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de Haan, Donna, Faull, Andrea and Kohe, Geoff (2013) Celebrating the Social in Soccer: Spectators’ Experiences of the Forgotten (Blind) Football World Cup. Soccer & Society, 15 (4). pp. 578-595. ISSN On-line: 1743-9590 Print: 1466-0970
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Abstract
Sporting spaces draw together distinct social assortments. Football (in various forms), for example, generates specific types of spectators and spectator behaviours. Cognizant of this work, our paper examines the 2010 World Blind Football Championships (WBFC) and its spectatorship. We conducted semi-structured interviews, orientated around perceptions of disability/disability sport, with 285 spectators. The thrust of our paper is that the event affords spectators opportunities to better understand, appreciate and engage with the experiences of athletes with a disability. We argue that the unique context of blind football competitions (characterized here as an unthreatening, convivial, often familial-like,
and somewhat parochial space) resulted in positive spectator experiences. We conclude that within the framework of bridging social capital, this unique
sporting space afforded the creation of relationships between the athletes (and the sport) and the spectators, two groups previously separated by social distance.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Staff and students at the University of Worcester can access the full-text via the UW online library search. External users should check availability with their local library or Interlibrary Requests Service. |
| Uncontrolled Discrete Keywords: | soccer, football, spectators, World Blind Football, Championship, disability sport |
| Subjects: | G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races L Education > LC Special aspects of education |
| Divisions: | College of Health, Life and Environmental Sciences > School of Science and the Environment |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | Geoff Kohe |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Nov 2013 12:14 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Jun 2020 17:01 |
| URI: | https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/id/eprint/2756 |
Available Versions of this Item
- Celebrating the Social in Soccer: Spectators’ Experiences of the Forgotten (Blind) Football World Cup. (deposited 29 Nov 2013 12:14) [Currently Displayed]
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