Football & Capitalism

 Racism, the Media, and the Commodification of Sport: The Political Meaning of Rafael van der Vaart’s Remark

Introduction: A “Gaffe” That Reveals the Social Order

The controversy over Rafael van der Vaart’s televised comment that Japanese footballers “look alike” has been dismissed by the media as just another case of personal bias. However, this statement actually exemplifies the racial dehumanisation that capitalism fosters. It is “a textbook expression of the racial dehumanisation that capitalism systematically produces and reproduces.” The importance of this incident is not in the personal beliefs of a former football player but in the social conditions that normalise and even trivialise such thinking.

The phrase “they all look alike” has a dark history, used for centuries to overlook individual differences and lump entire groups together. It's not surprising that a former international player—who has played with teammates and opponents from around the world—would repeat this cliché on air. This reflects a broader culture rife with racial stereotypes, one whose core beliefs are deeply intertwined with the capitalist system supporting it.

The Media’s Ritual of Containment

The media response adhered to a familiar pattern. Outrage was aimed at the individual, with commentators calling for an apology, which Van der Vaart provided. The cycle then continued. As noted in the document, capitalist society tends to “individualise the offence, focus outrage on one person, demand an apology, and then move on.” This ritual has a clear political purpose: it treats racism as a personal moral failing rather than a structural issue rooted in a class society.

The sports-media complex, which benefits financially from the worldwide movement of athletic labour, is especially skilled at this kind of ideological control. It can criticise a pundit’s comment while still running an industry that views players—particularly from Africa, Asia, and Latin America—as commodities. This industry is "more than willing to publicly condemn racist remarks while continuing to operate the commercial system that treats those same players as commodities.” The hypocrisy is glaring. The media condemns van der Vaart while reproducing the very conditions that make such remarks inevitable.

Identity Politics and the Politics of Evasion

Liberal commentators and identity-politics advocates respond in a similarly insufficient manner. They concentrate on personal responsibility, diversity training, and public 'calling out,' but these actions fail to address the fundamental social structures. Such initiatives do nothing to challenge the capitalist system that generates racial oppression. "

Identity politics views racism as stemming from individual attitudes, cultural insensitivity, or representational issues. It advocates for moral education, corporate training, and symbolic actions. However, racism is not merely a psychological flaw. It is “a product of class society, deliberately cultivated by the ruling class to divide workers who share a common interest in abolishing capitalism.”

Reducing racism to an interpersonal offence masks its material foundations, turning a structural class domination mechanism into a question of etiquette. It replaces political struggle with moralism, thus diluting its political significance.

Racism as a Tool of Class Rule

The persistence of racialised thinking in sport is intentional. Modern professional sports are part of a global industry that generates profit by exploiting workers, who are mostly from the most oppressed parts of the world. The commercialisation of athletic labour cannot be separated from the broader patterns of imperialism and global inequality.

Racism is central to this process, as it normalises inequality, justifies exploitation, and divides workers with similar material interests. It is not just a relic of history but an active tool used in modern class domination. The claim that racism is “deliberately cultivated by the ruling class” is supported by the entire history of capitalism, from colonialism to today's global supply chains. Van der Vaart’s comment is not just an anomaly; it reveals the ideological forces supporting the global sports industry and, more generally, capitalist society.

The International Working Class and the Fight Against Racism

The only effective way to fight racism is through the independent political mobilisation of the global working class. This is not a moral appeal but a strategic move. Racism cannot be eradicated with apologies, media outrage, or corporate diversity efforts. It can only be eliminated by dismantling the social system that sustains it.

The genuine fight against racism requires the building of an independent political movement of the working class, internationally united, that can abolish the material foundation of all racial and national oppression.” This view sharply contrasts with the narrow focus of identity politics and the cynicism often seen in the media.

The global working class—comprising diverse races and nations and becoming more interconnected—has no stake in racial divisions. Its quest for emancipation is inherently linked to the fight against all oppression. Consequently, the struggle against racism is inherently connected to the pursuit of socialism.

Conclusion: Beyond Outrage, Toward Emancipation

The van der Vaart incident is not solely about an individual's bias. Instead, it highlights the social system that fosters such prejudice and leverages media spectacles to mask its roots. Publicly condemning individuals merely sustains the illusion that racism is a personal flaw, rather than a fundamental component of capitalist dominance.

 

 

The Financial Times Editorial on the 2026 World Cup

A recent Financial Times editorial, “Football will eclipse politics at this World Cup,” exemplifies the complacent, upper-middle-class liberalism that has long provided ideological cover for the abuses of global capitalism. Its main argument—that the 2026 World Cup’s “goals, talent and diversity are set to drown out controversy off the pitch”—is not just naïve; it’s a reactionary move to suppress public awareness amid the growing tensions of world capitalism, which are now affecting every aspect of social life, including sports.

The editorial board’s stance rests on a flawed, strongly ideological divide between “politics” and “the beautiful game.” The authors briefly admit that the tournament has been “tainted by events off the pitch,” mentioning the troubling scene of FIFA giving a “peace prize” to Donald Trump, the exorbitant ticket prices that make supporters pay nearly $7,000 to watch their team, and the blatantly discriminatory visa policies excluding fans from non-European countries and even “a match referee from Somalia.” Despite these issues, they are dismissed as minor problems—mere background distractions that do not detract from the overall spectacle of goals and celebration.

This is a common ideological tactic of the bourgeois media. While the FT notes the symptoms, it avoids examining the underlying issue. The World Cup is not corrupted by politics; rather, it exposes itself as a large commercial and geopolitical venture in which football serves as a front for the interests of governments, corporations, and oligarchic elites.

The FT’s depoliticisation of sport is itself a political act.

The editorial’s claim that “World Cups are ultimately about what happens on the pitch” exemplifies ideological mystification. Because the World Cup is a worldwide media spectacle watched by billions, ruling classes aim to manipulate it. The FT’s suggestion to concentrate on “goals” and “serendipity” is not harmless; it urges the public to ignore the harsh realities of the global system.

The editorial downplays the extraordinary fact that “this is the first World Cup where a host nation is at war with one of the participating countries," viewing Trump’s decision to deny the Iranian team an overnight stay in the US as a minor curiosity instead of a stark example of how militarism and xenophobia are now openly influencing international sports.

The FT’s lack of coverage on the wider issues—the escalating US–Iran conflict, the growing trade war between the host countries, the global surge of authoritarian regimes, and the worsening crisis of global capitalism—is deliberate. It mirrors the class interests of the publication, which represents the financial oligarchy that benefits from commodifying sport and militarising geopolitics.

The editorial celebrates the very inequalities it pretends to lament.

The FT criticises the “extortionate pricing” of tickets but celebrates the expansion to 48 teams as a sign of “worldwide representation.” This presents a cynical contradiction. What does “representation' truly mean when the working-class populations cannot afford to attend? When the editorial mentions that Curaçaoans, Cape Verdeans, Uzbeks, and Jordanians will “watch from home with pride,” it unintentionally exposes the class divide: the global poor may provide the players, but the stadiums are owned by the wealthy.

Likewise, the editorial highlights the “vibrancy of international cultures” that will be showcased as fans move between 16 North American cities—yet it concedes that only those “who can afford it” will be able to participate. This is not true diversity; it amounts to luxury multiculturalism catered to the wealthy.

The fetishisation of individual stars masks the structural rot.

The FT devotes significant space to Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappé, and Lamine Yamal, suggesting that the star power of individual players can compensate for corruption in the sport's governance. This focus on personal charisma illustrates bourgeois ideology by transforming systemic issues into a spectacle of individual achievement. Additionally, the editorial characterises Roberto Lopes' recruitment to Cape Verde via a 'LinkedIn message' as charming, disregarding its indication of the chaotic, unregulated, and exploitative global labour market that shapes modern football.

The World Cup cannot “eclipse politics” because it is a product of politics.

The FT’s conclusion that the tournament’s “enduring power" is rooted in its ability to “entertain” regardless of politics essentially accepts the logic of spectacle. It suggests that the audience should be kept distracted, pacified, and depoliticised by the spectacle of sport while the ruling elite pursues its predatory interests unnoticed. In reality, the opposite is true. The 2026 World Cup is not an escape from the global capitalist crisis but a vivid reflection of it. The militarised borders, corporate profiteering, sky-high ticket prices, geopolitical tensions, exploitation of migrant workers, and authoritarian displays by host governments are not external to the event—they are integral to its nature.

Claiming that football will “eclipse politics” demands the public accept a world that's unequal, violent, and ruled by oligarchic interests. Socialists must reveal this falsehood, expose the material forces behind global sport, and insist that the working class—whose labour, passion, and creativity make football possible—should not be passive spectators in a spectacle that hides their exploitation.

Obituary for the Beautiful Game:

Once, football was a pastime of the working class, not just a game but a shared expression of solidarity and human creativity. Played in factory yards, slag heaps, crowded streets, and muddy fields, it only needed a ball, a small space, and the imagination of its players. That era has passed.

Today, what remains of “football” is a distorted imitation: a worldwide commodity, a tool for marketing, a pawn in geopolitics, a means to clean oligarchic wealth, and an entertainment designed to pacify a population losing political influence. The “beautiful game” has been embalmed, packaged, and sold to the public at a cost they can no longer bear. This isn't an obituary for a sport that has merely evolved; it's for a sport that has been completely extinguished.

The Expropriation of a Working‑Class Inheritance

Football originated among the industrial working class, whose labour established the very time and social environment for collective leisure. Clubs were established by railway workers, dockers, miners, and textile workers. The terraces served as the one space where the working class could emerge as a unified social force, expressing their collective voice and purpose. However, late capitalism has undermined this foundational aspect.

Stadiums have transformed into luxury zones, with even the cheapest tickets exceeding the financial reach of the original community that built the sport. As the FT editorial notes, tickets for the 2026 World Cup will start at nearly $7,000 before travel costs—an extraordinary figure by a generation ago's standards. This change has pushed the working class out of the stands, making room for corporate sponsors, tourists, and wealthier elites. The vibrant, spontaneous atmosphere has been replaced by curated fan experiences, and the game's organic culture has been replaced by branded content. Overall, football has become privatised, financialised, and disconnected from its social roots.

The Oligarchic Capture of the Global Game

The modern football economy highlights the stark inequalities of today. Clubs serve as investment tools for petro-monarchies, hedge funds, and billionaire investors. FIFA and UEFA act as transnational corporations mainly focused on generating profit.

The World Cup, originally a showcase of international sporting spirit, has now transformed into a spectacle marred by corruption, authoritarianism, and geopolitical drama. The editorial highlights FIFA's decision to give a “peace prize” to a sitting US president, a move so ridiculous it might be funny, if not for revealing the organisation’s complete submission to state influence.

Visa bans, militarised borders, and political vendettas now determine who can attend, participate, or even enter host countries. For example, a Somali referee was refused entry; entire national fan groups are excluded; and a nation participating in an event is prevented from staying overnight in the host country. These are no longer exceptions but rather reflect a broader world order in which sport is manipulated to serve the interests of powerful nations. Football has evolved into a diplomatic tool, a means of propaganda, and a way to legitimise political agendas.

The Commodification of the Player

Players—originally local heroes developed through community clubs and youth initiatives—have transformed into commodities in the international market. Their bodies are traded like financial derivatives, and they are pushed to perform at higher levels to accommodate a growing number of matches designed to increase revenue.

The editorial emphasises Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappé, and Yamal, yet this concentration on star players signals a decline in the sport. The fixation on superstars masks harder truths: the exhaustion, injuries, and exploitation faced by young players from Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe, who are trafficked through academies and often discarded if they fail to meet commercial expectations. The so-called “beautiful game” now functions as a labour market in which human beings are reduced to mere brand assets.

The Spectacle as Social Pacification

The ruling class recognises the political role of football. In a time marked by increasing inequality, declining living standards, and rising geopolitical tensions, sports serve as a pressure release. The editorial’s claim that “World Cups are ultimately about what happens on the pitch” is not just a statement but a demand: urging the masses to divert their attention from global crises and become absorbed in entertainment.

The World Cup is promoted as a celebration of “diversity,” “vibrancy,” and “international culture”—but only accessible to those who can afford it. The working class is left watching from home, passively absorbing the spectacle and cheering for a world they are becoming more excluded from. Football has shifted from a shared act of solidarity to a tool for distraction.

The Death of the Beautiful Game

What made football beautiful was not its commercial spectacle but its simplicity, accessibility, and universality. It was a game that belonged to everyone because it required almost nothing and reflected the creativity, spontaneity, and collective spirit of ordinary people. Under late capitalism, that world has been dismantled.

The “beautiful game” is not dead because people no longer love it, but because capitalism has consumed it. It was destroyed through privatisation, financialisation, militarised borders, oligarchic ownership, and the transformation of sport into a commodity, turning fans into consumers. What is left is a shell driven by marketing, broadcast rights, and geopolitical agendas.

However, the obituary concludes with a contradiction: while the game is considered dead, the desire that gave rise to it remains alive. The working class that originally invented football continues to exist, along with its ability to reshape the world—and the sport—on a new basis. The revival of the beautiful game will not originate from FIFA, billionaires, or corporate media, but from the same force that created it in the first place: the collective strength of the working class.

 

 

 

 

Politics and the Manufactured Spectacle of the 2026 World Cup

The BBC’s focus on a VAR official’s hand gesture during the 2026 World Cup isn’t a rare mistake or journalistic error. Instead, it reflects a corrupt political culture where those in power, facing growing social issues and increasing imperialist violence, depend increasingly on divisive identity politics. This strategy aims to split the working class and steer collective dissent into meaningless, symbolic conflicts. The so-called “OK sign” controversy is just the most recent example of this reactionary approach.

While the media was breathlessly speculating about “a VAR official’s fingers,” the United States, as the host of the tournament, was engaged in violent actions: prosecuting a war of aggression against Iran, preparing military operations against Cuba, sustaining the Gaza genocide, and conducting mass deportations unseen in modern American history. The World Cup itself has become a militarised spectacle: ICE agents patrolling stadiums, entire national teams denied entry, African nations subjected to degrading “quarantine” procedures, and ticket prices soaring to $32,970 for the final—turning a sport created by the working class into an event reserved for the global elite.

However, the BBC and the broader media industry focus their attention not on these crimes but on the supposed racial significance of a referee’s hand gesture. This is intentional. It is a political move.

The Function of Identity Politics Under Capitalism

Identity politics is not an uprising from the grassroots nor an opposition to oppression. Instead, it functions as a tool of dominance, engineered and exploited by the bourgeoisie to divert social rage from the capitalist system toward ongoing, unresolved symbolic disputes. The ruling class has realised that nothing better suppresses class awareness than fostering the idea that workers see each other as racial enemies, potential racists, or carriers of concealed “dog whistles.”

The VAR controversy serves as a clear example. Whether the gesture was meant to be innocent doesn't matter. What matters is that the media focused on it because it is harmless, symbolic, and divisive. This encourages the public to engage in a ritual of moral policing rather than challenge the underlying structures of exploitation.

The “OK sign” controversy started as a hoax on 4chan—deliberately designed to trick the liberal media into believing a harmless gesture was a white supremacist symbol. The media bought into it, and the Anti-Defamation League added it to their database. Consequently, a gesture used by millions worldwide was transformed into a racialised symbol, fueling suspicion, accusations, and performative outrage. This exemplifies identity politics at its most superficial: a focus on symbols without real substance, morality divorced from materialism, and vigilance disconnected from actual struggle.

The Real Conditions of the 2026 World Cup

While the media focuses on racist hand gestures, the real aspects of the tournament expose the harsh realities of modern capitalism. A host country engaged in several imperialist wars, with police-state security present throughout stadiums, mass deportations disrupting immigrant communities, and entire national teams barred from entry. African nations face racist humiliation disguised as "public health," and FIFA's president awards Donald Trump an “inaugural FIFA Peace Prize”—a disturbing mockery of diplomacy.

This is the truth the BBC avoids addressing. The World Cup now serves as a worldwide showcase for authoritarianism, militarism, and the commercialisation of human life. It is a celebration of oligarchic wealth, built on excluding the working class—whose labour created the sport and whose enthusiasm keeps it alive. The media’s responsibility is to prevent any of this from becoming a source of public anger.

Why the Ruling Class Needs Identity Politics

The capitalist class faces a world in chaos: economic stagnation, geopolitical conflicts, declining living standards, and increasing working-class resistance. In such times, the ruling elite cannot allow the rise of a unified, class-aware movement of workers—whether American, Iranian, Congolese, Mexican, European, African, or Asian—who identify their shared adversary in the capitalist system.

Identity politics counters unity by prompting workers to view each other not as allies in a common struggle but as racialised suspects, potential bigots, or members of hostile identity groups. It shifts focus from the universalism of class to the particularism of identity, turning the battle against oppression into a rivalry for symbolic acknowledgement.

The VAR controversy exemplifies a situation where a trivial gesture becomes a national scandal, serving as a distraction that deepens racial divisions among workers. At the same time, the state continues its war effort, deports millions, and benefits the oligarchy.

The Task of the Working Class

The remedy to this spectacle isn't increased vigilant policing of symbols, but rather cultivating revolutionary class consciousness. Workers need to reject the entire framework of identity politics, which mainly hides the material roots of oppression and causes division among the exploited majority. The core issue isn't what a referee did with his fingers; it's why workers should accept a system that sends them to fight and die in imperialist wars, deport their neighbours, humiliates entire nations, makes them unable to afford the sport they helped create, and then demands they focus on media-fuelled symbolic disputes. The working class must respond to this not with outrage over small gestures, but through a united fight against capitalism itself.

  

 

 

Trump’s World Cup and the Liberal Falsification of 1936

 “ A Low, Dishonest Decade”.

1939 ­English poet WH Auden

Brian Reade’s comparison of the 2026 World Cup to Hitler’s 1936 Olympics has triggered the usual hand-wringing in liberal circles. Despite its rhetorical flair, Reade’s argument—like all moralistic complaints from the declining Labour-aligned press—falls apart due to political evasions. The comparison with 1936 is not incorrect; what is flawed is the conclusion he draws from it.[1]

The United States, hosting the 2026 World Cup, is not just "controversial"; it embodies global imperialism through its illegal war against Iran, supporting the Gaza genocide, and conducting mass arrests and deportations of immigrant workers, unprecedented in recent American history. As has been reported, ICE agents will be present at every stadium. The Iranian team has been denied visas and faced what can only be seen as a veiled death threat from Trump. Meanwhile, the Congolese team has been targeted with a racist quarantine order that reflects the imperial disdain typical of the US-NATO war efforts.

Comparing these events to 1936 is more than an exaggeration; it's an understatement. The Nazi regime used the Berlin Olympics to project an image of a peaceful, cultured Germany while secretly preparing for genocide. Likewise, the Trump administration exploits the World Cup to spread a message of “unity,” even as ICE functions as an anti-immigrant force similar to the Gestapo, and the Pentagon conducts widespread destruction in the Middle East. Yet, beyond these parallels, the comparison quickly falls apart—and it exposes the political shortcomings of Reade’s framework.

The Liberal Myth of 1936

Reade, like all liberal moralists, references 1936 as a moral story: Jesse Owens humbling Hitler, representing individual bravery overcoming bigotry, and suggesting that sport can “shame” authoritarian regimes. This narrative serves as the mythology of a ruling class eager to hide its own complicity.

The stark truth is that by 1936, the German working class was crushed. The Communist Party and Social Democrats had betrayed the proletariat, paving the way for Hitler’s rise. Western democracies, especially Britain and the United States, did not boycott Berlin; instead, they collaborated. The American Olympic Committee, led by fascist-sympathiser Avery Brundage, fiercely resisted any boycott efforts. Meanwhile, US companies like IBM and Ford gained significant profits through their association with the Nazi regime.

The lesson from 1936 is not that bad governments can corrupt sport, but that the capitalist elites worldwide will cooperate with fascism when it benefits their interests. Only the unified effort of the global working class could have prevented Hitler’s rise, and only such collective action can now prevent our slide into war and dictatorship.

The Liberal Illusion of Boycotts and Moral Appeals

Reade’s strategies—such as boycotts, moral condemnations, and appeals to FIFA or the “international community”—are typical of a political tendency that has detached itself from the working class. These approaches rely on the false belief that the capitalist state and its institutions can be coerced into ethical actions.

However, FIFA is not an impartial judge corrupted by Trump; rather, it functions as a tool of global capitalism. Its president, Gianni Infantino, awarded Trump the bizarre “FIFA Peace Prize.” The tournament’s design—opening match in Mexico City with the later rounds held in the United States—reflects the geography of imperial power.

What about the governments Reade suggests might “take a stand”? Starmer’s Labour largely supports US imperialist wars as a loyal junior partner. The Democratic Party managed the same deportation system and imperialist machinery before Trump came back into office. Appealing to these forces means aligning with those responsible for the disaster.

Sport as a Weapon of the Capitalist State

Reade’s framework embraces the nationalist idea that the key issue in modern sport is determining which nation is “fit” to host. However, every capitalist country employs sport as a means of nationalist mobilisation. The 2012 London Olympics, the 2014 Sochi Games, and the 2018 World Cup in Russia—each was used to cloak social inequality and imperial ambitions with patriotic symbolism.

However, the nationalist story is beginning to weaken. During the Milan Winter Olympics, thousands demonstrated against Trump and ICE, booing Vice President Vance. US athletes openly expressed their disapproval of the regime. Freestyle skier Chris Lillis said he was “heartbroken” over ICE’s actions and emphasised that athletes represent a different America than the one involved in mass repression.

Even in the United States, the nationalist event is faltering. While 75% of Americans are aware that the US is hosting the World Cup, almost a third intend to support a different country. This significant statistic highlights the immigrant heritage and globalist sentiments of millions—sentiments that the ruling elite cannot eliminate.

The Working Class and the Real Lesson of 2026

Modern football was built by the working class, shaping its culture, passion, and worldwide popularity— all rooted in working-class life. Instead of a moral boycott by liberal columnists, the solution to the nationalist spectacle of the 2026 World Cup is promoting awareness among the political class. The 1936 Olympics took place after the German working class had been politically defeated and betrayed by Stalinism and social democracy. Similarly, the 2026 World Cup unfolds at a time when the international working class has yet to develop the revolutionary leadership needed to stop the progression toward war and dictatorship.

The lesson is not that sport should be considered 'pure” or “apolitical.” Throughout history, sport has always had political implications. The real lesson is that combating fascism, war, and authoritarianism cannot be delegated to FIFA, bourgeois governments, or the conscience of the ruling class. Instead, it must be done by the international working class.

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[1]  Trump's World Cup is like Hitler's Olympics - we have a major lesson to learn'    www.mirror.co.uk/news/brian-reade-trumps-world-cup-37285848

 

 

Mexico’s Azteca Stadium Protests Expose the Social Fault Lines Beneath the 2026 World Cup

 “Inside the stadium: a carefully curated spectacle of nationalism and corporate branding… Outside the stadium: the real Mexico.”

12 June 2026

The intense scenes outside Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca on the opening day of the 2026 World Cup exposed the fragile illusion of 'unity” and “celebration” promoted by FIFA, the Mexican government, and corporate sponsors, who dominate every aspect of the event. The incident at Gate Eight—where striking CNTE teachers and the families of Mexico’s disappeared forced past heavily armed security—was not an isolated event but a reflection of deep social tensions that have long been overlooked. “The scenes outside the Azteca Stadium are the eruption of social contradictions that the 2026 World Cup’s corporate and governmental organisers have tried desperately to suppress.” The ruling class has failed.

A confrontation long in the making

For weeks, the CNTE teachers’ union warned they would confront the World Cup with their fight for wages, pensions, and democratic rights. Their slogan—sin solución, no rodará el balón (“without a solution, the ball will not roll”)—was a clear political statement, not just a rhetorical flourish. As some of the most militant members of the Mexican working class, the teachers have declined to accept the austerity measures imposed by the Sheinbaum government.

Their arrival at the Azteca was accompanied by another persistent force: the mothers of Mexico’s disappeared. For over a decade, these women have taken on the work the government refuses to do—searching for their children, uncovering mass graves, and challenging the military and political powers behind the disappearances. “These mothers have become their own investigators… because the same state that took their children is now deploying riot police with shields to defend FIFA’s branding.”

The symbolism is unmistakable. The Mexican government, which has long blocked justice for the 43 Ayotzinapa students missing since 2014, now deploys its repressive forces to protect FIFA's commercial interests.

Inside and outside the stadium: two irreconcilable realities

The Azteca Stadium became a physical and political border separating two incompatible worlds.

Inside:

• $2,500 tickets sold through “dynamic pricing”
• corporate hospitality suites
• FIFA executives projecting $11 billion in revenue
• a nationalist spectacle choreographed for global television

Outside:

• teachers fighting for pensions
• mothers searching for their disappeared children
• riot police with shields and batons
• the working class confronting the violence of the state

The World Cup, far from uniting the nation, has exposed the depth of social inequality and the brutality required to maintain it.

The international dimension: a tournament under the shadow of repression

The 2026 World Cup marks the first time the United States, Mexico, and Canada co-host it. Rather than displaying “North American unity,” the event has exposed the common authoritarian direction of all three governments. In the U.S., ICE agents are present at every venue, transforming stadiums into militarised zones. Migrant workers—who often work in kitchens, cleaning, and security—face risks of detention and deportation, despite their essential roles in making the tournament happen.

In Mexico, the Sheinbaum administration has responded to the CNTE strike with the same disdain as previous governments. The report states that the government “refuses even to meet with striking teachers while dispatching security forces against them.” Canada, on the other hand, has increased intelligence sharing and border enforcement in collaboration with US agencies, ensuring the tournament is protected within a continental security framework. This repression is deliberate; it is the necessary response to a tournament whose profits rely on silencing working-class opposition.

Historical parallels: Argentina 1978 and the politics of spectacle

The comparison to the 1978 World Cup under the Argentine military regime is accurate. Back then, as now, the ruling class aimed to use football to conceal a legitimacy crisis. The stadium served as a venue where the government showcased unity while secretly repressing dissent beyond public view. "The 1978 comparison Uco made in his article is fitting." Although Mexico is not a military dictatorship, it shares the same fundamental pattern: employing sport as a political tool to hide societal issues.

The World Cup as a battlefield of class interests

The events at Azteca Stadium highlight a key reality of the 2026 World Cup: it’s not about worldwide unity, but a contest between class forces. The workers outside—teachers, precarious labourers, mothers of the disappeared—align their interests with those inside, including stadium cooks threatened by ICE, cleaners working long shifts, and migrant workers who built the infrastructure under risky conditions.

The nationalist spectacle aims to divide them, but the class struggle brings them together. As the document states, “The game will continue, but the social contradictions erupting at Gate Eight will not be settled on a football field.”

The political task ahead

The protests at the Azteca serve as a warning: the ruling class will deploy every tool—police repression, nationalist propaganda, and corporate media—to protect their profits and silence dissent. However, the working class, both in Mexico and globally, is beginning to resist. The goal is to turn these spontaneous outbursts of anger into a deliberate political movement, grounded in a socialist program and focused on international worker solidarity. The World Cup has exposed a vital truth: the fight for justice for the disappeared, fair wages, democratic rights, and an end to state violence is intrinsically linked to the broader struggle against capitalism that creates these injustices. The protest at Gate Eight marks only the start.

 

 

 

 

Robbie Lyle, Arsenal Fan TV and the political economy of fan media

Robbie Lyle is a very rich man, and his Arsenal Fan TV (AFTV) and his media empire are worth an estimated 6.8m. Lyle’s estimated wealth is around $5 million, largely attributed to the success of AFTV. The channel generates approximately $2 million annually, primarily through advertising and sponsorship deals. His YouTube channel has over 1.5 million subscribers and over a billion views.

Lyle is not simply a new phenomenon of internet celebrity or “fan culture. “His media empire is a product of the same capitalist restructuring that has transformed football into a global media commodity: a commercial ecosystem that converts working‑class passion into clicks, advertising revenue and political distraction. To understand the rise of AFTV, one should analyse the material forces that created it, its class function, and the tasks it poses for supporters who want to defend the club as a social, not purely commercial institution.

Over the last three decades, football has seen an unprecedented reorganisation around broadcast rights, sponsorship and private equity. Mega‑events and competitions are designed to concentrate revenue in the hands of owners, broadcasters and sponsors — as seen in the commercial logic behind FIFA’s World Cup build‑outs and the billionaire attempt to lock in revenues through the European Super League (World Cup 2006 commercialisation and political function.[1]

Robbie Lyle’s AFTV emerged as a consequence. Its model consists of over-the-top post-match reactions, provocation, and personality-driven content that fits perfectly with social media platforms that reward immediacy and outrage. It was this personality-driven content that fueled regular contributor Claude Callegari to make a racist comment about Tottenham Hotspur striker Son Heung-min during the North London derby in an AFTV video. Another so-called pundit, Lee Judge, commented that Arteta(Arsenal manager) showed "a little more effin bollocks" after a draw with Wolves. He also said in December 2024 that he wanted to "shoot" Martin Odegaard after a 0-0 draw with Everton. In 2025, the channel could not control the story when regular personality Julian Bucker was filmed trying to stop Lyle from being interviewed by another creator, Saeed TV, because Lyle was wearing a pro-Palestine badge.

Three years ago, AFTV presenter Liam Goodenough, known to viewers as 'Mr DT, was sentenced to three years in prison for stalking and kidnapping an ex-partner. He previously received a 12-month sentence and a 10-year restraining order for the same offences. AFTV was forced to issue a statement saying it was "utterly appalled and disgusted" by his actions and confirmed he would no longer appear on the platform. In a 2021 interview with The Athletic, Lyle said the situation was a "learning moment" for the channel. "That was a very rough moment," he said. "I knew he was in some problems, but I didn't know the full extent. I found out at the same time as everyone else. And it was shocking."

These negative attributes, however, do translate into views, advertising revenue, and brand partnerships. However, AFTV is not an outlet for authentic fan grievances about ticket prices, corporate ownership, and a lack of representation.

On the surface, channels like AFTV can seem both liberating and limiting. They give a voice to supporters denied influence by corporate owners, yet market logics shape that voice. Outrage, theatricality and polarising views win clicks; calm, strategic organising does not. This turns legitimate political sentiments into spectacle and fragments collective power into individual expression.

Robbie Lyle is a complex figure in this terrain. As a former Londoner embedded in supporter networks, he channels genuine fan feeling and often raises issues that resonate with wider social grievances. But his prominence has also made him a media mogul whose livelihood depends on producing content that performs for an audience and advertisers. The experience of many fans is therefore mediated through personalities and punditry rather than organisation.

AFTV emerged in this context. Platforms like it serve a dual role: they appear to give fans a voice, but they are also readily commodified—clicks, views, and outrage translate into advertising revenue, sponsorship deals, and influence. The anger of supporters is channelled into consumable content, packaged and sold back to the very actors (clubs, broadcasters, sponsors) responsible for the problems fans rightly oppose.

The commodification of fan culture serves class interests. It diverts pressure away from organising — from coordinating protests, supporting stadium workers, or demanding legal limits on financial speculation — into consumable episodes of frustration. The successful popular mobilisation against the Super League, by contrast, shows that when fans organise collectively and in the streets, they can force concessions; it was mass political action, not viral punditry, that delivered the outcome (the ESL collapse and fan mobilisation).

Left unchallenged, the logic behind AFTV and similar channels normalises a politics of spectatorship: fans as consumers whose only effective power is to withdraw spending or click “unfollow.” This is inadequate to resist the deeper enclosure of clubs as investment vehicles.

The commodification of fan culture serves the ruling class's interests. It diffuses anger into spectacle rather than organisation, fragments fans into consumers, and normalises the idea that clubs must be run as investors’ portfolios. This weakens the working class's capacity to reclaim football as a communal social good. Fans should move beyond clicks and performative outrage to collective organisation: form supporters’ unions, coordinate with players’ unions and stadium workers, and demand legal changes to prevent the predatory financialisation of clubs. Fans need to reclaim football from the market. Turn anger into organisation. Replace the commodity with a democratic, socialised sporting culture run in the interests of players and fans—not billionaires. 

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[1] Billionaires’ European Super League proposal shelved amid mass opposition from football fans-www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/04/24/supe-a24.html

Football Writing Festival: Arsenal Special at the British Library 

Interview: Martin Keown on Arsenal Resilience, Manager Relations, and Modern Punditry

Date Time: 2026-03-28 16:23:17

Location: British Library

Interviewee: Martin Keown

Amy Lawrence

Arsenal legend Martin Keown reflects on his career, mentality, and love for Arsenal, discussing dressing-room experiences, resilience after setbacks, returning to the club, and the balance between passion and control; interviewer Lawrence frames Keown’s legacy and prompts insights on modern football discourse and media.

Introduction

1. Martin Keown: Former Arsenal defender from the club’s storied back lines, reflecting on resilience after defeats, leadership, winning the league at Old Trafford, and evolving from a striker to a defender. He emphasises using pain as motivation, understanding the club's history, and maintaining human relationships with managers. He shares anecdotes about scoring, bonuses, his book-writing mindset “on the edge,” and striving to stay impartial as a pundit.

2. Lawrence (Arsenal correspondent, The Athletic): Facilitator and interviewer who contextualises Keown’s status and passion for Arsenal, sets up topics spanning Keown’s dressing-room insights, career transitions, media work, and quick-fire comparisons (e.g., Gary Neville vs Jamie Carragher). Lawrence underscores Keown’s contribution to Arsenal and invites reflection on modern football discourse.

Key Points

1. Harnessing adversity: Keown turns the pain of near misses into determination, culminating in landmark successes like winning the league at Old Trafford.

2. Identity evolution: Transition from striker to defender shaped Keown’s career, reflecting adaptability and team needs.

3. Historical grounding: Understanding Arsenal’s history deepens a player’s sense of purpose and performance.

4. Manager-player dynamics: Human, trust-based relationships with managers are pivotal for motivation and cohesion.

5. Professional resilience and return: Leaving Arsenal and later returning carried a sense of unfinished business, aligning personal ambition with club goals.

6. Media impartiality challenges: As a pundit, Keown aims for neutrality despite emotional ties and evolving broadcast pressures.

7. Performance incentives: Bonus structures and high-stakes environments influence player mindset and match outcomes.

8. Modern discourse intensity: The current football climate feels perpetually “on the edge,” with heightened scrutiny after each game.

Insights

1. Martin Keown

   - Pain as fuel: Silver medals and setbacks were used to drive future success.

   - League triumph at Old Trafford: A defining moment asserting dominance after adversity.

   - Position switch: Embraced defending despite early days as a striker, reflecting tactical growth.

   - Human management: Valued managers with a human touch, enabling trust and performance.

   - Club history: Deep appreciation of Arsenal’s past informed pride and commitment.

   - Scoring anecdotes: Recalled goals, unexpected celebrations, and bonus structures shaping match experiences.

   - Media impartiality: Strives to be fair despite emotional ties; acknowledges broadcast timing pressures.

2. Lawrence (Interviewer)

   - Framing Keown’s legacy: Highlights Keown’s passion, honours, and contributions to Arsenal’s identity.

   - Discourse in modern football: Prods reflection on intensity of public debate and pundit dynamics.

   - Quick-fire prompts: Uses concise comparisons to elicit candid opinions.

Chapters

1. Lawrence: Can you revisit what it’s like in those dressing rooms during big matches like Real Sociedad (1995) and Liverpool (2001 at Wembley), and how setbacks shaped the team?

   - Martin Keown: Reflects on silver medals and near misses, emphasising using hurt as oxygen and determination to turn things around, leading to winning the league at Old Trafford and a period of dominance.

   - Martin Keown: Notes the team’s quality and resilience, focusing on mentality that converts losses into future success.

2. Lawrence: You began as a striker, yet you became synonymous with defending. How did that transition happen and how did it shape your career?

   - Martin Keown: Explains early striker background, later thriving as a defender; acknowledges a pivotal change in role that became instrumental to his identity and contribution.

   - Martin Keown: Mentions training routines and community engagements; touches on discipline, club culture, and evolving responsibilities.

3. Lawrence: When you left Arsenal in the mid-80s, did you feel unfinished business, or did you move on straight away?

   - Martin Keown: Admits a sense of unfinished business and the pull back to Arsenal; describes nearly not signing pro, weighing opportunities, and ultimately returning to contribute to cup wins and European success.

   - Martin Keown: References the club winning titles while he was away, and later adding to cup successes upon his return.

4. Lawrence: How did relationships with managers influence your mindset and performance?

   - Martin Keown: Emphasizes managers with human touch, unique ways of making players feel valued; describes trust and motivation as central to his development.

   - Martin Keown: Notes being consistently pushed to be involved and to prove himself; belief from the boss catalyzed his commitment.

5. Lawrence: Modern football discourse feels intense—does that affect players and pundits?

   - Martin Keown: Says every minute feels “on the edge” now; acknowledges heightened scrutiny and pressure six games into seasons; aims to be as impartial as possible in punditry despite ties.

   - Martin Keown: Shares a broadcast anecdote about man-of-the-match timing and late substitutions, illustrating the rapid nature of media decisions.

6. Lawrence: Could you share an example of high-stakes moments and incentives impacting performance?

   - Martin Keown: Talks about Champions League bonus structures; recounts pushing forward, scoring, improvising celebrations, and how bonuses pleased teammates and staff.

   - Martin Keown: Highlights a special photo after scoring against Leeds, using it as a personal milestone and profile picture.

7. Lawrence: Quick-fire round—brief preferences and comparisons (e.g., Arsenal vs. Liverpool; Gary Neville vs. Jamie Carragher).

   - Martin Keown: Responds playfully; acknowledges eloquence of modern pundits; hints at respect for both Neville and Carragher.

   - Martin Keown: Reiterates the importance of impartial analysis despite club loyalties.

(This is a summary of the conversation between journalist Henry Winter and the author Nick Hornby. A full transcript and recording of the whole festival can be made available on request.)

Date Time: 2026-03-28 11:31:38

 Location: British Library

 Interviewee: Nick Hornby

Author Nick Hornby reflects on Arsenal fandom, football culture, and how Fever Pitch reframed football writing through human relationships and identity. Interviewer Henry Winter explores changes in stadium culture, player activism, commercialisation, and the global nature of club allegiance.

Introduction

1. Nick Hornby: Celebrated writer best known for Fever Pitch, he discusses how Arsenal became a constant in his life, the human dynamics behind football fandom, the evolution of fan culture from the 1970s to the Premier League era, and the tension between entertainment and trophies. He also touches on player activism, racism in sport, and the universality of his book across clubs and cultures.

2. Henry Winter: Football journalist and panel host guiding the conversation through Arsenal history, modern football media (including podcasts), stadium atmosphere changes, economics of fandom, player-community engagement, and comparisons of past versus present football quality. He frames questions that draw Hornby’s reflections on identity, culture, and the modern game.

 Key Points

1. Fever Pitch positioned football fandom as a lens on human relationships, offering a universal narrative beyond club rivalries.

2. Arsenal served as a lifelong constant for Hornby, providing reliability and identity amid personal change.

3. Stadium culture has shifted from volatile standing terraces to safer, commodified experiences, altering crowd dynamics and accessibility.

4. Modern players increasingly engage in activism and community work, reflecting a conscientious generational change.

5. Globalization of football detaches local identity from strictly local players; commitment to the shirt matters more than nationality.

6. Racism persists across leagues, but club cultures (including Arsenal’s) can mitigate its impact through values and leadership.

7. The entertainment-versus-trophies debate remains central to fandom; Hornby values both, noting how modern football quality and scheduling affect careers.

8. Football’s unscripted drama complements Hornby’s scripted literary world, highlighting sport’s unique emotional appeal.

Insights

1. Nick Hornby

   - Framed Fever Pitch as a human-interest narrative that helped non-fans (including women) understand male identity and fandom.

   - Arsenal provided a reliable anchor through life, distinguishing the club’s enduring presence from transient childhood pursuits.

   - Experienced and observed the 1970s/80s terrace culture, including volatility, policing, and the social dynamics of crowds.

   - Believes modern players have responsibilities to communities and appreciates the rise of athlete activism while cautioning against overhyping.

   - Argues that commitment to the shirt matters more than nationality; globalization can still produce deep fan-player bonds.

   - Acknowledges racism’s persistence and the importance of club values in confronting it.

   - Balances appreciation for entertainment with the desire for trophies; reflects on modern football’s intensity and player longevity.

2. Henry Winter

   - Highlights the evolution of football media (podcasts) and the breadth of Arsenal storytelling.

   - Discusses changes in stadium experience, pricing, and atmosphere, and the impact on younger fans’ access.

   - Probes player activism, community work, and club-led initiatives, positioning Arsenal as exemplary in engagement.

   - Raises the issue of social media-driven player followings and how star departures affect club visibility.

   - Frames debates about Premier League quality, scheduling, and their effect on player careers and performance.

 Chapters

 1. Henry Winter: What triggered Fever Pitch—love of Arsenal, a relationship, a particular game?

 Nick Hornby: The book emerged from defense mechanisms and a desire to explore human relationships through football; Arsenal was a constant that anchored his life and identity.

 Henry Winter: Notes the human-interest angle and how the book blended numbers/sport with personal dynamics.

 2. Henry Winter: How did your relationship dynamic manifest in your love for a constant like a football team?

 - Nick Hornby: Arsenal provided reliability; unlike childhood hobbies, football offered a lifelong path, connecting personal identity to a crowd and community.

 3. Henry Winter: Did you end up playing yourself?

 - Nick Hornby: Implies limited personal play; emphasizes spectating and the social aspects of being in crowds.

 4. Henry Winter: Did you send your old teacher a copy of the book?

 - Nick Hornby: Reflects on searching for companionship and crowd belonging; conversations at matches were often impersonal yet communal.

 5. Henry Winter: Is it about the crest on the front rather than the name on the back—are you Arsenal or football?

 - Nick Hornby: The intensity of feeling drew him in; the club’s symbolism mattered deeply regardless of individual players.

 6. Henry Winter: Did you analyze crowd behaviors and policing at the time?

 - Nick Hornby: Recalls chairman’s notes, policing issues, and a “jail cell” in the North Bank; shares anecdotes about being confined with opposition fans.

 7. Henry Winter: Liveliest away ground experiences?

- Nick Hornby: Suggests volatility at certain grounds; highlights the 70s/80s away-day culture and mates’ behavior.

 8. Henry Winter: Younger fans (18–24) are priced out—how has your and your son’s experience changed? Is standing safer now?

 - Nick Hornby: It’s safer; standing itself isn’t the issue—culture and context matter; modern stadiums changed dynamics from late 80s onward.

 9. Henry Winter: Thoughts on Arsenal’s stadium design, murals, and concourses?

 - Nick Hornby: Praises heritage elements but criticizes overpriced concourses; contrasts early days with fewer ads/amenities.

10. Henry Winter: Do kids follow players more than clubs? Impact of stars like Salah leaving?

 - Nick Hornby: Acknowledges player-driven social media dynamics; stresses instilling commitment to the shirt over star transience.

11. Henry Winter: Athlete activists—do you like this conscientious generation?

- Nick Hornby: Appreciates player engagement in community; supports responsibility of wealthy young players while avoiding overstatement.

12. Henry Winter: What’s it like meeting idols you grew up watching?

- Nick Hornby: Initially uncomfortable transitioning from fan to peer at signings; later accepted it; notes Fever Pitch’s cross-club resonance, even among foreign players seeking to understand English fan culture.

13. Henry Winter: Did Fever Pitch contribute to broader understanding of fandom?

 - Nick Hornby: Yes; aimed to articulate a universal fan-club relationship, avoiding tribal derision; helped non-fans understand male identity and passion.

14. Henry Winter: Trophies or entertainment—what matters more?

 - Nick Hornby: Values both; engages with debates on Premier League quality, scheduling, and the physical demands on modern players.

15. Henry Winter: No winter break, increased Champions League games—impact on careers?

- Nick Hornby: Improved pitches, boots, and nutrition help, but heavier schedules may shorten peak years; luck and care influence longevity.

16. Henry Winter: Young talent like “Max”—should he go to the World Cup?

 - Nick Hornby: World Cups aren’t for work experience; recognizes special talent but urges caution; balances club and national priorities.

17. Henry Winter: Arsenal title vs. England World Cup—which matters more?

 - Nick Hornby: Expresses hope and pragmatism; suggests World Cup ambitions face strong competition; leans toward club success while acknowledging national dreams.

18. Henry Winter: Comparing the Oscars to football awards—what’s better?

Nick Hornby: Celebrates the privilege of witnessing Arsenal regularly; sport provides unique, immersive joy akin to live arts.

19. Henry Winter: Do you appreciate football’s unscripted nature more as a writer?

Nick Hornby: Football’s unpredictability complements his scripted work; while “you couldn’t script that” is cliché, sport’s drama remains compelling.

20. Henry Winter: Thoughts on racism in sport and “black Arsenal” histories?

Nick Hornby: Racism persists across leagues; club culture can help; emphasizes that prejudice follows players and must be confronted systemically.

21. Audience Q: Any new superstitions like sugar mice or lint bunnies to influence results?

Nick Hornby: Jokes about trying new rituals; notes annual disappointment; remains open to playful superstitions.

22. Audience Q: When did you start supporting Arsenal, and how do you view fewer English players now?

Nick Hornby: Early attachment formed when squads were more English; argues proximity isn’t nationality—what matters is players’ commitment to the club and its values, not where they’re from.

Next Arrangements

- Tighten broad questions with specifics (seasons, matches, policies) to elicit concrete anecdotes and sharper contrasts between eras.

- Add targeted follow-ups on complex topics (e.g., “Which Arsenal initiative most impressed you and why?” “What stadium change most altered fan behavior?”) to deepen analysis and avoid generalities.

- Balance nostalgia with present-day detail using evidence-based comparisons (e.g., “1989 at Highbury versus a 2024 Emirates match—what single difference most changes the fan experience?”) for clear, informative takeaways.

 

Black Arsenal, co-edited by Clive Chijioke Nwonka and Matthew Harle, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson on 29 August  2024 (£35).

“When it comes to thinking about politics and race, we cannot always rely on culture as a way to remedy deeper structural questions. Having particular players or particular footballing cultural moments as a point of identification is immense. However, it cannot be a deliberate or a forced thing.”

Clive Chijioke Nwonka

“The theory of race, specially created, it seems, for some pretentious self-educated individual seeking a universal key to all the secrets of life, appears particularly melancholy in the light of the history of ideas. In order to create the religion of pure German blood, Hitler was obliged to borrow at second hand the ideas of racism from a Frenchman, Count Gobineau [4], a diplomat and a literary dilettante. Hitler found the political methodology ready-made in Italy, where Mussolini had largely borrowed from the Marxist theory of class struggle. Marxism itself is the fruit of the union among German philosophy, French history, and British economics. To investigate the genealogy of ideas retrospectively, even those most reactionary and muddleheaded, is to leave not a trace of racism standing.”

Leon Trotsky: What Is National Socialism? (June 1933)

Black Arsenal was published to coincide with the start of the 2024/25 season. It is co-edited by Clive Chijioke Nwonka, Associate Professor of Film, Culture, and Society at University College London (UCL), and writer Matthew Harle. It is the first of its kind. The book was remarkably 10 years in the making, with a stunning amount of research undertaken.

Asked about the origins of the book, Nwonka said, “Well, it was me thinking a lot about my own background as a person and things that had inspired me. I had started working at the London School of Economics, and I was thinking about the role of race in culture and the ways of thinking associated with it. I was being introspective and realising that John Barnes was important to me as my first source of inspiration and recognition.

Then that led to the inspiration for Black Arsenal. I was at university, trying to make sense of what this concept meant and what other factors might be involved. The chapter ‘Defining Black Arsenal’ is all about the genesis of that idea. Then you start looking at history and why Black people in London gravitate mostly towards Arsenal.

Whether you are from south London or wherever, and then you realise there is a history that goes beyond Ian Wright, back to the 60s and 70s, to Brendon Batson, Paul Davis. It goes back to what Islington was in the 70s. It goes back to the JVC centre and the community work the club were doing in the 80s. All these factors were already in place before Ian Wright arrived in 1991.”[1]

The book examines the black history of Arsenal football club from a broadly academic standpoint. It also features contributions from former players such as Ian Wright and Paul Davis, as well as contributions from Paul Gilroy, Gail Lewis, and personal responses from Clive Palmer, Ezra Collective, and writer Amy Lawrence.[2].

The timing of the book could not be more prescient. Since its publication in 2024, there has been a significant and distinct growth in racist and fascist forces. Recently, as Chris Marsden writes, “Unite the Kingdom demonstration in August this year was the largest far-right mobilisation in British history. Estimated at between 100,000 and 150,000, participation in London exceeded the numbers usually mobilised by anti-Muslim demagogue Tommy Robinson and extended beyond his usual support base of football hooligans and fascist thugs. This core periphery was boosted by the presence of workers and their families, including from among the most deprived layers, who have swallowed the far-right’s message blaming social distress and the collapse of essential services on migration.[3]

It should be noted from the start that Arsenal have not always had a spotless anti-racism stance. Like most businesses, it has made its fair share of mistakes regarding its stance on racism. During the refurbishment of the old Highbury North Bank in 1992, Nwonka recalls, “I remember as a kid, the first week of the Premier League season, there were all these half-rebuilt stadiums because of the Taylor report [into ground safety after the Hillsborough disaster]. Of course, no one wants to watch a building site on Sky Sports – so the idea came up that you cover it up with these illustrations of your imagined fanbase.” The original North Bank mural was an artist’s impression of a sea of white faces, with red and white scarves, which had to be replaced with a more inclusive mural.

The contributions of Paul Davis and Ian Wright are important, as they were key figures in developing a more integrated Arsenal team. Davis paved the way for Ian Wright and later generations of players. Ian Wright was a game-changing signing from Crystal Palace. Always the rebel, he appealed to both black and white younger working-class fans. He, in turn, set the stage for Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, and Bukayo Saka.

Despite being seen as a bit of a rebel, Wright and Arsenal, for that matter, have not been shy in exploiting the commercial possibilities of such a global and multi-racial fan base. Nike and now Adidas have moved quickly in exploiting Arsenal's multicultural teams for profit; Nwonka thinks there is a danger of such exploitation.

“With things like the Arsenal Africa shirt or the Jamaica shirt,” he says, “they have been quite open about the fact that they recognise that there was a consumer base that will find the resonance in something that pays homage to Afro-Caribbean culture. However, I have been attending the Notting Hill Carnival since I was four years old. Moreover, you would always see Arsenal shirts there, rather than those of QPR, Brentford, Fulham, or Chelsea. However, what some brands often do is invest in what they imagine to be Black culture, whereas Black Arsenal, I believe, begins with Black people.”

Football has been a global game since its inception, played worldwide. However, with the advent of satellite television from companies such as Sky, the game has reached a far greater level of global integration.

As David Storey relates, “ Football has always had essential linkages connecting places. Some clubs were formed by, or as a result of, British migrants, and in some instances, this is still reflected in contemporary football. Football has always had essential linkages connecting places. Some clubs were formed by or as a result of British migrants, and in some instances this is still reflected in contemporary club names or colours. Athletic Bilbao's origins and English name are attributed to English migrant workers in the Basque Country (Ball, 2003). A similar explanation accounts for Young Boys in Switzerland, Go Ahead Eagles in the Netherlands, and The Strongest in Bolivia, among others (Goldblatt, 2007). The shirt colours worn by Juventus were reputedly borrowed from Notts County (the world's oldest professional club) shortly after the Italian club's formation (Lanfranchi club names or colours.

Despite this early evidence of international linkages, English football remained somewhat insular for many years (2001). Despite this early evidence of international linkages, English football remained somewhat insular for many years, with restrictions on the importation of foreign players. While the migration of professional footballers is a long-standing phenomenon, and relatively pronounced in countries such as Spain, France, and Italy, the migration of players into or out of Britain was much less apparent (Taylor, 2006). However, in recent years, a substantial number of footballers from other parts of the world have arrived in the Premier League (and in the lower tiers of the English league system). This internationalisation has occurred alongside the increasing commercialisation of the game.”[4]

While I wholeheartedly recommend this book, it should be of interest not only to Arsenal fans but also to the broader reading public. The historical study of black footballers who played for Arsenal is a legitimate pursuit. However, much of the content of the book is dominated not by a class attitude towards racism, but by too many contributions, including Nwano’s, that see the rise of racism through racially tinted glasses.

Nwonka addressed this, saying, “Of course, I have got a small quantity of criticism from some quarters. One person, when I first posted about the Black Arsenal idea, wrote to me to say: ‘I have been going to Arsenal since the 1970s. I do not see race; I watch football.’ I thought to myself, ‘Well, I am not going to sit here and tell someone whether they should or should not see. However, have you stopped and thought that maybe the reason that you do not see race when you go to Arsenal is that Arsenal has normalised racial difference in a way that some other clubs have not? Moreover, that may be an important thing to recognise?”

Nwonka’s original idea for the book was for it to be dominated by appropriate references to French poststructuralists and the postmodernist and pseudo-revolutionary Frantz Fanon, who was and is a darling of the Pseudo-Left groups. Fanon and Poststructuralists were among other pioneers of the anti-Marxist Critical race theories, which is a “body of academic writing that emerged in the US in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which combines postmodernism and subjective idealist philosophy with historical revisionism and racial sectarianism. Although written in a different form, the book remains dominated by these anti-working-class theories that prioritise race over class.

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[1] www.arsenal.com/news/dr-clive-nwonka-talks-new-black-arsenal-book

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Athletic

[3] Britain’s largest far-right protest capitalises on Starmer’s xenophobic, anti-working-class agenda

[4] Football, place and migration: foreign footballers in the FA Premier League

 David Storey- Geography, Summer 2011, Vol. 96, No. 2 (Summer 2011), pp. 86-94

 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd

 

 

Rebels for the Cause: The Alternative History of Arsenal Football Club by Jon Spurling, Mainstream Publishing, Paperback – 30 Sept. 2004

 

"Football, beer, and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult."

George Orwell, 1984

 'All that I know most surely about morality and obligations, I owe to football.' –

Albert Camus

'In football, everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team.'-

Jean-Paul Sartre

'Five days shalt thou labour, as the Bible says. The seventh day is the Lord thy God's. The sixth day is for football.' –

Anthony Burgess

'And life is itself but a game at football.' –

 Sir Walter Scott

'I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it.' –

Nick Hornby, Fever Pitch

'Rugby is a game for barbarians played by gentlemen. Football is a game for gentlemen played by barbarians.' –

Oscar Wilde

Perhaps it is harsh to say that, try as he might, Jon Spurling will not reach the literary heights of the authors above; this book, which includes 15 interviews and forty other contributions, is nonetheless a well-written and researched piece of social history that examines the dark side of Arsenal Football Club.

Spurling's examination of the so-called Arsenal rebels, both on and off the pitch. Spans almost 120 years, and it is a million miles away from the sanitised version of the game today. A game, it must be said, that is not so much a competition as a playground for the increasing number of oligarchs that own the game. In the past, the team with the most points won the league; now it is the team that spends the most money. This season belongs to Liverpool, who have just spent half a billion on new players.

Spurling’s book situates Arsenal’s checkered history against a backdrop of volatile social, political, and economic change. While it is hard to pick a favourite piece of Arsenal history, Spurling’s focus on the club's founding is my favourite. Both owners and players belonged to a rogues' gallery, each outcompeting the other in skullduggery and violence.

 

Arsenal’s founders were David Danskin and Jack Humble. The so-called '20s soccer Tsar, Sir Henry Norris, was the first to bring free-market economics to Highbury, a hundred years before David Dein.

Despite being a fan for over 50 years, the names from Arsenal’s early years were only vague in my mind. Henry Norris or Wilf Copping were planted in my mind by my father, who first introduced me to the Arsenal family. Like Spurling, I have long known that we were a hated club, and not just by Tottenham fans. Although having been the cause of Tottenham's relegation back in 1928 did raise a laugh. Reading this book, it becomes clear why hatred runs so deep. Millwall fans were not the first to sing, 'No one likes us, we do not care.'

Another name my father mentioned was Ted Drake. According to my dad, Drake was one of the most gifted players ever to wear the red-and-white shirt. On this occasion, it is correct that Spurling calls him a Highbury legend who said of Highbury ‘For all the thirties grandeur of Highbury, it is still only bricks and mortar at the end of the day. Magnificent stands provide the backdrop to a splendid house. However, it is the people within – the fans and players – that have made Highbury a marvellous home for the Arsenal. Moreover, for me, that is really what Highbury is all about.”

The writer Brian Dawes has a similar arsenal of history to mine, saying, “I have visited and worshipped at the stadium regularly for nearly fifty years now and have invariably regarded it as my second home. I have always felt comfortable there, and it has always been so much more than just a place to watch a football game. It is that rarest of places, one that you know was meant specifically for you the first time you view the lush turf and admire the symmetry of the classic east and west stands. You may share it with thousands of fellow fans and the generations of Arsenal followers who preceded you, but Highbury is your spiritual home. The history of the place grabs you by the throat in a way that compels you to learn all there is to know about all the great players who have ever graced the hallowed turf. Highbury is an ongoing home shared by players and fans alike, and each cares for the place with their own personal memories.”[1]

My first season supporting Arsenal was 1970/71. Many things attracted me to Arsenal. I mentioned its rich history, but what got me hooked was not only the atmosphere and the smell of fresh hot dogs, but Highbury was a thing of aesthetic beauty, so much so that its Art Deco design is still a listed building.

I watched my first game, coincidentally, near where the Arsenal fan and writer Nick Hornby sat when his dad took him to his first game in the West Upper stand. The film Fever Pitch, starring Colin Firth, shows Hornby's amazed look as he takes in his first game. I had that same feeling. I always thought that from that moment on, Arsenal had a classy way of doing things and embodied the mantra “Play up and Play the Game”.

From my standpoint, one of the most interesting chapters of the book is entitled “Cold War”. According to Wikipedia, “In November 1945, with league competition still suspended, Arsenal were one of the teams that played a Dynamo Moscow side touring the UK. With many players still serving abroad in the armed forces, Arsenal were severely depleted and had to use six guest players, including Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen, prompting Dynamo to declare they were playing an England XI. The match at White Hart Lane kicked off in thick fog, and Dynamo won 4–3 after Arsenal had led 3–1 at half-time. Although the score is generally agreed upon, accounts of the match diverge thereafter; even the identity of the goal scorers is disputed. English reports alleged that Dynamo fielded twelve players at one point and tried to pressure the referee into abandoning the match when they were losing; in turn, the Soviets accused Arsenal of persistent foul play and even alleged that Allison had bet money on the result, a claim that was later retracted. The acrimony after the match was such that it inspired George Orwell to write his 1945 essay The Sporting Spirit, in which he opined on the nature of sport, namely, that "it is war minus the shooting".

I was already five years into my love affair with Arsenal when, at the tender age of 16, I started devouring the books of George Orwell. However, I never knew he was a Gooner. Born in India, Orwell became a fan in the late 1920s. He also watched the great Arsenal side of the 1930s. His The Sporting Spirit is one of the finest pieces of “sports writing” of any generation, and his political evaluation of the game itself is worth a quote.

Orwell writes, “Now that the brief visit of the Dynamo football team has come to an end, it is possible to say publicly what many thinking people were saying privately before the Dynamos ever arrived. That is, that sport is an unfailing cause of ill-will, and that if such a visit as this had any effect at all on Anglo-Soviet relations, it could only be to make them slightly worse than before. Even the newspapers have been unable to conceal that at least two of the four matches played led to considerable bad feeling. At the Arsenal match, someone who was there told me that a British and a Russian player came to blows, and the crowd booed the referee. The Glasgow match, someone else informs me, was simply a free-for-all from the start. And then there was the controversy, typical of our nationalistic age, about the composition of the Arsenal team. Was it really an all-England team, as claimed by the Russians, or merely a league team, as claimed by the British? Moreover, did the Dynamos end their tour abruptly to avoid playing an all-England team? As usual, everyone answers these questions according to their political predilections. Not quite everyone, however. I noted with interest, as an instance of the vicious passions that football provokes, that the sporting correspondent of the Russophile News Chronicle took the anti-Russian line and maintained that Arsenal was not an all-English team. No doubt the controversy will continue to echo for years in the footnotes of history books. Meanwhile, the result of the Dynamos’ tour, insofar as it has had any result, will have been to create fresh animosity on both sides.[2]

This is a fine book and well worth a read. While it will appeal to Gooners all over the world, fans outside the Arsenal world will appreciate it just as much.

 

 

[1] Highbury: The Story of Arsenal in N5- www.arsenal-world.co.uk/feat/edz3/book_review_highbury_the_story_of_arsenal_in_n5_281111/index.shtml

[2] The Sporting Spirit-Tribune, 14 December 1945-https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/the-sporting-spirit/

Sober. My Story. My Life. By Tony Adams and Ian Ridley, Simon & Schuster, £9.99

“I have no angst about the past any more. I have cleaned that up – I am 28 years without a drink or a drug. I am comfortable in my skin for the first time in my life. I have grown up. There are no tentacles from the past now.”

Tony Adams

‘I have an illness. I have accepted that.’

Paul Merson

Tony Adams’ two books, addicted and Now Sober, make it abundantly clear that his struggles with alcoholism have greatly impacted his life and relationships with other people.

Astonishingly, Addicted was published in 1999 while Adams was still Arsenal and England captain. Addicted, like its sequel, Sober, was a brutally honest account of his life as a recovering alcoholic. “I walk the walk today. I am fully recovered but still go to regular meetings and three to four prisons a year, passing the message on to the newcomer that help is out there.”

Sober, published in 2018, covers the last five years of Adams's playing career and his attempts at football management. Like Addicted, Sober is written with the help of writer  Ian Ridley. Ridley is an excellent writer. How much of the book Adams wrote would be interesting to know, but his voice comes from the pages. Ridley himself is a recovering alcoholic. In a 2017 interview, Ridley explains how he first met Adams.

“I knew Tony, of course, with him playing for Arsenal and England and me a national paper football correspondent, but he had little liking for the press. We met properly, introduced by Paul Merson, when Tony got sober in August 1996. I had been sober from my alcoholism for about eight years by that time. With Addicted, he wanted to get across to people who might have a drinking problem that there was a solution and help available. I recall a wonderful moment when it was nominated for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award in 1998. It did not win, but at the award ceremony, a waiter came up to me with a glass of mineral water and said: “I am sorry your book did not win, Mr Ridley, but if it is any consolation, I read this book a couple of months ago, realised I had a problem, went to AA, and I have been sober ever since. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I rang Tony. “That is why we wrote it,” he said. “Not to win awards but to help people.”[1]

When asked by the interviewer, "So why the sequel?" Ridley replied, “Tony wanted to do Sober 20 years on to show that it is possible to have a great life without the booze. He also wanted to tell people what happened after Arsenal. There is plenty of new material, including Sporting Chance and Tony’s time as Portsmouth coach when they won the FA Cup. He also talks about his experiences in Azerbaijan and China, when he suffered a heart attack in the former and virtually a nervous breakdown in the latter.”

The book, unsurprisingly, is dominated by the language of AA and recovery. Adams is proud of his long struggle to found Sporting Chance, a charity dedicated to helping athletes and women with addictions. In a Guardian interview, he describes reaching rock bottom and needing help: “I needed a lot of pain. Alcohol gave me a good hiding; prison, intensive care, pissing myself, shitting myself, still not giving up. Do you know what I mean? Sleeping with people I did not want to sleep with. I have to remind myself that at the end of my drinking, I did not want to live, but I did not know how to kill myself. I was at a ‘jumping off point’, as we call it. I got there, and only then could I ask for help.”[2]

Adams's life in management was not as successful as his playing career. As one reviewer recounts, Adams “ took various courses and coaching badges before trying his hand at management with Wycombe. After resigning there, he returned to education before joining Portsmouth as Harry Redknapp’s assistant during their high-spending days, including an FA Cup victory. He ultimately became manager after Harry left, but appears never to have had much chance due to budget cuts before asking to be fired to save himself from resigning. From here, Adams's career took an odd, international turn. After briefly coaching in Azerbaijan, he stepped into a general manager/consultant role to build a small Azerbaijani team from the ground up. This was followed by a connection with a Chinese football investor as Adams took on a general consulting role for Jiang Lizhang, who owned a club in China and purchased Granada in Spain.”[3]

The book will appeal to a wide audience outside of football. For Arsenal fans. It contains Adam’s insight about his footballing journey. The latest publication includes a new chapter on Adams's relationship with the former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. Both books cover this relationship. Adams has enormous respect and fondness for Wenger; however, their relationship blew hot and cold. Perhaps the new book's most controversial aspect is Adams questioning of Arsene Wenger's coaching.

Adams also criticised Wenger for staying too long at Arsenal: “He probably had an addiction. He could not let go at the end – he is a typical addict. He is completely obsessed with the game every single minute. It may have cost him relationships, and I think it cost him his job and his inability to let go. It has been bloody depressing for the last 10 years. What is to blame? “Recruitment. It has been very poor. You get players two ways: either through the academy or by buying them in. We have not had the money to buy them through the transition, and I do not think we have had the network, to be honest; 17 backroom staff gone, six scouts gone, Stevie Morrow [head of youth scouting] gone, probably the best academy scout in the country sacked. To bring players through agents might be the way the game is going, but not how I would build it. “The whole club had different values. It was smaller. It is a different game. It is a business now. That level of connection within the club, a disconnect with the fans, is a real issue in the game.”

Perhaps if I were being super critical, I would say that the book does not go into the deep connection between sports such as football and the huge rise of gambling, drug taking and alcoholism in society. Paul Merson’s recent documentary was a damaging indictment of the Gambling Industry’s profit-making out of human misery.[4] As Adams states, “Of the 30% of patients who come to the clinic with an addiction, 70% have a problem with gambling. “Addictions within football, we are talking gambling,” The Premier League, it is a bit of an epidemic to be honest.” Sober could have used the numerous academic articles that have examined the connection between Sports and alcoholism.

In his paper, Carwyn Jones argues “ that football plays a questionable role in promoting two potentially problematic activities, namely drinking alcohol and gambling. Gambling and alcohol companies sponsor clubs and competitions and pay to advertise their products at the stadium and during television coverage. Consequently, millions of fans, including children, are exposed to the marketing of these restricted products. The latter are exposed despite regulations prohibiting such advertising and promotion in other contexts. The promotion of these activities to children and adults increases levels of consumption, which in turn increases the number of problem drinkers and gamblers in society. High-profile footballers play a further role in normalising drinking and gambling. They are role models whose actions influence others. Their excessive drinking and gambling activities provide poor examples for football fans, young and old.”[5]

Sober is an excellent companion book to Addicted. Like Addicted, it is a brutally honest appraisal of Tony Adams's addiction and mental health struggles. In achieving sobriety, he has become an inspiration to other recovering addicts and alcoholics.

References

1.    Alcoholism and recovery: A case study of a former professional footballer

Carwyn JonesView all authors and affiliations Volume 49, Issue 3-4

https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690213516618

2.    FOOTBALL, ALCOHOL AND GAMBLING:  AN UNHOLY TRINITY?

CARWYN JONES- Vol. 51, 2 – 2015 Pag. 5–19

3.    Chapter 7 - The interrelationship between alcoholism, depression, and anxiety Richard Tindle, Farah Ghafar, Eid Abo Hamza Ahmed A. Moustafa The Nature of Depression-An Updated Review 2021, Pages 111-133

 

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[1] www.sportsjournalists.co.uk/books-and-reviews/ridleys-20-year-journey-with-tony-adams/

[2]www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jan/31/tony-adams-alcohol-gave-me-good-hiding-i-needed-pain-sporting-chance-arsenal

[3] allsportsbooks.reviews/category/soccer/page/5/

[4] Hooked: Addiction and the Long Road to Recovery- by Paul Merson- Headline Book Publishing – September 16, 2021-atrumpetofsedition.org/its-up-for-grabs-now/

[5] Football, Alcohol and Gambling:  An unholy trinity? KINANTHROPOLOGICA Vol. 51, 2 – 2015

 

 

Alex James: Life Of A Football Legend, by John Harding, 16.99. Empire Publications 2024

The term “Arsenal legend” is used so frequently in the modern era that it can lose all its meaning or aura. However, in Alex James's case, it is an apt phrase. Even the legendary Matt Busby thought he was one of the all-time greats, and the great Liverpool manager Bill Shankly called him a "genius" and a "nightmare to play against".

The first thing that comes to mind when reading this book is why bother reading about a player, no matter how good, who died nearly 74 years ago, and last played for Arsenal two years before Hitler invaded Poland.

From a footballing standpoint, even a cursory look at video footage of Alex James makes it clear he was an exceptional player. According to Ham & High Sport, “In the pantheon of Arsenal greats, he stands shoulder to shoulder - at the very least - with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Tony Adams, Frank McLintock and Joe Mercer.”[1]

People follow football teams for many different reasons. For me, I think the same way as Dennis Bergkamp: “When you start supporting a football club, you do not support it because of the trophies, or a player, or history; you support it because you found yourself somewhere there — found a place where you belong.” While this is true in my case, I also fell in love with Arsenal because of its history.

My first season supporting Arsenal was 1970/71. Many things attracted me to Arsenal. I mentioned its rich history, but what got me hooked was not only the atmosphere and the smell of fresh hot dogs, but Highbury was a thing of aesthetic beauty, so much so that its Art Deco design is still a listed building.

My first game, funny enough, was sitting in virtually the same seats that Arsenal fan and writer Nick Hornby sat in when his dad took him to his first game in the West Upper stand. The film Fever Pitch, starring Colin Firth[2], shows Hornby's amazed look as he takes in his first game. Another thing that attracted me was that Arsenal seemed to embody a classy way of doing things and the mantra “Play up and Play the Game”.[3]

It is to John Harding’s credit that he has reintroduced James to a modern readership. First published in 1988, this 2024 reissue includes new stories and pictures. "Since the first release, I have added lots of new material and have changed my stance on James' footballing role, Reprinting my book with new material, especially after leaving Highbury relatively recently in terms of the club's history, seemed like a good opportunity to revisit his story - and to reintroduce him to a new generation of supporters, because we should not forget what Alex James meant to Arsenal.

"I am too young to have seen him play, but when I first started going to Arsenal back in the late 1950s, many people around me had seen him. "I grew up on stories about him, and he became a hero - James simply struck a chord with me. For me, Alex James was Highbury."  The book is meticulously researched and one of the best on the history of Arsenal Football Club. James was admired and deeply appreciated by his fellow professionals.

As a young boy, the great Tom Finney[4] saw James play at Deepdale, Preston, saying,  "James was the top star of the day, a genius. There was not much about him physically, but he had sublime skills and the knack of letting the ball do the work. He wore the baggiest of baggy shorts, and his heavily gelled hair was parted down the centre. On the odd occasion when I was able to watch a game at Deepdale, sometimes sneaking under the turnstiles when the chap on duty was distracted, I was in awe of James. Preston were in the Second Division and the general standard of football was not the best, but here was a magic and a mystery about James that mesmerised me."

While James's lifestyle is a million light-years away from that of the pampered multimillionaires of today with their private jets, his lifestyle also set him apart from the fellow workers of his day.

As John Harding writes in his Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article, “James was a flashy, charismatic figure, easily identifiable on the field of play by his baggy shorts and flapping shirt and perfectly captured for posterity by the great sporting cartoonist of the inter-war years, Tom Webster (whose cartoon Harding uses for the cover of his updated  Book). Off the field, he was regularly in the news, usually demanding a higher wage or a transfer. James enjoyed the West End lifestyle available to a London-based player and was a regular habitué of fashionable cafés and bars. He was a prolific spender and a snappy dresser, but was unfortunate to be a sporting star at a time when footballers, though as well known as film stars, were paid a pittance by comparison.

He made strenuous efforts to cash in on his 'image': he was a sports demonstrator at Selfridges, he had regular columns in national newspapers, and he appeared in advertisements for cigarettes and sports goods. However, when he retired in 1937, he had accumulated little, partly because he had no real business acumen. In 1938, he went to Poland to coach the Polish national side—a position he enjoyed but which came to an abrupt end when Germany invaded Poland in August 1939. During the war, James served as a gunner in the Royal Artillery's maritime division stationed on the east coast. In 1947, he rejoined Arsenal as a reserve team coach, but he contracted cancer and, after a short illness, died on 1 June 1953 in the Royal Northern Hospital, Holloway, London. He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium.”[5]

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[1] https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/21388151.remembering-arsenal-legend---alex-great/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fever_Pitch_(1997_film)

[3] https://exhibits.lib.byu.edu/wwi/influences/vitai.html

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Finney

[5] James, Alexander Wilson (1901–1953) John Harding doi-org.lonlib.idm.oclc.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/3414723-2004

 

 

Revolution: The Rise of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal by Charles Watts is published by Harper Collins, £20

“All great football managers are revolutionaries at first. Take Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger. Appointed in 1996, he was Leon Trotsky: the general brimming with new ideas, ferocious energy and seemingly countless different ways of doing things. By the time Wenger was eased out in 2018, he was north London’s Leonid Brezhnev, the leader of the Soviet Union. A revolution in a particular area of human activity is an important change in that area.”

“ A revolution in a particular area of human activity is an important change. The nineteenth century witnessed a revolution in ship design and propulsion....the Industrial Revolution. Synonyms: transformation, shift, innovation, upheaval. More Synonyms of Revolution.”

Collins Dictionary

The title of Charlie Watts's new book is Revolution. The word means many things to many people. In this book, a football manager turns around a failing club by initiating a revolution. Harper Collins has called this book a “first of its kind.”

The writer of Revolution is Goal’s Arsenal correspondent Charles Watts. The biggest challenge facing any writer about football is to tell us something we did not know, which is very difficult given the scrutiny every club gets from the media. To his credit, Watts does exactly that. A significant part of the book focuses on how the new Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, changed the club's toxic culture and reconnected with the fans.

One spectacular and emotional way he has done this is by using the English singer Louis Dunford’s song The Angel as an anthem played and sung at the beginning of every home game. Dunford was born and raised in north London, released a single called 'The Angel' in February 2022, and Gooners have picked up the chorus, which goes:

North London Forever

Whatever the weather

These streets are our own

And my heart will leave you never

My blood will forever

Run through the stone

The new Arsenal Football Club manager, Mikel Arteta, was a former Arsenal captain from the Basque region of Spain. His first coaching job was under Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola. He has been compared to Arsenal’s former great manager, Arsene Wenger. Like Wenger, Arteta has revolutionised this old club.[1] In a limited sense, Watts is correct in saying that Arteta would prove to be a revolutionary, and the results of this Revolution are now showing in his new team.

Charles Watts is a man of many sides. He is part of the Arsenal press pack and has been a fan since 1989. A year in which all Arsenal fans cherish the memory of. [2]Although close to the Arsenal establishment, he does not glorify the club or its personnel in his book. Nor is it a biography of Arteta, as it contains little of his life or upbringing. It focuses on how Arteta has continued Wenger's legacy. Arteta acknowledges the past by displaying a giant Wenger picture and quoting Wenger at Arsenal’s London Colney training complex. He also invited Wenger to return as a spectator to the Emirates last Boxing Day.

Arteta, like Wenger, lives and breathes football. Both are highly intelligent men. According to Watts, outside his family and football, Arteta has little interest other than barbecuing. Even in a bitter London winter, he uses these to bond with his staff and players, leading former Arsenal player Bacary Sagna to say, "Before I could say hello, he was hammering me about formations. All I was doing was looking for the snacks.”

Perhaps the book's most interesting and insightful parts are those in which Watts examines the nuts and bolts of Arteta’s Revolution. Watts is more a chronicler than an interpreter of events. Most Arsenal fans would have seen much of Arteta’s Modus Operandi in the extremely interesting 2021-22 Amazon Prime Video’s All or Nothing series. Arteta operates on very simple principles revolving around “non-negotiables”. These are chiefly mutual respect and taking responsibility on the pitch. He sees Arsenal as a collective rather than a set of disparate individuals.

A brutal example of how Arteta applies his method is the treatment of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. When his captain and leading scorer missed a COVID test, broke lockdown regulations by having a tattoo, and arrived back late from a compassionate absence. Auberyang already had a catalogue of poor timekeeping. Arteta was ruthless. He even compiled a dossier of Aubameyang ‘s misdemeanours for the Arsenal legal team. The £56 million player left on a free transfer to Barcelona.

As was said earlier, Watts is not completely in Arsenal’s pocket and to his credit, as Dan from the website Just Arsenal writes:

“He puts any connections to one side and gives both sides of an argument. Other journalists would have feared impacting their relationships with the club and/or Arteta, but Watts does not only write what those two want to hear. For example, he strongly implies the belief held by many that Ozil was dropped for non-football reasons, giving strong facts to back up that theory. I will not give spoilers, but it is fascinating how, essentially on Zoom, the squad were asked to agree to a wage reduction to save staff jobs during the pandemic. When Arsenal could not get the 75 per cent agreement they needed (Arteta steps in and convinces some to change their mind), Watts asks why Ozil was the only name leaked to the press. He bravely points out that Arsenal lied. 55 staff were still made redundant despite their employer being worth 6.3 billion! He also questions why Matt Smith was on the bench in the Cup Final at the expense of Ozil purely for footballing reasons. (Smith would never kick a ball for our first team).[3]

While Watts is a gifted writer and communicator, he shies away from examining  Arteta and the club in the context of the growing financialisation of football. Football is big business. FIFA, the world governing body, controls a budget of 4bn Euros. Although he briefly mentions that Arsenal was involved in the attempted creation and debacle of a European Super League, his analysis is superficial. As Robert Stevens writes, “The corporate interests in control of the ESL clubs misjudged the popular mood. They were surprised by the backlash against their proposals—reflecting the growing anger against the parasitic billionaire oligarchy and the capitalist system that sustains it. However, they remain determined to press ahead. Perez declared on Thursday, after nine of the 12 founding teams had withdrawn, “We are going to continue working… the project is on standby.”Plans for a Super League are not an aberration. It, or something like it, is the logical next step in a sport increasingly dominated by giant corporate and financial interests. The conflict between UEFA and FIFA, on the one hand, and the ESL founder-owners, on the other, is a competition between two business models, each designed to secure the lion’s share of revenues for the top clubs.[4]

Watts's book is one of the better footballing books. A must for any Arsenal fan and a very good Christmas present. As Watts writes: “Arsenal’s rise back towards the summit of English football under Mikel Arteta has been a journey that has captivated the fanbase and brought an energy to Emirates Stadium that has not been seen since the move from Highbury in 2006. Arteta has made some difficult decisions and faced some massive challenges during his short time in north London, but in doing so, he has changed the culture of a club that just a few years ago seemed to have totally lost its way.“Whatever happens between now and the end of the season, Arsenal are back on track, and in Arteta they have one of the sharpest minds in European football pushing the club forward. I am excited and privileged to tell this story.”

 

 

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[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_F.C.

[2] www.amazon.co.uk/89-How-Arsenal-did-impossible/dp/B075G6J28L

[3] www.justarsenal.com

[4] Billionaires’ European Super League proposal shelved amid mass opposition from football fans

Robert Stevens-https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/04/24/supe-a24.html

 Hooked: Addiction and the Long Road to Recovery- by Paul Merson- Headline Book Publishing – September 16 2021

Hooked is Paul Merson's brutally honest and eminently readable memoir about his thirty-year addiction to drugs, gambling and drinking. This is not your run-of-the-mill footballer's memoir, as it was nominated for the Whitbread book prize and serialised in The Times newspaper.

Merson was a professional footballer winning two First Division titles with Arsenal and was arguably one of the finest players of his generation. But for all his football career and beyond, he was addicted to alcohol, drugs, and gambling. His addictions, coupled with deep depression, led him to thoughts of suicide 'I've come to realise that I'm powerless over alcohol ... I'm an alcoholic. My drinking and gambling have left a lot of wreckage.'I wanted to kill myself. I couldn't go on anymore. I couldn't see a way out.'

Fortunately, he managed to face his demons, saying, 'One day, I was walking home from the pub late on a Sunday evening, and I thought I've had enough of feeling like this, every day of my life. I rang up Alcoholics Anonymous the next day, and since then, I haven't had a drink.'

Merson estimates he lost over £7 million on gambling since becoming addicted, playing cards as a teenager. He even took the deposit he and his wife had saved for a new home and spent it on gambling. Although not mentioned in the book, when Merson was asked by Cambridge and Imperial College London researchers to have his brain hot-wired to one of their machines, it went haywire when he felt tempted to have a bet. His brain was docile when shown images of family life and beautiful natural scenery, and when shown dice throwing or a roulette wheel, it went mad.

Merson's story is by no means unique, as one person a day dies from a gambling-related suicide. It is estimated by the Gambling Commission that there are over two million people in the UK who have a gambling addiction. Most of these people run up large debts and are prone to depression; some end up killing themselves.

While Merson is heavily critical of the gambling industry, his book does not delve into the capitalist nature of the gambling industry. The industry is one of the most predatory enterprises, predicated on the mantra that the 'house' always wins. Merson's despair is felt by millions of people like him, and the betting companies like Bet365 prey on this despair and make millions out of it. It is no accident that Britain's highest-paid CEO has built her fortune on online gambling. Recently Denise Coates made an obscene £265 million.

As Jean Shaoul writes, "Gambling revenues are overwhelmingly based upon the exploitation of the poor as well as those on the threshold of poverty, for whom the dream of winning provides a means of escaping a world of constant nagging worry over how to make ends meet, horrendous journeys to work and then being exploited in low-wage jobs by highly paid bosses. General statistics for gambling, including online betting, show that just under half the UK's population (48 per cent) participate. After this, breakdowns focus on gender and age rather than income and social class. However, betting shops are most likely to be found in Britain's poorest communities, with the east London borough of Newham hosting 86 shops, including 18 on one high street, each with their permitted maximum of four fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) that can take £100 bets every 20 seconds. This contrasts with 56 in the southwest London borough, which has a similar population but is considerably wealthier.[1]

Merson does not sugarcoat this terrible period of his life, and his book is an unflinchingly honest memoir of his battle with addiction. He is now recovering, having not touched a drop of alcohol or gambled. But his biggest problem is whether he could continue sober. In his own words, he says, "This is it. This is the last chance saloon." I hope he makes it, not because I am an Arsenal fan and Merson was one of a group of outstanding, talented footballers, but because he is trying to survive.

Perhaps more importantly, Hooked has opened up a national debate about addiction, depression and the damage they cause. As Shaoul states, gambling is an unhealthy industry emphasises social inequality, acting as a cash nexus, transforming everyone and everything into a commodity. Its growth is another example of social decay, a parasitic enterprise that appeals to the worst instincts: greed, individualism and indifference. Such diseased enterprises are the norm today, with governments embracing gambling at the same time as profits of the banks and other financial institutions have become ever more reliant on forms of speculation, divorced from the creation of social wealth, such as trading in currency futures."[2]

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[1] Britain’s highest paid CEO built fortune on online gambling- Jean Shaoul- https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/12/05/casi-d05.html

[2] Britain’s highest paid CEO built fortune on online gambling- Jean Shaoul- https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/12/05/casi-d05.html