Honduras and the 100 hours war, by Professor Lloyd Pettiford

Map of Honduras, where most of the fighting took place during the 'Football War'

I will be supporting England but in a reluctant, painful and obligated way.  However, I will also be following Honduras, for reasons both trivial and important.

International Relations: An overworked football cliché says the game is more important than life and death. In reality it is rarely even a matter of life and death, but in 1969 Honduras were involved in ‘The Football War’; this resulted in 3,000 deaths, mostly Honduran civilians. Also known as the 100 hours war, this conflict with El Salvador, took place after qualification matches for the World Cup (1970).

The name ‘Football War’ caught on largely because it provides a better headline than the real reason: ‘Years long disagreement over cross-border migration caused by differential population pressures, land availability and levels of state repression in two Central American countries turns into a short War’ doesn’t sound nearly so catchy!

Notwithstanding socio-economic and political roots of conflict, the fact that Honduras was involved in a football war fascinated me, especially because to the extent that there are ‘good guys’ in war, it was Honduras on this occasion.

Politics: Like others, Honduras is said to be ‘so far from God, so near the United States’; this ensures a political/economic system dominated by the rich few. For this reason, Central America can seem a very sad place at times. Honduras is one of the poorest nations in Latin America. Nonetheless, its people remain cheerful and resilient. After its political problems (and the costly loss of its best player before the tournament) Honduras is an underdog worthy of your support.

Football: I was alive when England won the World Cup but had to wait until I was 16 to see them play (Spain, 1982). I’ve forgotten the pain in Spain for Brooking, Keegan etc but how can I forget the efforts of Honduras that year!?  Against the hosts, they adopted a strategy of shoot from anywhere (including the kick-off) and almost pulled off the World Cup shock of all time.  They were robbed of victory by the most shameful of home team penalties (Alex Ferguson would have blushed had it been awarded to Manchester United at Old Trafford!). Furthermore, like the Conference South’s Bishops Stortford FC they play in dark blue and white stripes. They got to South Africa at the expense of Costa Rica (slayers of ‘mighty’ Scotland in 1990).

Personal/Trivial: I’ve been there twice and it’s great. The circus acrobat leaving Honduras for the first time who cheered me up on the bus from Tegucigalpa to Managua. Fito Alvarado who will never be an acrobat. Pyramids, forests and beautiful bay islands. The bar owner in Roatan who greeted everyone with the catch-phrase ‘I’m still alive’ (I wonder if he still is?). And all those prepared to drink ‘Salva Vida’ with me and listen to my often preposterous thoughts about el futbol!

Drawn again against Spain and with other fixtures against Switzerland and Chile, I tip them to go through with 4 points.

The importance of sport in forming a national identity, by Dr Matt Ashton

In the mid 1990s the political theorist Robert Putnam popularised the term ‘social capital’, in his bestselling book Bowling Alone. Broadly speaking, social capital referred to the links between people. If you had lots of friends willing to help you out when you were in trouble you’d be rich in social capital even if you were poor in physical or intellectual capital.  A variety of different studies have argued that the more social capital a country has the happier it is, as there are strong bonds tying society together. National identity with its shared sense of belonging is a key way of generating and promoting social capital.

For most countries national identity evolves naturally over time, based largely on a shared language, history and cultural touchstones. When any of these things are missing there is much more likely to be conflict between different groups that can sometimes slide into civil war. In Britain, our sense of national identity influences how we speak, behave and relate to others on a daily basis. For instance, politicians often refer to the ‘spirit of Dunkirk’ as a way of conjuring up the idea of succeeding against the odds. This reference would be quite familiar to the average citizen thanks to a diet of old war films and half remembered history lessons. However, for most people in Latin America or Asia the phrase might as well be meaningless.

This is where sport comes in. Nothing fosters a sense of shared national identity better than the country taking part in a global sporting competition (short of declaring a popular war). It draws people together into supporting the national team and this is partly why the World Cup is so important for South Africa. Due to its traumatic history, fractured by the apartheid regime, there are still huge differences in South African society with pronounced divisions between rich and poor and the various social and ethnic groups.

Sport increasingly crosses cultural and political boundaries in a way that few other activities can. The recent Clint Eastwood film Invictus deals with this subject in that the newly released Nelson Mandela saw the rugby world cup team as a vehicle to help bring the country together with a shared purpose. The teams’ success, eventually winning the competition, provided a huge boost to his government and helped the society make the transition from the Apartheid dictatorship to democracy. Now cracks are emerging again, prompted in part by the economic crisis that has swept the world in recent years. The question remains however, while the World Cup might temporarily paper over these cracks, can it help develop the social capital needed for solutions to the long term problems facing South Africa?

Dr Matt Ashton, Nottingham Trent University

To speak to Dr Ashton, call the University Press Office directly on 0115 848 8782 or email worldcup@ntu.ac.uk

[To view Nottingham Trent University’s team of World Cup experts go to www.ntu.ac.uk/worldcup]

The World Cup as a political event, by Dr Matt Ashton

A colleague of mine recently stated that he’d be glad when the general election was out of the way so that he could concentrate on the upcoming World Cup in South Africa. This struck me as an interesting comment as sporting events have more often than not been about politics as much as they’ve been about sport.

In ancient Rome, the games at the Coliseum were seen as a way of ensuring the loyalty of the citizens as well as a monument to the greatness of the Empire. More recently, the stunning opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics was communist China’s attempt to present themselves as a new global superpower for the 21^st century. National governments have always used sports as a means to publicise and advance their own (often political) agendas, and the World Cup is no different.

On the other side of the fence, the media often presents and analyses politics almost as if it were a sport. The Frost/Nixon TV interviews of the 1970s were portrayed in the media as if it was a gladiatorial contest between the two men. Equally, in the televised electoral debates, many of the commentators kept referring to the party leaders as if they were watching a sporting event, ‘Brown is on the ropes’, ‘will Cameron land a decisive blow’ etc.

The World Cup in South Africa is no exception to this and Jacob Zuma’s government has a lot riding on making sure that the event will be a success. South Africa can truthfully be regarded as one of the political success stories in Africa, but more often than not the Western media tends to focus on stories about political corruption, racial unrest and the continuing poor standard of living in many areas. As the most watched sporting event outside of the Olympics, and the first World Cup held in Africa, this will be a once in a lifetime chance for the government to influence global perceptions of their country.

A successful World Cup will mean positive publicity for the nation, along with the possibility of future foreign investment. Already, huge amounts of money have been spent upgrading sporting facilities and building new infrastructure. However, many have commented on whether this is the best use of public funds in a country where millions still live in relative poverty. Additionally, there have been disturbing reports in the press about forced evictions from slums to help ‘beautify’ various cities for foreign tourists.

Zuma will also be hoping for a good performance from the South African squad. Politicians are normally the first to associate themselves with a team when they do well and the first to distance themselves when they lose. England’s defeat to West Germany in the quarter finals of the 1970 World Cup has been blamed by many for Harold Wilson’s election loss a few days after. Ultimately, the success or failure of the World Cup and how it is viewed in the media will have a lasting impact on politics in South Africa far into the future.

Dr Matt Ashton, Nottingham Trent University

To speak to Dr Ashton, call the University Press Office directly on 0115 848 8782 or email worldcup@ntu.ac.uk

[To view Nottingham Trent University’s team of World Cup experts go to www.ntu.ac.uk/worldcup]

The cultural politics of our football communities: Where are our talented Asian footballers?

Cardiff City player, Michael Chopra. One of only seven British Asian players in the elite football system

Amidst the backdrop of the fervour of this World Cup, certain cultural aspects of England’s football communities seem ever more politicised and deserving of a little more thorough than a cursory glance. In part even more important due to the lack of relative media and political attention they attract in comparison with WAGs, celebrity culture and selection minutiae hearsay.

Whilst the World Cup is sold as a uniting and global pageant in the host ‘rainbow nation’ there are parallel issues that, to those interested in the development of football talent and building of community structures, remains a source of potential cultural complexity.

One such issue is the complex and, at times, contentious issue of the lack of Asian footballers progressing into the elite football system. There are currently only seven British Asian players in this system; Zesh Rehman (Bradford City), Krishnan Patel (Bury), Michael Chopra (Cardiff City), Anwar Uddin (Dagenham & Redbridge), Rikki Bains (Darlington), Aman Verma (Leicester) and Netan Sansara (Walsall).

Whilst football participation rates amongst Asian communities are higher than the national average, the numbers of those that progress into the professionalised academy system beyond recreational club performance and the lower levels of the FA pyramid structure are very limited.

Research conducted by the Commission for Racial Equality in 2004 found that only 0.8% of those young footballers in academies of centres of excellence were of Asian descent. An independent study eight years earlier had established this figure at 0.2%. This broad benchmark, given that around 15% of Asian adult men play football recreationally, illustrates there is a mismatch somewhere.  

There is also an implication for this issue in relation to inequality and potential discrimination that may be acting as a barrier to talent and the development of future stars that could be participating for England at national level. Past research into this issue has highlighted some of these subtle factors that remain difficult to address.

A further cultural issue is the interaction this may also have with what could be termed the ‘cultural politics of football’ in this country. How do Asian participants in local communities associate with the English flag and the often nationalistic, monolithic boundaries of “being English” promoted during the World Cup tournament? Is the supposed shared or imagined community of English fandom one that would be inclusive for the diverse religious and cultural communities that should be engaged by this global showcase in England? It appears that whilst football is popular amongst Asian communities, the link to sustained participation beyond local community recreational level is problematic and currently beyond our grasp. 

Historical academic research has shown that there are complex local, regional, national and indeed globalised identities present within the diverse Asian sporting community. How these interact with the imagery and language of supporting ‘Engerland’ in 2010 can be a sharp contrast with the aspiration of an inclusive vision of a 21^st Century nation at ease with its own multi-ethnic and varied religious backgrounds of its supporters.

Could this World Cup be an opportunity for greater inclusivity of England supporters, potential participants and future community club volunteers or coaches? It would be hoped so, but, for the Asian communities of England having an ever more glaring lack of presence in the highest tier of professional football and limited opportunities in the lower levels of the professional game serious questions remain.

As a country that since the 1997 election has poured significant developmental monies into community and school football, what has been the legacy for those Asian footballers that aspired to make it to this global stage? It is surely not acceptable for sports development professionals and, more specifically, the English footballing structures, governing bodies and policy makers to still have a status quo on the lack of talent that seems to make it through our revered academy system.

A move to address socio-cultural issues within the academies, grass roots youth football development systems that address bias, talent selection/identification and coach perceptions is long overdue for our young Asian footballers. The mysterious talent vacuum present today is most neatly reflected by the omission from our squad of any footballer of Asian descent. By 2018 will we have made any further headway?       

Chris Mackintosh, senior lecturer in sports development, Nottingham Trent University

To speak to Chris, call the University Press Office directly on 0115 848 8782 or email worldcup@ntu.ac.uk

[To view Nottingham Trent University’s team of World Cup experts go to www.ntu.ac.uk/worldcup]

Politics, football and the art of leadership, by Dr Matt Ashton

Prime Minister David Cameron & England manager Fabio Capello

Every so often one of the tabloids will trot out a poll to look at which famous person would make a good Prime Minister. Amongst the usual crowd of business people and television personalities there are normally a few sports men and women, but surprisingly, few football managers. This always struck me as strange as politicians and managers share many of the same qualities. Peter Hennessey, the eminent historian famously argued that the ideal political leader would combine ‘the energy of Gladstone, the style of Macmillan, the sleep requirements of Thatcher’, and so on and so forth. The implication being that it would be almost impossible for any one person to have all of these traits. However there are certain skills that both Prime Ministers and England managers have in common. These would include:

An almost messianic level of self belief that they are the right person to do the job, even if everybody else in the country thinks they’re not up to it. Linked to this would be the thick skin of a rhino. The England manager’s job is often described as the hardest job in the country – an opinion that David Cameron might disagree with – but both are plagued by an almost unbearable level of supporter and press scrutiny.

This leads directly on to the skill of media management. While we might bemoan the rise of style over substance in politics and sport, there’s no getting away from the fact that in both cases being able to talk well on TV helps. The individual has to be able to convincingly predict total success one minute and then a few hours later explain why things went wrong and how it wasn’t in any way their fault.

This means they also have to be a good diplomat. Both jobs are about managing the expectations of large groups of people, all of whom have a different view on how you should be doing the job. There is the unfortunate belief amongst the majority of the public that they could almost certainly run the country or manage England better than the current incumbent. This is almost unique to these two professions. If you’re at a party and you introduce yourself as a software engineer, a pilot or a doctor, you’re not immediately surrounded by a small group of people telling you where you’re going wrong.  However, most members of the British public seem to hold an unshakeable faith that everything would be OK if only their opinions were listened to.

Finally there is that rare quality of luck. As the saying has it, ‘it’s good to be good, it’s better to be lucky’. There are numerous examples of both Prime Ministers and England managers who have had all of the right skills on paper but have been beset by bad luck at every turn. For example, Gordon Brown becoming Prime Minister just before the worst recession since the 1930s hit. Some would say that you make your own luck but more often than not circumstances determine success rather than innate qualities.

It’s been said that all political careers end in failure. This isn’t always true but it’s rare for a Prime Minister to leave office at a time of their own choosing. Much the same could be said of England managers.  Ultimately it doesn’t matter how many friendlies they win or quarter finals they reach. For football, like politics, there is no substitute for victory.

Dr Matt Ashton, Nottingham Trent University

To speak to Dr Ashton, call the University Press Office directly on 0115 848 8782 or email worldcup@ntu.ac.uk

Image references
Fabio Capello
David Cameron