tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/sporting-history-10883/articlesSporting history – The Conversation2021-04-20T12:35:52Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1593162021-04-20T12:35:52Z2021-04-20T12:35:52ZThe ups and downs of European soccer are part of its culture – moving to a US-style ‘closed’ Super League would destroy that<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395883/original/file-20210419-15-7mlgt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=185%2C0%2C1911%2C1072&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Super League plans have fans screaming into the void, like soccer star Lionel Messi here.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/barcelonas-argentinian-forward-lionel-messi-reacts-during-news-photo/125614181?adppopup=true">Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A dozen of the world’s biggest soccer clubs – including Barcelona, Manchester United and Liverpool FC – announced on April 18, 2021, that they are forming a new European super league, underwritten by a reported <a href="https://apnews.com/article/uefa-could-ban-super-league-players-euro-2020-world-cup-749ce4257b0f9a17b3fc34d60cccd00c">US$5.5 billion in funding from banking giant</a> J.P. Morgan Chase. The competition – membership in which is expected to expand to 20 teams – would supersede the <a href="https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/">UEFA Champions League</a>, which is the competition in which these top-tier teams usually compete.</p>
<p>The clubs have two motives for creating this breakaway league. First, the proposal would <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/explainer-how-will-the-new-european-super-league-work">significantly increase the number of games played among big clubs</a> from different countries. This would likely attract huge global audiences and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56800611">significantly increase revenues</a> – to be split among the member clubs. Second, the intention is that the founder clubs would be guaranteed a place in the league regardless of how they performed in the previous season. In contrast, clubs have to earn their place in the Champions League and all European national leagues. </p>
<p>As an <a href="https://www.kines.umich.edu/directory/stefan-szymanski">expert on sports management</a>, co-author of the book “<a href="https://www.boldtypebooks.com/titles/simon-kuper/soccernomics/9781568588865/">Soccernomics</a>,” and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/economicpolicy/article-abstract/14/28/204/2366354">someone who predicted the super league some 22 years ago</a>, I can appreciate the benefit of more games. UEFA, the governing body for European soccer, was itself about to <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2940389-report-uefa-to-expand-champions-league-to-36-teams-after-super-league-formation">announce a revamped version</a> of the Champions League with more games for the big clubs. It is, I believe, a reasonable response to the level of demand.</p>
<p>But the desire of the elites to insulate themselves from competition and enhance profitability is much more questionable. And it is here that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/soccer-uefa-holds-crisis-meeting-after-breakaway-super-league-launched-2021-04-19/">much of the backlash</a> has been directed.</p>
<h2>A sporting world leagues apart</h2>
<p>To an <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcedelman/2021/04/19/european-super-league-brings-lucrative-us-sports-model-overseas/">American audience</a>, the move might seem uncontroversial, but to Europeans it represents a fundamental breach with tradition and has raised enormous passions.</p>
<p>All major <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcedelman/2021/04/19/european-super-league-brings-lucrative-us-sports-model-overseas/">professional leagues in North America are “closed”</a> leagues; obtaining entry to a league is secured by payment of a franchise fee, which for the major leagues would amount to billions of dollars nowadays. </p>
<p>But soccer leagues in Europe have always been “open” leagues. Divisions are ranked according to a recognized hierarchy – the best teams play in the top league, the next-best group in the second, and so on.</p>
<p>Every season the best-performing teams in lower divisions obtain promotion to the next league up, while the worst-performing teams are relegated to the next tier down. This promotion-and-relegation system characterizes the organization of soccer in almost every country in the world, with the U.S. being a notable exception.</p>
<p>The European Commission has <a href="https://www.sportaustria.at/fileadmin/Inhalte/Dokumente/Internationales/EU_European_Model_Sport.pdf">long described the system</a> as “one of the key features of the European model of sport.”</p>
<p>Americans are often puzzled by the commitment of Europeans to this promotion-and-relegation system. After all, promoted teams can be uncompetitive, ensuring relegation 12 months later. And a team currently playing in the fourth tier of its national league system is very unlikely to play in the Champions League – not soon, and probably not ever.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, fans of these <a href="https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/soccer-super-league-could-hurt-smaller-clubs-sports-finance-expert">small clubs</a> responded to news of the Super League with outrage. The belief that one’s team, no matter how small, can make it to the top tier, playing against the best clubs – regardless of the fact that the odds are stacked against this – is a dream many smaller clubs cling to. It is the soccer equivalent of the American dream.</p>
<p>And versions of this dream have happened. The English club Leicester City <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2002/oct/22/newsstory.sport5">went into bankruptcy in 2002</a> and was relegated to the third tier in 2008 – but won the <a href="https://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/15447878/putting-leicester-city-5000-1-odds-perspective-other-long-shots-espn-chalk">Premier League at odds of 5,000-1</a> in 2016, guaranteeing it a place among the European elite in the Champions League the following year.</p>
<h2>An own goal?</h2>
<p>Without the opportunity to rise up the system, the European soccer system will end up much like baseball in America – a sport dominated by one major league, controlling a collection of minor league teams, with no lower-level competition to speak of.</p>
<p>But baseball in the U.S. needn’t have taken that direction. A century ago, <a href="https://www.hpb.com/products/baseball-the-golden-age-9780195059137">American baseball was more like European soccer</a> – every town of any size had a team playing in a league that commanded significant local interest. History books tell us that these teams and leagues were <a href="http://doi.org/10.1353/nin.2004.0059">killed off by radio and TV</a>, giving fans access to a higher level of competition that was deemed to be more attractive to watch.</p>
<p>But that’s not quite the whole story. Europe got radio and TV too, but every small town has its own team competing in a league at some level in the hierarchy. These teams did not die when people were able to watch higher-quality soccer on TV – because these teams embodied the one quality that lies at the core of both sport and human survival: hope. Ask any fans of a small club about whether their team could one day rise to the top, and they will likely tell you that they believe.</p>
<p>What Europeans fear, and loathe, about the proposed Super League is that it will be a first step toward ending the promotion-and-relegation system, which to supporters across the continent amounts to saying that it is the first step toward extinguishing hope.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Manchester United fans unfurl a banner against the Glazer ownership of the club." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395887/original/file-20210419-19-14oxm90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395887/original/file-20210419-19-14oxm90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395887/original/file-20210419-19-14oxm90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395887/original/file-20210419-19-14oxm90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395887/original/file-20210419-19-14oxm90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395887/original/file-20210419-19-14oxm90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395887/original/file-20210419-19-14oxm90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Opposition to Manchester United’s American owner was evident even before the Super League announcement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/manchester-united-fans-unfurl-a-banner-against-the-glazer-news-photo/463776989?adppopup=true">Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is also not lost on European fans that three of the prime movers of the Super League are American owners of major franchises – the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european-super-league-neville-manchester-united-b1834029.html">Glazer family</a>, which owns both Manchester United and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/483802-liverpool-sold-after-years-of-uncertainty-to-boston-red-sox-owner-john-henry">John Henry</a>, Liverpool and Boston Red Sox owner; and Arsenal and Colorado Avalanche owner <a href="https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/news/stan-kroenke-arsenal-mikel-arteta-20418137">Stan Kroenke</a>.</p>
<p>The proposed Super League would in all likelihood increase both their profits and their power within the game. Already, the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9488185/UEFA-official-fans-slam-snake-American-billionaire-team-owners-European-Super-League.html">backlash has featured an element of anti-Americanism</a>. And given the high feelings across Europe to this proposal, that could become very ugly.</p>
<p>[<em>Insight, in your inbox each day.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=insight">You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159316/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stefan Szymanski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>More competitive games between top soccer clubs is desirable but creating a ‘closed’ system would harm a soccer culture built on dreams, says the man who predicted the Super League two decades ago.Stefan Szymanski, Professor of Sport Management, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1270712019-11-14T16:41:10Z2019-11-14T16:41:10ZEngland’s football team has played 1,000 games – here’s the most notorious<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301781/original/file-20191114-26237-18rxgqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">England's players were instructed to perform the Nazi salute during the German national anthem.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The date was May 14, 1938, and an estimated crowd of 110,000 football fans had <a href="http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Seas1900-39/1937-38/M0216Ger1938.html">gathered at the Olympic Stadium</a> in Berlin to watch Germany face England in an end-of-season friendly. </p>
<p>But this was no ordinary football match. Flags marked with swastikas fluttered in the afternoon breeze above the stadium and as the sound of the German national anthem reverberated across the pitch, the German team instantaneously raised their right arms to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3128202.stm">perform a Nazi salute</a>. </p>
<p>The England players, to thunderous applause from the capacity crowd, followed suit and imitated their German counterparts.</p>
<p>Following the conclusion of the 1937/38 season, the Football Association (FA) had arranged for the England national team to participate in a series of friendly fixtures against teams from across Europe. The end of season tour would see the side travel to Germany, France and Switzerland, with return fixtures due to be scheduled over the following two years.</p>
<p>But the arrangements were set at a time when war in Europe appeared almost inevitable. Germany, under the rule of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, had emerged as a genuine threat to peace on the continent having invaded Austria just two months prior to the England team travelling to Berlin. The FA had little interest in foreign policy and the British government only learnt that the match at the Olympic Stadium had been arranged ten days before it was due to take place.</p>
<p>Neville Chamberlain, who had become the British prime minister the previous year, had adopted a <a href="https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-britain-hoped-to-avoid-war-with-germany-in-the-1930s">policy of appeasement</a> and nonintervention in response to the threat posed by Nazi Germany in an attempt to avoid war. Due to the immediacy of the match and the tentative political situation, the British foreign office determined that to cancel the fixture would only result in Anglo-German relations being damaged. </p>
<p>Despite this, there was recognition that the match represented much more than just a game of football. The foreign office sent a <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DxkEZwCIw2gC&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=%22it+is+really+important+for+our+prestige+that+the+British+team+should+put+up+a+really+first-class+performance%22&source=bl&ots=zDrZei5WFZ&sig=ACfU3U3pLyH9oiZAufttcntLD434s0GLOw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjiusLB_OnlAhWJTsAKHdP5BjgQ6AEwAXoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22it%20is%20really%20important%20for%20our%20prestige%20that%20the%20British%20team%20should%20put%20up%20a%20really%20first-class%20performance%22&f=false">letter</a> to the FA reminding them of the broader political implications of the game and stated that “it is really important for our prestige that the British team should put up a really first-class performance”. </p>
<h2>‘The dressing room erupted…’</h2>
<p>Ultimately, there was little need to be concerned about the England performance – the team comprehensively beat the German side by six goals to three – but subsequent reports of the game have focused on the Nazi salute performed by both teams prior to kick off.</p>
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<p>The night before the match, <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wdb9AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=england+nazi+salute&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirpvPoyenlAhX5TxUIHf_kC1gQ6AEIOjAC#v=onepage&q=unanimously%20decided&f=false">officials</a> from the FA and the British foreign office agreed that it would be prudent for the England players to perform the salute. Although Hitler did not attend the game, other key figures from the Nazi party, including Joseph Goebbels, would be present. It was suggested that performing the salute would aid the diplomatic situation while also ensuring a positive reaction from the crowd.</p>
<p>The players themselves were only informed of the decision in the changing room less than an hour before the game and there have been contrasting accounts regarding their willingness to comply.</p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wdb9AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=england+nazi+salute&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirpvPoyenlAhX5TxUIHf_kC1gQ6AEIOjAC#v=snippet&q=writing%20in%20his%20memoirs%20rous%20claimed%20that%20players%20bombshell&f=false">Stanley Rous</a>, the FA secretary, later wrote that the players had no objections to performing the Nazi salute while other sources claim that the team “did not feel strongly about it”. The symbol and Nazi ideology, although already frowned upon by many, had yet to gather the significance and implication that it now has from a modern perspective.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301772/original/file-20191114-26217-dtwo81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301772/original/file-20191114-26217-dtwo81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301772/original/file-20191114-26217-dtwo81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301772/original/file-20191114-26217-dtwo81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301772/original/file-20191114-26217-dtwo81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301772/original/file-20191114-26217-dtwo81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301772/original/file-20191114-26217-dtwo81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301772/original/file-20191114-26217-dtwo81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dressing room ‘erupted’, said Stanley Matthews, pictured in in 1962.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harry Pott via Wikipedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But subsequent memoirs written by players who participated in the game have presented a very different version of events. <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wdb9AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=england+nazi+salute&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirpvPoyenlAhX5TxUIHf_kC1gQ6AEIOjAC#v=snippet&q=infamous%20image&f=false">Stanley Matthews</a> later recalled that “the dressing room erupted … all the England players were livid and totally opposed to this” and that he felt shame whenever he saw “that infamous picture”.</p>
<p>The image of an England team lining up and performing a Nazi salute remains one of the most evident examples of how sport and politics intertwine. It is also one of the most unsettling moments in the history of the English national team.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127071/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martyn Dean Cooke does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When England played a football match against Germany in 1938, the players were ordered to perform a Nazi salute.Martyn Dean Cooke, Postgraduate Teaching Assistant (PTA) and PhD Candidate (Sport History), Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1209472019-07-25T16:41:00Z2019-07-25T16:41:00ZA French victory in the Tour de France would mean ‘cycling’s coming home’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285722/original/file-20190725-136781-1n38qg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C3372%2C2297&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/saintquentinfallavierfrance-jul-16the-french-national-champion-487812610">Radu Razvan/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>England’s football fans know what it is to have their hopes raised and then cruelly dashed as they watch their team outplayed and outmanoeuvred in a sport they consider to be their own. For English fans, this recurring nightmare is a biennial experience that coincides with the European Championships and the World Cup, and is mostly played out abroad. But pity the French, who must sit through their equivalent annually, when for three weeks each year for more than 30 years French riders in the Tour de France have struggled to impose themselves over their foreign rivals. All this in front of their home fans.</p>
<p>But this may be about to change. The young French rider <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/49102194">Julian Alaphilippe</a> has worn the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cycling/0/tour-de-france-2019-rules-what-jersey-colours-how-toilet/">yellow jersey</a> for most of this year’s edition and his compatriot <a href="http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/pinot-its-up-to-thomas-and-bernal-to-attack-in-final-tour-de-france-stages/">Thibaut Pinot</a> is well placed to win the general classification. Should either rider win, it will be the first French victory in the Tour since 1985, when <a href="https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/bernard-hinault">Bernard Hinault</a> won the general classification. Why, though, does this matter to a nation that, beyond the Tour, now pays less attention to cycling as a sport?</p>
<h2>Fed by national enmities</h2>
<p>The Tour may well be, as author Chris Sidwell titles his engaging history, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13327928-a-race-for-madmen">a race for madmen</a>, but it was mainly conceived as a race for Frenchmen. (And this emphasis on men explains in no small part organisers’ lack of investment in the idea of a <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Boucle_F%C3%A9minine_Internationale">Tour féminin</a></em>.) On the eve of the first Tour de France in July 1903, the race’s founder Henri Desgrange used <a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46241894.item">his editorial</a> in the sporting daily L’Auto (which at that time owned the race) to explain how it would unite the French people, teach them about their nation and reinvigorate them through the energetic example set by competitors.</p>
<p>The Tour was launched at a time of immense international rivalry, principally with Germany. The need to re-energise the nation stemmed in part from the memory of the humiliating defeat to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Franco-German-War">Prussia in 1871</a>, and the need to prepare for a new war with a reunified Germany, as Christopher Thompson notes in his excellent <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/France-Cultural-History-Updated-Preface/dp/0520256301">The Tour de France, A Cultural History</a>. It was a means of forging a new national spirit and a new form of French masculinity. For Desgrange, an arch-conservative, the Tour represented a form of moral as well as physical hygiene, designed to discipline its riders and, through them, to set an example to the crowds that flocked to cycling events throughout the interwar years.</p>
<p>Worried by the dominance of commercial teams but also in order to ensure an overdue French victory, Desgrange introduced national teams in 1930, a formula that was only ended by a boycott by leading professional, commercial teams in the 1960s. The Tour thus became a contest between France and its cycling neighbours, individual victories being shared by France, Belgium and Italy with occasional incursions by Luxembourg and Switzerland.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285740/original/file-20190725-136786-erkbot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285740/original/file-20190725-136786-erkbot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285740/original/file-20190725-136786-erkbot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285740/original/file-20190725-136786-erkbot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285740/original/file-20190725-136786-erkbot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285740/original/file-20190725-136786-erkbot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285740/original/file-20190725-136786-erkbot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The final Tour de France stage on the Champs Elysee; here Chris Froome rides to victory in 2014, this year a Frenchman?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/paris-france-july-24-2016-road-458605333">Frederic Legrand - COMEO/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A lens through which to see France</h2>
<p>At different times, the Tour de France has been used to say different things about France. The 1947 tour, for example, was a way of highlighting both France’s suffering in World War II and its resurgence. Later, and as the Tour expanded and drew in riders from Australia, the US and the countries of the former Soviet bloc, the inclusion of <em>grands départs</em> in other European nations, such as Brussels in 1958 (the year after the <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-parliament/en/in-the-past/the-parliament-and-the-treaties/treaty-of-rome">Treaty of Rome</a>), suggested France’s place at the heart of the European project. But the Tour always comes home and, since 1975, has always finished on the Champs Elysées.</p>
<p>French victors have largely come from the rural and urban working classes, from <a href="https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/antonin-magne">Antonin Magne</a>, the son of farmers from the Cantal region who won in 1931 and 1934, to the legendary five-times winner <a href="https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/bernard-hinault">Bernard Hinault</a>, son of a Breton railway worker. The unpopularity of one of France’s greatest winners, <a href="https://theprologue.com/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-jacques-anquetil/">Jacques Anquetil</a>, among many French cycling fans of the 1960s, was due largely to his aristocratic airs. Nicknamed “<em>Maître Jacques</em>” (Master Jack), a title that suggests both his achievements and aloofness, he suffered through his rivalry with <a href="https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/raymond-poulidor">Raymond Poulidor</a>, a farmer’s son from Creuse who finished on the podium eight times but never won a single edition.</p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/sep/01/laurent-fignon-obituary">Laurent Fignon</a> could never match the popularity of Hinault in the 1980s, despite being dubbed his successor. Bespectacled and thus nicknamed “the professor”, Fignon suffered the indignity of losing the yellow jersey and the Tour itself to the American Greg LeMond in the final stage in 1989. LeMond’s victory was in part due to his <a href="http://www.220triathlon.com/gear/bike/components/what-are-aerobars/10772.html">use of aerobars</a> that created a lower profile. Retrospectively, it is seen as having ushered in a new phase, dominated by high-end technology and globalisation. (One commentator at the time in fact put it down to the drag created by <a href="https://sportspoetssociety.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-divine-ponytail.html">Fignon’s ponytail</a>).</p>
<p>For French critics of the Tour, the doping scandals of the 1990s and the Lance Armstrong affair are the logical extension of this process. The domination of the Tour by the largely non-French-speaking Team Sky also fitted the narrative of a sport that has lost its way thanks to rampant commercialisation and overseas investment.</p>
<p>A win by Alaphilippe or, more likely, Pinot could begin to restore France’s faith in its Tour. Both offer a familiar story, one that fits the tradition of French cycling. Both are from the depths of rural France dear to a certain vision of the nation, and what opponents of globalisation see as its real values. Pinot especially is known for maintaining his <a href="https://rmcsport.bfmtv.com/mediaplayer/video/sur-les-traces-de-thibaut-pinot-839575.html">rural roots</a>. So a victory by either will go some way to ending the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJqimlFcJsM">30 years of hurt</a> French cycling fans have felt since Fignon’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzjv1XpGJnc">dramatic failure</a>. England fans, on the other hand, are still waiting.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120947/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Hurcombe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If you think English footy fans have it hard losing in the semis in far away away tournaments, imagine being French and losing the Tour de France on your home turf every year.Martin Hurcombe, Professor of French Studies, School of Modern Languages, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/981942018-06-12T12:33:50Z2018-06-12T12:33:50ZWorld Cup: 60 years on Pelé’s 1958 debut still the greatest tournament ever<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222781/original/file-20180612-112637-jqo55w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brazil, the 1958 World Cup winners: Vicente Feola (coach), Djalma Santos, Zito, Bellini, Nilton Santos, Orlando, Gylmar, Garrincha, Didi, Pelé, Vava, Zagallo.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">fotbollsweden.se</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sixty years ago, before the legendary Pelé became a household name, the teenage Brazilian prodigy was preparing to take part in his first World Cup in Sweden. He was 17. The 1958 World Cup finals were only the sixth time the tournament had been held – and, unbelievable to think now, Brazil yet to lift the <a href="http://soccerballscollection.com/JULES%20RIMET%20TROPHY.htm">Jules Rimet trophy</a> that they were to make their own.</p>
<p>Pelé was about to change all that. The Canarinho wonderkid, – Edson Arantes do Nascimento, to give him his full name – <a href="http://home.bt.com/news/on-this-day/june-29-1958-teenager-pele-is-a-footballing-sensation-as-brazil-win-their-first-world-cup-11363988991931">scored six goals during the tournament</a>, including a hat-trick in the semi-final and two goals in the final against host nation Sweden. His storming performance, combined with the skill and flair of his team mates, was to set his country on the path to global footballing dominance.</p>
<p>But the 1958 finals are memorable for much more than their Brazilian milestones.</p>
<p>That year is still the only time England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have all competed together on the world stage. And the finals were, and still are, a record-breaking tournament for goal scoring. The prolific French forward, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/jan/12/just-fontaine-13-goals-world-cup">Just Fontaine</a>, was unstoppable, setting a tally of 13 goals in six games – a total which has not been broken to this day.</p>
<p>Off the field, in a remarkable contrast to modern football, a huge brawl involving Welsh players at a hotel on the outskirts of Stockholm remained unreported – unthinkable these days. In his 1998 book, When Pelé Broke Our Hearts: Wales and the 1958 World Cup, sports writer Mario Risoli described in graphic detail a fight that took place at the Copacabana Club at the Grand Hotel, in Saltsjöbaden, shortly after Wales’ exit from the competition. Nobody was arrested, and Risoli notes that “the selectors did manage to prevent the Copacabana Club fiasco leaking out”. What price such a successful cover-up today?</p>
<h2>Golden age, for some</h2>
<p>For these reasons – and for those of a certain vintage – the 1958 World Cup, held between June 8 and June 29, belongs to a golden age of international football.</p>
<p>In 1958, England’s finest hour, a <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/30/newsid_2644000/2644065.stm">single World Cup title</a>, was still eight years away. In Sweden the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-the-day-a-world-cup-dream-died-1162186.html">side achieved results</a> which will be a little more recognisable to today’s fans as they puffed their way through the group stages. The team drew all three group games, against Brazil, Austria and the Soviet Union and were eliminated in a play-off match by the latter. Meanwhile <a href="http://www.scottishfootballblog.co.uk/2010/06/scotland-in-1958-familiar-feelings.html">Scotland</a> drew with Yugoslavia but lost to both Paraguay and France and were duly eliminated.</p>
<p>Wales’ manager, Jimmy Murphy, was also Matt Busby’s assistant at Manchester United – but had escaped the horror of the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/comment/the-munich-air-disaster-and-its-safety-legacy/">Munich air crash</a> earlier that year because he had been on international duty at the time. With Busby seriously ill in hospital and many of his leading players dead, it was left to Murphy to try to pick up the pieces at Old Trafford while simultaneously guiding his Welsh team to the World Cup finals.</p>
<p>In a harbinger of Euro 2016, it was left to Wales and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-32284251">Northern Ireland</a> to progress to the next stage. Northern Ireland had beaten Czechoslovakia, drawn with West Germany and lost to Argentina. In the quarter finals, they were beaten 0-4 by France for whom Fontaine scored twice. Northern Ireland’s star performers had been Peter McParland, who scored five goals in four games, and Manchester United’s goalkeeper Harry Gregg – a survivor of the Munich air crash – who was the only UK player [selected by journalists] in the team of the tournament.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222783/original/file-20180612-112631-zcyn7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222783/original/file-20180612-112631-zcyn7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222783/original/file-20180612-112631-zcyn7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222783/original/file-20180612-112631-zcyn7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222783/original/file-20180612-112631-zcyn7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222783/original/file-20180612-112631-zcyn7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222783/original/file-20180612-112631-zcyn7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">French forward Just Fontaine won the Golden Boot in 1958 with 13 goals.</span>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jul/01/wales-1958-world-cup-quarter-final-euro-2016">Welsh team</a> was made up of many of the country’s greatest ever players, including Ivor Allchurch, Terry Medwin, Cliff Jones, Jack Kelsey and the Charles brothers, Mel and John. Like England, Wales drew all their group games – against Hungary, Mexico and Sweden – but, unlike England, they won their play-off match with Hungary. In their quarter-final game, they were beaten by a single goal scored in the 73rd minute by Pelé.</p>
<p>One should not forget the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/world-cup-2014-countdown-sweden-reach-the-final-in-1958-9262869.html">contribution made by the hosts Sweden</a>. They came into the competition with a very experienced group of players, several of whom had played for many years in Italy’s Serie A in an era when it was much less common for players to move between different countries’ football leagues. These included Gunnar Gren, who played in Italy from 1949 to 1956, Nils Liedholm (1949-61), Gunnar Nordahl (1949-58) and Kurt Hamrin (1956-1971).</p>
<p>So the team’s progress to the final was not entirely unexpected. Despite drawing with Wales, they advanced to the quarter finals with victories against both Mexico and Hungary. The next opponents were the Soviet Union whom they beat by two goals to one.</p>
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<p>In a potentially very difficult semi-final match against World Cup holders West Germany, Sweden won 3-1 and so to June 29 when they met Brazil at Råsunda Stadium in Solna, on the northern outskirts of Stockholm. </p>
<h2>Brazil triumphant</h2>
<p>On the day, the Swedes were no match for their opponents. Brazil won 5-2 with goals from Vavá (2), Pelé (2) and future Brazilian team manager Mario Zagallo. Pelé was selected by the football writers in their team of the tournament along with team mates Garrincha, Didi and the full backs, Djalma and Nilton Santos (no relation). Orvar Bergmark, who played right back for Sweden in the final, <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/367867659/Bairner-Sport-Nationalism-And-Globalization">later commented</a>: “At that time, it would have been better to sit in the stand and enjoy all their skills instead of being exposed to them.” </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222782/original/file-20180612-112608-2nxb5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222782/original/file-20180612-112608-2nxb5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222782/original/file-20180612-112608-2nxb5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222782/original/file-20180612-112608-2nxb5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222782/original/file-20180612-112608-2nxb5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222782/original/file-20180612-112608-2nxb5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222782/original/file-20180612-112608-2nxb5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">17-year-old Pelé cries on the shoulder of goalkeeper Gilmar after Brazil won the 1958 World Cup.</span>
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<p>Finally, with relatively well-founded fears that that <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44287231">racism will rear its ugly head</a> during the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia, it is worth remarking on the enthusiastic response <a href="https://thesefootballtimes.co/2015/05/30/the-birth-of-brazil-at-world-cup-1958/">given by the Swedish fans</a> to the Brazilian players. Like Bergmark, they clearly appreciated the skills of their team’s opponents. Of course, social democracy was in its pomp in Sweden at that time and Swedes were eager to demonstrate their internationalism.</p>
<p>But whatever the explanation, is it just possible that a Russian crowd will behave in the same way as those fans at Råsunda towards a victorious team with a large percentage of black players such as Brazil, once again, France – or even England? One can but hope.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>More evidence-based articles about football and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/world-cup-2018-11490?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=WorldCup2018">World Cup</a>:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-fifa-really-want-out-of-this-world-cup-97393?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=WorldCup2018">What does FIFA really want out of this World Cup?</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/conifa-how-the-other-world-cup-is-helping-unrecognised-nations-through-football-98104?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=WorldCup2018">CONIFA: how the ‘other World Cup’ is helping unrecognised nations through football</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-football-teams-who-sing-their-national-anthem-with-passion-are-more-likely-to-win-96765?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=WorldCup2018">Why football teams who sing their national anthem with passion are more likely to win</a></em></p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Bairner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The 17-year-old prodigy thrilled the world and set the scene for Brazil’s decades-long dominance of the World Game.Alan Bairner, Professor of Sport and Social Theory, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/910222018-05-03T09:13:40Z2018-05-03T09:13:40ZFive lesser known footballers who broke down racial barriers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217090/original/file-20180501-135848-1k5qyoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Arthur Wharton</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Wharton#/media/File:Arthur_Wharton_c1896.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Netflix has commissioned <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/on-demand/2018/04/18/downton-abbeys-julian-fellowes-write-netflix-show-football/">Julian Fellowes</a>, the creator of the award-winning historical period drama <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/downton-abbey-8630">Downton Abbey</a>, to write a new TV series exploring the early development of modern football and how its creation “reached across the class divide” as Etonians and factory workers came together to create the world’s most popular sport.</p>
<p>The origins and early history of association football is certainly full of prestigious names and colourful characters. People like <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/01/28/fa-cups-100-memorable-moments-gazza-giggs-burton-bradford/charles-alcock/">Charles William Alcock</a>, the Sunderland ship merchant who invented the FA Cup, and <a href="https://www.avfc.co.uk/club/history/mcgregor">William McGregor</a>, who ran a draper’s shop and established the Football League in 1888 with his club Aston Villa. So Fellowes will have no shortage of potential content. But will he look to explore the stories of less renowned figures such as Arthur Wharton, Walter Tull and Frank Soo?</p>
<p>All three were early non-Caucasian pioneers in British football that had to face and overcome racial barriers, both on and off the pitch as “men of colour”. Yet most people will never have heard of them. There is a danger that their stories, along with other less prominent players, will disappear from the collective memory of society, and their accomplishments, achievements and struggles will be forgotten if we don’t give them the credit they deserve by remembering them. </p>
<h2>The first professional</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-18340408">Arthur Wharton</a> is widely accepted as the first professional non-Caucasian football player in the world after he appeared for Rotherham United in 1889. Born in Jamestown, Gold Coast (now Ghana), he was a talented all round athlete who was renowned for his “<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=U4IsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA200&dq=%22arthur+wharton%22+prodigious+punch&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi0zcvmkIfZAhWHCMAKHYNTAlIQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=%22arthur%20wharton%22%20prodigious%20punch&f=false">prodigious punch</a>” when playing as a goalkeeper and for equalling the amateur world record of ten seconds for the 100-yard sprint. Wharton played for numerous clubs as both an amateur and professional, including Preston North End, Sheffield United and Darlington, prior to retiring in 1902.</p>
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<h2>The war hero</h2>
<p>The second non-Caucasian to play in the Football League was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/03/walter-tull-black-football-pioneer-military-cross-tottenham">Walter Tull</a>. The inside forward signed for Tottenham Hotspur in 1909 and participated in the club’s tour of South America prior to joining Northampton Town in 1911. But the outbreak of the <a href="http://www.footballandthefirstworldwar.org/walter-tull-footballer/">First World War</a> saw Tull enlist in the British army where he rose to the rank of second lieutenant in 1917, becoming <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43504448">the first officer of colour</a> despite contemporary military regulations forbidding it, before being killed in northern France in 1918.</p>
<h2>The Egyptian engineer</h2>
<p><a href="http://spartacus-educational.com/FULHAMhegazi.htm">Hassan Hegazi</a> became the first Egyptian to appear in the Football League when he made his debut for <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=IKa_CAAAQBAJ&pg=PT38&dq=%22Hassan+Hegazi%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhideOkofZAhUsAsAKHXS3DoAQ6AEIPjAE#v=onepage&q=%22Hassan%20Hegazi%22&f=false">Fulham</a> in <a href="https://www.fulhamfc.com/history/timeline/1911">1911</a>. He had arrived in London to study engineering but had gained a reputation for being a talented striker while playing for amateur side Dulwich Hamlet, attracting the interest of local professional clubs. However, despite scoring on his debut for Fulham (a 3-1 win against Stockport County) and being asked to play the following week, Hegazi opted to return to amateur football with Dulwich so that he could focus on his studies. </p>
<h2>The barefoot winger</h2>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217094/original/file-20180501-135840-qzddxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217094/original/file-20180501-135840-qzddxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217094/original/file-20180501-135840-qzddxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217094/original/file-20180501-135840-qzddxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217094/original/file-20180501-135840-qzddxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217094/original/file-20180501-135840-qzddxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217094/original/file-20180501-135840-qzddxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Indian footballer Mohammed Salim having feet bandaged at Celtic FC in 1936.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Salim_(footballer)#/media/File:Mohammed_Salim_(Indian_footballer)_having_feet_bandaged_at_Celtic_FC,_1936_photograph.jpg">wikipedia</a></span>
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<p>Mohammed Abdul Salim Bachi Khan, also known as Mohammed Salim, was an Indian winger who arrived in Britain in 1936 after winning five successive Calcutta Football League titles with Mohammedan SC in his homeland. Despite making only two official appearances for the Glasgow Celtic reserve team, his presence attracted a great amount of interest from the public as he would play in <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2404435/A-unique-import-thrilled-Celtic-fans-back-in-the-1930s.html">bare feet</a> that were swathed in bandages rather than boots. He was given the nickname “The Indian Juggler” and impressed in his duo of performances but returned to India after he became homesick. </p>
<h2>The English pioneer</h2>
<p>Contrary to popular belief, the first non-Caucasian player to represent the English <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=grXiAUEzVZoC&pg=PA1942&dq=%22frank+soo%22+england&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjauI2GlYfZAhUrDsAKHaMOAiEQ6AEINzAD#v=onepage&q=%22frank%20soo%22%20england&f=false">national team</a> was Stoke City half-back <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MTUELEO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1">Frank Soo</a> in 1942 – as opposed to Viv Anderson who made his debut three decades later in 1978. </p>
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</figure>
<p>Soo was of mixed Chinese and English heritage – his father, Our Quong Soo, had migrated to Britain and married a local girl, Beatrice Whittam, in 1908. Soo became the first player of Chinese heritage to appear in the Football League when he made his debut for Stoke in 1933 and he quickly became a regular fixture in the first team, culminating in him being proclaimed one of the “finest half-backs in the country”. Soo made nine appearances for the national team between 1942 and 1945 but this accomplishment is often overlooked as the Football Association do not class wartime internationals as “official” fixtures.</p>
<p>These players should play a prominent role in our understanding of the history of the game and wider society. Their achievements and accomplishments – in addition to the racial barriers and challenges that they faced – deserve to be recognised. The stories of the early non-Caucasian pioneers of British football should never be lost and, in my opinion, might even make a good Netflix series.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91022/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martyn Dean Cooke does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Arthur Wharton, Walter Tull, Hassan Hegazi, Mohammed Salim and Frank Soo each made footballing history and their stories deserve to be better known.Martyn Dean Cooke, Postgraduate Teaching Assistant (PTA) and PhD Candidate (Sport History), Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/769292017-05-05T02:26:52Z2017-05-05T02:26:52ZFor cities, hosting major sporting events is a double-edged sword<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167792/original/file-20170503-21620-1m0xdpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Gold Coast is preparing to host the 2018 edition of the Commonwealth Games.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Just as the publicity machine is cranking up for the <a href="https://www.gc2018.com/">2018 Commonwealth Games</a> on the Gold Coast, new Australia-based bids have already been signalled to host the same event in the future.</p>
<p>Shepparton is <a href="http://greatershepparton.com.au/whats-happening/news/news-article/!/456/post/the-2030-greater-victoria-commonwealth-games">leading a bid</a> by 11 regional Victoria cities and towns for the 2030 Commonwealth Games. And western Sydney is <a href="http://www.parramattasun.com.au/story/4628349/western-sydneys-games-bid/?cs=993">interested in hosting</a> the event in either 2026 or 2030.</p>
<p>Nobody in Australia seems to have been deterred from bidding by Durban losing the rights to hold the 2022 Commonwealth Games because the South African city could not afford it. Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and even a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-15/gold-coast-offers-to-host-two-commonwealth-games-in-a-row/8354956">Gold Coast reprise</a> have been <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/commonwealth-games/sydney-plan-attempt-to-host-2022-commonwealth-games-report-20170318-gv19on.html">mooted as replacements</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a 2017 V8 Supercars Championship event is controversially to be held <a href="http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4629360/supercars-road-show-rolls-into-newcastle/">for the first time</a> amid the heritage streets and green foreshore spaces of Newcastle East this November.</p>
<p>Despite the event’s under-performance at – and subsequent departure from – <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/v8-supercars-close-book-on-sydney-olympic-park-street-circuit-race-20160322-gnovxc.html">Sydney’s Olympic Park</a>, Newcastle City Council, the New South Wales state government and Destination NSW have been happy to <a href="http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4411637/residential-streets-no-place-for-motor-racing/">wave it through</a> with minimal consultation and attention to due process.</p>
<p>But what is the appeal of hosting big sporting events and does the economic equation stack up?</p>
<h2>Economic justifications</h2>
<p>In a world where <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ujm5BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=place-marketing&source=bl&ots=0hSjH8S-fM&sig=KuljYQHmzPdmPAzYGUXPlqwAbq4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiB3pzHgNPTAhUCHZQKHfDhAFY4ChDoAQhHMAk#v=onepage&q=place-marketing&f=false">place-marketing</a> is seen as essential to the success of urban centres large and small, grabbing attention is imperative. </p>
<p>Sports stars and brands attract people to watch contests close up. But, even more importantly, they attract the media. So, investing in staging sport is ultimately a matter of turning the entire host environment into a stage.</p>
<p>This can be called the showcase justification, which conceives the sport as less intrinsically important than its picturesque location. This is why TV establishment shots always focus on key landmarks like Cape Town’s Table Mountain during the 2010 football World Cup, London’s Big Ben at the 2012 Olympics, and Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympics. </p>
<p>For Gold Coast 2018, it will be the Surfers Paradise skyline.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d1YJ0wtAjYo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Gold Coast’s bid video for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although attracting sport tourists to the event is the immediate aim, it is intended to lodge appealing imagery of place to a wider audience for a much longer period. </p>
<p>Like Barcelona after its 1992 Olympics, a buzz can be created about a city that has little to do with sport. General tourist and convention traffic may be drawn to the place, along with companies looking to relocate to smart places where their employees would like to live. </p>
<p>Where place recognition and appeal are not immediately obvious, some marketing hyperbole is needed. For example, in justifying why the V8 Supercars should zoom through inner Newcastle, the street circuit <a href="http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4336120/monaco-of-the-southern-hemisphere/">is presented</a>, in reference to the Formula One Grand Prix, as “the Monaco of the southern hemisphere”.</p>
<p>Such attempts to take sport away from dedicated stadiums in often-isolated locations to the heart of the city are integral to the idea of selling the space rather than the sport. Inevitably, though, it results in additional cost and community disruption.</p>
<p>This objection is frequently met with the urban redevelopment justification. In its pre-Games makeover, Barcelona spent millions of dollars and sacrificed many old streets, vineyards and gardens to turn itself into an Olympic city. </p>
<p>The same occurred to different degrees with the Athens, Beijing, London and Rio Olympics. And the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10286630802445864">stimulated</a> an estimated £2 billion in public and private investment in the city’s east over 15 years. </p>
<p>Because hosting sport means tight, immovable deadlines, work in and outside the stadium has to be completed much faster than usual for sizeable building projects. The result can be a <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sport-Media-and-Mega-Events/Wenner-Billings/p/book/9781138930391">thoroughly unpleasant experience</a> for affected communities, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/brazils-world-cup-preparations-showcase-celebration-capitalism-27291">forced and permanent displacement</a>, corrupt and unethical conduct by government and business, and shoddy work requiring subsequent rectification.</p>
<p>Worse still, overly optimistic and unreliable financial projections mean the promised economic bonanza is often a long, painful event hangover. As both <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2723515/Athens-Olympics-leave-mixed-legacy-10-years-later.html">Athens</a> and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/rio-olympic-venues-disrepair-2016-brazil-worst-recession-economy-ruin-a7572786.html">Rio</a> have discovered, urban debt and decay quickly become the real legacy of the exhilarating moment of playing host to big sport. </p>
<p>The International Olympic Committee’s demand for prestige venues that can quickly become white elephants <a href="https://qz.com/748894/nobody-wants-to-host-the-olympic-games-anymore-can-you-blame-them/">has caused</a> a sharp decline in host city bids. As a result, there is increased emphasis on recycling existing sport infrastructure in affluent cities like Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles and Sydney that have previously hosted the event. </p>
<h2>Social justifications</h2>
<p>If the economic arguments for playing host still look shaky, there can always be a resort to the participation stimulation justification. </p>
<p>This is the familiar idea that sport watchers will be inspired to be sport players through exposure to big events. The problem is, hosting sport events <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160805-do-big-sporting-events-make-us-do-more-sport">rarely leads to</a> sustained higher levels of participation. And, in cases such as motor sports, mass participation is neither feasible nor desirable. </p>
<p>When all else fails, the “sleeper awakes” justification can be deployed against those who oppose or are sceptical about the event by <a href="http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4615541/hilarious-new-rap-video-about-newcastle-whingers/">portraying them as whingers</a>, NIMBYs, party-poopers, and – in the go-to insult of the Trump/Brexit era of political populism – elitists.</p>
<p>This championing of hosting events is partially dependent on sporting taste. But if that doesn’t convince, it can rely on the tried-and-tested unforgettable party justification. As with other great parties, those who enjoy them most tend to forget the stomach-churning clean-up afterwards.</p>
<p>In 2015, <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-summer-of-sporting-events-has-it-been-worth-it-37477">Australia hosted</a> the men’s cricket World Cup and football Asian Cup, as well as the netball World Cup. This was a particularly busy year, but recent developments indicate that its state and territory capitals, provincial cities and regions are now continually on the hunt for a large or medium-sized sporting event to host.</p>
<p>In other parts of the world, potential hosts including Berlin, Boston, Cardiff, Edmonton, Hamburg, Rome and Singapore have withdrawn bids for the Olympic or Commonwealth Games.</p>
<p>This is not an argument against hosting big sport events. But it does advocate looking closely at the hyperbole, concealed self-interest, confected populism and voodoo economics that try to submerge the enduring question: <a href="https://definitions.uslegal.com/q/qui-bono/">“cui bono”</a> (who benefits)?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76929/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rowe has received funding from the Australian Research Council to support research relating to this article: 'A Nation of "Good Sports"? Cultural Citizenship and Sport in Contemporary Australia' (DP130104502), and 'Australian Cultural Fields: National and Transnational Dynamics' (with Tony Bennett et al, DP140101970).</span></em></p>Investing in staging sport is ultimately a matter of turning the entire host environment into a stage.David Rowe, Professor of Cultural Research, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/276762014-06-13T04:18:40Z2014-06-13T04:18:40ZVictor predictors: the eight great traits of World Cup champions<p>It is hard to imagine a <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/world-cup-2014">World Cup</a> in which Germany, Brazil, Italy, Argentina, the Netherlands, England, France and Spain did not appear, or in which one of them did not win. </p>
<p>What is it that makes some countries so maddeningly good at football? </p>
<p>Armed with a host of national statistics, a small band of economists and psychologists have explored the features that predict high FIFA rankings and success at the World Cup – and there seem to the eight factors toward World Cup (and general football) success.</p>
<h2>1. Population</h2>
<p>More populous countries might be expected to have strong football teams because their talent pool is deeper. </p>
<p>Sure enough, <a href="http://jse.sagepub.com/content/8/2/202.short">studies</a> find that larger nations have better-performing teams – but this advantage shows decreasing returns: large countries do better than small ones, but not much worse than very large ones.</p>
<h2>2. Money</h2>
<p>Wealthy nations can fund sports grounds, arenas, elite training facilities and expensive national coaches. Several researchers have shown that countries with high per capita GDP tend to outperform poorer countries. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50660/original/hmf6c3nm-1402374454.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50660/original/hmf6c3nm-1402374454.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50660/original/hmf6c3nm-1402374454.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=182&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50660/original/hmf6c3nm-1402374454.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=182&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50660/original/hmf6c3nm-1402374454.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=182&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50660/original/hmf6c3nm-1402374454.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=229&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50660/original/hmf6c3nm-1402374454.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=229&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50660/original/hmf6c3nm-1402374454.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=229&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Estádio Nacional in Brasilia, the second most expensive football stadium ever built.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Danilo Borges</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As with population, though, there are diminishing returns. Indeed, <a href="http://www.ucema.edu.ar/publicaciones/download/volume5/hoffmann.pdf">one study</a> of the FIFA rankings of 76 countries in 2001 found that very wealthy countries had less successful national teams than merely wealthy ones. </p>
<p>Beyond a certain point, sporting prowess gave way to affluenza.</p>
<h2>3. Climate</h2>
<p>There is some evidence that football flourishes in temperate Mediterranean climates. Hot climes may be enervating and cold ones are not conducive to outdoor sport. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ucema.edu.ar/publicaciones/download/volume5/hoffmann.pdf">One study</a> found that the closer a nation’s mean temperature was to 14C, the higher its FIFA ranking. Like Goldilocks’ porridge, their national climate was not too hot and not too cold, but just right.</p>
<h2>4. Geography</h2>
<p>For a country to do well in international football it helps to be located in temperate latitudes. It also helps to be located in <a href="http://uosis.mif.vu.lt/%7Eceka/EkoMag_S_2013/2013pristatymai/S14.pdf">Europe or South America</a>, the only continents to be represented in World Cup winners. </p>
<p>Choosing the right neighbours matters too. <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504850601018361#.U5FNG_mSxCg">One study</a> found an advantage for national football teams that were in the vicinity of other strong teams, implying that they could lift their games by learning from and competing with local rivals.</p>
<h2>5. Culture</h2>
<p>Some countries are more passionate about football than others, a factor sometimes used to explain the remarkable success of the Latin (including Portuguese-speaking) countries. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, the teams of football-mad nations tend to perform especially well. <a href="http://www.ucema.edu.ar/publicaciones/download/volume5/hoffmann.pdf">One study</a> showed that nations that had previously hosted the World Cup – an indicator of being strongly invested in the sport – tended to have high FIFA ranks many years later.</p>
<p>Culture may also explain the finding that some national teams are especially likely to score at the death. </p>
<p>Germany in particular has a knack of finding the back of the net <a href="http://www.voxeu.org/article/they-think-it-s-all-over-national-identity-scoring-last-minute-and-penalty-shootouts">in the final minute</a> of international matches, but also of finding it in the back of their own. Driven by a desire to win – rather than the desire not to lose that has often characterised the Italian game – they take risks as the final whistle approaches.</p>
<h2>6. History</h2>
<p>Having an extended football tradition plays into contemporary success. <a href="http://jse.sagepub.com/content/8/2/202.short">Some research</a> has found that countries with long football histories – measured by the number of years since the first international match was played on its soil – tend to perform relatively well. </p>
<p>Deeper and darker histories may also be involved, with <a href="http://uosis.mif.vu.lt/%7Eceka/EkoMag_S_2013/2013pristatymai/S14.pdf">one paper</a> showing that the colonial powers – England, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain – are all strikingly successful football nations. Having been colonised bestowed no advantage or disadvantage.</p>
<h2>7. Politics</h2>
<p>National football teams from communist nations <a href="http://uosis.mif.vu.lt/%7Eceka/EkoMag_S_2013/2013pristatymai/S14.pdf">tend to underperform</a>, but teams from formerly communist nations perform particularly well. </p>
<p>Collectivism might sound like a boon for football – “no I in team” and all that – but the evidence says otherwise.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50663/original/8mds939x-1402376029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50663/original/8mds939x-1402376029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50663/original/8mds939x-1402376029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50663/original/8mds939x-1402376029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50663/original/8mds939x-1402376029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50663/original/8mds939x-1402376029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50663/original/8mds939x-1402376029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50663/original/8mds939x-1402376029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/69696287@N04/7343027064/in/photostream/">D I/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>8. Equality</h2>
<p>While communism may not be good for international football success, we shouldn’t give up on equality just yet. </p>
<p>In a <a href="http://faculty.insead.edu/roderick-swaab/documents/Egalitarianism%20and%20team%20performance%20OBHDP%20in%20press.pdf">forthcoming article</a> in the journal Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, organisational psychologists Roderick Swaab and Adam Galinsky argue that more equal nations should have greater football talent for two reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li>egalitarian institutions promote the development of talent by offering opportunities to a large and diverse assortment of people and by not tolerating discrimination and social exclusion</li>
<li>egalitarian people provide a supportive climate in which disadvantaged individuals can benefit from these opportunities.</li>
</ol>
<p>Swaab and Galinsky assessed the institutional and psychological egalitarianism of 199 countries and examined how they related to their national teams’ FIFA rankings from 2006 to 2011:</p>
<ul>
<li>institutional equality was assessed by the extent to which countries offer equal opportunity, equal participation in selecting their government, the rule of law and personal autonomy</li>
<li>psychological equality was measured as the degree to which a country’s citizens endorsed values such as equality, social justice and working for the welfare of others.</li>
</ul>
<p>Both forms of egalitarianism were associated with countries having better-performing football teams. Nations with more egalitarian institutions and citizens tended to have more successful teams even after controlling for other factors such as population, wealth, football history and climate. </p>
<p>Interestingly, the link between equality and FIFA rankings was explained by national talent levels, as Swaab and Galinsky predicted. More egalitarian nations had a higher proportion of players contracted to elite clubs around the world. </p>
<p>In short, greater equality was associated with greater talent, which generated greater national success. </p>
<p>The researchers also asked whether egalitarian nations are more likely than others to improve their football performance over time. Sure enough, countries whose citizens endorsed egalitarian values in 1994-1997 were more likely to have improved FIFA rankings in 2009 than those that were un-egalitarian. Equality does seem to nurture national football success.</p>
<h2>Recipe for success</h2>
<p>Combining these factors, the ideal footballing nation must be:</p>
<ul>
<li>big (but not too big)</li>
<li>wealthy (but not too wealthy)</li>
<li>have a mean climate of 14C</li>
<li>be surrounded by other strong footballing nations</li>
<li>have hosted the World Cup before (and have a long footballing history)</li>
<li>have strong egalitarist values (without venturing into communism).</li>
</ul>
<p>The World Cup is known for tossing up some surprising results. But we shouldn’t be surprised to see some of the world’s more egalitarian nations among the finalists.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27676/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Haslam receives funding from the ARC.</span></em></p>It is hard to imagine a World Cup in which Germany, Brazil, Italy, Argentina, the Netherlands, England, France and Spain did not appear, or in which one of them did not win. What is it that makes some…Nick Haslam, Professor of Psychology, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/275082014-06-11T20:32:52Z2014-06-11T20:32:52ZQualifying is never easy: Australia’s World Cup history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50547/original/4cz3hyjf-1402289871.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia first qualified for the World Cup in 1974, when a group of part-timers under captain Peter Wilson (far right) went to West Germany.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anton Cernak</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia will soon begin its fourth football World Cup finals campaign – the third successive tournament it has qualified for – with group stage matches against Chile, the Netherlands and Spain.</p>
<p>While some more recent Australian football fans might now view qualification for the World Cup as something we can take for granted, Australia’s earlier adventures in attempting to gain access to the pinnacle of the world game prove it wasn’t always thus.</p>
<p>Australia began trying to qualify for the World Cup soon after its FIFA membership was restored in 1963. Australia had been suspended because local clubs were signing up overseas players such as Leo Baumgartner and Sjel de Bruyckere, claiming they were just migrants who had arrived here and only wanted a game of football. Their European clubs were not receiving transfer fees and complained to FIFA, which suspended Australia. </p>
<p>Australia’s first attempt to get to the World Cup – the 1966 tournament in England – was very disappointing. The Australian team prepared in Cairns with a match against Ingham, while their opponent, North Korea, had about 35 competitive games before the two-match play-off in Phnom Penh. Australia lost both encounters comprehensively, then played a series of matches in Asia to help defray the trip’s costs.</p>
<p>Later, Australia learned to play warm-up games before the main event, not afterwards.</p>
<p>In 1967, in the middle of the Vietnam War with prime minister Harold Holt under pressure at home, it was decided that Australia should play in the Independence Day tournament in Saigon. The idea was to help demonstrate the superiority of democracy and boost morale among service personnel and the domestic population. </p>
<p>A young team led by Johnny Warren and coached by “Uncle” Joe Vlasits found itself interacting with Australian troops who would then go off to fight while they played and beat New Zealand, South Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia en route to the final against South Korea. The Australians threatened not to take part after being informed that there was no space in the stadium for the Australian military personnel who had been a huge support to the players on and off the field.</p>
<p>As it turned out, the service personnel were allowed in and the rest of the crowd supported Australia rather than the Koreans, much to the Australians’ surprise. South Korea scored in the first minute, but the Australians responded brilliantly. Billy Vojtek produced a wonderful solo goal after 36 minutes and Atti Abonyi and Warren added the others in a 3-2 win to register Australia’s first international tournament victory. </p>
<p>The camaraderie in the face of adversity was an important element in the mindset that eventually helped Australia qualify for the World Cup in West Germany in 1974.</p>
<p>Led by Rale Rasic, a bunch of part-time players, some of whom had to give up their employment to take part, qualified by beating South Korea in another play-off, this time in Hong Kong. Everyone remembers Jimmy Mackay’s fierce shot that won the decisive game, but fewer remember Jimmy Fraser’s performances in goal that helped get Australia to that point.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V5gXNmn1pLI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Highlights from Australia’s 1974 World Cup qualification campaign.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the finals, Australia lost to East and West Germany and drew with Chile. Chile, coincidentally, will be Australia’s first opponent in the 2014 tournament, and another draw would be an excellent result. That match against Chile in 1974 was marked by the appearance of Harry Williams as a substitute late in the game, the first recognised Indigenous player to represent Australia at a FIFA World Cup.</p>
<p>In 2005, after a wait of more than three decades, Australia qualified for another World Cup in a now-united Germany. People asked me before the tournament: “Will we qualify for Germany?” I would reply: “We always qualify for the World Cup in Germany.”</p>
<p>After the excruciatingly narrow <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmnBPrdO0_k">loss to Iran</a> at the MCG in 1997 on the away goals rule, getting to Germany depended once again on a series of brilliant saves by goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who has recently retired from international football, and a penalty kick by John Aloisi to defeat Uruguay. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rhM1t0XyB08?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A penalty shootout sent Australia to the 2006 World Cup.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The nation united behind the team. It is estimated that some 60,000 Australians followed them to Germany, the largest outward movement of population since World War Two. Many did not have tickets but enjoyed the tournament in the fan fests in all of the World Cup cities. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50556/original/wwmqh2g8-1402309336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50556/original/wwmqh2g8-1402309336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50556/original/wwmqh2g8-1402309336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50556/original/wwmqh2g8-1402309336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50556/original/wwmqh2g8-1402309336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50556/original/wwmqh2g8-1402309336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50556/original/wwmqh2g8-1402309336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An estimated 60,000 Australians followed the national team to Germany in 2006.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Roy Hay</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At home, thousands got up in the middle of the night to watch Australia on big screens in cities across the country. Australia beat Japan with three very late goals, lost to Brazil, but then drew with Croatia to qualify for the knockout stages. Only a late penalty to the eventual winner, Italy, brought the campaign to an end. </p>
<p>Australia has since qualified for South Africa in 2010 – where it went out in the group stages after a win, loss and draw – and the tournament in Brazil is now about to start. Bring it on.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Roy Hay and Bill Murray’s new book, <a href="http://www.hardiegrant.com.au/books/books/book?isbn=9781742707648">A History of Football in Australia</a>, is published by Hardie Grant.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27508/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roy Hay received funding from the Australian Research Council in 2000.
Roy Hay is a member of Football Federation Australia's Panel of Historians.</span></em></p>Australia will soon begin its fourth football World Cup finals campaign – the third successive tournament it has qualified for – with group stage matches against Chile, the Netherlands and Spain. While…Roy Hay, Honorary Fellow, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.