The FootPol Podcast. What is FootPol?

What is FootPol? In this short introduction co-hosts Guy Burton and Francesco Belcastro introduce themselves and the podcast and its purpose as well as the topics and guests in the first few episodes. The first proper episode lands on Monday 2nd of October on all main podcasting platforms! Book the date and watch and listen out for it!

Transcript

FootPol 1 - Introduction

Guy Burton
Hello and welcome to a new podcast, Footpol, where football and politics meet. I'm Guy Burton and this is my colleague, Francesco Belcastro.

Francesco Belcastro
Hello, Guy. How are you?

Guy Burton
 Hey, good to see you. So, tell me, Francesco, what are we talking about? Why are we here? 
 
Francesco Belcastro 
So this podcast is going to be about the relationship between football and politics. Now I know that there is some stuff out there that already deals with this, but we're going to do it in a much, much better way. 

We're going to look at global, we're going to look at regional, we're going to talk to football club, we're going to talk to academics, we're going to talk to experts, we're going to tell you whatever it's important about the relationship between football and politics. 
 
Guy Burton 
Yeah, and we're going to be looking at some of the themes and issues that are there in football and politics as well. So issues to do with racism, gender, we're going to be looking at clubs that are involved in their communities, we're going to be looking at supporters and extent to which they instigators of politics or tools of politicians. 

We're going to see how politicians themselves try and use and sometimes exploit football for their own purposes. So it's going to be a wide ranging discussion, isn't it?
 
 Francesco Belcastro
It is. So if you've ever wondered why Saudi Arabia is investing money in Premier League clubs or why national teams are such a hot topic of discussion at the World Cup, that's the right place for you.

Guy Burton
Yeah. And so why on earth should anyone want to listen to us, Francesco?

Francesco Belcastro 
My background is in international relations. I'm a big football fan. I'm a senior lecturer at the University of Derby in the UK. I've published quite a lot of stuff on different aspects of sport and politics. 

I've looked at the role of institutions in particular relation to football. I've looked at how state and different actors use football. And I think the most important thing is we know the right people. 

We know the policymakers. We know the academics. We know the experts. We can bring them in and they will tell you how it is. 
 

Guy Burton 
Yeah. Indeed. And as for myself, I'm an adjunct professor over at the Brussels School of Governance. Before that, I've worked in a number of different universities around the world. And more importantly, I'm a fan of both a big and a small football team. 

As a half -Brazilian, one of my earliest memories is of seeing the red and black when Flamengo beat Liverpool in the World Club Championship and becoming a lifelong Mengista. But for a bit of balance, I also support a very small, quiet team in the form of Aldershot in the UK, because of family. So a bit of a balance between the two. How about yourself, Francesco? Who do you support? 
 

Francesco Belcastro 
So I am in a similar position because I support a small Italian team, which is the team from my town, Colacilocri. And then I sort of watch pretty much every league under the sun and I support different big teams. 

But I would say my team is my local one, that's why I grew up watching. So there's going to be quite a lot of international football, isn't there? Yes, and international politics, I guess.
 
 Guy Burton
Yes, and because we're interested in looking globally, aren't we? So we will be looking at how politics and football interacts with each other, not just in the UK and in Europe, but also in South America, as well as some of the more emerging markets, if you will. So in Asia, in the United States, as well as Africa, given that we came to this as scholars of the Middle East, I'm sure that we will be looking at many of the things that are coming out of the Middle East and the relationship that some of these new actors like the Saudis and the Qataris and the United Arab Emirates have brought to football as well.

Francesco Belcastro 
Yeah, it's going to be Middle East and Exeter. Hopefully not just that. I went to see Exeter City FC, their football ground. They are so interesting because they are a fan -owned, they are probably the most successful fan -owned team in the UK, they've been 20 years going on. And they invest a lot on the academy. So they got like, I spoke to some people there, seven kids come from the youth team this year. When I was there, there were people, there were fans painting the fences for the new season. 

This is something we could look into. Because some great characters there might be worth thinking about. I mean, obviously, like fun on teams are a big topic, but it could be something that later on we consider.
 
 Guy Burton
Yeah, no, exactly because I think what we want to go is beyond just fan -owned teams saying so what does this mean? Does this have any has this had any impact changing the way that people themselves who take part in these clubs have become more Active in their community or the club itself has become sort of a vector for action It's not just that there is politics and football, but somehow people can sort of find politics through football

Francesco Belcastro
Yeah, yeah, and I think that would be a great case. Because there's a lot of stuff broadly on football and politics. I mean, some of it is like football stuff that has a slight political angle to it. So I think we need something that goes a bit more in depth.

Guy Burton
Yeah, and I also find often when I'm listening to those people who talk about, you know, their involvement in community clubs, but that's kind of where you end it, that you talk about the sense of collective, the sense of identity. But what's that actually mean? So does that mean you take up a kind of an activist bent in sort of campaigning against discrimination? Or does that mean that you all kind of collectively treat everybody else as the other, you know, sort of in a much more sort of negative light, right, sort of like the far right?

Francesco Belcastro
Yeah, in this case I think there isn't there's not much ideological substance to it.

Guy Burton
Now, before we leave you, just want to say that keep an eye out for us and the various podcasts that we will be bringing out. But of course, we have a whole bunch of ideas of things that we want to talk about, people we're going to reach out to, but we would like it to be interactive as well. So certainly do come to us with some ideas of the topics and the themes that you would like to see explored, maybe even some of the people that you would like to talk to. Francesco, before we leave it there, is there anyone in particular that you would like to talk to?

Francesco Belcastro
Yeah, I'm a big fan of David Goldblatt, so I think it'd be a fantastic person to bring on the show. So that's my goal. That's, this is what I really want to bring on the show, yes.

Guy Burton 
Okay, so if you're listening, Mr. Goldblatt, do get in touch and we'll leave it there. Until next time, bye.