ZÁPADOČESKÁ UNIVERZITA V PLZNI FAKULTA PEDAGOGICKÁ KATEDRA ANGLICKÉHO JAZYKA ANGLICKÁ IDENTITA VE FOOTBALE BAKALÁŘSKÁ PRÁCE Matěj Živčák Specializace v pedagogice, obor Anglický jazyk se zaměřením na vzdělávání Vedoucí práce: Bc. et Mgr. Andew Tollet, M.Litt. Plzeň 2021 UNIVERSITY OF WEST BOHEMIA FACULTY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ENGLISH IDENTITY IN FOOTBALL BACHELOR THESIS Matěj Živčák Supervisor: Bc. et Mgr. Andew Tollet, M.Litt. Plzeň 2021 Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci vypracoval samostatně s použitím uvedené literatury a zdrojů informací. V Plzni dne………………. ........................................................... Matěj Živčák ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my utmost gratitude to my supervisor Bc. et Mgr. Andrew Tollet, M.Litt. for his invaluable counsel and kind guidance which he has provided me with throughout writing this thesis. Thank you with all my heart. ABSTRACT Živčák, Matěj. University of West Bohemia. June 2021. English Identity in Football. Supervisor: Bc. et Mgr. Andrew Tollet, M.Litt. The thesis deals with football in England and aims to discover more about people who follow the game, and their motivation and opinions on certain issues that are connected to football in England, with specific reference to the English Premier League. The thesis is divided in five chapters. The first three chapters introduce to the theory and background that is connected to football. The last two chapters deal with the method and results of the research, some of which were surprising while others confirmed certain assumptions based on the background readings or author’s own opinion. Keywords: club, fan, football, identity, player, Premier League TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1 1 FOOTBALL AND IDENTITY ..................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 IDENTITY AND ITS CONSTRUCTION ................................................................................................ 2 1.1.1 Identity ...................................................................................................................... 2 1.1.2 Construction of Identity............................................................................................. 2 1.2 FOOTBALL AND ITS MEANINGS ..................................................................................................... 3 1.2.1 Football in society ...................................................................................................... 4 1.2.2 Football the people’s game ....................................................................................... 5 1.3 FOOTBALL AND PLACE ................................................................................................................ 5 1.3.1 Significance of a Stadium ........................................................................................... 6 1.3.2 Club versus Country debate ...................................................................................... 7 2 THE PREMIER LEAGUE ........................................................................................................................ 8 2.1 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL IN ENGLAND ............................................... 8 2.1.1 The Beginnings ........................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2 Establishment of the Premier League ....................................................................... 9 2.2 THE PREMIER LEAGUE AND MEDIA ............................................................................................. 10 2.3 ECONOMY IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE ............................................................................................ 11 3 PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYERS ..................................................................................................... 12 3.1 FOREIGN PLAYERS AND THE PREMIER LEAGUE .............................................................................. 12 3.2 SPORTING PERFORMANCE ......................................................................................................... 13 3.3 FOOTBALL HEROES ................................................................................................................... 14 3.4 FOOTBALL PLAYER AS A CELEBRITY .............................................................................................. 15 3.4.1 Football celebrities and social media ...................................................................... 17 4 SURVEY METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 18 5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................. 19 5.1 REASONS BEHIND CLUB SUPPORT ................................................................................................ 19 5.2 CLUB VERSUS COUNTRY ............................................................................................................ 22 5.2.1 Premier League versus The English National Team ................................................. 24 5.3 PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYERS ........................................................................................................ 26 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................ 33 LIST OF REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 35 APPENDIX A – PREAMBLE .......................................................................................................................... I APPENDIX B – QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................................................. II APPENDIX C – RESPONDENTS’ PROFILES ............................................................................................ V SHRNUTÍ .......................................................................................................................................... XVIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AV = Aston Villa FC EPL = English Premier League FA = Football Association MU = Manchester United FC POTS = Player Of The Season Rx = Respondent number x STH = Southampton FC TH = Tottenham Hotspur FC LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Why people support their clubs ........................................................................... 19 Figure 2 - Is the club's success more important than the success of the national team? ..... 22 Figure 3 - non-English players in the Premier League ........................................................ 25 Figure 4 - Do footballers care more about their personal success more than the success of a team? ............................................................................................................... 29 Figure 5 - Is it appropriate for famous footballers to use their fame to comment on political or social issues of the day? ............................................................................. 31 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Football is arguably the most popular sport in England and has a great impact on English people on many levels, including helping them connect with others who share the same passion for the same team or unite in national pride when the national team achieves success. For many people, allegiance to a football club could be compared to a religion: they follow their club every week, “worship” the players and managers, compose songs about them and are willing to travel abroad to see them play live if the club is playing in a European competition. The English Premier League is considered to be the best football league in the world and the majority of footballers have the dream and goal of playing in this competition. The league attracts enormous media attention which enables the clubs and players competing in it to have a global impact, as well as gain followers from all over the world. The first chapter of the thesis introduces the issue of the relationship between football and identity. It proposes a basic theory behind identity and its construction, the impact that football has on a person’s identity, some of the problems related to football’s role in society and how football and place are related. The second chapter focuses on the English Premier League, providing a brief history of English football and how one of the best sports leagues in the world was established. This is followed by a basic overview of the relationship between the media and the Premier League’s financing. The third chapter introduces the issue of professional football players in the Premier League. Here the focus is on the way the players may be viewed by the public, the issue of foreigners in the league, as well as the status of the players and their impact on people. The fourth and fifth chapter form the practical section of the work. The fourth chapter focuses on the method used during the research, while the fifth chapter presents the results of the research, and offers additional information linked to the main points of the first three chapters. 1 1 FOOTBALL AND IDENTITY Since the beginnings of football its link to society