Playing Games with

1
Playing Games with RaceLegitimizing power in
local football networks through the plurality of
race

• Jim Lusted
• University of Leicester
• JL145_at_le.ac.uk

2
Overview
Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory
Findings Implications

• Background Race, racism and sport
• The setting Local football governance
• The agenda Sports equity policy
• The theory Identity and power
• The findings legitimizing power through race
• Conclusions/Implications

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Race, racism, sport
Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory
Findings Implications

• Race identity and sport
• Fair play, meritocratic, colour-blind approach
• Footballs anti-racist consensus
• Recent research focus
• on professional sport
• on victims of racism
• neglects sources/structures of racism (whiteness?)

4
The Setting The traditional power structures of
local football
Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory
Findings Implications

• County Football Associations
• Governance role
• Development since 2000
• Council members
• Elected, voluntary role
• Decision making power
• 99.6 white, 97 male
• Local prestige long service rewarded
• Representation on National FA Council

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Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory
Findings Implications
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The wider struggle for local control
Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory
Findings Implications

• National FA
• Professionalism
• Development
• Reform
• Expansionist
• External regulation
• Public service

• County FA
• Volunteerism
• Governance
• Tradition
• Protectionist
• Semi-autonomous
• Private club

EQUITY?
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Sports Equity policy
Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory
Findings Implications

• New Labours inclusion agenda Sport England
• Holistic approach
• Acknowledging inequalities exist
• From equal opportunities ? positive action
• Transfer of power, resources

FA Ethics and Sports Equity Strategy
(2002) Football For All
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The theory identity and power
Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory
Findings Implications

• 3 forms of identity construction
• (Castells 2004)
• Legitimizing current power relations and
  structures
• Resistance based challenging power holders
• Project based change power structures

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Castells as a local footballer
Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory
Findings Implications
THE NATIONAL FA Project identity Football For
All
THE COUNTY FA Legitimizing identity Maintain
status quo
LOCAL CLUBS/PARTICIPANTS Resistance identity
Challenge status quo
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Legitimizing Identity I Race denial
Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory
Findings Implications
I dont care if theyre black or white, Asian or
whatever, get somebody on there who does a job,
and helps run the league Senior Administrator,
County FA 1
Its just straight rivalry, one trying to beat
the other, irrespective of whether theyre black,
white, yellow, green or whatever Council Member,
County FA 2
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Legitimizing Identity IIa Racialised domination
Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory
Findings Implications
We do get problems of misbehaviour. Some of them
seem to be on a very short fuse and some of them
seem to have to learn how they can and cant
behave on a football field. It could be that they
are deprived anyway, the Eastern Europeans, it
could just be the way they go on in their own
environment, I dont know Council Member, County
FA 1
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Legitimizing Identity IIb Cultural unsuitability
Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory
Findings Implications
If youve got a team of blokes playing hockey,
10 of them were Asian, because thats the game
they played over there cos theyve got no bloody
grass over there when they come over here, so why
play soccer? Club Secretary, County FA 2
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Legitimizing Identity III Deriding race based
resistance
Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory
Findings Implications
It seems that there are people jumping on the
bandwagon I want them to play football, but why
people are emphasising the ethnic minority side
of it, I think that in my considered opinion, is
causing a barrier. If they just let it flow, we
didnt have it in the past Senior Council
Member, County FA 1
if youre not careful, any that do come forward
are the more outspoken that dont want to go
through the system, but want to break into having
a platform for themselves Council Member, County
FA 2
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Conclusions/Implications
Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory
Findings Implications

• Equity policy part of wider power struggle
• Failure to recognise existence of inequalities
• Positive action seen as unnecessary
• Colour-blind rhetoric masks exclusionary practice
• Using race as resistance remains problematic
• Towards a project identity?
• Football for All requires
• cultural AND structural changes

15
Playing Games with Race Legitimizing power in
local football networks through the plurality of
race

• Jim Lusted
• University of Leicester
• JL145_at_le.ac.uk