Excerpts from a paper by Dave Edwards, Counselling Services,
University of Sheffield
1
Association Football exerts a civilizing influence in those societies where it is played,
primarily through providing a medium for reconciling the 'irremediable antagonism', as
Freud put it, between the aggressive and pleasure seeking impulses of the individual
and those countervailing (opposing) social pressures which seek to prohibit or curb
these impulses (Freud, 1975). Or, to put this less psychoanalytically, it is the core
elements of the game. Its rules and regulations (no handling the ball, no tripping, kicking
or punching your opponent, etc), if abided by, provide ample scope for the expression
and containment of libidinal or aggressive feelings.
2
One of the things about sports in general, but especially football, is that they provide
many of the ethical principles that infuse and regulate social conduct and the metaphors
through which these find expression. Sports like football provide,
The basis of many values and beliefs of British culture and the
language in which they are represented:”'Fair play”, “It's not cricket!”,
“Being on the ball”, “Foul play'”. Sport is culture, and no understanding
of contemporary culture can be complete without an understanding of
sport. (Blackwell, 1994:227).
Because sport is such a highly valued cultural institution, particularly, though not
exclusively, by men, the language and symbols of sport have been incorporated into
many other spheres of life.
3
Although the ball may be struck with considerable force, restricting the playing of the
game to the use of the foot cultivates a degree of 'expressive artistry' (Richards,
1994:33). Thus, according to Richards, in football, the foot is 'erotically' transformed from
an instrument of violence into one of creativity. Skilful ball players do not simply kick the
ball with as much force as possible, they also use the foot to caress or stroke it.
4
The intrinsic appeal of Association Football cannot be entirely accounted for by media
manipulation, cultural imperialism or the workings of international capitalism. As Pickford
(1940:129) comments, with respect to the global expansion of Association Football, '[no]
group which took it up was forced to play football as a religious, moral or political duty to
any other group'.
References
Blackwell, D. (1994) Group Analysis and Sport, Group Analysis, 27(3): 227229.
Freud, S. (1975) The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works
of Sigmund Freud, twenty-four volumes. Translated and edited by James
Strachey. London: Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis.
- (1930) Civilization and Its Discontents. Standard Edition, XXI: 64-145.
Pickford, R.W. (1940) The Psychology of the History and Organization of
Association Football - Part II, British Journal of Psychology, 31(2): 129-143.
Richards, B. (1994) Disciplines of Delight, London: Free Association Books.