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.
No More BS: It's Boycotts this time, at West Ham
It's a fall of unrest in East London again. Hammers United, the largest organized fan group at West Ham United, has so far refrained from calling on members of the board or the CEO to resign. Until now. They have launched the campaign "No More BS," targetted specifically at CEO Karen Brady, the B, and chairman David Sullivan, the S. Beyond leafleting, black balloons or protest marches before games, Hammers United are for the first time calling for a match boycott, at West Ham’s next home game, against Brentford on Monday 20th. British media has piled on, with an unprecedented level of scrutiny highlighting the chaotic conditions at West Ham United since Sullivan took over, and the since the move to the London Stadium in 2016. Reason enough to check in again with Andy Payne. He is a chair of the Fan Advisory board, an institution that every Premier League club now must have, and the joint secretary of Hammers United. What’s happening, how, and why?
HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:
Andy Payne on X/twitter
Hammers United on Facebook
Hammers United on the protests
Jacob Steinberg on the protests in The Guardian
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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/