History 190 Essay
How and why has fan culture changed over time?
- New forms of police, political and economic changes, racism, drugs, and violence changed fan culture - Long boom occurred --> Europe had economic and political crisis ascend greatly --> new type of fan culture - The oil crisis in the 1970s --> fan culture going downhill - Unemployment rates became very high, causing nationalism and international violence to impact the game in the late 1970s to the early 1980s - EX: the Relegation Battle in 1975 that occured at the Spurs v Chelsea game. - Fans were very violent and began to fight before the game started - Fans of the game became known as 'Hooligans' and not respected because of the ugly transformation of fan culture during this era. - FSA wanted to change hooliganism - During neoliberal era fans become consumers and are respected - Fans become to be a lot older in age in 1990s - Young people are not majority of fans anymore - The rise of fan-owned clubs e.g. AFC Liverpool 2008 - Fan revolt against mid-week games - The gambling fan 1990s
In what ways was soccer the product of European imperialism and has it ever been decolonized?
- Originally created by the white elite European men that at first built the game amongst themselves for the love and passion of soccer - As the industrial revolution ignited a change working culture, capitalism, environment, and societal change, the game slowly changed and became a game for the masses - During this same ignition of change regulations around soccer clubs began to allow investors and shareholders to take ownership of clubs - As these regulations are changing Europe is colonizing and imperializing countries abroad seeking extended empire, power, greed, and potential investment in countries such as Africa that are causing people of different cultures and backgrounds to mix together. Thus we start to see an integration of soccer in different cultures around the world that eventually lead to leagues in countries of their own. - As a result soccer's popularity highly increases through its commercialization and high potential for profits for investors globally. Thus soccer has been a product of European Imperialism through its origin and spread that in turn have decolonized to an extent over time through independence of countries. This same decolonization still has obvious marks in the game as European national teams have mixed players in their squads today.
Soccer has always been gendered but why was the women's game banned and what caused it to be revitalized with the 1970s?
- Womens soccer was banned in 1921, due to unfounded claims and concerns that sport and fitness negatively affected women's health (such as making them 'infertile' or 'unfit to be mothers'). - - -- Women's games in England were attracting large crowds, some of which (games) attracted larger crowds than men's games. Men who presided over the FA (football association) banned women from playing on FA pitches in 1921. - Revitalized w/ the 1970s: America passed the legislation Title IX in 1972, which made discrimination on the basis of sex illegal. This allowed for a new generation of football growth, and the creation of many different women's leagues and professional sports teams. This included the National and Olympic teams - This led to a newfound sense of national pride (internationalism), as people watched their mothers, sisters, wives, and females, in general, compete for the glory of the nation. Also promoted nationalism, as the United States movement to create a national women's team led to new rivalries, which made the States fight to be on top
