Footballers’ Lives: Celebrity Culture in Britain

 

 

'Pictures of the Day' Daily Mirror, September 30, 1905

Image Missing. 

(image can be found via ukpressonline.co.uk searching for the date of issue (above))*

Caption Reads: 'That the game of football is not all fun, as so many people think, may be learned from the photographs. They depict—(1) Mr. Tait, the captain of the ‘Spurs, who takes his benefit on October 21.; (2) golf, a Scot’s relaxation; (3) a fast fifty yards for the wind; (4) skipping, another footballers’ exercise; (5, 6, and 7) keeping the eye in form on the hail; and (8) after the day's training, pleasure at the billiards table.'

When I came across an article entitled ‘Pictures of the Day’ from September 1905 which showed several snap-shots of a day in the life of a footballer it was difficult not to be intrigued. At that time The Daily Mirror in 1905 was one of a growing number of popular illustrated newspapers, enabling the increasingly vast British newspaper readership to view previously unseen elements of the wider world. This photograph based article evidently sought to emphasise the hard work and training that goes on in the daily lives of footballers paid to ply their trade, in discount a myth that the life of a professional footballer is all play, and no work.

‘Sandy’ or ‘Terrible’ Alexander Tait (So known for his ferocious tackling – though apparently he was never booked (pictured here)) was a prime example of a Scottish footballing ‘mercenary’, common in his time. He was a professional, a master of defensive destruction, who performed in front of crowds of thousands over the whole of his lengthy career. His was a story of rags to ‘riches’ elevating himself from working-class origins to a lengthy career as a sportsman, captaining an FA Cup winning side in 1900. He even coached the famous Brazilian team Corinthians. Clearly, for Tait, football had provided a long career of regular employment and relative comfort. However, in spite of the vast popularity of football in the Edwardian period, the wealth and celebrity experienced by footballers today is barely comparable. I can imagine that the hard-man Tait wouldn’t have much time for the actions and behaviour of today’s footballing prima donnas. 

Indeed, Mario Balotelli’s actions as philanthropist/playboy/bad boy/moron might have provoked one or two hay-makers from ‘Terrible Tait’, were the two players to have met competitively. Balotelli is perhaps the ultimate example of the unprecedented wealth of today’s footballers. His blasé attitude to cash has earned him both adulation and ignominy in the past year. In a way, Balotelli seems to appreciate the ludicrousness of footballing wealth better than any other. Nevertheless, many have been led to question the moral ethics of such vast sums of money ploughed into football clubs today. The Premier League is a prime example of the rising admiration of ‘get rich quick’ success stories which dominates a chunk of British popular culture. Football, a game which involves a great deal of hard work, training and years of commitment, provides by no means a bad model for youngsters to aspire to. However, at the top end, footballers, their celebrity friends and partners do little to provide role models or examples to new generations of British children. 

Similarly, the last few years have also seen the rise of pseudo-reality dramas such as ‘The Only Way is Essex’ and ‘Made In Chelsea’. These dramas document the daily lives of ‘ordinary’ people. They are not famous for their expertise, or work in film/television/music/modelling. They live a life of luxury and comfort whilst seemingly doing little or no work of worth. Though many viewers are able to make the distinction between myth and reality, it seems that the idea of wealth without industry is one that has increasing purchase in our society. This is no new phenomena, but perhaps is the ultimate expression of a long-trend. ‘Celebrities’ such as Katie Price, Jodie Marsh, Kerry Katona, Big Brother candidates A-Z and ‘WAGs’ have dominated headlines for over a decade, not only in trash ‘mags’, but also mainstream news media and satire.

However, in true form, this phenomenon of celebrity obsession is not completely unique. Although it may be special in its bloated opulence and political apathy, the popularity and press obsession with a group of privileged, moneyed, non-working celebrities with questionable moral values has been seen before.  

At the end of the 19^th century and the early 20^th century two major celebrities dominated the headlines of Britain’s new tabloid newspapers: The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Sketch etc. etc. They were of course Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and later King Edward VII of Britain. Wilhelm was a press favourite. A nationalist fanatic and proponent of expansionist imperialism, Wilhelm was prone to horrendous gaffes (e.g. Daily Telegraph Affair) and outrageous statements (e.g. the Hunnenrede, the Krüger Telegram). His regular visits to Britain attracted large crowds where he was both adored and hated in equal portions.[1] Interest in his life and behaviour provided the press with constant material throughout his turbulent thirty year reign. Similarly, Edward VII, son of Queen Victoria, was a character who was much scrutinised by the popular press. He led a life of debauched luxury, gambled heavily, ate unbelievable amounts of food, smoked profusely and was a womaniser – much of which attracted interest and disgust in equal amount. He was nevertheless famed and admired for his diplomatic abilities, often attributed to his great personal gravitas and likeability. Though their popularity was subject to peaks and troughs, Edward VII and Wilhelm II remained a constant interest for the press in Britain and abroad throughout their lives. They provided drama, spectacle, distaste, awe and humour – who could say no to that?!

Although there are a great many differences between our current celebrity culture and that of the 1890s and 1900s it is clear that inquisitiveness and spectacle are consistent to human nature through the ages. As recently popularised in films such as ‘The Queen’ (2006) and ‘King’s Speech’ (2011) royalty has always played a central role in the national imagination as a focus for popular interest and debate – whether we like it or not. Although society has changed hugely, royalty still attracts its own special popularity. Prince William’s marriage to Kate Middleton, and the upcoming jubilee show a continued fascination with the royal family. This curiosity, I would argue, derives from the same human impulse that motivates the general public to read OK! and Heat articles documenting the latest extravagance of footballers like Balotelli or Z-list celebrities like ‘Joey Essex’. ‘Exposing’ the life of a footballer in 1905, though marked by many different social expectations, derives from that same British gossip-loving ‘nosiness’. 

It is unlikely that this historical comparison will provide any comfort the next time a footballer crashes his Bentley or a TOWIE character is booked into rehab. Things do change, not always for the better, and humans will always delight in hearing the extravagances and disasters of the rich and famous. But remember this: at least today’s crazy celebrity idiots don’t have the power to start a global bloodbath….not yet anyway.

Patrick Longson

(edited by Jamie Perry)

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* N.B. (Sadly, due to the Daily Mirror's copyrighting policy I was unable to provide the actual image - if anyone wishes to donate £50 to the blog in order to see the real thing I'll post it up here...otherwise - see my fun image description above. Somehow an image not seen by anyone since 1905 is still apparently worth that amount....)

[1] “The Kaiser’s Journey. Royal Farewells at Sandringham. Parting Incidents. ‘A Gentleman Who is Always Smiling.’,” Daily Express, November 17, 1902.

The End of Boom and Bust?

…Boom-Bust-Boom-Bust-Boom…

The business cycle is a fundamental and undeniable cornerstone of economic theory. However, the economics expert and former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, is often quoted as demanding 'no return to boom and bust' (1997). These fabled words will doubtless outlive him, and go down in history as a prime example of 'man-eating-hat' - or perhaps that should be 'hemisphere-eats-hat'. Brown was not alone. Adam Curtis's excellent documentary series, 'All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace' (2011) exposed the economic optimism which dominated the end of the 20^th century and opening of the 21^st. A new-found global confidence (or complacency) meant that major decision makers in charge of the world's largest economies garnered the belief that recessions were dead in this age of ever advancing computer technology, wealth and prosperity.

WRONG...... (cue 'Family Fortunes' buzzer)

They should have listened to the late-great J.K. Galbraith (JKG) - the eminent scholar of the 1930s 'great depression' - who warned in June 1999 that this talk was a result of 'another exercise in speculative optimism'. Speaking to the London School of Economics he warned ominously: "Let us have both the needed warnings against speculative excess and awareness that the ensuing slump can be painful." Nevertheless, the boom continued unabated and the world economy stumbled and lurched its way to our deliciously entitled 'Credit Crunch' (…a tasty sandwich now available at all self-respecting chain-bakeries across the UK...). Ever since 2008, commentators and journalists seem to have bemoaned the special nature of the misfortunes of the current generation. 

But was it such a huge surprise? Had we learned nothing of close to seventy years of academic scrutiny to know that no boom can last forever? My A-Level Economics lecturer and general font of knowledge, Mrs. K. Matthews, was prophesying our economic doom in 2004 - that the bubble would soon burst. I distinctly remember poo-pooing the idea of recession, having never experienced one first hand. Poor old JKG lived to a grand old age of 97 and died (April 2006) almost 2 years prior to the global slump - he never lived to pronounce, 'I told you so!'

Well none of the above (a rudimentary view of exceedingly complicated economics) will come as much of a surprise. What with Robert Peston's moaning, groaning and gurning during the Six O'clock News - and seemingly endless political satire of disaster after disaster  - the creaking-old term 'crisis' could do with a well-earned break (Fill-in where appropriate: Debt-, Eurozone-, Financial-, Greek-, Foreign-Currency-Speculation-, Oil-, Bankers-, Ecological-, Development-, Food-, Water-, Fuel-,....). However, any claim that the events effecting the global markets and national economies are new and unique should quickly be dismissed.

Talk of the economic crisis and the Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s is relatively commonplace. In fact many similarities are drawn between the way that global recession played out and our own. Like now, property prices were a fundamental cause. Like now, the slump shocked a world which had dared to hope that things might just keep improving - people might just keep getting richer, happier and safer. Like now, the slump led to the fall of governments and national soul searching. First there were calls for austerity (like our old pal ‘Dave’ Cameron, LOL). Then people got sick of that, and demanded a change - just look to the French and Greek voters, and even British local elections for evidence of the assonances with today. Like now, there was also an infamous turn to the extremes and to 'strong' rulers (1920s and 1930s: Germany, Italy, Hungary, Spain, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania). The success and resurgence of an array and variety of right-wing parties in Europe (Netherlands, Denmark, France, Greece, Britain) is a gloomy reminder of what can happen when times are hard and people need scapegoats. 

In my studies I am constantly reminded of how little humans really change. From the Roman ‘Crisis of the Third Century’ to the ‘South Sea Bubble’ of the early 18^th century, the history of human society is cluttered with many ‘great’ recessions. My own historical scope falls later in the great terrible, joyful, farcical parade of human history. Studying the period from the late 1880s into the twentieth century it is impossible to ignore the 'Long Depression', which spanned the 1870s, 80s and 90s and effected the entire Western hemisphere. There is no question the world was a different place back then. For the great majority life was immeasurably harder in a way which would be hard to comprehend today. But that depression had results which we would all recognise today:

• Interventionism - the rise of socialism in this instance - experienced a great surge of popularity and developed many of its key ideas
• Right-wing parties and ideas of population control and eugenics can be traced back to this formative period
• New economic powers surged where the old ones stuttered: in that time Britain's industrial might was challenged and subsumed by Germany and the United States - today China has continued its rise while the older 'western' economies spluttered under a mountain of debt.
• Rise in the popularity/sympathy of/with the military (as seen in the UK) and popular and social imperialism: through 'new imperialism' and the expansion of European empires (seen today recent revival of the Falkland Islands/Malvinas dispute - here intended as a device to explain the "the diversions outwards of internal tensions and forces of change in order to preserve the social and political status quo" (see H-U. Wehler, 1969))
• Censure of the 'new journalism' and its profit-driven, voyeuristic and intrusive approach (phone hacking). (Lee, A.J. (1976) pp. 117-118)

A particular area of interest for my own studies is the development of a discourse of 'National Efficiency'. In 1896 E.E. Williams (an economic polemicist) published the best-selling book, Made In Germany. Williams posited that an external industrial threat (Germany) had developed as a result of an internal British lack of efficiency and work-ethic. Amongst many other works of this time, the discourse quickly gathered support from across the British political spectrum. In the years 1896-1910 the idea of regenerating a decadent, unappreciative and increasingly lazy population and economy gained much attention. The press and politicians continually showed a special interest in reforming every aspect of British society: education, politics, foreign policy, industry, army, civil service, the media and even the 'national physique'. Indeed the ideas of eugenics and Social Darwinism can trace some of their roots back to this developing intellectual discourse. (See G.R. Searle, 1971)

Although this movement eventually died away, its legacy did outlast its proponents. In the twentieth century governments across Europe and North America adopted approaches which shared the same genetic make-up. Social reform and interventionism, technocracy, 'cult of the expert', Fascism, National Socialism - all share elements of the ideas of these outspoken British reformers. In its response to the perceived ills of a society of contrasts, National Efficiency also can be linked to many of the features of our current 'modern' society. Technocratic governance in Italy (Mario Monti), demands for industrial regeneration and rebirth (the UK in particular), political reform (AV referendum, House of Lords reform, expenses scandals) and demands for a change in the way the media operate (phone hacking) are all major issues and debates upon which our commentators and political 'experts' cogitate and masticate. 

The perennial question for the historian: SO WHAT!!?? Well that’s a tough one. Each grand recession is the same but different. There is no way to argue that each one follows an exact model, and there are innumerable fundamental changes in the structure and nature of each society - they belong to distinct 'epistemes' as Foucault would probably say (although he would probably do it in a 3 volume dialogue studying the history of chicken farming in 18th Century Alsace). Perhaps the only thing we can truly learn is that there is and never will be an end to the business cycle. Humans might change their clothes, their methods of communication and what they have for dinner - but the lumps of squidgy mush inside their little crania still go on producing the same old answers to the same old questions. 

 All recessions end, and although they often bring out the worst in humanity, they can also produce grand reform for the benefit of all. Therefore, we should all stop mithering about it, relax and remember to embrace the mantra of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: "Don't Panic!" (Douglas Adams, 1979).

Unless Greece defaults……

Patrick Longson

(edited by Jamie Perry)