Fidel Castro, Godfather of Sport When Cuba, as a colonial outpost of Spain, sent its athletes to the first Olympic Games to be held in the Americas, in St. Louis in the USA in 1904, the small country bagged more than its fair share of medals, 9 in total, the bulk of these of for… Continue reading Castro and Cuban Sport
Category: Commentary
England’s World Cup ’66 Triumph
England’s World Cup ’66 Triumph: ‘Glorious bang’ or Just another Saturday Afternoon? [1] Prelude “England … closed their World Cup with a glorious bang that obliterated memories of its grey, negative beginnings” – Hugh McIlvanney [2] It was supposed to be a weekend of collective euphoria, spawning a sense of national pride that brought together… Continue reading England’s World Cup ’66 Triumph
Behind the Spectacle: On Euro 2012
As Poland’s football team scored to go level with Russia at the Euro 2012 football championship finals, on Tuesday June 12th, President Bronislaw Komorowski, sporting the red and white scarf of the national side, leapt from his seat in joy. The stadium was a cauldron of nationalistic passion and emotion. To the president’s left, UEFA… Continue reading Behind the Spectacle: On Euro 2012
Blatter: FIFA’s Supreme Leader triumphs again
If a week is a long time in politics, 6 months is no time at all in the world of international football politics. FIFA president Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter was trained as a young man by timepiece giant Swiss Longines, pedigree watchmaker since 1842. He must have learned a lot about longevity in business and organisational… Continue reading Blatter: FIFA’s Supreme Leader triumphs again
Seb Coe’s Biggest Challenge
In mid-September 2006 Lord Coe, public supremo of the successful London 2012 Olympic bid, turned down the opportunity to become chairman of UK Athletics. Sport journalists had widely assumed that Coe would slot into this made-for-Seb post, after Dave Moorcroft’s resignation as the chief executive of UK Athletics in August. But Lord Coe had bigger… Continue reading Seb Coe’s Biggest Challenge
Football in the Last Ten Years
In 1998, Argentinean journalist Juana Libinsky published a series of articles on UK academics, including a feature in La Nación on my work on international sport culture and world football. In 2006, invited to publish her journalistic work in book form, she asked whether I would respond to some questions that would help her update… Continue reading Football in the Last Ten Years
Professor Alan Tomlinson - Research 