Book Review - Race, ethnicity and football: Persisting debates and emergent issues by Daniel Burdsey (original) (raw)

British-Asians and racism within contemporary English football

Racism within professional English football is said to have diminished in recent years as football has evolved since the days of the 1970s when monkey chants, thus overt racism, were commonly witnessed in the stands. However, although overt racism within the game has perhaps reduced, other forms of racism still 10 exist and may have contributed to the lack of professional British-Asian football players. This essay will (a) explore notions of nationalism and racisms within Britain; (b) examine racism within contemporary domestic football; and (c) pres- ent interview material with half of the professional British-Asian demographic in England to gauge an insight into what barriers they may have faced, whether 15 racism is still a prominent threat and reasons behind the poor participation levels. By focusing on these areas in detail, the essay intends to explore the British-Asian demographic and makes an attempt to theorize the future of British-Asians within professional English football.

From racial exclusions to new inclusions: Black and minority ethnic participation in football clubs in the East Midlands of England

International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 2010

This article reports on survey and interview data from a two-phase study examining the shape and scope of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) participation in amateur football clubs in Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. Survey results identified strongly differentiated patterns of participation and a concentration of BME (male) players, coaches and management committee members at a small number of clubs in the city of Leicester. Interview data contextualized the socio-historical development and ongoing reality of these BME clubs as a consequence of — and as active resistance to — racisms and exclusions within pre-existing and homogeneously White local football networks. BME clubs also had distinct social, cultural and religious attachments and had historically operated as symbolic and practical sites of community mobilization and cultural identity production for specific BME communities. Survey and interview data indicated that BME clubs and newer ‘multi-ethnic’ clubs incre...

Dan Horsfield, Clive Palmer, Dipesh Patel and Khawer Mushtaq (2014) Colour, who cares? (Chapter 24, pp. 207-220). In, Palmer, C. (Ed.) Sports Monograph. SSTO Publications. [topic: Racism, equality of opportunity in football]

The phenomenon of skin colour in sport has the potential to amplify latent social attitudes in some people that are to the detriment of society, in anti-social racism, but also has the capacity to celebrate difference and cultural diversity adding to the richness of sport in others. By looking at the representation of blacks in sport and selected examples of racism some key questions about colour, and who cares are raised; are black people segregated in sport and from sport given that sport in the UK is a white dominated social pursuit? and, are the penalties for performers, for example football players found guilty of racial discrimination, sufficient to deter others from exhibiting racist behaviour? Then, some procedures intended to combat racism will be discussed, such as Kick it Out and The Six Point Plan (TheFA, 2012). The chapter concludes with optimism that despite racism apparently being on the rise, data over the past decade (2004- 2014) seems to indicate that the number of black athletes participating in sport is increasing.

British Asians exclusion and the football industry.pdf

It examines the aspect of race and its ramifications on identity formation in English football. It sheds light on the existing diversities within the British Asian communities. It has touched upon the process of migration and its ramification on conceptualizing identity. The domains of inclusion and exclusion has undergone a qualitative transformation in the era of globalization.

Negative Equity? Amateurist Responses to Race Equality Initiatives in English Grass-Roots Football

Since the turn of the millennium there have been some significant policy developments aimed at tackling racial inequalities in English football, perhaps most notably in 2002 when the Football Association (FA) approved its own Ethics and Sports Equity Strategy (hereafter E&SES). High on the agenda of this new strategy was a range of statements about race equality and encouraging the involvement of minority ethnic participants in all aspects of the English game. Despite the longer-standing anti-racist campaigns in football such as ‘Kick It Out’, this was the FA’s first internal commitment to equality, and the first to directly cover the grass-roots level of English football. The overwhelming focus of research on anti-racist and race equality initiatives in English football has been on the professional game; we know much less about what is going on at the local, grass-roots football governance organisations known as County Football Associations. These bodies have, until very recently, largely avoided any direct interaction with broader campaigns such as Kick It Out (Long et al 2000). Previous research has identified some difficulties in implementing race equality, particularly at this grass-roots level (see Spracklen et al 2006, Horne 2005). While an anti-racist discourse has emerged within English football structures and cultures, the actual adoption of race equality policies – particularly those that call for institutional changes and positive action – appears to be much more problematic (see Back et al 2001). In some cases, claims have even been made that these relatively new race equality initiatives are actually creating a range of new problems and tensions (Long et al 2003, Lusted 2009). This chapter attempts to make some sense of the early reception of race equality initiatives in grass-roots football, specifically from County FA Council Members – voluntary members drawn from the local football population who sit on a range of important decision making County FA committees.