Football and the Decline of BritainIn 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. |
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A. H. Halsey Association Football athletes athleticism basic became become behaviour Bill Murray black players black sportsmen Britain British broader Brussels disaster changes commercial communities competitive comprehensive schools contemporary critics culture decline discipline E. P. Thompson economic educational England English fans English football events of 1985 evidence fact football clubs football crowd football fans football grounds football hooliganism football matches football violence football's forms game of football game's gangs groups Heysel disaster Heysel stadium host Ibid important increasingly industrial labour large numbers league leisure less Liverpool London major Manchester United merely millions modern game National Front national game notably obvious organised pattern People's Game plebeian police political politicians popular public school pupils racism recent seemed soccer social problems society spectators stadium success summer of 1985 teams television throughout Tony Mason traditional transformed true unemployment urban Walvin watch working-class young youths