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The Soul of Football
The Soul of Football episodes
- Banners, Bans and Boycotts: Fans Fight for the Game
In this episode of The Soul of Football, I look at how fans across Europe are pushing back: from the fallout of the IMK in Germany and Wolfsburg police's heavy-handed tactics against travelling Unioners, to Celtic banning the Green Brigade, Milan’s Curva Sud calling out their club over price gouging, the Borussia-Park rename row, Premier League fans solidarity protest over ticket hikes, Populaire Sud Ultra's breaking with OGC Nice, and Wolves supporters’ 15-minute boycott. I take you on a tour of the places where the fans are still fighting for the soul of football.
49 min - The Most Important Football Fan Protest You Haven't Heard Of
In the first episode of The Soul of Football, I explain why this podcast exists, why I am launching in the middle of Germany’s Interior Ministers Conference in Bremen, and what I want to protect and celebrate about fan culture. A bit rough, a bit raw, but an honest start from a supporter just trying to speak up for the soul of the game.
1 hr 4 min
About The Soul of Football
From the publisher's feed
The Soul of Football is an independent and fan-first passion project exploring German and European football fan culture. It starts from the idea that football is Europe’s true cultural atlas, and…
that fan scenes, especially in Germany, are both active practitioners and living custodians of cultural heritage – one of the last great refuges of living culture in Germany and Europe. It is one man’s homage to football, the culture that surrounds it, and the custodians who protect that culture.
My name is Kevin and this is my project. I was born in Germany, but I have spent virtually my whole life in Canada. I am not an ultra or even an active member of a club, just a lover of German football – and even more, the fans that make it special. I wake up early every weekend to watch every German match I can get my eyes on, because to me German football is home.
This is not a show about transfers or tactics, club news or controversy. This show is about the culture of football (first and foremost in Germany), its deeper meaning, its cultural importance, and the active fan scenes and ultras that guard that fire and keep it burning. It is more like “fan scene news meets cultural anthropology and history of football culture”.
This project is for the people who know football is more than a game – it is a living cultural space. It is for the people who see their club as home, and who believe that football and our clubs give us meaning, community, solidarity, and a model for a better world. German fan culture shows us that we can self-organize, self-regulate, self-fund, and self-govern; a culture of community, meaning, passion, loyalty, courage, expression, and solidarity. It is also for those who have felt these truths but never had the words or the frame to express them. All are welcome to come explore the deeper meaning of football with me.
This project is just me – one guy, independent, fan- and culture-oriented. I intend to never take sponsors, sell ads, or put any part of my project behind a paywall. I hope to earn what I need to live from it purely and forever through voluntary support, so that the work itself can remain free for everyone and do as much good as possible.