The role of societal actors in shaping a pan-European consciousness. UEFA and the overcoming of Cold War tensions, 1954–1959

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the last two decades, the historical analysis of European integration has become more differentiated, as several research reports have convincingly revealed. In particular, social and cultural approaches have received growing attention. Hence, some authors have started to focus on the history of European football and particularly on the origins and development of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Against the backdrop of these studies and the current status of research, this article seeks to analyse the questions of whether and how far UEFA, as a societal actor, has contributed in its formative phase to an increasingly transnational orientation in European football. Apart from the competitions on the pitch and the different conflicts of national associations, this article investigates the extent that UEFA has fostered transnational cooperation and communication that contributes, in the long run, to a Pan-European collective consciousness. One that transgresses Western or Eastern political alliances. The research has been completed by reading various mainstream and sports European newspapers, and two interviews have been conducted with Pierre Delaunay, general secretary of UEFA from 1955 to 1959, and with Jacques Ferran, former journalist of French newspaper L’Equipe.