Dr Stefan Lawrence

As the digital revolution continues apace, emergent technologies and means of communication present new challenges and opportunities for the football industry. This is the first book to bring together key contemporary debates at the intersection of football studies, leisure studies, and digital cultural studies. It presents cutting edge theoretical and empirical work based around four key themes: theorizing digital football cultures; digital football fandom; football and social media; and football (sub)cybercultures. Covering topics such as transnational digital fandom, online abuse, and gender, Digital Football Cultures argues that we are witnessing the hyperdigitalization of the world’s most popular sport. This book is a valuable resource for students and researchers working in leisure studies, sports studies, football studies, and critical media studies, as well as geography, anthropology, criminology, and sociology. It is also fascinating reading for anybody working in sport, media, and culture.

Once described as the ‘cutting edge’ of sport development practice, community sport development (CSD) reflects concern for how conventional club and facility-focused development often failed to realise the ambition of ‘Sport for All’. Community models are central to CSD, born from the realisation that top-down sport policies often fail to address sporting and social exclusion in diverse communities. Current efforts to address inequalities in sport are at risk of reinventing the wheel. Recent policy and initiatives claim newness but may be more accurately identified as a case of ‘old wine in new bottles’ or ‘inititivitis’. As a result, CSD practice has become almost ahistorical. Existing literature provides a thorough account of government intervention and interest in sport development. However, a comprehensive account of CSD as a distinct policy area remains absent. This chapter will address this omission. It will conceptualise CSD as a distinct area of sport development and chart its evolution over the past 40 years. It will address key principles and processes central to future policymaking. Recognising and learning from past CSD efforts and incorporating lessons into future policy will be essential in alleviating persistent sporting and social inequalities.

The significant rise in the number of black male professional footballers, who not only compete at the elite level of English football but who are idolised by football fans across the world, coincided with the beginning of the English Premier League (EPL) in 1992. Ian Wright, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Les Ferdinand, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Paul McGrath, Lucas Radebe and Paul Ince are but a few players of African-Caribbean descent who achieved cult status amongst the fans of their respective clubs for performances in the EPL during the 1990s and early 2000s. For many who hold power within elite football, this ought to be recognised as one of the EPL’s proudest achievements and evidence of a wholehearted embrace of British popular and political discourses of multiculturalism. Richard Scudamore, the Chief Executive of the EPL, for instance, claims in the foreword to Kick It Out’s Equality Standard (2009, p. 6): ‘[W]e believe that the hard work that has gone into tackling racism has been significant in changing the culture of sport both in England and across Europe.’ In the same piece he is also keen to point to EPL clubs’ ‘successful partnerships with their local communities’, ‘effective methods of stewarding and policing’ and ‘robust reporting systems’ as proof of the organisation’s commitment to matters of equality. Indeed, recorded incidents of overt racism in stadia across England have broadly declined since the inception of the EPL and as such, from the dark and murky depths of the 1970s and 1980s, an altogether more glamorous and ‘moral’ footballing culture has seemingly emerged, one that had truly embraced the tag line of ‘the beautiful game’, shedding associations with a troubled past (Bradbury, 2013). However, despite claims from some of football’s glitterati, such as twotime Chelsea and current Manchester United manager José Mourinho and former FIFA President Sepp Blatter, that there is ‘no racism in football’, I will argue throughout this chapter that none of the game’s major stakeholders can withstand a serious evaluation of their conduct without allegations of racialised injustice arising in some form. This claim, which unequivocally and unapologetically contradicts the observations of Mourinho and Blatter, is made because racism is understood throughout this chapter not as a fleeting trivial or occasional event but as a ‘permanent fixture’ of contemporary Western societies, one that continually (re)produces racialised hierarchies in multifaceted and complex ways – both covertly and overtly (Ladson-Billings, 1998, p. 11). Any popular or scholarly positions urging us to read emergent football cultures as ‘sanitised’ (Cleland & Cashmore, 2015) and/or ‘inclusive’ (Adams, 2011; Magrath, Anderson & Roberts, 2013), therefore, must be approached cautiously, especially in the wake of an explosion of hate-speech on social media (Kick It Out, 2015). From seemingly isolated moments of bigotry – such as when a group of white male Chelsea supporters were filmed chanting ‘we’re racist and that’s the way we like it’ as they pushed a black man from a train on the Metro in Paris – to collective, institutional failures – such as the reluctance of 18 (out of 20) EPL clubs to achieve the highest level of Kick It Out’s Equality Standard – racism in football takes many forms and is very much pertinent 25 years after the creation on the EPL. To be clear, the focus of this chapter is not to deny a ‘liberal turn’ has occurred in football fandom, coaching, management and/or administration over the course of the EPL to date – this would be inaccurate. Rather, my intention is to hold liberal doctrines to account, consider how they have shaped anti-discriminatory practices and policies in elite English football, and explain why liberal approaches to ‘race’ equality have failed to achieve the outcomes they profess to desire. In order to do this, I adopt Critical Race Theory (CRT) as my theoretical framework. Rollock and Gillborn (2011, pp. 2-3) state that CRT scholarship is characterised by a common approach that begins with a belief in: (1) the pervasive nature of racism in contemporary Western societies; (2) the everyday operation of white supremacy; (3) the privileging of the voices of black (or minoritised) people; (4) interest convergence as the primary driver in incremental moves towards greater equality; and (5) the intersectionality of various systems of subordination. Therefore, throughout this chapter, I use these tenets to guide an analysis of the EPL and to highlight the dangers associated with reductivist understandings of racialised forms of oppression, which treat racism simply as an obvious, individual, linguistic and altogether conscious phenomenon. Utilising a CRT framework will allow a better comprehension of the complexity of racisms and to understand, in greater depth, how they have adapted to the EPL’s unique late-modern socio-cultural context.

In recent times, the semi-naked male athletic body has become central to the cultural imagination of late modern societies, in turn, inviting comment from social scientists of different shades on the changing gazes of heterosexual men. Interestingly, and despite frequently appearing in sport and leisure media, the racialized aspects of this change are yet to be explored fully. This article, therefore, considers how white heterosexual men (de)construct and (re)attach gendered and sexualized meanings to those male athletic bodies they struggle to define “racially.” Borrowing Gilroy’s use of the term “unruly,” which he employs to capture those moments of multiculture that are hard to “home” culturally or geographically, I refer to this struggle as a process of unruly racialization. After analyzing interviews with twenty-two self-identifying white, British, heterosexual men, this article argues that male bodies racialized as unruly are marked with varying degrees of intrigue, jealously, admiration, and fear. I conclude by reflecting on the extent to which this cultural shift can be read as a move toward a future beyond “race.”

The imperative of this article is to develop the trope of the ‘lockdown imaginary.’ To enact this project, a diverse array of theories and theorist are summoned, including the tropes and trajectories from Jean Baudrillard, Benedict Anderson, and Steve Redhead. This – seemingly – odd intellectual combination is both timely and appropriate. It is necessary – as with the Matryoshka Dolls – to commence with a theorisation of hyperreality, then we crack open the concept to reveal theories of the imagined and imagining, concluding with the smallest and most brutalizing theoretical Dolls: claustropolitanism and foreclosure. From here, a (post) pandemic lockdown is configured, an imagining that transcends the restrictive public health imperatives of COVID-19 and global lockdowns. This article captures the perpetuity of the pandemic. It will never be post. Instead, we argue that the lockdown imaginary will continue to foreclose thought, behaviour, political choices, and life decisions. Through the claustropolitan sociological approach, we chart not only the lockdown imaginary but a way through ‘the end of the world’ by naming its destructive tendencies.

Many different personal, social, and structural factors determine the experience and success of teams in international tournaments. This study aimed to explore some of these factors by looking at similarities and differences in the experiences of two variedly successful Maltese teams involved in international competitions. Athletes from Special Olympics Malta and a Maltese male senior national team participating in the World Games and European Championships respectively were recruited to the study. A total of 11 athletes of Maltese nationality, aged 14-38 years, were interviewed before and after their respective competitions and provided audio diary entries about their experiences during the competitions. Semi-structured interview data and diary entries were transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Results found contrasting attitudes, aspirations, and feelings among participating athletes. How these themes intersect with various layers of influence using an ecological system lens is discussed and provides an insight into what appropriate support structures may benefit Maltese athletes in the future.

The introductory chapter of this handbook serves as a contextual framework for the subsequent sections, highlighting notable recent events that demonstrate the growing influence of sport and leisure in advancing social justice causes. The chapter aims to situate social justice as a political concept typically associated with state intervention in promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion. It documents the dominant leftist perspective that has shaped conventional discourses on social justice, which in turn has strongly influenced political debates within the field of sport and leisure studies. However, the chapter also acknowledges the appropriation of social justice by groups and organisations on the political right, particularly neoliberals, suggesting the need for alternative approaches and a comprehensive understanding of social justice in the specific contexts of sport and leisure studies. It argues for the development and refinement of a more nuanced definition of social justice within these fields as well as developing methodologies that contribute to greater human emancipation.

The introductory chapter of this handbook serves as a contextual framework for the subsequent sections, highlighting notable recent events that demonstrate the growing influence of sport and leisure in advancing social justice causes. The chapter aims to situate social justice as a political concept typically associated with state intervention in promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion. It documents the dominant leftist perspective that has shaped conventional discourses on social justice, which in turn has strongly influenced political debates within the field of sport and leisure studies. However, the chapter also acknowledges the appropriation of social justice by groups and organisations on the political right, particularly neoliberals, suggesting the need for alternative approaches and a comprehensive understanding of social justice in the specific contexts of sport and leisure studies. It argues for the development and refinement of a more nuanced definition of social justice within these fields as well as developing methodologies that contribute to greater human emancipation.

The predominance of the male ‘Other’ on the pages of contemporary sport and leisure print media has become increasingly ordinary over the last decade or so. Many subjugated ethnic groups have utilised sport and leisure stages to challenge the fallacies of psychological and biological inferiority and other ill-founded vestiges of nineteenth-century bio-racist discourses (Carrington, 2002; Hylton, 2009; Messner, 1993). Evidently, whilst ‘black’ females remain underrepresented in media spaces (Knoppers and Elling, 2004), their male counterparts, particularly those of African-Caribbean heritage, have accessed the realm of the popular en masse (Carrington, 2002). The mere presence of these men no longer seems to threaten the status quo of modern Western social democracies; in fact, images of African-Caribbean males are often held as exemplars of neo-liberalism and its fetish for championing quasi-multiculturalism. Indeed, according to some, media consumers only have to open a magazine (Hylton, 2009), switch on the television (Carrington, 2002) or visit the cinema (Giardina, 2003) to experience “a bit of the Other”. Before one is falsely charmed by some gloriously liberating homily of absolute social improvement, it is important to consider the instrumentalism of these developments more critically. This paper therefore aims to address the implications of racialisation in the context of the sport and leisure media and its role in representing athletic bodies in highly stylised and particularised ways. It will be argued that the racialisation of ethnically differing athletic bodies, through modes of photographic and digital manipulation, delivers messages that disadvantage particular ethnic groups, whilst advantaging others. Throughout, racialisation is conceptualised as a process of “categorisation, a representational process of defining an Other, usually, but not exclusively, somatically” (Miles and Brown, 2003: p. 101). For the purpose of this paper, I employ this conception to foreground the negative implications of racialisation.

This paper explores the contemporary nature of association football consumption. In particular, we argue that the coronavirus 2019 pandemic reveals the contemporary and particular nature of the relationship between football and its supporters, which is increasingly focused on the consumption of themed digital participatory experiences. During this pandemic, what fans missed was not only live football, but also the sporting ‘experience’ and the opportunities for participation that this provides. Hence, here we saw fans, clubs and media providers employing new digital technologies to create themed experiences that facilitated (and mediated) participation and interaction. Following Žižek (2014), we suggest that the coronavirus 2019 pandemic can be understood as a global mega event that creates a seismic, reality alerting schism, whose aftermath requires new ontologies and theories. Our response is to utilise a number of key and illustrative examples and to offer a new synthesis of theories and literatures, most notably, on the experience society, theming, participatory culture, neoliberalism and digital culture. This new context and (re)combination of theories then provides a new, and essential, perspective that reveals a great deal about the contemporary nature of the sport, what fans buy into, and also, how this may change post pandemic.

Football is changing. Then again, it always has been; nothing ever stays the same. But at another, deeper level, much also stays the same. The introduction and the subsequent chapters in this book have primarily focused on the changing nature of football and set out a case for understanding digital technologies and changes in audience patterns as key drivers of this. Here, in this final chapter, we wish to take a more cautionary and reflective tone, which, while recognizing the fast pace of cultural change we are witness to in this new millennium, contextualizes this in a consideration of the continuing evolution of football as well as its continuities. The chapter then moves on to consider two key developments in the (possible) near futures of football under the headings of “virtual environments” and “augmenting technologies”. The first considers the possibility of fans being able to attend a “live” football game via virtual reality headsets but concludes that possibly the best “virtual” experience we will get anytime in the near future are football-themed videogames. Second, and finally, we consider how new technologies might be used to enhance or “augment” the fan experience; however, again, we wonder if there is a mismatch here between what is and might be soon possible, and what fans really want? Might it just be that what (most) fans want most of all is simply an uninhibited sightline to the game they love?.

As the digital revolution continues apace, emergent technologies and means of communication have presented new challenges and opportunities for football studies. In turn, researchers active across the social sciences and beyond have responded and are beginning to carve out a new field of study - digital leisure studies. However, despite the growing number of empirical and theoretical papers that consider football and its relationship with digital culture, we are still very much in the early stages of understanding the digitalization of our late modern moment. In this paper, using football as the context to explore the effects of digitalization, we argue that what we call hyper-digitalization has resulted in the emergence of four recognizable trends: (1) cultural resistance to the Murdochization of football spectatorship and news; (2) the integration of the “Internet of Things” (IoT) at every level of the football industry; (3) the naturalization of digital communication across the football industry; and (4) a deep and wide-reaching penetration of deterritorialization processes. We conclude by arguing that we are witnessing clear changes in the way audiences and workforces engage with sport, entertainment, and leisure. To this end, we argue that leisure and football studies must develop empirically, methodologically, and theoretically to better capture the nature of hyper-digitalized societies and the ways audiences are playing with and shifting the boundaries and possibilities for leisure.

While scholars working in the sociology of the gender, body, health, sport and media have begun to address the paucity of research into media representations of men and masculinities, the literature to date has failed consistently to address the racialised aspects of media dwelling male athletic bodies. The same critique can be applied to recent explorations of popular men’s magazine, Men’s Health. Current research has thus systematically underplayed the significance of “race” as a defining feature of idealised, mediated masculinities. During this paper then, I use Critical Race Theory to guide a semiotic analysis of a year’s worth of Men’s Health magazine. Firstly, I argue that white male athletic bodies are represented as idealised masculine types, possessing both the virtues of body and mind, while their black male counterparts, to varying degrees, are depicted as spectacular, violent and hyper-masculine. Secondly, I go on to argue further that this idealisation of the white male athletic body is a reaction to broader social and cultural transformations, indicative of late-modern societies. That is, I suggest Men’s Health’s mantra of self-regulation is better understood as a call to white men to exercise greater embodied control in order to reaffirm jurisdiction and supremacy, during an epoch of uncertainty. Thirdly, following this line of argument, the paper contends that future readings of Men’s Health, and men’s magazines more broadly, must seek to understand better how racialised discourses inform dominant media representations of masculinities.

Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru first appeared on the digital moment's premier provider of visual leisure media, Netflix, in 2016. The feature documentary film chronicles the movements of ‘life coach’ Anthony Jay Robbins as he takes centre stage at one of his residential events, where he speaks to thousands of seemingly adoring fans. Apart from the Netflix documentary, Robbins boasts a host of digital media resources, such as a website, a series of podcasts and a mobile app, which are much more reasonably priced, with some free content. Digital guru media is not merely a term that is useful rhetorically and descriptively. It is a conceptual move, which deliberately and meaningfully marries together terms with ancient and modern etymologies to reimagine the form(s) ‘gurus’ take in late modern (hyper)digital societies and the strategies through which they profess their mantras.

As the digital revolution continues apace, emergent technologies and means of communication have presented new challenges and opportunities for the field of football studies. In turn, researchers active across the social sciences and beyond have responded and are beginning to carve out a new field of study – digital football studies. In the absence of any concentrated review of this field, the purpose of this paper is threefold: (1) to critically revisit previous ‘waves’ of football studies scholarship; (2) to identify themes in current digital football studies scholarship and identify areas for future study; and (3) to begin to map out some theoretical and conceptual traditions that might better equip scholarly enterprises for the study of football, and by association leisure and sport, in the (hyper)digital moment. We also postulate the establishment of digital football studies as a collective enterprise will be especially important for a post-Covid-19 globe given the rapid acceleration towards digital during the pandemic. To this end, we argue that leisure and football studies must develop empirically, methodologically, and theoretically to better capture the nature of (hyper)digitalised societies and the ways audiences are playing with, and shifting, the boundaries and possibilities for football and leisure.

Over the last 20 years or so there has been a proliferation of anti-racist organisations, campaigns and interventions across football at all levels, allied to broader social, cultural and political shifts in late modern digital societies. Indeed, relying on certain statistical data, which reports a decline in racist incidents in stadia, might lead many anti-racist policymakers to champion liberal doctrines and to proclaim football fan cultures as quantitatively ‘less racist’. However, in this article, using Critical Race Theory as a guiding theoretical framework, throughout, we foreground the qualitative experiences and stories of BAME football fans to understand why football fandom and spectatorship remain predominantly ‘White’ activities. Using semi-structured interviews and observational techniques, we explore critically the continued significance of ‘race’ as a mediating factor in football fandom, how BAME football fans negotiate-resist belonging in football fandom cultures and the implications of BAME fans’ testimonies for policymakers. We conclude by arguing for an increase in intersectional research across football/football fan studies, to understand better the racialised aspects of football fandom, and we also urge scholars and policymakers, alike, to place greater emphasis on ‘trust building’ innovations, as opposed to ‘diversity’, given the latter has taken on a commercial value of late.

This book examines the phenomenon of 'digital guru media' (DGM), the self-styled online influencers, life coaches, experts and entrepreneurs who post on the themes of wellness, health and fitness. It opens up new perspectives on digital leisure and internet celebrity culture, and asks important questions about the social, cultural and psychological implications of our contemporary relationship with digital media. Drawing on cutting-edge social theory, the book explores a wide range of contexts in which DGM intersects with digital leisure, from the health-related learning of young people to the 'clean eating' movement, to the online lives of fitness professionals. It seeks to move beyond asking if digital and social media are problematic per se and explores the problems a turn to the Internet could be revealing about the lack of real-world or analogue support, as well as potential solutions, for our wellness, health and fitness needs and wants. Bringing together innovative, multi-disciplinary perspectives, this book is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in leisure studies, media studies, cultural studies, sociology, or health and society.

Racism in football is a long-standing phenomenon that has changed shape and form over time. From individual fans either throwing bananas or making monkey-like sounds to organized neo-Nazi fans celebrating on the terraces, the superiority of all things white, non-white football players has long suffered abuse in football. Overlooked by football’s governing bodies for several decades, racism in football was only highlighted in the early 1990s, when the first anti-racism organizations devoted to tackling racist abuse in sport came to life. Thirty years later, the criminal offence that is racism in football not only is still present, but it has also invaded yet another domain of social life–the digital world. The present article, first, addresses notions pertaining to racism in football, then, considers the criminological aspects of digital racisms and, finally, discusses the impact of digital racisms on football studies.

The Black Country, a region that is only loosely defined geographically, is an area located in the West Midlands of England, which its inhabitants claim holds a distinct geographical and cultural personality. However, despite the territory's perceived uniqueness, popular imaginations of England have often overlooked the Black Country's historical and socio-cultural individuality. Therefore, given those working in a number of disciplines have recognised local football spectator communities to be significant cultural arenas, through which localism is performed and remade, this article explores the role of fandom in imagining, preserving and/or contesting notions of ‘Black Countryness’. Utilising semi-structured interviews, netnography and participant observation, as key methodological techniques, this study explores how local-spectator communities at Walsall Football Club (one of three professional football teams based in the Black Country) continually (re)negotiate a collective sense of local and regional identity. By adopting a critical approach, guided by Hall's notion of ‘cultural identity’, this research, in line with other similar studies, highlights the significant role football fandom plays in imbuing particular locales with meaning. However, more importantly, by understanding football fandom is emergent from complex, productive and interconnected cultural processes, this article is also critical of local football spectator communities and their exclusionary, as well as inclusionary, practices and customs.

This paper introduces a claustropolitan sociology of leisure that seeks to explain how the acceleration of digital technologies reshapes both the experience and the significance of leisure in a post-pandemic context. Drawing on Steve Redhead’s later scholarship and Paul Virilio’s theorisation of speed, collapse, and technological risk, it argues that contemporary leisure is increasingly characterised by foreclosure— a narrowing of possibilities driven by predictive logics embedded in digital systems. The concept of claustropolitanism is presented as the condition of the “locked citizen”, whose leisure environments are governed by commercial digital platforms and bandit algorithms that anticipate, record, and commodify cultural participation. This paper, then, offers both an evolution of cosmopolitan and postmodern approaches to leisure and also a critique of their limits. Finally, it concludes that leisure studies must now grapple with and from inside the claustropolitan condition as the defining feature of a hyper-connected world.

This chapter embarks on a critical naming of, what we call, the 'Banterification' of professional sport clubs’ social media channels. With an emphasis on critical and ethical aspects of communication strategies, the chapter deconstructs how banter is employed as a strategic tool for fan engagement. Drawing on examples from elite sport leagues, the chapter explores the precarious balance between humorous engagement and the risk of causing offence or diluting professional decorum and brand identity. The chapter will raise critical questions about the ethical implications of this form of communication and its possible implications for brand identity and public perceptions of professional sport teams. Finally, it seeks to consider this in the context of a much broader trend of cultural infantilisation, locating the actions of social media managers as both a cause and a symptom of a broader shift indicative of late modern societies.

This is the first book to explore in breadth and in depth the complex intersections between sport, leisure, and social justice. This book examines the relations of power that produce social inequalities and considers how sport and leisure spaces can perpetuate those relations, or act as sites of resistance, and makes a powerful call for an activist scholarship in sport and leisure studies. Presenting original theoretical and empirical work by leading international researchers and practitioners in sport and leisure, this book addresses the central social issues that lie at the heart of critical social science - including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, religious persecution, socio-economic deprivation, and the climate crisis - and asks how these issues are expressed or mediated in the context of sport and leisure practices. Covering an incredibly diverse range of topics and cases - including sex testing in sport; sport for refugees; pedagogical practices in physical education; community sport development; events and human rights; and athlete activism - this book also surveys the history of sport and social justice research, as well as outlining theoretical and methodological foundations for this field of enquiry. The Routledge Handbook of Sport, Leisure and Social Justice is an indispensable resource for any advanced student, researcher, policymaker, practitioner, or activist with an interest in the sociology, culture, politics, history, development, governance, media and marketing, and business and management of sport and leisure.

Arguably, in the last 15 years globalisation fuelled by social media have reshaped how socialisations are fostered and maintained. Moreover, the same processes have had a profound impact on one of the most fundamental emotion of humankind: love. Departing from those assumptions, based on an 18-month (n)ethnography of football supporters of one particular English club in Brazil and Switzerland, I sought to unveil the discourses supporters crafted in relation to their historiographies as cosmopolitan flâneurs. The critical discourse analysis showed that they used both individual and collective stories to craft their biographies as true Liverpool FC supporters. From those findings I argue that individualisation in cosmopolitan times entails a ‘Dasein für ausgewählte Andere’, being this other the re-traditionalised structures of modernity. I conclude by pointing out that precarious freedom does not relate to the necessity of choosing, but to their necessity of constantly legitimising their choices.

Ever since his introduction to the first-­-team at Manchester United FC, Cristiano Ronaldo Dos Santos Aveiro has been recognised as one of the footballing world’s most stand-­-out football players. In turn, Ronaldo has drawn the attention of scholars working across a number of disciplines. While sports economists and sociologists of sport, amongst others, have contributed to a growing literature about Ronaldo and the social implications of his on and off-­-field behaviour, few critical analyses have considered the racialised aspects of Ronaldo’s representations, or how audiences make sense of his racialised or ethnic identity. Using images of Ronaldo, which we presented to and discussed with self-­-identified physically active white British men, we explore what it is representations and audience interpretations of Ronaldo reveal about the complexities of white male identity formation. We do this to understand better how white male identities can be read and interpreted through and in the context of football. Facilitated by our conception of contingent whiteness, we argue that white British men’s interpretations of Ronaldo’s whiteness are inextricably linked to discourses of ‘race’, masculinities and football.

This report is submitted to the Higher Education Academy (HEA) on behalf of the Leisure Studies Association (LSA). The LSA aims to foster research in Leisure Studies; to promote interest in Leisure Studies and advance education in this field; to encourage debate through publications, and an international journal Leisure Studies; to stimulate the exchange of ideas on contemporary leisure issues; to disseminate knowledge of Leisure Studies to create the conditions for better-informed decisions by policy makers. The LSA is a member society of the Academy of Social Sciences.

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate how racism manifests ‘behind closed doors’ in the backstage private domain. We do this with reference to recent high-profile controversies in the US and UK. In particular, we use the concepts of frontstage (public) and backstage (private) racism to unpack the extraordinary case in point of the ex-National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise owner Donald Sterling. The paper concludes that though it is important for frontstage racism to be disrupted, activist scholars must be mindful of the lesser-known, and lesser-researched, clandestine backstage racism that, we argue, galvanises more public manifestations. The Donald Sterling case is an example of how backstage racism functions and, potentially, how it can be resisted.

Over the last 30 years, Critical Race Theory (CRT) has been applied successfully as an analytical framework, through which, to explore matters of “race,” racialization, and subordination in numerous fields. For CRT to continue to be relevant, there is a need to reorient it as a guiding analytical framework, to account for the ubiquity of digital technologies across liberal Western democracies and the ways in which they have radically changed social and cultural production. During this article, we wish to extend this argument further and encourage the development of critical race methodologies (CRMs) fit for the (hyper)digital moment, so we are equipped better to challenge the persistence of racialized hierarchies and the emerging cultural circumstances in which they operate. It identifies the philosophical principles that underpin CRMs and concludes by outlining critical race semiotics (CRS) as an analytical tool dedicated to human emancipation, particular to our highly visual culture.

Leisure is a major sphere of both private and public life. It is thus of concern that the identity and profile of leisure in the Higher Education curriculum of the UK has become less obvious over the past decade. This trend is not peculiar to leisure studies; the social sciences as a whole are considered to be under threat as neo-liberal discourse increasingly informs Higher Education strategic management. The aim of this paper is to investigate the potential reasons for the reduced status of leisure studies in HE institutions within the UK and to contribute to a theoretical basis of a counter-argument for the social and economic benefits of retaining leisure studies as a unifying field. We present a loosely diachronic account of the emergence and growth of leisure studies as a subject field, followed by a discussion of the impact of neo-liberal thinking on UK Higher Education. The principal challenge to leisure studies is to establish its importance and relevance to others within the social sciences. We propose a need for more academics to engage in ideational ‘border crossings’ to advance thinking in different subjects and disciplines; those subjects that may be under threat in the current climate of Higher Education (like leisure studies) may benefit from exploring opportunities to collaborate with those from outside of their immediate subject area.

This chapter embarks on a critical naming of what we call the ‘banterification’ of professional sport clubs’ social media channels. With an emphasis on critical and ethical aspects of communication strategies, the chapter deconstructs how banter is employed as a strategic tool for fan engagement. Drawing on examples from elite sport leagues, the chapter explores the precarious balance between humorous engagement and the risk of causing offence or diluting professional decorum and brand identity. The chapter will raise critical questions about the ethical implications of this form of communication and its possible implications for brand identity and public perceptions of professional sport teams. Finally, it seeks to consider this in the context of a much broader trend of cultural infantilisation, locating the actions of social media managers as both a cause and a symptom of a broader shift indicative of late modern societies.

This chapter embarks on a critical naming of what we call the ‘banterification’ of professional sport clubs’ social media channels. With an emphasis on critical and ethical aspects of communication strategies, the chapter deconstructs how banter is employed as a strategic tool for fan engagement. Drawing on examples from elite sport leagues, the chapter explores the precarious balance between humorous engagement and the risk of causing offence or diluting professional decorum and brand identity. The chapter will raise critical questions about the ethical implications of this form of communication and its possible implications for brand identity and public perceptions of professional sport teams. Finally, it seeks to consider this in the context of a much broader trend of cultural infantilisation, locating the actions of social media managers as both a cause and a symptom of a broader shift indicative of late modern societies.

This article problematises the usage of the term ‘BAME’ (Black Asian and Minority Ethnic) and considers its limitations as a diversity intervention. It draws on sociolinguistics, critical race theories and poststructuralism and is based on interviews with 21 British South Asian people working at senior and executive levels of the professional football industry in England and Scotland. Our analysis delineates formal and informal modes of racialisation, extending theories of racialisation beyond the creation of legal categories, to consider the discursive construction of ‘race’ and its institutionalising effects. At the same time, we show that it is important for sporting institutions to recognise and celebrate British South Asian representation, wherever and however it exists. The article calls for a greater focus on the sociolinguistic dimensions of racialised terminologies and their (in)ability to capture racialised difference; secondly, through invoking anti-essentialism and differential racialisation as heuristic tools it explores how racialised language reflects and sustains racialised hierarchies; and thirdly, it advocates for a deconstruction of the term ‘British South Asian’ to encourage a more nuanced approach to policy development aimed at realising better diversity outcomes.

Rationale This paper aims to critically explore the lived experiences of British South Asian people working in managerial and governance positions in English football; critique cultures of Whiteness in football; consider ways to resist/challenge racism in football; and offer data-informed recommendations to help increase British South Asian representation in leadership positions across football. Methodology This research draws on the testimonies of 21 British South Asian leaders working in English football (5 women and 16 men). Findings Participants used racialised performances to “fit in”; commonly encountered racist “banter”, microaggressions and microinsults; and routinely experienced examples of implicit and explicit “othering”. Practical Implications Stakeholders and policy makers must commit to the (1) development of inclusive and diverse recruitment strategies; (2) supporting minoritised ethnic staff members through programmes such as mentoring schemes; (3) implementation of mandatory race equity education for the workforce. Research Contribution While British South Asian experiences as players, and to some extent coaches, have been captured, the experiences of British South Asians in managerial and governance positions have been overlooked. This article treads new ground by highlighting experiences in off-field roles, thus adding to the wider body of work. Originality This work has used new and original data to cultivate a series of measures designed to boost the recruitment, retention and progression of British South Asian people working in English football.

Greg Clarke, former Chairman of the English Football Association, made several racist remarks during a 2020 appearance before a UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, claiming British South Asian people prefer to pursue careers in computing rather than football. Clarke’s ill-founded beliefs were poignantly well-timed given they came just as we were beginning our fieldwork, which involved interviewing 21 British South Asian senior leaders and executives across the football industry. Clarke’s comments crystallised what emerged from our interviews about battles to overcome institutional racisms and biases of co-workers. Drawing on over 36 hours of testimony – working at the nexus of economic sociology, critical race theory and the field of sport business management – we identify factors that regulate the openness/closedness of senior leadership and executive levels of employment in football, namely the role of exclusivity, closed networks, White allies, racial framing and exploitative temporality of non-executive boards.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are keen to increase the participation of British Asian groups, including those of British Pakistani Muslim (BPM) backgrounds, at mainstream levels of the game in order to meet their twin strategic aims of raising participation levels and fostering elite development. We argue that the potential to include BPM men in and through cricket is achievable, but strategies to engage them must address their social needs and circumstances rather than be superficial and tokenistic. Cricket agencies and bodies must be willing to adapt and change to become more inclusive, and indeed supportive of real meritocracy. Using research testimonies garnered from interviews with BPM men who play cricket at amateur mainstream and/or alternative formats of the game, we identify and forward strategies that can be activated by cricket development officers in order to create new possibilities for the social inclusion of BPM men.

'Race', Youth Sport, Physical Activity and Health provides a resource that addresses 'race' and racism in an accessible way by contextualizing theory with practical evidence-based examples drawn from global geographical and cultural settings. This is the first book to focus on issues of 'race' and racism in youth sport, physical activity and health. Drawing on critical race theory, intersectionality and post-feminism, and presenting a range of international empirical case studies, it explores racialization processes in pedagogical and non-pedagogical settings. The book examines how 'race' and racism in pedagogical settings shape young peoples' dispositions towards participation in sport and physical activity, and how identity discourses are being shaped in contemporary sport, physical activity and health. Essential reading for anybody working in sport and exercise studies, physical education, sociology or health studies.

Working within the Centre for Social Justice in Sport and Society (CSJ) at Leeds Beckett University, UK, has provided opportunities for the authorship team to work with sports organisations on issues of equity, diversity and inclusion. What has become increasingly apparent is the need to conceive inclusion in ways that move beyond issues of access and participation, a policy or targeted programme. What emerges across our research projects is the significance of belonging to inclusion. Within this paper we offer insights into the embodiment of belonging through four processes – feeling seen, heard, valued and known which form our ‘Anchors of Belonging’ framework. We bring each anchor to life using examples from the CSJ’s research portfolio. We pose several reflective questions organisations might use as a guide to leverage the anchors and adopt a more proactive ­person-centred approach to create an inclusive environment for their workforce.