Kent Academic Repository Full text document (pdf) Citation for published version Pollock, Benjin (2021) Three-sided Football and the Alternative Soccerscape: A Study of Sporting Space, Play and Activism. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, University of Kent,. DOI Link to record in KAR https://kar.kent.ac.uk/86739/ Document Version UNSPECIFIED Copyright & reuse Content in the Kent Academic Repository is made available for research purposes. Unless otherwise stated all content is protected by copyright and in the absence of an open licence (eg Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher, author or other copyright holder. Versions of research The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record. Enquiries For any further enquiries regarding the licence status of this document, please contact: [email protected] If you believe this document infringes copyright then please contact the KAR admin team with the take-down information provided at http://kar.kent.ac.uk/contact.html Three-sided Football and the Alternative Soccerscape: A Study of Sporting Space, Play and Activism Abstract: Three teams, three goals, and one ball. Devised as an illustrative example of ‘triolectics’, Danish artist and philosopher Asger Jorn conceived of three-sided football in 1962. However, the game remained a purely abstract philosophical exercise until the early 1990s when a group of anarchists, architects and artists decided to play the game for the first time. Since these early experiments three-sided football has been played across the globe, from ‘anarchist’ football festivals in Germany, contemporary art installations in France, through to youth outreach programs in Colombia. Far beyond its emergent context, and as a codified and formalised sport, the game continues to resonate for a myriad of social actors in search of alternative ways to play and live in contemporary culture. This thesis provides the first ethnography into three-sided football. In doing so, it privileges much needed player perspectives on how DIY initiatives are attempting to redefine football in response to the hyper commodification of the elite two-sided game. More broadly, this research is an exploration of how societal alternatives (sporting or otherwise) are imagined, produced, fragmented, and transformed as popular practices in the ‘fully lived’ space. Further, how such spaces are comprised of individual and collective social agencies which respond, and adapt to, pre-existing structures, inherited symbolic practices and received cultural logics. Drawing from forty-four semi-structured interviews with players, coaches, curators and activists from across the social field, this research is situated within the recent contestations over the games trajectory. This demonstrates the complex social dynamics and ‘narrative horizons’ at play as the three-sided football community has grappled with how best to foster inclusive, less competitive sporting spaces. Also, how the ‘strategic appropriation’ of the practice within pedagogical settings has offered a sustainable future for the game. In highlighting the heterotopic, dynamic and ontologically uncertain status of three-sided football, this thesis argues that the game offers participants multiple and competing forms of ‘practical consciousness’ through which to remake the world; be that as a ‘desportized’ form of football, as an absurd and playful spatial intervention, or as a form of community engagement. Word Count: 90306 Date of Final Submission: February 2020 School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research Benjin Pollock Three-sided Football and the Alternative Soccerscape Three-sided Football and the Alternative Soccerscape: A Study of Sporting Space, Play and Activism Benjin Pollock PhD Sociology 2020 1 Benjin Pollock Three-sided Football and the Alternative Soccerscape Acknowledgments Despite my name appearing as the sole author of this project, in many ways PhD’s are co-authored and collaborative. Therefore, respect due to all three sided footballers who were involved in this project. Without your reflections, generosity and time this project would be nothing. Further respect due to the University of Kent for fully funding this research. Also, to my supervisors David Nettleingham and Vince Miller who kept faith with the project in its more expansive and sprawling iterations! Lastly, maximum respect goes to Ambar Sethi who found me in the archives of the May Day Rooms and shared this journey with me. Onwards Comrades! 2 Benjin Pollock Three-sided Football and the Alternative Soccerscape Abstract Three teams, three goals, and one ball. Devised as an illustrative example of ‘triolectics’, Danish artist and philosopher Asger Jorn conceived of three-sided football in 1962. However, the game remained a purely abstract philosophical exercise until the early 1990s when a group of anarchists, architects and artists decided to play the game for the first time. Since these early experiments three-sided football has been played across the globe, from ‘anarchist’ football festivals in Germany, contemporary art installations in France, through to youth outreach programs in Colombia. Far beyond its emergent context, and as a codified and formalised sport, the game continues to resonate for a myriad of social actors in search of alternative ways to play and live in contemporary culture. This thesis provides the first ethnography into three-sided football. In doing so, it privileges much needed player perspectives on how DIY initiatives are attempting to redefine football in response to the hyper commodification of the elite two-sided game. More broadly, this research is an exploration of how societal alternatives (sporting or otherwise) are imagined, produced, fragmented, and transformed as popular practices in the ‘fully lived’ space. Further, how such spaces are comprised of individual and collective social agencies which respond, and adapt to, pre-existing structures, inherited symbolic practices and received cultural logics. Drawing from forty-four semi-structured interviews with players, coaches, curators and activists from across the social field, this research is situated within the recent contestations over the games trajectory. This demonstrates the complex social dynamics and ‘narrative horizons’ at play as the three-sided football community has grappled with how best to foster inclusive, less competitive sporting spaces. Also, how the ‘strategic appropriation’ of the practice within pedagogical settings has offered a sustainable future for the game. In highlighting the heterotopic, dynamic and ontologically uncertain status of three-sided football, this thesis argues that the game offers participants multiple and competing forms of ‘practical consciousness’ through which to remake the world; be that as a ‘desportized’ form of football, as an absurd and playful spatial intervention, or as a form of community engagement. 3 Benjin Pollock Three-sided Football and the Alternative Soccerscape Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................. 3 Table of Figures.................................................................................................. 5 List of Abbreviations .......................................................................................... 7 Glossary of Tactics ............................................................................................. 8 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 20 Literature Review 1. The Alternative Soccerscape ........................................................................ 51 2. The Production of Space, Situationism and Creative Activism ...................... 84 Methodology 3. From Excessive Player to Excessive Pundit ................................................. 118 4. Approaches and Reflections ....................................................................... 129 Analysis 5. Definitive Tensions ..................................................................................... 161 6. Play and Politics ......................................................................................... 204 7. Afterlife ..................................................................................................... 240 Conclusions: ................................................................................................... 280 Bibliography ................................................................................................... 298 Appendix:Participant Details .......................................................................... 337 4 Benjin Pollock Three-sided Football and the Alternative Soccerscape Table of Figures Figure 1. Flyer from first known 3SF game in 1993. ............................................................................. 14 Figure 2. Letterist 3SF Manifesto 2016. ................................................................................................ 15 Figure 3. Edinburgh Situationist Disunited Online Flyer 2018. ............................................................. 16 Figure 4. Altus 2011 3SF Experiments #1. ............................................................................................. 17