A-Infos (en) Britain, Aanarchist journal Direct Action #40 - Comment: Take back the people’s game +

How capitalism has colonised football and stolen it from the workers ---- FC 
United players, celebrating a second successive promotion ---- With the new 
football season already upon us, it's obvious that the sport is, more than ever, 
infected by cynical profiteering and burgeoning corporate interests with 
ordinary supporters treated with disdain and contempt. ---- The success of clubs 
is increasingly dictated by the ill-gotten fortunes of their respective owners, 
not to mention their ability to exploit their club's commercial potential 
worldwide. The final league position of teams at the end of the season is 
becoming ever more predictable as clubs outside the top 4 or 5 in England, or 
the top 2 in Scotland, cannot compete financially or otherwise with their more 
illustrious rivals.

Market forces have effectively rendered games between clubs in the same league 
as encounters of David and Goliath proportions. This parallels closely the high 
street grocery market where the big supermarkets have monopolised, obliterating 
smaller concerns in the process.

Teams at lower levels that do not attract the lucrative sponsorship deals of 
those in the top flight struggle to survive. A rising number entering 
administration have subsequently been punished with large points deductions by 
the league administrators and, in Boston United's case, relegation. In these 
less glamorous climes, clubs are faced with having to sell or release players in 
order to survive. As with all other areas of capitalist society, the wealth at 
the top fails to trickle down. The top clubs, however, in true parasitical form, 
rely heavily on the lower leagues to supply a large proportion of their players.

Top stars such as David Beckham have become celebrity media icons, groomed as 
huge marketing commodities for fashion houses and brand labels. The football 
grounds themselves have also been progressively transformed into massive 
advertising hoardings. Lush corporate suites developed for affluent supporters 
and corporate hospitality events contrast markedly with the stark facilities 
endured by ordinary fans.

The sordid world of transfers between top clubs is blighted with a culture of 
shady deals, unscrupulous agents and widespread allegations of 'bungs' to secure 
players' signatures. The cut-throat battle to stave off the indignity of 
relegation and cultivate success comes at a high cost and, needless to say, it 
is the fans who pay the price.

Prices for Premier League games have spiralled to such a degree that those on 
modest incomes are being priced out to fund the massive transfer fees and the 
wages of players. Manchester United's season ticket holders found their loyalty 
rewarded with a 12% hike in prices for the present season, with a further 
condition being that they are now automatically charged for their seat for some 
cup games whether they wanted to attend the match or not.
<image>
Leeds United Chairman Ken Bates,
asking the referee for a loan

The extortionate costs of ever-changing branded replica shirts (invariably 
bearing the name of the club's sponsor) and other paraphernalia aimed at 
supporters is understandably the cause of further consternation. That many of 
the leading sport brand labels such as Nike rely heavily on cheap sweatshop 
labour for their products goes without saying.

On a positive note fans are not taking all this lying down. The proliferation of 
fanzines and web forums has given fans a voice and promoted friendships and 
solidarity. Games have been boycotted in protest against inflated ticket prices, 
and protests organised against club owners. Manchester United fans, in response 
to the Glazer family's takeover of the club, plastered the city with 'Love 
United, Hate Glazer' stickers. One breakaway group went further and formed 
non-league club, FC United of Manchester, their adopted motto being "making 
friends not millionaires".

There are still, of course, many obvious areas for improvement. Although 
violence between supporters of rival clubs seems to be on the wane, it is still 
sadly evident, as is the far-right and tabloid-fuelled jingoism which afflicts 
the national game. Sexism in the sport is also ubiquitous, reinforced robustly 
by the right wing media. Women's football, although in the ascendancy, receives 
considerably diminished coverage. The tabloid/celebrity mags coverage of WAG's 
shopping, dieting or vicarious affairs, reduces the role of women to that of 
devalued accessories. The soft porn of Nuts, FHM and page 3 casts females as 
cheap objects of lust and titillation. Enduring proof, if it were ever needed, 
that capitalism doesn't just oppress us on the basis of social class.

As with workplace issues, the collective ability of supporters to resist the 
forces of darkness relies upon solidarity, organisation and a common recognition 
of the prevailing political, social and economic interests conspiring against 
us. This also entails challenging reactionary elements within our own ranks.

The players, (not all of whom are pampered millionaires, quite the opposite), 
also need rank and file organisation to fight for greater rights in an industry 
where, like other workers, they are treated as commodities which can be 
discarded with impunity once they have fulfilled their perceived usefulness.
It is high time the people took back the people's game.
-------------------------------------------------------------

contacts

Solfed/IWA internal contacts

National contact point: PO Box 29, South West PDO, Manchester, M15 5HW; 
07984675281; solfed@solfed.org.uk; www.solfed.org.uk
International Workers’ Association: IWA-AIT Secretariat, Poštanski pretinac 6, 
11077 Beograd, SERBIA; Tel; +38(0)163263775 E-mail; secretariado@iwa-ait.org; 
www.iwa-ait.org

locals

     * Bolton: c/o Manchester SolFed
     * Brighton SolFed: c/o SF National contact point
     * Coventry & West Midlands: c/o Northampton SF
     * Edinburgh SolFed: c/o 17 West Montgomery Place, Edinburgh, EH7 5HA; 078 
96 62 13 13; edinburghsf@solfed.org.uk
     * Ipswich: c/o N&E London SF
     * Lancaster: c/o Manchester SolFed
     * Manchester SolFed: PO Box 29, SW PDO, Manchester, M15 5HW; 079 84 67 52 
81; manchestersf@solfed.org.uk; www.manchestersf.org.uk; mail list: 
manchestersf@lists.riseup.net
     * Merseyside: c/o Manchester SolFed
     * Northampton SolFed: c/o The Blackcurrent Centre, 24 St Michael Avenue, 
Northampton, NN1 4JQ; northamptonsf@solfed.org.uk
     * N & E London SolFed: PO Box 1681, London, N8 7LE; nelsf@solfed.org.uk
     * Preston SolFed: PO Box 469, Preston, PR1 8XF; 077 07 25 66 82; 
prestonsf@solfed.org.uk; prestonsolfed.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk
     * Scarborough: c/o West Yorkshire SolFed
     * Sheffield: c/o West Yorkshire SolFed
     * South Herts SolFed: PO Box 493, St Albans, AL1 5TW
     * South London SolFed: PO Box 17773, London, SE8 4WX; 
southlondonsf@solfed.org.uk
     * South West SolFed: c/o SF contact point (above); sws@solfed.org.uk
     * West Yorkshire SolFed: PO Box 75, Hebden Bridge, HX7 8WB; 
wysf@activistnetwork.org.uk

other

     * Catalyst (freesheet): c/o Preston SolFed, PO Box 469, Preston, PR1 8XF; 
077 07 25 66 82; catalyst@solfed.org.uk Catalyst: issue 17: out August 2007
           o Catalyst: SolFed freesheet – issue 15 out now – for single copies 
or bundles see contact details above
     * Education Workers Network: c/o News From Nowhere, 96 Bold St, Liverpool, 
L1 4HY; ewn@ewn.org.uk; www.ewn.org.uk; email list: ewn@lists.riseup.net
           o ‘Education Worker 2007 issue 1’ and ‘Building a Revolutionary Union 
for Education Workers – an Introduction to the Education Workers Network’: 
contact above address to have it delivered
     * SelfEd Collective: c/o Preston; selfed@selfed.org.uk; www.selfed.org.uk 
‘A History of Anarcho-syndicalism’ – 24 pamphlets, downloadable FREE from 
www.selfed.org.uk
     * The Stuff Your Boss does not want you to know - Leaflet: know your rights 
at work; updated version now available online – bundles from the SF contact 
point (see above) for free/donation.

previous 	top 	next

contacts

Friends & neighbours: contact us to get listed

     * 56a Infoshop: Bookshop, records, library, archive, social/meeting space; 
56a Crampton St, London, SE17 3AE; open Thur 2-8, Fri 3-7, Sat 2-6.
     * AK Press: Anarcho books and merchandise of every description; PO Box 
12766, Edinburgh, EH8 9YE; 0131 555 265; ak@akedin.demon.co.uk; www.akuk.com
     * Freedom: Anarchist fortnightly; 84b Whitechapel High St, London, E1 7QX; 
www.freedompress.org.uk
     * www.libcom.org : Online libertarian community and organising resource for 
activists in Britain
     * Organise!: Working Class Resistance freesheet/info; PO Box 505, Belfast, 
BT12 6BQ
     * Resistance: Anarchist Federation freesheet; c/o 84b Whitechapel High 
Street, London, E1 7QX; www.afed.org.uk
     * Stuff your Boss: Anti-casualisation campaign in NW England; 
stuffyourboss@lists.riseup.net; SYB, c/o PO Box 29, SW PDO, Manchester, M15 5HW
     * ToxCat: Exposing polluters, pollution and cover-ups; £2 from PO Box 29, 
Ellesmere Port, CH66 3TX
     * Kate Sharpley Library: full catalogue: BM Hurricane, London, WC1N 3XX; 
www.katesharpleylibrary.net
     * Radical Healthcare Workers: http://radicalhealthcareworkers.wordpress.com/
     * National Shop Stewards Network: http://www.shopstewards.net/
     * Hobnail Review: A guide to small press & alternative publishing from an 
anti-authoritarian and libertarian left perspective. Regular reviews and 
listings publication. Available for two 1st class stamps. Hobnail Press, Box 
208, 235 Earls Court Road, London, SW5 9FE.
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://ainfos.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en