This book focuses on the football stadium as a political space and examines how stadiums can be viewed as the objects and catalysts of political change. Rather than acting as functional constructions designed merely to host football games, stadiums stand out in the urban landscape as landmarks that serve as gathering points for large communities.
The manifestation of the political in football stadiums can be heard in the discontent voiced by supporter activism; in the use of stadiums for national and local identity politics; in attempts to instrumentalize emotions by both totalitarian and democratic regimes; among fan groups in political uprisings, and in the surveillance of fans through e-tickets and seat allocation.
This edited collection brings together a variety of case studies from a wide range of different contexts. Contributors stem from political science, sociology, history, anthropology, human geography and urbanism. As such, the book redefines and broadens what we understand as the political dimension of the football stadium.
Author(s): Başak Alpan, Albrecht Sonntag, Katarzyna Herd
Series: Football Research in an Enlarged Europe
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 306
City: London
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Tables
Part I: Introduction
1: Mysterious Places, Political Spaces
Magic, Myths and Memories
The Football Stadium as Object of Social Sciences Research
Stadiums as Terrains of ‘The Political’
Political Dimensions of Supporter Behaviour
The Structure of the Book
References
2: Take Me Out to the Ball Game! Stadium Attendance Across Europe: A Cross-Country Description
Introduction
Stadium Attendance in the Main European Leagues
Which Fans Go to the Stadiums?
The Profile of Fans Who Go to the Stadiums
Going Solo or with Brothers in Arms? Stadium Attendance Group Patterns
What Attitudes Towards Club Governance Characterises Those Who Attend Matches on the Stadium?
Conclusions
References
Part II: Historical Case Studies
3: The Stadio Mussolini Between Fascisisation and Commercialisation of Football (1933–1945)
Introduction
The Mussolini Stadium, Sport Facility of the Fascist Ventennio
Ancient and Modern: Italian Stadiums of the Fascist Era
The Stadio Mussolini: A ‘Città sportive’
A New Stadium for Turin
Stadio Mussolini and the Urban Planning Policy of the Municipality of Turin
First Prestige and Propaganda Uses: Littoriali 1933 and the European Athletics Championships 1934
Between Business and Politisation: Juventus and the Stadio Mussolini
An Economic Choice?
Football at Stadio Mussolini
The Stadio Mussolini Versus Amateur Football Pitches or the Contradictions of Fascist Sport Policy
In the Shadow of the Professionals: The Teams of Sezione Propaganda
Beyond the Mussolini Stadium: Football and the Totalitarian Turn Between Fascisisation and Commercialisation of Sport
Conclusions
Bibliography
4: What’s in a Name? The City of Stuttgart and the Toponymical Journey of Its Football Stadium
Introduction
Apolitical: Bringing the Sport Movement to the City (1929–1933)
Totalitarian: Embodying the New Ideology (1933–1945)
Innocuous: Shrouding the Past (1949–1993)
Discreet: Corporate Renaming in All But … Name (1993–2008)
Commodified: The Brand Takes Over (Since 2008)
Conclusions
Bibliography
5: Political Emotions in the Post-War Stadium: A Franco-German Perspective on the 1950s and Early 1960s
Introduction
“Don’t Forget That the Franco-German Friendship Is Well Established”—The 1962 International Friendly in Stuttgart
“How Many of Those Misadventures Have Already Damaged Our Prestige?”—Incidents at Club Matches in the Early 1950s
Conclusions
Bibliography
Archives
Koblenz
Bundesarchiv (BArch)
Paris
French Football Federation, Media Library (FFFM)
Stuttgart
Stadtarchiv (StAS)
Periodicals
Part III: Contemporary Case Studies
6: Politics, Identity, Global Branding, and the Stadium: FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou
Introduction
Literature Review/Context
Sport, Stadium, and Identity
Collective Identification
Place Representation
Globalization and the Stadium
FC Barcelona, Catalonia, and Spain: A Brief History
The Camp Nou as Site of Resistance and Political and Cultural Identity Reproduction
The Camp Nou as Site of Global Branding and Consumption
Conclusion: Negotiating the Local and the Global in the Stadium
Bibliography
7: Spatial Aspects of Identity Differentiation—Stadiums in Sarajevo
Introduction
Football as a Metaphor of War in Yugoslavia
A Brief History of Football in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Football in Bosnia and Herzegovina Under Habsburg Rule
Football in Yugoslavia
Football in Independent Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Sarajevo Derby: FK Sarajevo Versus FK Železničar
The Sarajevo Stadiums
Stadiums: A Determinant in Identity Construction
Bibliography
8: Pitch Fever: Swedish Football and the Politics of Grass
Introduction
Spring 2019—The Plastic Is Coming
Plastic Solutions to Natural Problems
Children Growing on Green Plastic
The Pitch and the Climate Questions
Conclusions
Primary Sources10
Bibliography
9: Stade de France and Wembley as Social Space: A Tale of Two Stadiums
Introduction
Stade de France: Communities, Commodities and Identities
Place and Social Space: A Difficult Birth for a New National Stadium
Entertainment and Commodification: Sport and ‘Neo-liberalism’
Sporting Politics: National, Regional and Sporting Identities
Wembley New (and Old): More than World Cup 1966 and its Memory
Place and Social Space: Birth or Regeneration?
Entertainment and Hyper-Commodification
Sporting Politics: National Identity, Inequality
Conclusions
Bibliography
Part IV: Protest Cultures
10: Football Fans, Social Movements and Contentious Politics: Cairo and Istanbul
Introduction
Football and Politics in Egypt
Football and Politics in Turkey: Locating Çarşi15
Çarşi in the Gezi Park Resistance
Conclusions
References
11: Places of Resistance and Right-Wing Ideologies: The Politics of Polish Football Stadiums
Introduction
Fandom and Authorities in Post-Transformation Poland
Fandom as a Legal Issue
Fandom as Uncivilized Domain
Resistance Identity
Right-Wing Tendencies as a Form of Collective Identity
Conclusions
Bibliography
12: Stadiums as the Sites of the Political: The Case of Passolig in Turkey
Introduction
Politics and Stadiums in Turkey
Conceptual Framework, Surveillance and Domains of Insecurity
Stadiums as a Domain of Insecurity: Country Cases and the Passolig Experience in Turkey
Three Strategies of the Passolig in Making Stadiums “Domains of Security”
Gentrification5
Infantilisation
Commodification
Conclusion
Bibliography
13: The Football Stadium as a Space for Protest: The Case of Iranian Female Supporters of FC Persepolis
Introduction
Cross-Dressing for a Match: Between Resistance and Helplessness
Zeinab, Zahra and the Others
Cross-Dressing as an Act of Resistance?
Football and the Stadium as Mirrors of Female Protest
1988–1998: The Development of Female Sports Through the Lens of Political Openness
1998–2018: The Stadium as a Symbol of Assertion of Identity
Conclusion
Bibliography
Part V: Outlook
14: The Post-Pandemic Football Stadium In 2050
Preliminary Thoughts
Context
Ground Zero Dystopia
The Closed Leagues of Europe and South America
National Championships
Amateur Championships
Utopia’s Playing Field
False Start
Social Movements
UNESCO Collaborative Cities and Stadia Network
Stadiums and Life in the Neighbourhood
The Stadium’s Afterlife
Bibliography
Index
