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
Tag: Culture
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
FIFA on Film
Hagiography has been a consummate skill in the sport-writing world, with ghost writers or tame official chroniclers portraying the lives of superstars or characters and celebrities who have illuminated the humdrum lives of we the fans or less blessed followers for whom the sporting champion can represent some vicarious sense of the heroic. There's been… Continue reading FIFA on Film
Professor Alan Tomlinson - Research 