Liz Crolley

Gendered Narratives in Spain: The Representation of Female Athletes in Marca and El País

Women have traditionally been under-represented in the global sports media in terms of the amount of coverage dedicated to womens sport compared to mens. There have also been qualitative differences in the manner of reporting of womens and mens sports, reflecting the patriarchal attitudes dominant in society. This article explores the extent to which these traditional differences exist today in the Spanish print media. Drawing on data analysed from a sample of Spanish newspapers during the summer Olympic Games of 2004 in Athens, we carried out an empirical analysis of the amount of coverage dedicated to womens sports and research of a more qualitative nature which focuses on a detailed evaluation of the narratives employed, the images published and the political commentary surrounding womens events and female athletes. While the gender gap in the coverage of the Olympic Games in Spain is narrowing and ideologies regarding masculinity and femininity are gradually changing, gendered discursive strategies and subtexts prevent this process from evolving further.

Football and European Identity : Historical Narratives Through the Press

1. Introduction: Football, European Identities and the Press Part One: Old Europe 2. England: Theirs is Not to Reason Why 3. France: The Style Counsel 4. Germany: Past Performance Equals Future Value 5. Italy: High Drama, Fine Art, Classic Design 6. Spain: Land of Hope and Fury Part Two: Nations within the State 7. One Nation, One Team, One Image?: Catalunya and the Basque Country in Spain 8. Beauty or the Beast? The Corsican Question Part Three: New (Football) Worlds 9. The Colonial Shadow: Africans in the French Imagination 10. Only in America: Representations of the United States in Europe 11. Marshalling Art: Images of South-East Asian Football Bibliography Index

Playing the identity card: Stereotypes in European football

The amount of space ‘quality’ newspapers devote to football reflects its increasing importance in European culture. European print media discourse on football does more than cover the games technicalities, though; it also shapes its readers’ awareness of national identities. It is the aim of this study to analyse football match reports and articles from Britain, Spain, France and Germany with a view to understanding the mechanisms at work in the construction of national stereotypes. The language used by these articles is varied, entertaining, highly inventive and often provocative, evoking references to warfare, politics, history, economics and popular culture. In many cases, the principal elements of the stereotypes represented by the European press are the same from country to country (English fighting spirit, Spanish toughness, French flair, German efficiency). European print media discourse on football may, therefore, be said to reinforce myths of national character and strengthen notions of collective identity associated with sport.

Football Spectator Behaviour in Argentina: A Case of Separate Evolution:

There has been a separate and distinctive evolution of football related violence in Argentina. Fighting between rival gangs of fans in Argentina developed independently and considerably in advance of the modern phenomenon of football hooliganism in Britain. This case is argued using Argentine sources not previously translated into English. The distinctive features of Argentine football violence are described and the main differences in relation to England are outlined. Of paramount importance are the explicit political links of Argentine football clubs. Organised football preceeded democratic politics in Argentina which resulted in the new political parties utilising the football infrastructure of neighbourhood-based clubs. The death rate associated with Argentine football is significantly higher than in England, and the role of the police is more negative in Argentina. In the conclusion a framework is proposed for the comparative and historical analysis of football related violence.

Does Sports Performance Influence Revenues and Economic Results in Spanish Football

English football began taking steps towards becoming a business earlier than Spanish football did, and academic studies on the football industry to date also focus primarily on football in the UK. The evidence for the relationship between sports performance and revenues appear clear in English football. There is even research about the effects of a club’s wealth on its sports performance, or the effects of a club’s sporting situations on its finances. In this paper, we ana-lyse the relationship between sports performance and the revenues of football clubs as well as the effect of sports performance on the financial results in Spanish professional football. In order to carry out this research we have had to select which variables to analyse and choose the most appropriate methods of measurement. We have designed a system which obtains a variable of sports performance that includes information from every competition in which the foot-ball club participates.

A model to explain support in Spanish football

This paper analyses the factors which affect support and influence revenues in Spanish professional football clubs. It focuses on the relationships between attendance and different sets of variables: those that relate to the socio-economic environment, the quality of product (results) and the quality of means of production (team squad). The main conclusions are, firstly, that the quality of the squad influences attendance through its performance on the pitch, secondly, that the level of attendance is explained by the population of the province in which the club is based, and by both the current and historical performances of the team, and thirdly, that the club’s sporting revenues can be explained by their attendances. Given the importance of support, and in particular attendance, to the revenues of football clubs, the conceptual model developed in this article might contribute significantly to the estimation of cash-flows in football clubs.

Spanish identities in the European press: the case of football writing

How does the discourse of European football writing contribute to the representation of Spanish identities? In this essay, recent articles from Spanish and English ‘quality’ newspapers are analysed to identify the principal elements in this representation. The discourse examined reveals recognizable perceptions of Spanishness and demonstrates the relationship between football and society as mediated by the press. This examination of the press demonstrates that many of the themes, characteristics and stereotypes surrounding Spanish identities found in English newspapers (passion, temperament, underachievement) are shared by Spanish writers. However, in the Spanish press more complex, even contradictory representations are portrayed (involving Catholicism, images of the military, contrasting optimism and pessimism and the delicate relationships between Spains nations/regions), which illustrate the intricacies of Spanish identity in the new millennium.

For business or pleasure? A discussion of the impact of European Union law on the economic and socio‐cultural aspects of football

Over the last century, football has evolved dramatically. The most significant feature of this has been the rapid commercialisation of the professional game, which has made many European clubs immensely successful in diversifying revenue streams as well as in playing terms. But for clubs in the European Union, this process has also brought new challenges. European Union law regulates economic activity between member states and as UEFA and its top clubs increase their economic powers, so the rules and regulations governing them fall within the remit of the European Commission and Court of Justice. As a result, practices such as pan‐European broadcasting and transfer of players must abide by the Treaty on the European Union. However, football also exists within a socio‐economic sphere, and this regulation is transforming football as a cultural entity; a sport that is recognised by the EU as playing an important role in identity formation, bringing people together and in supporting local communities generally. This article will analyse the involvement of the EU in the economic and socio‐cultural spheres of professional and amateur football in Europe, and asks what steps should now be taken by the EU and footballs governing bodies in order to safeguard Europes most popular sporting activity.