If anyone needed reminding that sport matters in Britain, the fact that England’s ejection from the European Championships and Steve McLaren’s subsequent sacking has topped the news today should seal the point. But despite the central role of sport in our culture, its meaning and appeal are still not taken seriously in Britain, argues David Goldblatt in the new issue of Prospect. We tend to deem sport unworthy of proper intellectual or political attention, and our political and cultural elites keep their distance from sport. One consequence of this is that standards of governance within our sporting institutions are laughably low.
It’s time, says Goldblatt, for sport to enjoy the same cultural weight as the performing arts, and to be judged by the normal standards of public life. Why do you think sport fails to be taken seriously in Britain—and what can we do about it? Let us know in the comments box.
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Doubtless you are all nursing your wounds after the England and Croatia match, but why not appoint Jose Mourinho to lead the England coaching team – he has a proven record of energy and excellence.
My experience of living with the Portuguese has convinced me that they have a lot of theory that could be good for England – their philosophy of pro-active football is also worth emulating and their team spirit also merits a second look.
We tend to stand off the ball in England and we are so respectful of laws and rules in football that we have a tendency not to engage if it will mean taking the risk of a booking. A law-bound nation that is shy of direct contact football.
Yet here too, my friends in Portugal have a lot to give us – they can inspire a total shake-up in English football – they can even help us get over our reticence to play energised football. We do not need yet more institutes of governance; we need a change of philosophy.
Fr Riccardo
Congratulations to both the author and to Prospect for this excellent and timely essay. While I don’t agree with all the authors opinions, particularly with respect to his views on the role of markets and private capital in sports, I think he does a great job highlighting the disconnect between how sport is positioned in our social and cultural cannon and its true importance therein.
From a different angle, I have been making very similar arguments for some time now as to how the financial world refuses (illogically) to accept sports “risk” as worthy of serious consideration. I know this disdain comes from the same bias so ably articulated by David Goldblatt that sports “are just games” and dealing in the associated risks is (even worse) “just betting”. That those in finance miss the enormity of the irony of this view just makes it that much more fascinating (and frustrating!)
…or even
our social and cultural “canon”, sorry!
Too late. Sport has already been “taken seriously”… by global capitalism. The hysteria that pervades football, the narcotics that pervade cycling, the money that pervades the Olympic ‘Movement’ add that and more to the dumb, impotent consumerism of the ‘fan’ and you get the sports fascism, being spread like a plague via TV/internet. The only thing that decent sensible people can do in this face of this onslaught is refuse to consume. And have as little involvemnt as possible with organised sport.
To David Goldblatt
You seem to be saying that we must take sports seriously but you seem to forget that sport is being taken seriously a long time ago in several parts of the world, and I dare to say, even in England. There are several academic publications on the issue, from several perspectives: sociology, management, pedagogy, etc, etc. And a lot of good books about it in England, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and within several Eastern countries.
I could bet that the apparent dismissal of sport by the so-called political and intellectual elite is a mere illusion. They were probably as much engaged with it as everyone else. But I am guessing that the problem was that English social class driven society did not approve of aristocracy enjoying a so called lower class leisure activity.
Nevertheless, this happened mainly with football since in the case of tennis, a high society sports, adherence was not a problem.
We seem to agree that Sport appeared as an instrument of character building but probably disagree in everything else. Sport took over society long before the commercialization, through sports clubs, an institution that you completely ignore in your article.
Sport is a total social phenomena, it incorporates all features of the social world. Professions, leisure, health, education, justice, whatever. It can be spontaneous and formal. It can be a business and just a game. It can become everything that society is.
A little question? Can you come up with a universal definition of sports? Do you consider jogging sports? Do you consider going to the gym as a sports? Can going to the gym be sports for some and just physical activity for others?
As for the tv commentators, they’re just doing their job. Yes, sports press writing quality sucks most time. But so does most press targeted for the masses. Please don’t try to intellectualize sports.
It’s like you say, “it turns to dust”.
But if you want to join the large amount of people that have been taken sports seriously for a long time, then you need to take things more seriously.
Kind regards
andré
this is a good initiative . it has been tried before by Rex Bellamy in the Times in the 70’s who had an occasional column on sport politics which looked at the broader picture Sadly it did not last long . Also Simon Jenkins writes very well on the subject from time to time.
Frustrated socialists like David Conn use their columns on sport as a means of attacking the free market- failing to recognise that the Platini agenda is an attempt to recapture power from the market and relocate it within their own untransparent and undemocrtic governing bodies .It is to be hoped that Prospect avoids this approach
Good academic research is now available which shows up the false threat of globalisation. UCD have demonstrated that free movement of footballers creates more winners than losers – by far.
What really needs exposure rather than the private sector is the murky relations between sport and government.Governing bodies can be seen in the same light as non dom donors to political parties or multi nationals when allocating their staging rights to competing countries . This creates bedfellows of Ecclestone and Blair and it continues with Brown’s charm offensive to a FIFA official recently branded as a most unreliable witness in a n American court .
Hopefully prospect contributors will give this aspect of sport their attention
Do you got anything of the Francis Schaefer?
Very nice article…!