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Red Rosa's Spartacus League episodes
- Rugby League: and the class war was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
The history of all hitherto existing Rugby codes is the history of class struggle. Here we talk with the best historian in the field about how Rugby League arose from the class politics of Britain in the late 19th century, and how its history has continued to reflect the vicissitudes of that struggle.
We were privileged to be joined by Professor Tony Collins, historian, author, emeritus professor of history at De Montfort University, a Research Fellow at the Institute of Sports Humanities and also a visiting professor at Beijing Sports University.His books have won the Aberdare Prize for Sports History four times since 1999 and he has been a consultant to numerous TV and radio programmes including the excellent Codebreakers about Welsh Rugby union players who went north to play for League clubs.
In March 2018 he began the weekly Rugby Reloaded podcast on the history of rugby and the other football codes, which is highly recommended.His latest book is the excellent Rugby League: A People’s History it was published in July 2020. He is a prolific author but a special mention here for the People’s History , Rugby’s Great Split, about the context of the breakaway of some northern clubs to form what would evolve into the Rugby League code, the greatest game of all. And the magnificent Sport in Capitalist Society, which is basically the subtext of this whole Red Caste series on sport and politics, this book forms the topic of our next episode.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rugby-reloaded/id1358627156Tony's excellent podcast serieshttp://www.tcollins.orgSome of Tony's books1 hr 7 min - Belfast Celtic Part 2: sectarian and class politics in the North of Ireland since the 1960s.
In this episode we talk to Jack Duffin about his experience of the tumultuous politics of the Six Counties since the 1960s.
Jack is an old Official IRA member and was Best Man at the wedding of the legendary Joe McCann; here he talks about Joe and much more:the split in the Republican movement between socialists and Catholic nationalists;the inherently sectarian nature of the state in the North of Ireland;the formation of the Provisional IRA;the relationship between the British security forces and Loyalist paramilitaries from an early stage in the conflict;the future for the Six Counties as the partitioned entity approaches its centenary year.Some further reading:https://www.historyireland.com/troubles-in-ni/the-che-guevara-of-the-ira-the-legend-of-big-joe-mccann/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/paratroopers-accused-of-murdering-official-ira-man-joe-mccann-end-court-bid-to-face-jury-trial-38963474.htmlhttps://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/915Review of the excellent "The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party."https://www.bookdepository.com/Official-Irish-Republicanism-1962-1972-Sean-Swan/9781430319344A shorter book than the above and a good concise intellectual as well as political history of the movement and the times.1 hr 4 min - The Grand Old Team, the late, great Belfast Celtic.
This Redcast is about the late, great Belfast Celtic. Gone but most definitely not forgotten.
Celtic were founded in 1891, a few years after Glasgow Celtic and with a sense of responsibility to imitate their counterparts in “style, play and charity.”We talk to our friend and comrade Jack Duffin about the history of the club and their importance to the nationalist community in the North of Ireland, to Irish football, and of course about the interaction off that football with the politics; more about the politics in part 2 of the cast. Jack is a Belfast historian, political activist, former member of the Official IRA and football fan with a uniquely knowledgeable perspective on the history of the Six counties.In 1896 they were admitted to the Irish league, in 1900 they won that league for the first and by the means the only time. Now, Celtic were always the team of the nationalist community in Belfast and Celtic Park was in the heart of Catholic West Belfast but the club was not sectarian, many of the club’s famous players were Protestants as was the most successful manager Elisha Scott, and Protestants consistently formed a good 10% of the club’s support. Like most things, the history of the North of Ireland is more complicated than it looks.However, the club’s support was overwhelmingly Catholic and in 1912 the turbulent politics in the Northern counties lay behind some serious violence at a match against Linfield. The Great war ended formally in 1919 but hostilities certainly didn’t cease in the North of Ireland. In 1920, Celtic was forced to abandon their participation in the 1920–21 season, and did not rejoin the league until 1924–25 season. The return was triumphant with Celtic winning the league 4 times in a row between 1925 and 1926. Celtic were champions on 6 more occasions in the 1930s and also in the 1947/48 and 1948/49 seasons. Then it was pretty much all over.The spark for the end of the club came on 26 December 1948, at the traditional Boxing Day league game between Linfield and Celtic at Windsor Park. Celtic were winning for most of the match but Linfield equalised in the final minute. Linfield fans, high on adrenaline and sectatianism invaded the pitch and began attacking several Celtic players, including centre-forward Jimmy Jones, a protestant, who suffered a broken leg and was kicked unconscious. Celtic felt the response from the police and Irish Football Association was wholly inadequate. The team's management met on the night of the match and decided that the club had no option other than to withdraw entirely from the league after the end of the 1949 season.In a 2011 profile, The Guardian spoke with Celtic fan Jimmy Overend, then 86, about the void left by the team's exit: those of us who never saw the club but were brought up with tales of its legendary prowess, what it meant to the community and the tragedy of its demise, can feel his words:"It was like a black cloud coming down, as if there was nothing to live for or look forward to on a Saturday. It's a grief which never went away."
http://www.belfastceltic.org/history/index.htmlFine site with a lot of information on the club.http://coiste.ieThe tour company that Jack works for in Belfast, highly recommended.1 hr 9 min - Detroit City F.C. Part 2: a little bit of the politics.
In this second part of the Detroit City FC podcast, Matt talks to us about the politics of the club's supporters and gives us his colourful take on USA politics. This was recorded before the USA November election and when Donald Trump was in hospital. Events may have been slightly overtaken parts of this cast but it remains well worth a listen, particularly Matt's warning about the future: we may end up with someone like Trump in a few years time in the USA; but intelligent, competent and much more dangerous.
Some extra reading:https://www.newsweek.com/veterans-call-dan-crenshaw-resign-alleged-role-disparaging-female-vet-1555309A little about the politician that Matt warns abouthttps://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/s/dont-forget-motor-cityMy article in The Morning Star about the club.https://www.detcityfc.comThe official club websitehttps://twitter.com/KeyworthCasualsThe Keyworth Casuals twitter account.https://noonelikes.usThe website of the biggest Detroit City supporters's grouping, The Northern Guard.34 min - Detroit City FC, Lefty "Soccer" on the Lake.
SINCE David Bowie sung about Panic in Detroit in 1973 I have been fascinated by Detroit.
I have also been fascinated by the international spread of British football culture since being asked to teach a bunch of Penarol fans in Montevideo in 1989 how to properly sing: “You’re going to get your fucking heads in!” I’m a Nacional man but thought it best to keep that quiet.
So when I read about Detroit City’s Northern Guard supporters group gathering before a match outside the stadium’s gates chanting: “Can you hear the (opponents) sing? No! … I can’t hear hear a fucking thing, no, no-oo,” a classic 1970s Brit football chant, I thought I had to find out more about this club. Then I found out about the anti-fascist credentials of the fans and the ideals of the owners and was sold.
In this Red Caste episode, Alex Gordon and I talk with Matt Smyth, a member of the Keyworth Casuals ultra group about his love of Detroit City FC, the history of the club and its vociferous, foul mouthed, leftist supporters.Some extra reading:https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/s/dont-forget-motor-cityMy article in The Morning Star about the club.https://www.detcityfc.comThe official club websitehttps://twitter.com/KeyworthCasualsThe Keyworth Casuals twitter account.https://noonelikes.usThe website of the biggest Detroit City supporters's grouping, The Northern Guard.49 min
About Red Rosa's Spartacus League
From the publisher's feed
Politics, sport, sport as politics pursued by other means.
Objective, non-aligned, left-wing talk. Theory, practice, the history we're told, the history of what actually happened. Inspired by Marx, Rosa Luxemburg, Antonio Gramsci and Eduardo Galeano. A good midfield quartet but who will play out wide on the left?
“The most revolutionary thing one can do is always to proclaim loudly what is happening.”
― Rosa Luxemburg
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