Our second session of 2021 took place on April 21 as David Trouille joined us to discuss his new book Fútbol in the Park: Immigrants, Soccer, and the Creation of Social Ties.

Participants included Tony Adedze, Chris Bolsmann, Peter Jones, Titi Kou, Chris Gaffney, Declan Abernethy, Nicholas Howe Bukowski, Dil Porter, Ted Richards, Chuck Carlson, Simon Rofe, Andrew Lee, Andrew Guest, Enrico Castro Montes, and Peter Alegi.

Listen to the audio recording (for personal/educational use only):

FSF’s next event is in early June (date/time TBD), featuring English Gentlemen and World Soccer: Corinthians, Amateurism and the Global Game, by Chris Bolsmann and Dil Porter. Email Peter Alegi (alegi AT msu DOT edu) to register.

It is our pleasure to welcome sociologist David Trouille, author of Fútbol In the Park: Immigrants, Soccer and the Creation of Social Ties (University of Chicago Press, 2021), to FSF on April 21, 2021 at 3:00pm US Eastern Time (2000 London time).

From the publisher: Fútbol in the Park “takes us into the world of Latino soccer players who regularly play in an upscale Los Angeles neighborhood where they are not always welcome. Together on the soccer field, sharing beers after the games, and occasionally exchanging taunts or blows, the men build relationships and a sense of who they are. Through these engrossing, revealing, and at times immortalizing activities, they forge new identities, friendships, and job opportunities, giving themselves a renewed sense of self-worth and community. As the United States becomes increasingly polarized over issues of immigration and culture, Fútbol in the Park offers a close look at the individual lives and experiences of migrants.”

Email Peter Alegi (alegi AT msu DOT edu) to sign up and receive a Zoom invite.

Our first session of 2021 took place on February 25 as Heather Dichter joined us to discuss her edited volume Soccer Diplomacy: International Relations and Football since 1914.

Participants included Brenda Elsey and Chris Bolsmann, who contributed chapters to the book, as well as Stefan Szymanski, Andrew Lee, Andrew Guest, Enrico Castro Montes, Itamar Dubinsky, Jermaine Scott, Chuck Carlson, Lindsay Avant, Jon Dart, Mike Cole, Tom McCabe, Sarah Dwyer-Shick, Alon Raab, Anakwa Dwamena, Arnaud Amouroux, Simon Rofe, and Peter Alegi.

Listen to the audio recording: (personal/educational use only).

FSF’s next session is on April 21 at 3pm US ET (8pm UK) with David Trouille and his new book, Fútbol in the Park: Immigrants, Soccer, and the Creation of Social Ties. Email Peter Alegi (alegi AT msu DOT edu) to participate via Zoom.

Our first session of 2021 will feature a discussion of Soccer Diplomacy: International Relations and Football since 1914, edited by Dr. Heather Dichter (University Press of Kentucky, 2020).

Dichter (@hdichter) is an Associate Professor at De Montfort University’s International Centre for Sports History and Culture (@ICSHC).

Join us via Zoom on Thursday, February 25, at 3pm US ET (2000 UK time). Email Peter Alegi (alegi AT msu DOT edu) for invites and a discount code.

The following session is scheduled for April 21, at 3pm US Eastern Time, with David Trouille and his new book, Fútbol in the Park.

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).

Award-winning author and journalist James Montague joins FSF on Thursday, October 15, at 2pm US Eastern Time (2000 Central European Time) to discuss his new book, 1312: Among the Ultras, A journey with the world’s most extreme fans.

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).

Our next session takes place on Thursday, October 15, at 2pm US ET (-6 Central European Time). We welcome back James Montague for a conversation about his new book, 1312: Among the Ultras, A journey with the world’s most extreme fans.

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).