Playing Games with ‘Race’:Legitimizing power in local football networks

through the plurality of ‘race’

Jim LustedUniversity of LeicesterJL145@le.ac.uk

Overview

Background: ‘Race’, racism and sport

The setting: ‘Local’ football governance

The agenda: Sports equity policy

The theory: Identity and power

The findings: legitimizing power through ‘race’

Conclusions/Implications…

Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory Findings Implications

‘Race’, racism, sport

‘Race’ identity and sport

Fair play, meritocratic, colour-blind approach

Football’s anti-racist consensus

Recent research focus:– on professional sport– on ‘victims’ of racism – neglects sources/structures of racism (whiteness?)

Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory Findings Implications

The Setting: The traditional power structures of local football

County Football Associations– Governance role– Development since 2000

Council members– ‘Elected’, voluntary role– Decision making power– 99.6% white, 97% male– Local prestige; long service rewarded– Representation on National FA Council

Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory Findings Implications

Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory Findings Implications

The wider struggle for local control

National FA

Professionalism

Development

Reform

Expansionist

External regulation

Public service

County FA

Volunteerism

Governance

Tradition

Protectionist

Semi-autonomous

Private club

Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory Findings Implications

Sports Equity policy

New Labour’s inclusion agenda: Sport England

Holistic approach Acknowledging inequalities exist From equal opportunities → positive action Transfer of power, resources

Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory Findings Implications

FA Ethics and Sports Equity Strategy (2002)

“Football For All”

The theory: identity and power

3 forms of identity construction (Castells 2004):

– Legitimizing current power relations and structures– Resistance based: challenging power holders– Project based: change power structures

Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory Findings Implications

Castells as a local footballer

THE NATIONAL FA

Project identity: ‘Football For All’

THE COUNTY FA

Legitimizing identity: Maintain status quo

LOCAL CLUBS/PARTICIPANTS

Resistance identity: Challenge status quo

Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory Findings Implications

Legitimizing Identity I: ‘Race’ denial

Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory Findings Implications

“I don’t care if they’re black or white, Asian or whatever, get somebody on there who does a job,

and helps run the league”Senior Administrator, County FA 1

“Its just straight rivalry, one trying to beat the other, irrespective of whether they’re black, white, yellow,

green or whatever”Council Member, County FA 2

Legitimizing Identity IIa: Racialised domination

“We do get problems of misbehaviour. Some of them seem to be on a very short fuse and some of them

seem to have to learn how they can and can’t behave on a football field. It could be that they are deprived anyway, the Eastern Europeans, it could just be the

way they go on in their own environment, I don’t know”

Council Member, County FA 1

Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory Findings Implications

Legitimizing Identity IIb: Cultural unsuitability

“If you’ve got a team of blokes playing hockey, 10 of them were Asian, because that’s the game they played over there cos they’ve got no bloody grass over there

when they come over here, so why play soccer?”Club Secretary, County FA 2

Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory Findings Implications

Legitimizing Identity III: Deriding ‘race’ based resistance

“if you’re not careful, any that do come forward are the more outspoken that don’t want to go through the

system, but want to break into having a platform for themselves”

Council Member, County FA 2

“It seems that there are people jumping on the bandwagon … I want them to play football, but why people are emphasising

the ethnic minority side of it, I think that in my considered opinion, is causing a barrier. If they just let it flow, we didn’t

have it in the past” Senior Council Member, County FA 1

Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory Findings Implications

Conclusions/Implications

1. Equity policy part of wider power struggle2. Failure to recognise existence of inequalities3. Positive action seen as unnecessary4. Colour-blind rhetoric masks exclusionary practice5. Using ‘race’ as resistance remains problematic

Towards a project identity?Football for All requires

cultural AND structural changes

Overview Background Setting Agenda Theory Findings Implications

Playing Games with ‘Race’: Legitimizing power in local football networks

through the plurality of ‘race’

Jim LustedUniversity of LeicesterJL145@le.ac.uk