A Not-So-Beautiful Game

Abstract

Although football (soccer) is often referred to as ‘the beautiful game’, to take that idea very seriously — by aestheticizing the target of spectating — is to misunderstand a purposive sport (deploying David Best’s contrast) such as football. Yet such a view seems required by Stephen Mumford’s endorsement of the purist spectator, in contrast to the partisan, as attending to ‘… only aesthetic aspects of sport’ (p. 372). But, first, not all non-purposive appreciation is thereby aesthetic appreciation, as Mumford assumes. And, second, while a technical understanding of the aesthetic includes both positive and negative aesthetic concerns, an everyday version (as well as Mumford’s) addresses only positive aesthetic value. Now, there are concepts of grace, line and so on, applicable to football: that is, concepts suitable to aesthetic appreciation. And sometimes, for instance, in TV’s ‘Goal of the Month’ competition, such appreciation sets aside the purposive dimension of such sports. Yet that dimension is fundamental to the character of the sport, explaining the directions of the actions that comprise football (as constituted by its rules) and embodying a project only explicable in terms of winning and losing. Thus, the elegant pass must be successful; graceful dribbling of the ball must be to some purpose in terms of the match. If not, these actions are not completed. Similarly, if we admire the beautiful drama of the sport, it is key that what is admirable are those actions that constitute football; and these are explicated purposively. Further, one must understand that what counts as football will be inflected contextually; what counts as a beautiful move in football in this context might not so count in that context. Not all football, or all of any match, can rightly be regarded aesthetically, especially if the aestheticization focused only on positive aesthetic value. So that, while some football games can be rightly called beautiful sometimes, that cannot justify the title ‘the beautiful game’.