Kohe, Geoff (2015) For the Good of the Game(?): The Legacy of the Football Trust, the Football Pools & the Dangerous Seduction of Political Promise. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 32 (11-12). pp. 1378-1394. ISSN Print: 0952-3367 Online: 1743-9035
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Abstract
During the late twentieth century, the United Kingdom’s football infrastructure and spectatorship underwent transformation as successive stadia disasters heightened political and public scrutiny of the game and prompted industry change. Central to this process was the government’s formation of an independent charitable organization to oversee subsequent policy implementation and grant-aid provision to clubs for safety, crowd, and spectator requirements. This entity, which began in 1975 focusing on ground improvement, developed into the Football Trust. The Trust was funded directly by the football pools companies who ran popular low-stakes football betting enterprises. Working in association with the Pools Promoters Association (PPA), and demonstrating their social responsibility towards the game’s constituents, the pools resourced a wide array of Trust activities. Yet irrespective of government mandate, the PPA and Trust were continually confronted by political and economic obstacles that threatened the effectiveness of their arrangements. In this paper the history of the Football Trust is investigated, along with its partnership with the PPA, and its relationship with the government within the context of broader political shifts, stadia catastrophes, official inquiries, and commercial threats. It is contended that while the Trust/PPA partnership had a respectable legacy, their history afforded little protection against adverse contemporary conditions.
Item Type: | Article |
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Additional Information: | This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in The International Journal of the History of Sport on 28 October 2015, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09523367.2015.1077810 Staff and students at the University of Worcester can access the full-text of the online published article via the online Library Search. External users should check availability with their local library or Interlibrary Requests Service. |
Uncontrolled Discrete Keywords: | The Football Trust, Pools, Promoters Association, Taylor Report, stadia disasters, government |
Subjects: | H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) J Political Science > JA Political science (General) |
Divisions: | College of Business, Psychology and Sport > School of Sport and Exercise Science |
Related URLs: | |
Depositing User: | Janet Davidson |
Date Deposited: | 01 Apr 2016 09:30 |
Last Modified: | 17 Jun 2020 17:09 |
URI: | https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/id/eprint/4243 |
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