"The era is brought to life by the accounts of Albanians who lived through it, which capture the importance of football to a populace starved of any other source of communal enjoyment. The otherworldliness and innate cruelty of the Stalinist regime provide a terrifying backdrop to their tales," reads the blurb for Phil Harrison's book The Hermit Kingdom: Football Stories from Stalinist Albania. Albania, on the far eastern edge of Europe, followed a rather unique path through the Cold War - and has a unique soccer culture to match that period. Caught between Russia, China and neighboring Yugoslavia, in a country that outlawed religion for all intents and purposes, the stories from Albania between 1946 and 1991 offers the use of pigeons by fan groups, evil Yugoslavian radios, an almost World Cup qualifier, and an erratic dictatorial regime that proudly practiced Stalinism long after Stalin was dead.
More than nostalgia or chronology, Harrison's book takes us into the stadiums and the city squared of a remote country in a remote time.
This episode also features a brief audio reportage from listeners Dan and Archie, who attended the Europa Conference League game Slovan Bratislava vs Sturm Graz - and 3 Albanian contributions to the Eurovision Song Contest.
HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:
Inside the Hermit Kingdom: Football Stories from Stalinist Albania (Pitch Publishing, 2024)
Phil Harrison on twitter/X
Partizani vs Tirana, Albanian Championship 1971 (Youtube video)
Vlaznia vs. Besa, 1972 Albanian Cup Final, 2nd Leg (2-2 on aggregate); Vllaznia win 5-3 on penalties. Ramazan Rragami becomes a world record holder, scoring 7 penalties in a Cup Final (Youtube video)
Hamdi Salihi, in Albania vs Montenegro, 2011 (Youtube video)
Jonida Maliqi - Ktheju Tokës (Albania at Eurovision, 2019)
Albina & Familja Kelmendi - Duje (Albania at Eurovision, 2023)
Anxhela Peristeri - Karma (Albania at Eurovision, 2021)
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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/