football league consisted of seven colony or state teams and players from the European and local communities. During the first decade (1921–1930), two outstanding European and six local players were highlighted. By the end of next 11 years (1931–1941), 10 teams took part in the competition. During this period, 10 outstanding players emerged from the local communities. Singapore appeared in all 21?Cup finals winning 12 times and drew twice. Selangor was 14 times finalists winning four times and drew twice. Perak won twice out of three final appearances. Kedah and Penang were losing finalists 1940 and 1941, respectively.     

Professional Football in Apartheid South Africa: Leisure,Consumption and Identity in the National Football League, 1959–1977

A growing body of academic and popular literature considers the history of South African football. These and existing publications pay little or no attention to the emergence of white professional football in apartheid South Africa. The National Football League (NFL) challenged the amateur game and introduced professional football to the country. During its 17-year existence, the NFL grew each season with large attendances until its demise in 1977. In addition, the NFL imported a range of international players, invited foreign teams and actively engaged in the political debates in South African sport at the time. The NFL was instrumental in popularising the game across the country for all South Africans. The NFL became the most popular sports entertainment of choice for South Africans during this period. Finally, the NFL actively engaged in a campaign of destroying rival non-racial anti-apartheid leagues while simultaneously co-opting less progressive organisations.     

Virtual Patriot Games: American Football in The Times of London, 1888–1910

Abstract

This study examines the American football press coverage in the Times of London from 1888 to November 1910. The time span covers the paper’s first mention of the game to the first game played in England. This period also coincides with increasing anxiety about the strength of the British Empire and unwanted American influences. During this time, athletic contests between the two nations turned into sites for the construction of national identities. Adapting the sport scholar Emma Poulton’s concept of ‘mediated patriot games’, the author argues that the American football coverage of the Times of London could be considered ‘virtual patriot games’, as the absence of domestic American football teams did not allow for direct competition. Two related narrative elements. The stories in the Times framed gridiron football as the pastime of the ‘other’, including translating rules and comparing the merits of rugby and American football. The reports also focused on the American game’s violence, confirming older traditions in British imaginations of America. Advancements in communication technologies, especially the telegraphic wire, were critical for the immediacy with which British readers consumed American sporting news. Contrary to current scholarship, British interpretations of American culture through gridiron football developed much earlier than the post-1970s information age.     

Shinty,Nationalism and National Autonomy in Scotland, 1887–1928

Studies of the relationships between sport and nationalism have often overlooked how different sports may depict alternative expressions of nationalism. This paper examines how social, cultural and political ideas associated with nationalism and national autonomy in Scotland touched the sport of shinty between 1887 and 1928. During this period, the transformation of shinty from a traditional folk game to a modern sport was consolidated within Scottish Highland society. The paper probes some of the ways that shinty was contoured by, and connected to wider social, cultural and political circumstances of the period. Three strands are considered in the analysis: (i) the place of shinty as a conduit for aspirations of national autonomy, (ii) the different expressions of nationalism in Scotland that oscillated on the landscape of culture and politics and (iii) the connections between shinty and Gaelic sports in Ireland, and the relationship with expressions of nationalism. The analysis is developed using the concepts of national autonomy and civil society. These conceptual components help to probe how shinty symbolised alternative aspirations and expressions of nationalism between 1887 and 1928.     

The Structural Adjustment of Football in Zambia: Politics,Decline and Dispersal, 1991–1994

Abstract

This paper explores multiple and complex relationships between football (soccer), politics, and the economy in postcolonial Zambia. Based on archival and oral sources collected in Zambia, the paper argues that President Frederick Chiluba’s government failed to support football development when it came into power in 1991 because it was elected on a platform of liberalizing the collapsing national economy. Chiluba privatized state-owned companies that were sponsoring the game resulting in the plummeting of the local standards and migration of talented footballers abroad in search of better livelihoods. Furthermore, the paper argues that while the exodus of talented footballers led to the deterioration of the standards of the local league, their transnational experience boosted the performance of the Zambia national football team. This led to the emergence of one of the best national teams the country has ever had. Unfortunately, this particular team perished in the Gabon air disaster in 1993 following the government’s disinvestment in the game. However, a few months after the disaster, the country managed to rebuild a national football team, which emerged as runners up to Nigeria in the 1994 African Cup of Nations final as a result of a large pool of local and foreign-based football players.