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Football, Nationalism and Globalization: A Comparison of England & Italy. Professor Roger Penn Lancaster University. Conceptual Beginnings: Football Based on Nationality and Nationalism. Nationalism, nations and nationality all have a long pedigree historically
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Football, Nationalism and Globalization: A Comparison of England & Italy Professor Roger Penn Lancaster University
Conceptual Beginnings: Football Based on Nationality and Nationalism • Nationalism, nations and nationality all have a long pedigree historically • Nationalism received considerable impetus from the French Revolution, not just in Europe but also in Central and South America • It grew throughout the C19th ~ the unification of Italy and Germany • It accelerated after 1918 and again after 1945
Conceptual Beginnings: Football based on Nationality and Nationalism • From its inception football has been powerfully affected by nationalism and national templates • Football clubs competed in national leagues • Football club’s players, coaches, owners and spectators generally came from the same nation • Football was regulated by national federations • Football became international within a decade of its codification • This became institutionalized once national federations formed international governing bodies and organized international competitions • This was the template/axial principle for football historically
Globalization I • Football spread from its origins as a codified sport in Britain to a wide range of global destinations within a matter of decades • The game spread from Britain as a result of British commercial and economic imperialism • Examples: railways [Peñarol, Rosario Central], textiles [AC Milan], expatriates [Genoa] and former school pupils [Newall’s Old Boys] • This took place within a system of nation states
Globalization II • This is a complex concept [or set of concepts] • We can define globalization as a process whereby football takes on an increasingly global form • Clubs compete in supra-national leagues • Players, coaches, owners and spectators cease to be nationally exclusive but come from a plethora of national [geographic] origins
Globalization III • The growth of globalization is seen as an emergent/dominant feature of the modern world • Football is seen as an exemplar of these changes • The presentation explores these ideas in relation to football in England and Italy • This is an extension of earlier work comparing other aspects of English & Italian football • It compares the trajectories of the two countries using a mix of quantitative, historical and hermeneutic approaches
Nationality of English Premier League Squads [2010/11 Season]
Nationality of Managers of English Division 1 Squads, 1970-1
Nationality of Managers of Premier League Squads 1970 & 2010
Nationality of Owners of English First Division Clubs, 1970-1
Italian Diaspora • 25 million emigrants from Italy since unification in 1870 • 9 million between 1900 and 1915 • 20 million Argentines of Italian descent [17.8 million in the USA] • 25 million Brazilians of Italian descent • 50% of Uruguayan population of Italian descent
Symbiosis of South American Footballers & Italy •1930 World Cup Final teams: • Argentina ~ 3 emigrated to play in Serie A [I played for Italy in the 1934 Final] • Uruguay ~ 2 went to play in Italy • 1934 Italian team who won the World Cup Final against Czechoslovakia had 3 former Argentine internationals in their team • 1950 Uruguayan winners provided two subsequent Italian international players • 1962 Italian World Cup squad contained 2 former Brazilian and 2 former Argentine international players ~ all were strikers! • Foreigner players banned in Serie A from 1965-1980
Nationality of Serie A Players, 1930s & 1950s [Champions Only]
Nationality of Coaches in Serie A, 1930s & 1950s [Champions Only]
Nationality of Italian Serie A Managers/Coaches [2010/11 Season]
Italian Owners of Serie A Clubs: 1930-2010
Trajectories of Non-British Players, Managers & Owners in English Football’s Top Tier
Trajectories of Non- Italian Players, Managers & Owners in Serie A
Conclusions • The trajectories of nationalism and globalization are significantly different between England and Italy • Italian football was much more global in scope than English football in the 1930s and 1950s: this was powerfully affected by the enormous Italian diaspora in South America [but not in North America] • Italian clubs utilized foreign coaches in large numbers in the 1930s and 1950s: however, they have progressively disappeared since that time • Italian clubs remain exclusively in Italian ownership [Italian capitalism is far more autarkic partly as result of the legacy of Mussolini’s corporatism]
Conclusions • In England the trajectories of players, managers and owners all follow a very similar pattern • English football was almost entirely British in scope until fairly recently • Over the last 15 years or so foreign players and to a lesser extent managers have come to the Premier League in accelerating numbers • In the last decade the ownership of English clubs has been massively transformed: now two-thirds are in overseas ownership
Conclusions • National templates continue to be important, more so in Italy than currently in England • Globalization has increased in English football but significantly less so in Italy • Historic connections based upon mass emigration continue to be important in Italy: this evidenced by the continuing flow of South American players there
Data Sources • Rothman’s [latterly] Sky XXX • Annuario del Calcio Mondiale • Calcio Italia • T. Crouch The World Cup: The Complete History • Wikipedia
References • D. Gabacci Italy’s Many Diasporas • R. Giulianotti & R. Robertson Globalization & Football
