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Football and the Decline of Britain

  • Book
  • © 1986

Overview

Authors:
  1. James Walvin

    1. University of York, UK

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
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  2. Prologue: Whatever Happened to the People’s Game?

    1. Prologue: Whatever Happened to the People’s Game?

      • James Walvin
      Pages 1-14

  3. People on the Inside

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15
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    2. Victorian Values: Clubs and Managers

      • James Walvin
      Pages 17-30

    3. Feet of Clay: Modern Players

      • James Walvin
      Pages 31-43

    4. Fanatics

      • James Walvin
      Pages 44-56

  4. Outside Forces

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 57-57
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    2. Violence in Context and History

      • James Walvin
      Pages 59-69

    3. Racism and Fascism

      • James Walvin
      Pages 70-80

    4. The Distorting Mirror: The Media and the Game

      • James Walvin
      Pages 81-90

    5. Codes of Discipline

      • James Walvin
      Pages 91-102

    6. Politics and Sport

      • James Walvin
      Pages 103-115

    7. Epilogue: The Changing Face of Britain

      • James Walvin
      Pages 117-128

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 129-139
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Keywords

About this book

In the wake of the Bradford and Brussels football disasters in 1985, football in England was subjected to detailed scrutiny and criticism. Critics - of all sorts and persuasions - saw in those terrible events, especially the Brussels riot, evidence of the broader problems afflicting British (not merely English) life. Football, which had once represented so much of what was once considered good - fair- play, team play and sportsmanship - was now discussed as a major national problem. To most critics, at home and abroad, football came to represent a nation in decline, characterised by organised violence, drunkenness, political extremism and a host of related social problems. It was widely assumed that football - but especially those English fans who travelled abroad - was the epitome of what had gone wrong with life in urban Britain. It is understandable that those disasters would lead to heated and emotional argument. But many of the explanations of the events culminating in the disasters appear less convincing when scrutinised more closely. This book tries to examine not only the alleged roots of those violent incidents, but also to locate the problems afflicting the national game within the context of the broad social and economic changes which have transformed British life in the past generation. The book is as much an analysis of recent British social history as it is about the game of football.

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of York, UK

    James Walvin

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