British Asians and Football: Culture, Identity, Exclusion/Daniel Burdsey
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British Asians and Football Many British Asians play football at an amateur level, but only a very few have achieved professional status. Representing the first major study into this issue, this book examines the real-life experiences of British Asians in football, and considers the reasons for their marginal place in the British national game. Based on original ethnographic research, this work explores key issues for debate, including: • stereotyping, cultural assumptions and popular explanations for British Asian under-representation; • racism in English football, the impact of 9/11 and rising Islamophobia; • the experiences of British Asian professional players – life, lifestyle and identity; • expressions of masculinity in young British Asian culture; • the meaning of sport – ‘race’, nation, culture and citizenship; and • institutional and policy responses to racism and inequality – clubs, governing bodies and campaigns. Presenting original research into a largely neglected area of study, British Asians and Football offers new insight into what it means to be young, male, British and Asian. For students, researchers and policymakers interested in the sociology and politics of ‘race’, identity, social values and sport, this is essential reading. Daniel Burdsey is Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Sport and Leisure at the University of Brighton. Routledge Critical Studies in Sport Series Editors Jennifer Hargreaves and Ian McDonald University of Brighton The Routledge Critical Studies in Sport series aims to lead the way in developing the multi-disciplinary field of Sport Studies by producing books that are interrog- ative, interventionist and innovative. By providing theoretically sophisticated and empirically grounded texts, the series will make sense of the changes and challenges facing sport globally. The series aspires to maintain the commitment and promise of the critical paradigm by contributing to a more inclusive and less exploitative culture of sport. Also available in this series: Understanding Lifestyle Sports Consumption, identity and difference Edited by Belinda Wheaton Why Sports Morally Matter William J Morgan Fastest, Highest, Strongest A critique of high-performance sport Rob Beamish and Ian Ritchie Sport, Sexualities and Queer/Theory Edited by Jayne Caudwell Physical Culture, Power, and the Body Edited by Jennifer Hargreaves and Patricia Vertinsky British Asians and Football Culture, identity, exclusion Daniel Burdsey First published 2007 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business 2007 Daniel Burdsey All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Burdsey, Daniel, 1976– British Asians and football: culture, identity, exclusion/Daniel Burdsey. p. cm. – (Routledge critical studies in sport) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Discrimination in sports – Great Britain. 2. Asians – Great Britain. 3. Soccer – Great Britain. I. Title. II. Series. GV706.32.B87 2006 796.3340941 – dc22 2006015262 ISBN 0-203-41352-0 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 10: 0-415-39500-3 (hbk) ISBN 10: 0-203-96686-4 (ebk) ISBN 13: 978-0-415-39500-7 (hbk) ISBN 13: 978-0-203-96686-0 (ebk) Contents Series editors’ preface vii Acknowledgements ix 1 Introduction 1 2 Myths, stereotypes and discourses surrounding the exclusion of British Asian professional footballers 16 3 Racial discrimination and white privilege in English football 39 4 Ethnicity, hybridity and cultural capital 61 5 Identity, diaspora and citizenship 79 6 British Asians and anti-racism in English football I: strategies and symbolism 100 7 British Asians and anti-racism in English football II: case studies and critique 118 8 Concluding remarks 142 Notes 155 References 160 Index 179 Series editors’ preface In 1996, the ‘Asians Can’t Play Football’ report hit the desks of the football authorities. If British football was to live up to its claim to be at the forefront of combating racism and the embodiment of multi-culturalism, it was acknowledged that something had to be done to open up the pathways to professional football for aspiring young British Asians. But in the 10 years to 2006, although there were improved opportunities for some British Asians in different areas of life and culture, there was no significant increase in their numbers in professional football. During that period, a generation of British Asian football hopefuls passed through their formative years as the early teenagers of 1996 became the twenty-somethings of 2006, but in spite of the many projects and initiatives aimed at eliminating discrimination and nurturing inclusion, an upsurge of British Asians in the professional game simply did not take place. This situation is the focus of Dan Burdsey’s timely and important book, British Asians and Football: Culture, Identity and Exclusion. In his analysis, Burdsey places the question of the low level of British Asian football players firmly within the social and political milieu of the time, taking account of the particular problems and uncertainties facing British Asians following the political backwash from the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington and 7 July 2005 bombings in London, the intensification of Islamaphobia, and a generalised atmosphere of suspicion towards all the diverse British Asian communities. In his book Burdsey addresses the highly sensitive and complex dynamics of ‘culture, identity and exclusion’ that are relevant to professional football in Britain as well as to broader society. Through meticulous fieldwork, including numerous interviews and participant observations, Burdsey was able to spend time listening first hand to the experiences of British Asian football players at different professional and amateur levels of the game, to ‘get under their skins’, and to represent them through his text. He also interviewed administrators of the game and those in leadership positions in the anti-racism football movement. As a result, he has produced a book that interrogates assumptions about under-representation, is interventionist through the telling of previously untold stories, and is innovative by way of a very detailed development of previous academic arguments about football and anti-racism that includes original material and sophisticated analysis. viii Series editors’ preface The British Asian participants in his book were keen for Burdsey to ‘tell their story’, to expose the myths about an ethnically-based disinterest in the game and to explain the reasons for their strong feelings of exclusion based on racial discrimination. They recognize that they do not have an ‘official’ voice in the places where decisions are made about football development and that this book can provide an alternative, non-establishment, more honest and accurate version of the situation. As Series Editors we share these views. It is a vindication of one persons’ privileged position being used to progressive effect. Although Burdsey is not authentically ‘part of’ the culture that he investigates, he has chosen to use his authoritative ‘speaking position’ as a white academic to articulate the needs and desires of those whose voices have generally been ignored. We hope that this text stimulates interest amongst researchers, lecturers and students and is given requisite space on the curriculum in the expanding disciplinary field of Sport Studies. We also hope that it will act as a catalyst and encourage a new generation of British Asian scholars to undertake research into sport. And most of all, we hope that the book will kick-start a radical debate based on the actual experiences, needs, and wishes of British Asian footballers themselves, as well as reigniting discussions about the need for change in the football industry that was promised a decade ago but not delivered. Jennifer Hargreaves and Ian McDonald University of Brighton Series Editors Acknowledgements Huge thanks are due to the following people whose assistance and encouragement have been invaluable in the production of this book: Jennifer Hargreaves and Ian McDonald for inviting me to write a book for their series and for their ideas, encouragement and support in bringing this to fruition; Gary Armstrong who, along with Jennifer Hargreaves, supervised the doctoral thesis on which this book is based – their support and advice were invaluable throughout, especially in helping me to think differently and critically about social phenomena; Les Back and Ian Robinson who examined the thesis and offered some very helpful comments and advice on how to turn a Ph.D. dissertation into a book; friends and colleagues in the international research group on Anti- racist Discourses – Mark Alleyne, Hemant Shah, Ingrid Lehmann, Liesbet van Zoonen, Jairo Lugo, Karina Horsti,