The Assistant Professor of Football: Soccer, Culture, History.

Kay Bernstein was elected the president of Hertha BSC, then in the 1st Bundesliga, in June 2022. He died at his home near Berlin on January 16th of this year, with Hertha being in the 2nd Bundesliga. What sounds like a short and - on the pitch - unsuccessful presidency is in fact the most significant shift and opening up of possibilities in club leadership in German and, possibly, European club leadership over the last years. In his memory, are dedicating an hour today to his club, to his life and to his impact. Bernstein grew up in Eastern Germany and Berlin, and was a founding leader of the oldest ultra group of Hertha, the Harlekins. When he became president, he was an event manager with networks in various fancultures, and a visionary for his club who placed an emphasis not just in success on the pitch, but in a football club as a community of belonging, togetherness, listening, patience, modesty as well as excitement and fanaticism. The Visiting Professor of Football is Misha Joel, from Hertha podcast Herthabase and an active fan in Hertha's curve. HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:Deutsche Welle English, "Hertha Berlin President Kay Bernstein dies aged 43"Deutsche Welle English, "Hertha Berlin Chooses former Ultra as Head"General Assembly at Hertha where Kay Bernstein is elected president (Hertha TV)March in Mourning after Kay Bernstein's deathRTL Sport, Rest in Peace Kay Bernstein (Youtube)bundesliga.com, Minute of Silence for Kay Bernstein at Hertha BSC vs. KaiserslauternPlease leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

"The era is brought to life by the accounts of Albanians who lived through it, which capture the importance of football to a populace starved of any other source of communal enjoyment. The otherworldliness and innate cruelty of the Stalinist regime provide a terrifying backdrop to their tales," reads the blurb for Phil Harrison's book The Hermit Kingdom: Football Stories from Stalinist Albania.  Albania, on the far eastern edge of Europe, followed a rather unique path through the Cold War - and has a unique soccer culture to match that period. Caught between Russia, China and neighboring Yugoslavia, in a country that outlawed religion for all intents and purposes, the stories from Albania between 1946 and 1991 offers the use of pigeons by fan groups, evil Yugoslavian radios, an almost World Cup qualifier, and an erratic dictatorial regime that proudly practiced Stalinism long after Stalin was dead. More than nostalgia or chronology, Harrison's book takes us into the stadiums and the city squared of a remote country in a remote time.This episode also features a brief audio reportage from listeners Dan and Archie, who attended the Europa Conference League game Slovan Bratislava vs Sturm Graz - and 3 Albanian contributions to the Eurovision Song Contest. HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:Inside the Hermit Kingdom: Football Stories from Stalinist Albania (Pitch Publishing, 2024)Phil Harrison on twitter/XPartizani vs Tirana, Albanian Championship 1971 (Youtube video)Vlaznia vs. Besa, 1972 Albanian Cup Final, 2nd Leg (2-2 on aggregate); Vllaznia win 5-3 on penalties. Ramazan Rragami becomes a world record holder, scoring 7 penalties in a Cup Final (Youtube video)Hamdi Salihi, in Albania vs Montenegro, 2011 (Youtube video)Jonida Maliqi - Ktheju Tokës (Albania at Eurovision, 2019)Albina & Familja Kelmendi - Duje (Albania at Eurovision, 2023)Anxhela Peristeri - Karma (Albania at Eurovision, 2021)Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

... of all people! Raphael is a German political scientist, whose book "Peace to the Terraces, War to the Federations and Leagues" is a pathbreaking materialist critique of "modern soccer" - the game as purely an entertainment market commodity. The book is only published in German so far, and we were in the process of rolling out his thoughts with the ongoing conflict between German fans and the German Bundesliga as a case in point (you know, the one with tennis balls and remote-controlled cars thrown on the pitch in recent weeks...). About halfway through, the bomb dropped: sooner than any of us expected, the Bundesliga collapsed and nixed the negotiation with the private equity firm that was interested. We let out a "holy shit!" and analyzed what this might mean, and what concrete solutions Raphael's thoughts provide for the future. This episode was to air on March 4th - given what happened today while we talked, I rushed it live. This may mean no TAoF episode on March 4th then, check social media for updates. For now, you wont regret this window into a very german conflict with a lot of promise for soccer fans around the world - the fans to whom this beautiful game truly belongs!HELPFUL LINKS :Raphael's book, in GermanRaphael Molter on X/TwitterProtests in Rostock - remote controlled cars with flares on themProtests in Dortmund - chocolate coins and tennis ballsMatt Ford, Bundesliga scraps major investment deal amid fan revolt (dw.com)Gabriel Kuhn, Soccer vs. The State (an interview with him on TAoF from last year)Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

Indie, Hip Hop, Punk, Reggae, Ska and Choruses- from Leeds to Istanbul, from Vienna to Mexico City, from Darmstadt to Buenos Aires. Your second soccer playlist is here - with some background info, and plenty of quirky football lyrics.PLAYLIST FOR THIS EPISODE - links to videos:Puma Hardchorus - England, France, Germany and ItalyAlberto Colucci - Die Sonne Scheint (SV Darmstadt 98)Manu Chao (with Diego Maradona) - La Vida TombolaSultans of Ping - I'm in Love with a Football HooliganLuke Haines - Leeds UnitedMono & Kreiml - VerteilerkreisflavourAthena - HooligansBiberstand Boys - Unioner im HausKy-Mani Marley's live rendition of Bob Marley - Three Little BirdsMaldita Vecintad - Fut Callejero Pura DiversiónPlease leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

If you are thinking of dreaming of going to England, seeing a Premier League game, dive into the atmosphere that you see on TV, or even have concrete travel plans already to finally see one game of the club you otherwise follow on TV, then this episode is for you. If you are listening from England, and have followed your club for years and decades, it's for you as well.Felipe Tobar, originally from Brazil, is a scholar at Clemson University in South Carolina and has written about soccer tourism to England, Premier League related club museums, stadium tours etc. - all the stuff tourists do - as well as overtourism, its effect on local fans, and the danger it could be to the very product that the Premier League is trying to sell. We begin by mapping what this tourism is, and how the combination of neoliberal capitalism, international TV and individual club’s initiatives have shaped a billion dollar business around the beautiful game in the Premier League. Then we talk about the negative effects. And then, we tried to give a little bit of advice: how can you go, and be a good tourist while there - what should you know before you go and what should you do and not do when there. The intent is not to bash tourists (almost all of us are, in some way, as we’ll make clear) but chart a more sustainable path forward for the game we all love, and international as well as local fans.HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:Felipe Tobar, website with links to publications (Twitter/X, "Football Studies" on Youtube")"VisitBritain Discusses the Impact of Soccer on UK Tourism" - interview with a British tourism executive (December 2023)The Enemy, "We'll Live and Die in These Towns" (music video)Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

I thought today’s episode needed a long rationalization.  But as I was writing it, I thought f*** it, I don’t need to be doing  verbal gymnastics. I know human beings, there, and our guest does too. So we’ll just let these stories speak. About soccer, about trauma, about peace and coexistence, and about youth cultures both left and right of center in what is a diverse and divided country. This was a hard episode for me to prepare and process. But I am deeply grateful it came together. From Israeli ultras killed or kidnapped, to the Arab soccer club that won the Israeli cup, to what football and medicine in Israel have in common, we go to Ashdod, in the south of Israel, to Felix Tamsut. He is a self described lefty journalist who covers football and fan cultures for outlets in Germany and Israel. And he is also a wonderful human to talk us through a strange time and, I hope, stretch our empathy muscles. Plus, 2 bands from Israeli ultra groups on the way. HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:Select recent texts by Felix Tamsut:"Israel Protests: What Have Football Fans Got to Do With It?" (on the protests against  Netanyahu's judicial reform)"Israel at War: German Football Clubs Offer Support" (after Inbar Haiman's murder was confirmed)Former Israeli Football Star Lior Assulin Murdered by Hamas (on the Jewish striker at  Arab club Bnei Sachknin)"Seeking to Divide Palestinians, Netanyahu Splits Israelis" (most recent, not on soccer)"Israel Struggles to Discuss October 7th Sexual Violence" (not on soccer)Felix on X/Twitter, Bluesky and InstagramHavat Ma2Or (Maccabi Haifa band) on SpotifyLeah Katamin (Hapoel Tel Aviv band) on SpotifyPlease leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

Just a few weeks ago, Poland elected a new parliament. The result was a change in power, from the national conservative camp to the centrist, pro-European one. And the campaign, yet again, highlighted, to use an overused term, the culture wars over defining the future of one of the European Union’s largest but also newest member states. Historically occupied by its neighbors over and over again, risen from the Eastern bloc, riven between a historically national Catholic identity and the fast pace of capitalism and Westernization, between skepticism toward those changes but also a deep antagonism towards Russia, Poland is constantly, it seems, at a historical crossroads. And its soccer culture, says our guest today, highlights that. Simultaneously behind and ahead of the curve of the rest of the continent, here lies an often still undiscovered landscape of dramatic change, shady business, physical violence combined with often new stadiums and lack of success on the field. Intrigued yet? We journey into the heart of Europe with Alex Webber, a British journalist who has lived in Poland a long time and has made it his passion to chronicle the history that is unfolding before his eyes. HELPFUL LINKS FOR TODAY'S EPISODE:Alex's blogAlex's InstagramPolish Hooligan Rap (the tune played later during the episode)Legia vs. Cracovia, tifo and intro (Youtube video)Copa90 mini-documentary on Polish ultras (Youtube)The impressive Polish national anthem, played during some kind of recent tournamentPlease leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

A mini audiobook - for the time to think in the evenings after the presents have all been unwrapped, or for a listen with the children:As the story goes, on Christmas 1914, during world war 1, in the trenches of Belgium, German and English soldiers laid down their weapons, shook hands, and played a game of football in the no man’s land between the lines. Historians are unsure if an actual match was played, you can find more on that debate in the shownotes. But for today, that is neither here nor there. At the very least, on that day, the possibility of football pointed beyond the war. And so, this Christmas, 2023, we’ll pause our regular conversations. I will be reading from the award winning children’s book The War Game, by Michael Foreman, from 1994. Foreman narrates the story of Freddie, Billy, Lacey and Will, avid soccer playing teenagers from the English countryside, who find themselves caught up in the euphoria of flag-waving and patriotism when war breaks out in 1914. "We'll be back by Christmas," they think. By Christmas however they are in the muddy trenches, as a soccer ball emerges between the battle lines. Whether the story ends in tragedy or in hope remains up to you. HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:Michael Foreman, War GameThe Christmas Truce: What Really Happened in the Trenches in 1914? (Video by the Imperial War Museum, London)History Extra with 2 historians’ perspectives on whether a football match actually took place"Comfort Comfort O My People" - sung by Conrad Grebel University chapel choir (Words: Johann G. Olearius (1611–1684); tr. Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878), alt.; Music: Psalm 42, melody and bass Claude Goudimel (1514–1572);)"Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" - performed by "Cesar All Guitar" (Words: Joseph Mohr (1818); Music: Franz Xaver Gruber (1818) Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

An arranged marriage of a Greek and a Celt began the settlement of Massalia, today: Marseille. Europe’s bellwether of multiculturalism, 2nd city of France, one of Europe’s biggest ports, migrant destination for centuries, cauldron of socioeconomic conflict, cradle of French rap music - and home of Olympique, still France’s only Champions League winner ever. A few days after that win, the club went under in a bribery scandal and forced relegation. A few more headlines on Olympique Marseille, or OM? Voila: Coaches change pretty much every year. A lion in the changing room. Fans light players’ cars and parts of the training facilities on fire. The world’s only football club with a rap label. Fanclubs with names like Dodgers, Yankees and Winners. Not one but two Ultra stands. And players like Didier Drogba, Didier Deschamps, Laurent Blanc, Dimitri Payet, Fabien Barthez.There is never a boring moment with Olympique Marseille, who made it to the Europa League again this year. Our visiting professor is Ben Senouillet, chairman of OM’s official English fanclub and quite the hobby historian of his club. We first introduce the city and Olympique’s roots, then discuss the culture that surrounds the club on the terraces, stands and in the city - and finally, the crazy last 30 years since the Champions League win. HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:Olympique Marseille (English club website, official)Olympique Marseille, History in EnglishThe Guardian, Sept. 2023, "Marseille are a Managerless Mess and Their Fans Deserve Some of the Blame"South Winners Marseille (Ultras, French)Commando Ultras 84 (French)highsnobiety.com, "Olympique de Marseille is Launching Its Own Rap Label"Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

FC St. Pauli is a 2nd Bundesliga team from Hamburg. That’s one thing. It is also "Germany’s original cult club," an "antifascist pioneer," the "club of punk and techno, or a "swashbuckling left wing club." The history behind these labels begin in the late 1980s, when punks occupied houses around St. Pauli’s stadium and antiracists found out that football grounds didn't just belong to Neonazis. It continues today, in a club that has  spoken out against the overcommercialization of football,  or as an ally to refugees, and in a fan culture that defines and defends its antifascist ties between neighboring Bremen and faraway Tel Aviv, Israel.The Fanladen St Pauli connects the then and now. It's a fan-run and, very uniquely, social-worker led project with deep ties of accountability and advocacy to the club, its fanculture and the public, and deep roots in the community. Julian and Paul from the Fanladen offer the lens of activist fans and knowledgable social workers to discuss what works at FC St. Pauli, some history, but also the dangers of the internationalization and commercialization of St. Pauli’s rebellious image. This is also the first TAoF episode that dropped sociologist Benedict Anderson's name - and it wasn't me who dropped it!HELPFUL LINKS:Highlights, with English commentary, from GAK - Sturm (2-3) on 11/2Fanladen/Fan Project St. Pauli, website in EnglishCharles Vinas and Natxo Parra, St. Pauli: Another Football is Possible (Pluto Press, 2020) - review by Jacobin MagazineThe Guardian (2018), "FC St Pauli: how it became the football team of punk and techno"Die Sterne - Wenn Dir St. Pauli auf den Geist fällt (This music video was filmed at the Millerntor stadium, pre-renovation)St. Pauli enters the field to AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” in the Hamburg derbySt. Pauli - goal and goal musicNina Glick Schiller, "Long Distance Nationalism" (on Benedict Anderson’s term)Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

On Thursday, November 2nd, the second largest city of Austria, Graz, will see  its second soccer derby in the last 16 years, in the Austrian cup tournament. Sturm Graz, currently leaders of the Austrian Bundesliga and Europa League starters, face GAK (Graz Athletic Sports Club), the city's oldest club, its first one to win a national title, and currently on the verge of returning to the 1st tier. This episode hits close to home: 20 years ago, in elementary school, I attended my first Sturm Graz game. Sturm was fighting relegation that season. My dad, a life long fan, took me. I went in as a  neutral, and went out mesmerized - not only by the game, but even more so by what went on in the stands, the sights, the smells, the language and the social and cultural prism in the old, crammed Sturm ground. Last Fall, the first derby in 15 years was on, again in the cup. I was in Austria at the time, and gathered at Sturm’s old ground before the game, with thousands of fellow supporters and one of today's guests. You can find some photos here. (We won the actual derby 1-0 )Two guests will help me walk through the history of both clubs, especially the drama and bankruptcies of the last 20 years, the culture and vibe that each club has, the rivalry, and also what they share in common. Fabio Schaupp is  a soccer professional. A lifelong GAK fan and former player, he is currently the sporting director of Austrian 3rd league team FC Weiz. Peter K. Wagner is the chief editor of Graz’s street newspaper, the Megaphon, also a football journalist, and a lifelong fan of Sturm. Together, they produce a wonderful and funny and insightful  weekly podcast on the vibe of the Austrian 1st league.HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:Graz Derby 2022, fans in action (Youtube)Sturm Fans compilation (Youtube)GAK Fans in the 3rd league (Youtube)Graz Derby statistics, German WikipediaGraz Tourism: book your soccer vacation now ;)The Guardian (2016), “Why Avant Garde Graz is Vienna’s Cooler Little Sister”Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

Matthias Sindelar was, and is, the most famous Austrian footballer between World Wars 1 and 2. Known for his elegant style of play during a period when Austrian soccer was admired as an innovative model, he defined Austria’s national team, known as the "miracle team," and his club, Austria Vienna. Austria joined Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945. And when it arose as an independent nation again, Sindelar's legacy was more than that of a footballer: he became  a myth - the elegant Austrian who defied the Nazis. This version of Sindelar has reached a wide international audience, from Italian graphic novels and Latin American books to articles in well-known English-speaking newspapers, complete with the story of how Sindelar celebrated a goal “by dancing in front of a directors' box packed with high-ranking Nazis."Until recently, no historian has attempted to probe these stories. The story of the elegant footballer who defied the Nazis was too endearing for antifascist football fans worldwide - and for Austrians, who wanted to see themselves as victims of the Nazis. As far as the international, English-speaking discussion is concerned, this episode is a first. David Forster, a historian from Vienna, has published research in German into Sindelar’s life and death that offers a pathbreaking counter-narrative to the story of Sindelar, the resister, and Austria, the victim. We will journey from 1903 to 1938, but ask many hard questions of today along the way, about truth, about the nature of history, about collective forgetfulness, and about our responsibility as fans of and storytellers about the beautiful game today. HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:David Forster, Georg Spitaler, Jakob Rosenberg, "Fussball unterm Hakenkreuz in der Ostmark" (book, website in German)David Forster, Viennese Football and the German Wehrmacht (academic article in English, via JSTOR)WBUR Radio, “Dancing Before The Nazis: A Soccer Star's (Supposed) Act Of Defiance” (Interview with Georg Spitaler)Matthias Sindelar - the Footballer Who Defied the Nazis (popular YouTube video that tells the heroic story of Sindelar)"The Paper Man: Life and Death of a Footballer" (The Guardian, 2008)Saamir Ansari, "MattPlease leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

Soccer jerseys, kits, football shirts - whatever the name, there is no shortage of  opinions about them. Pretty or ugly, traditional or not, brands, costs, sponsors; whether to own only those we have connections to, or buy them for style, or collect them... We’ll cut through all that today, with the help of Alex Ireland, author of the very recently published book Pretty Poly: The History of the Football Shirt. This episode is a short material history of the beautiful game - through the lens of various fabrics, in various colors, we’ll trace football from the beginnings to today. For a little table of contents, here is what we talked about: 1. the origins: why did teams start to wear the same jerseys anyways, when did colors come in? 2. crests, badges, numbers etc. - what stories do they tell? 3. fabrics, especially the switch from cotton to various plastics, and the opportunities that opened up. And 4., today’s landscape: brands, internationalization, TV, the collector market. All with plenty of concrete examples along the way. Get dressed! And please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:Alex Ireland, Pretty Poly: The History of the Football Shirt (Pitch Publishing, 2023)Alex Ireland on X/TwitterJohn Devlin, True Colors - books and websiteFootball Kit ArchiveTSV Hartberg shirt (yes, it says that)MUSIC SNIPPETS FROM THIS EPISODE: Donovan - I Love My Shirt (YouTube)Oasis - The Girl in the Dirty Shirt (YouTube)Ken Dodd and the Diddymen - Where’s My Shirt (YouTube)Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Green Shirt (YouTube)Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

When I was High School, Sturm Graz, one of the two teams of my hometown in Austria and the club I was born into, had its most successful phase. We made it to the CL group phase twice - and eventually went bankrupt from it. One of the protagonists was a young, serious-looking player from our own youth system who was known to be not your stereotypical soccer player. We were aware that he had a love for languages and philosophy. During the same period, in 2003, also in Graz, the first Homeless World Cup took place, on the city’s main square: 18 nations, 8 homeless players each, streetsoccer style on a small pitch. The tournament, its founders argue, has “The power to transform the lives of participants, and shape attitudes towards homelessness."  I would argue it also has the power to recenter the attitudes of soccer fans like us towards the power of the beautiful game. We hear from one of these founders today, Mel Young, a social entrepreneur from Edinburgh, Scotland who is president of the HWC til today. We also hear from that young, serious Sturm Graz player I watched growing up: his name is Gilbert Prilasnig, he now coaches Sturm’s under 18, but it turns out he began his coaching career at the Austrian Homeless World Cup national team, already during his active career as a player. He still coaches the HWC team now, making him Austria’s longest tenured national team coach. Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. I also enjoy your comments and questions via The Assistant Professor of Football on twitter or facebook.  HELPFUL LINKS FOR THE EPISODE:Homeless World Cup websiteHWC on Wikipedia, with statistics on every tournament2023 Homeless World Cup in Sacramento, CANew York Times on the 2023 HWCUEFA obituary for Harald Schmied, HWC Co-Founder from Graz, AustriaThe Big Issue (streetpaper) on 20 years HWCMel Young's websitePlease leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

FC Bayern is the club of Franz Beckenbauer, Harry Kane, and countless fans across the world. However, Bayern is also the club of Kurt Landauer. A Jew from a businesspeople’s family, he served for Germany in World War I and got to know football from English and Swiss students. As a club president, he led his FC Bayern to its first championship 1932, a year before the Nazi rise to power. As a Jew, Landauer promptly landed in a concentration camp only to flee to exile in Switzerland. And just two years after World War II, he returned to Munich to take on the presidency of his beloved club for a second time. His life story is a wild ride through the 20th century. And that his story was almost forgotten until a group of young, activist Bayern Munich supporters rediscovered it in the 2000s speaks to that century as well - but also to the power of fans in helping their club grow roots. One of those fans is with us, Patrik Stöhr - he is part of the team that leads what is now the Kurt Landauer Foundation that connects the world famous FC Bayern to all kinds of anti discrimination work in its hometown and on its terraces. New feature: I'd love to hear from you - leave a voicemail via this simple interface . Just click "record" and then "send," and I have your message in my Inbox. You may well hear yourself on air soon!HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:Kurt Landauer Foundation, German websiteCNN on the unveiling of Landauer's statue in Munich, 2019; SBNation piece on the same topicThe Jerusalem Post on Landauer, 100 years after FC Bayern's first championship 1923“Bayernlied,” the first club anthem of FC Bayern from 1907, recently reconstructed from sheet music fragments. Here performed by the Augsburg-based choir QuarterpastFC Bayern, Stern des Südens (official contemporary club anthem from the outro), video with lyrics“Rediscovered by the Fans” - Deutsche Welle English Speaking clip about the debut of the 2014 movie about Kurt Landauer with some movie scenesPlease leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

Between the late 1970s and the late 1980s, Dynamo Berlin, a club closely associated with the Communist East German Republic’s secret police, won the country’s title ten consecutive times. The hatred of the team across the country united its fans, but also provided the perhaps most prominent kind of complaint and grumbling that the GDR’s citizens had against the regime that ruled them. In 1989, that regime crumbled and fell. And so did Dynamo. Alan McDougall is a historian at the University of Guelph in Canada. He has written The People’s Game: Football, State and Society in East Germany, and takes us on the wild ride through a nation that is no more, with a club that polarizes Germany to this day.  Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE.HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:Music:Video Collage of BFC’s glory years, with the song “Wann wird Dynamo wieder Meister?” (“When Will Dynamo be Champions Again?”) by 4xDAndreas Auslauf - … Sein (“How it Should be”)Feeling B - Ich Such die DDR (“I’m, searching for the GDR, and no one knows where she is”)Namenlos - Nazis Wieder in Ostberlin ("Nazis Back in East Berlin")Texts, Websites:​​Alan McDougall, The People’s Game:Football, State and Society in East Germany“What Happened to the Record East German Champions” (article from Matt Ford @matt_4d from Episode 1 for Deutsche Welle)“Das randalierende Rätsel” (“The rioting enigma”), German TV Documentary from 1992 about BFC’s hools in the 1990s“Dynamo Berlin: the soccer club “owned” by the Stasi” (2016 article from David Crossland via CNN)Bonus, about the music: Arun Starkey, “Exploring the Importance of the East German Punk Scene” (2021)Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

Today's Season 1 wrap-up is a tour of Europe in 1 hour.  Some listeners contacted me with the same great idea: check in with a lot of the visiting professors from season 1 again, and have them tell us briefly how they are now, and how things went. So I called all those with whom I talked a while ago about a club, a country, an ongoing situation, to look back at the season that was, the stories, the joys and the problems of soccer that were. Somewhere toward the end I’ll also say who the top 3 downloaded episodes of the season were, so hang tight. All the guests for today are, in the order that they appeared here:Matt Ford, for United We Stand on Manchester UnitedKaterina Chernii, center for Contemporary Historical Research, Potsdam Germany on UkraineEva Lotta Bohle, Germany 2nd Bundesliga Podcast on Arminia BielefeldViktor Asp from Football Stockholm on the three Stockholm teamsAndy Payne, Hammers UnitedClaus Melchior, 1860 MunichChristian Hummer, Tivoli12 on Wacker Innsbruck and, by implication, Los Angeles FCMost of them also bright a song, so you will also hear these interesting soccer songs today:Marc Antoine Charpentier - Te Deum (Prelude)Stone Roses - I Wanna Be AdoredGogol Bordello - Києве Мій (Kyiv My Dear)Ed Sheeran - A Beautiful Game Dinamo Ja VolinCross Wires - DrowningLustfinger - Löwenmut (live at 1860) Die Toten Hosen - Steh' Auf Wenn Du am Boden BistBarrio Collete - Souris ChériePlease leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

Probably no other English club below the professional leagues has gathered more media attention than Dulwich Hamlet, located South of the river in London and around in that neighborhood since 1893. Any quick search on the club will turn up grand phrases like “a different vision for football” or “the small club with the big vision.” And that vision - inclusive, humanitarian, egalitarian - draws around 3000 spectators (critics would say 3000 hipsters) who often wouldn’t feel comfortable at other soccer grounds to the Hamlet’s South London home for most games. But despite such record numbers for the lower leagues, the club just got relegated. It also is planning a new stadium, after briefly being thrown out of the old one by developers. And it is both shaped by and wrestling with its identity in a gentrifying neighborhood. Tim Scott, chairman of the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters trust, shares about the vibe around the club, the ups and downs and growing pains of the atmosphere at home games, and the work of a supporter's trust.HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODEDulwich Hamlet Supporters Trust (also on twitter)Dulwich Hamlet FC (also on twitter); Club Shop2018 piece in the Guardian re. the stadium conflictRecent piece in the local newspaper re. current stadium plans with statement from DHFC"First all-trans masc side makes football history" - hosted by DHFCFootball Ground Guide on Champion HillPlease leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

Degerfors IF in Sweden's top tier surely must have one of the most unusual, lovely and countercultural stories that professional football in Europe has to tell at the moment. It's roots lie in a rich history of steeltown football that led the club to national fame in the mid 20th century, and its present is headed by a chairman who is a sociologist without any football background until he ended up on the board of a first league professional team. How he and his club chart the course of a largely volunteer-run club in a small steeltown in which football means so much to the people there amidst the pressures of global soccer capitalism is a fascinating story. On top of that, the little town houses Sweden's only football museum. A little audio tour is included in the episode.I think this hour and 20 minutes will be enough for you to find your sentimental favorite among European professional teams. HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:There is extremely little beyond results, the odd international transfer news etc. on the club that is in English. Nevertheless:30 Photos from my visit to DegerforsDegerfors IF (official website, Swedish)Degerfors Football Museum (Facebook, Swedish)Degerfors Football Museum (Värmland tourism site, English)Heja röda vita laget (Come on red-white team, Degerfors hymn, Youtube)Degerfors hymn by Blakk Petter and Rob Inc., heard at the end of the episode (Youtube) ("The Alternative/Countermodell), article by Gabriel Kuhn, also known from this podcast, in German. Analyse und Kritik, 5/17/22.Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

Clapton Community Football Club is a very special member-owned club in East London, just two Tube stops east of West Ham United. Its members saved its own ground, rebuilt it, host workshops on how to monitor police violence in the neighborhood, will host St Pauli’s women’s team from Germany in a few weeks - and have very good reasons for why they do not want to play too high up in the league pyramid. Kevin Blowe, one of the  a club's longest-standing officeholders and current treasurer, talked to me at the famous Old Spotted Dog Ground, London's oldest senior football ground, about the place, the club and the people that make it an unusual and heady and fun and beautiful place to love soccer: member-run, committedly political, community oriented, and rooted in the history of this part of East London. We recorded outside, in the stands, which gets you a good sense of the place I hope, and we’ll give you an audio tour - but it also means you don’t have studio quality, though the audio giot considerably better with mastering. I trust that is fine. HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:Clapton CFC, official websiteClapton CFC on twitterClapton CFC on YouTube, incl. gamesOld Spotted Dog Ground, website of the trust, with photos of the ground"Clapton CFC: How Our Antifascist Football Shirts Found a Global Audience," The Guardian, September 2018"The Contested Legacy of the Antifascist International Brigades," Guardian, October 2020Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/