RACISM IN FOOTBALL

Abstract

Football grounds have provided one of the largest public arenas in which racism can be openly expressed. It is against this background that the phenomenon of racism in football has led to widespread discussion during the past two decades within the media, amongst policy makers and in the wider football community. In turn this has led to the launch of a number of high profile campaigns against racism both within fan organisations and within football’s institutions. Nevertheless, there remains, amid this flurry of activity, a lack of serious analysis of exactly how the cultural context of football grounds provides the platform upon which racism can be expressed and celebrated. Our concern in this chapter is to examine the way in which the problem has been understood within anti-racist campaigns, fan publications and wider public forums. Drawing on our research on cultures of racism in English football we want to question the degree of fit between the terms of the public debate and the contemporary patterns of racist practice and action within football?