The Assistant Professor of Football: Soccer, Culture, History.
The academic treatment for English-speakers who get that soccer is more than gamedays, stars and goals. Who wonder about the histories, subcultures and politics that make the game so different from many American sports cultures; and who care about a critical take on soccer as a global capitalist machine. A European-guided journey, with one expert "visiting professor" each episode.
The Assistant Professor of Football: Soccer, Culture, History.
1860’s Lions, “Munich’s Great Love” in the 3rd Division (finally with a new microphone!)
Munich is far more than FC Bayern and the Oktoberfest. In fact, it’s actually quite different than those two famous exports suggest. A city of neighborhoods in a region often at odds with wider German culture and politics, and a stubborn drama queen of a soccer club deeply rooted in these neighborhoods are the focus of this episode. With Claus Melchior, one of 1860’s official club historians (who also has written about Baseball, of all things!), we’ll try to capture what kind of culture and history sustains 1860’s tens of thousands of fans and members across 3 different stadiums, 4 leagues and constant internal turmoil.
HELPFUL LINKS for this episode:
Claus Melchior’s books (Die Werkstatt Publishing)
Club History section of 1860 (in German)
Grünwalder Stadion website (in German)
1860 fans marching through the city to the stadium before a cup game against Dortmund (Video)
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Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind
Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/