On the sixth anniversary of Ismail Morina audaciously piloting a drone draped with an Albanian flag over the pitch at Belgrade’s Marakana stadium, FSF held the second convo of the 2020-21 season featuring James Montague’s 1312: Among the Ultras, A journey with the world’s most extreme fans.
The author joined us from Istanbul to share his fieldwork experiences and reflect on the process of writing a book that took him to 20 different countries. The Q&A with Montague, as expected, provided an opportunity to dig deeper into this engaging ethnography of a male-dominated youth fan culture.
Participants: John Boyd, Chuck Carlson, Alex Cizmic, John Ford, Andrew Guest, Titi Kou, Lindsay Krasnoff, David Kilpatrick, Tom McCabe, Danyel Reiche, Kirk Rudell, Adam Winkel, Andrew Weeks, and Peter Alegi.
Click below to listen to the audio recording of the session (personal/educational use only).
1312 investigates the international phenomenon of the ultras from South America to Europe, Southeast Asia, and the USA. Using his signature globetrotting style, Montague charts the evolution of these radical supporters into political organizations (mostly aligned with the far right, at present) and as spaces of resistance against state authorities and the corporate takeover of football.
To participate via Zoom contact Peter Alegi (alegi AT msu DOT edu).
25 participants kicked off the Football Scholars Forum’s 12th season on Thursday, September 17.
Historians Brenda Elsey and Jermaine Scott spearheaded an excellent discussion of key issues raised by their Fare report on the “Representation of Black and Latinx Communities and Women in U.S. Soccer” [full text here].
Click below to listen to the audio recording of the session (personal/educational use only).
The Football Scholars Forum’s 12th season is here!
In a world turned upside down by the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, we begin with a discussion of the Fare report on the “Representation of Black and Latinx Communities and Women in U.S. Soccer” [full text here].
Researched and written by FSF members Brenda Elsey and Jermaine Scott, the report “found shockingly low numbers from these groups in high level positions including ownership, executive leadership and coaching leadership.”
The Zoom session will take place on Thursday, September 17, at 2pm US Eastern Time (-5 London time).
To join the conversation, send email and affiliation to Peter Alegi (alegi AT msu DOT edu).
The curtain has come down on the Football Scholars Forum’s summer series featuring David Goldblatt and his sparkling new book, The Age of Football: The Global Game in the Twenty-first Century. A cumulative attendance of more than 50 people from Africa, Asia, North America, and Europe made it the most popular event in FSF’s ten-year history.
On July 14, 25 participants discussed the final chapters, which focused on FIFA corruption, Putin’s Russia and the 2018 World Cup. Historians Simon Rofe and Matthew Pauly helped steer the discussion with opening comments and questions.
“It’s the hardest book I’ve every written, in all sorts of ways,” Goldblatt observed. “A combination of Brexit and COVID kind of ate its public reception alive,” he said. “That was quite hard to process and this [series] has been a fabulous corrective to that. [. . .] It means a lot to have you read it, to know that it held your attention, entertained you and maybe enlightened you along the way.”
Indeed, the series was so extraordinarily fulfilling that we (almost) forgot about the postponement of Euro 2020.
Click below to listen to the audio recording of the July 14th session (personal/educational use only).
Looking ahead to the 2020-21 season, our first convo will feature James Montague and his new book, 1312: Among the Ultras. See you then!
The fourth session of FSF’s 5-part series on David Goldblatt’s The Age of Football: The Global Game in the Twenty-first Century covered East Asia, South and South East Asia, as well as North and Central America, and the Caribbean (aka CONCACAF in FIFA-speak). This tour-de-force across time and space featured 32 participants in a conversation moderated by Andrew Guest.
The series finale takes place on Tuesday, July 14, again at 2pm US Eastern (7pm UK). We will discuss the final chapters, on FIFA corruption and the game in Putin’s Russia, including a look inside the “Global Potemkin Village” of the 2018 World Cup.
Click below to listen to the audio recording of the June 30th session (personal/educational use only).
Moderated by Lindsay Krasnoff [read her comments here], the 29 participants grappled with a variety of themes in the work. Not only did Goldblatt ably respond to questions from around the world on a rich set of topics and countries, but the Spurs supporter also lavished praise on ex-Arsenal striker Ian Wright’s performance on BBC Radio 4’s “Desert Island Discs”!
The series continues on Tuesday, June 30, again at 2pm US Eastern (7pm UK). We will discuss “The Fragmented Worlds of Asian Football” and “Football in the Americas” (that is, CONCACAF), with Andrew Guest as moderator.
Click below to listen to the audio recording of the June 23rd session (personal/educational use only).
The second session of FSF’s 5-part series on David Goldblatt’s The Age of Football: The Global Game in the Twenty-first Century [UK here / US here] drew another large international crowd: 45 participants!
Moderated by Danyel Reiche and Alex Galarza, our lively conversation with Goldblatt explored themes and questions raised by the chapters titled “Regime vs Street vs Mosque: Three-sided Football in the Middle East” and “From the Left Wing: South American Fútbol and the Pink Tide.”
The next session is scheduled for Tuesday, June 23, at 2pm US Eastern (7pm UK). We will discuss the book’s chapter on Europe, almost a book in its own right, with Lindsay Krasnoff serving as moderator.
Click below to listen to the recording of the June 16th session (personal/educational use only).
The first session of FSF’s five-part series on David Goldblatt’s new book, The Age of Football: The Global Game in the Twenty-first Century [UK here / US here] attracted 40 participants.
The inaugural 90-minute conversation with the author was moderated by Peter Alegi. It focused on the book’s Introduction and Chapter 1 titled “The Living and the Dead: Afro Football Fever.”
The second session is set for June 16 (2pm US Eastern, 7pm UK). We will read and discuss Chapters 2-3 (on the Middle East and South America), with Danyel Reiche and Alex Galarza serving as our able moderators.
Below is an audio recording of the first session (for personal/educational use only).
