The Real History of Football - Jonathan Wilson

In this podcast episode, Jonathan Wilson provides a comprehensive exploration of football's remarkable rise to global prominence. The conversation covers football's origins, its early spread through the British Empire, and the reasons behind its unparalleled popularity. Wilson delves into the sport's cultural and social dynamics, including working-class involvement, hooliganism, politics, racism, and corruption. The episode also contrasts football with American sports, discusses the global celebrity of footballers, and examines the World Cup's political significance and controversies. Wilson shares insights into football cultures in South America and Europe, touching on identity, fan culture, and the economic transformations of the game.

Origins and Spread of Football

Jonathan Wilson begins by tracing football's origins, noting that ball-kicking games have existed worldwide for millennia, with evidence from ancient China, Japan, and the Caribbean. However, modern football's formal inception is dated to December 1863, when the Football Association in England standardized the rules. Prior to this, different British public schools played variants of the game shaped by local conditions. These standardized rules led to the founding of the Football League in 1888 and the FA Cup in 1872, which became key to the sport's formal growth. Wilson emphasizes the working-class roots of many early football clubs, particularly in northern England, and how Saturday afternoon leisure time after factory work facilitated attendance and club support.

The spread of football around the world is largely linked to the British Empire, with British teachers, businessmen, church workers, and railway engineers introducing the game wherever there were British communities. The game's simplicity—requiring little equipment or formal pitch maintenance—made it accessible worldwide and easy for local populations to adopt and adapt. Early examples include Argentina's first match in 1867 and the United States in 1869. Football's accessibility and minimal equipment needs contrasted with more complex sports like cricket and helped it become deeply entrenched in diverse societies.

Football's Limited Success in North America and Other Regions

Wilson discusses why football did not take hold in some former British colonies like the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India, despite the spread through the empire. Factors include the vast geography of the U.S., making national leagues hard to maintain due to long travel times, and entrenched preferences for rugby-like games in American universities. Rugby influenced the development of American football, which evolved with changed rules and distinctive features such as penalty shootouts and sudden death—elements FIFA would not allow, thus complicating soccer's integration. Early professional leagues in North America struggled or collapsed, often relegated to ethnic immigrant enclaves and undermined by competing sports like baseball. Harsh winters and cultural resistance to "alien" sports further hindered soccer's growth in these regions.

Early Football Culture and Working-Class Adoption

The FA Cup's establishment helped transition football from a pastime to a national obsession in Britain primarily through working-class club support in the late 19th century. The Factories Act granting Saturday afternoons off created space for fans to gather in crowds of tens of thousands to watch games. Local business owners often funded clubs to keep workers content, and clubs competed to buy talented Scottish players, boosting performance and fame. This period also saw the professionalization of the sport and the creation of steady calendars via the Football League, locking in guaranteed fixtures and consistent fan revenue.

Wilson sketches the contrasting playing styles between the more technical and passing-based southern English clubs versus the direct, physical, and aggressive style of northern working-class teams. Football became a form of urban cultural expression, especially in industrial regions.

Football Violence and Hooliganism

Football-related violence has existed since the early days of the sport, with early 20th-century matches sometimes marred by serious rioting, including incidents where police horses were attacked. However, the organized phenomenon of hooliganism primarily emerged during the 1960s in Britain, coinciding with broader youth cultural rebellions and social unrest. The peak of hooliganism came in the 1980s, culminating in tragic incidents such as the 1985 Heysel disaster, but it waned considerably into the 1990s and 2000s due to stricter policing, CCTV, and rising ticket prices, which increasingly limited attendance to older, less violent fans.

Wilson contrasts British fan culture with more orchestrated but less spontaneous continental ultras traditions, noting the uniquely organic and humorous nature of British football support. He also highlights football's role in identity construction, especially in post-industrial northern British cities where football clubs symbolically represent local pride and community cohesion. This identity can manifest in both positive community actions and violent expressions.

Politics, Racism, and Extremism in Football Culture

The podcast touches on how football fan culture has occasionally been linked to far-right politics, especially in 1980s Britain where groups like the National Front sought influence among hooligans. However, such political infiltration has generally had limited success. Racist abuse of players remains a problem but is often more sporadic than systematically organized.

In Italy and Argentina, ultras groups often exhibit political alignments ranging from far-right to far-left and sometimes intertwine with organized crime. These groups wield significant power, sometimes influencing club decisions, intimidating players, and engaging in illicit activities such as gambling and drug trafficking. The Northern English club Sunderland famously became a symbol of anti-racism after incidents of racial abuse against its black players in the 1980s.

Wilson details how in South America, ultras have been involved in violent political conflicts, including during the Yugoslav Wars, where certain supporter groups became paramilitary forces.

Economic Transformation of Football

Wilson outlines the economic evolution of football, starting with the imposition of a maximum wage of £20 a week in 1901 designed to maintain competitive balance. This wage cap lasted until 1963, after which players began to leverage their market value, especially with the advent of televised football from the 1960s onward. The explosion in broadcasting revenues fundamentally shifted football economics, enabling a few wealthy club owners to inject enormous amounts of money into teams and infrastructure.

The Premier League's global financial deals, including foreign broadcast rights, have made it the most lucrative and widely watched league in the world. The arrival of billionaires as club owners, unconcerned with making profits, intensified competitive disparities and transformed football into a global commercial spectacle. The building of new stadiums with large capacities, such as Arsenal's move to the Emirates, exemplifies clubs' attempts to keep pace financially, although the economics have become more complex and dependent on owner investment.

Comparison with American Sports

Wilson highlights fundamental differences between football and American sports systems. American sports are based on closed franchise models with drafts, salary caps, and no promotion or relegation, designed primarily for profit and parity. This structural approach promotes a more even distribution of talent and competitive balance but can lead to transient fan allegiances due to franchise relocations and a lack of local rooting.

In contrast, football's pyramid structure connects grassroots clubs to the elite, reinforcing deep community ties. The European football landscape supports multiple professional leagues and a promotion/relegation system, preserving both community representation and competitive fluidity. The relatively low scoring and continuous nature of football make it less explosive than American sports, but the intense emotional value of goals and varied tactical approaches provide a distinct appeal.

Global Celebrity and Cultural Impact

Wilson recounts how footballers have become among the most famous individuals globally, transcending the sport itself. The Premier League's international broadcasting has created immense global audiences, with even remote rural communities in Africa deeply engaged. Football's cultural resonance rivals that of soap operas, with high-profile matches and players commanding media attention and global fan bases.

The World Cup's Geopolitical Role

The World Cup is described as the pinnacle of ritualized national competition, steeped in symbolism and identity politics since its inception in 1930. Wilson discusses how early hosts like Uruguay and Mussolini's Italy used the tournament to project national pride and power. Mussolini's 1934 World Cup exemplifies overt political use of football for propaganda.

More recent tournaments hosted by Russia and Qatar have also been subject to controversy, especially regarding corruption allegations around FIFA's awarding process. Wilson notes that the FIFA executive committee has had numerous corruption convictions, fueling skepticism over the legitimacy of these decisions.

Corruption and Integrity in Football

While acknowledging frequent FIFA and organizational corruption scandals, Wilson asserts that at the highest playing levels, football matches are generally fair and not fixed due to intense oversight from betting companies and the enormous financial stakes for players and organizations. Lower levels and youth games are more vulnerable to manipulation for betting purposes, but professional leagues have strict monitoring systems.

South American Football and Cultural Identity

Wilson explores the unique Argentine football culture rooted in the street-playing "pibe" archetype and a cultural inheritance contrasting the British origins of the game. Argentine football celebrates individual skill, street-smart tenacity, and a derived sense of national identity reflected in football heroes like Diego Maradona. The country's historical oscillation between stylistic beauty and physical cynicism is tied to broader social contradictions and political history.

The Politics of Sporting Legacy

The discussion closes with reflections on the intertwining of football, politics, and power. Football has long served as a vehicle for nations to assert themselves on the world stage, perform notions of masculinity and modernity, and engage in symbolic contests beyond the pitch. FIFA's role as a powerful global institution enables its leadership to interact with heads of state and become instrumental in international soft power dynamics.