The female football spectator in England, 1870–1914: a Flaneuse made visible?

Abstract

ABSTRACTFlanerie has recently undergone a conceptual expansion to include other observations of modernity, incorporating the flaneuse, a female equivalent in late nineteenth/early twentieth century cities. This scholarship makes a convincing case that public (masculine) spaces and domestic (feminine) spaces were not so mutually exclusive as to preclude a female presence within cities. A flaneuse could (within certain limitations) experience the city, producing observations based on this. Previous work related to flanerie has mainly concentrated on ‘high’ culture, including art criticism and literary production. This paper links the flaneuse to female football spectators at male professional football matches in England from c1800–1914, an expansion of the concept into popular culture, connected to other instances manifested in music halls and department store shopping. It also relates the journalistic observations of female football spectators and reporters as flaneuses, a form of literary production, which contrasts with the literature of ‘high’ culture previously analysed.