The relationship between football and literature in the novels of Irvine Welsh

This article examines the relationship between football and literature in the novels of Irvine Welsh, taking a cultural materialist approach in treating all cultural production as equally significant in the construction of societies. Irvine Welsh’s novels are chosen to demonstrate the value of this approach as they discuss football extensively. Within Welsh’s work, the Edinburgh club Hibernian are depicted positively as having intelligent, independently minded fans. They reject Unionism as a political and cultural ideal, following Welsh’s own personal views. Fans of Hibernian’s rivals, Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Rangers are continually derided as Unionist, racist and sectarian. Welsh depicts socialization in the values associated with football clubs as a key element in the development of Scottish males. The values he ascribes to clubs are exaggerated but due to the popular success of Welsh’s work, they can have a strong impact on how individuals perceive Hibernian, Hearts, and Rangers.