The Football Supporters’ Charters
Download the Charter for Women's Football here
Download the Football Supporters’ Charter here
The Football Supporters’ Charter and Charter for Women’s Football aim to put the game back in the hands of the fans and to take the challenge to megabucks owners, the FA, SFA and FIFA.
The Roaring Red Front: Available Now
With the world turning rightwards and democracy looking at its most precarious since the 1930s, the emergence of a global network of left-wing, anti-fascist and anti-racist fans has been one of the few shining lights in dark time
We wanted tell of their history and their current struggles. And why it all matters. The Left often fails to connect: how can these clubs inform and inspire? How can their example help collectivist, internationalist and inclusive principles defeat the seductive slogans and symbols of the growing nationalist and nativist movements across the planet?
The book will be published by Pitch Publishing and will cover the world’s top Left-Wing and Antifascist football clubs and the supporters that shape their politics and attitudes. Many of these clubs have had their stories told, but never have they been collected together in one volume covering the passion, the fellowship, and the humanity - sometimes laced with violent intent - of people who dream not just of a better world but also of a last-minute winner. And a good row with the fascists.
Out now
‘We’re both huge football fans and ardent lefties; though like most football fans, and certainly most lefties, we by no means agree on everything. As leftist football fans, we made the pilgrimage to Hamburg in December 2017 to see FC St Pauli, in many ways the “guv’nor” of the left-wing clubs. We met our great friend Sonny there, had a fantastic time and came back a little smitten with the club, the St Pauli neighbourhood, and the idea of a book about the top leftist/anti-fascist football clubs across the planet. They say you should try to write the book that you want to read, and this is most definitely an example.’
Some of these fans support clubs that are globally renowned, including the great St Pauli, more famous for the quality of its politics and its merchandise than its football. Others, no less committed, follow virtual minnows, like Red Star Paris and Bohemians Prague, but still have proud histories, deep convictions and something to say.
We didn’t want to write just a regular history of the clubs laced with a few experiences of meeting a colourful bunch of fans, though you will find plenty of both in here. We wanted to explore the following themes, inter alia, and to provide a history of the neighbourhoods and barrios concerned to help fill the ‘astonishing void’ described by the great Eduardo Galeano above.
• The role of the football club affiliation in determining and shaping a leftist identity and mindset amongst their supporters.
• The role of an aestheticised tribalism in politics in general and how these football clubs fit into that paradigm.
• How the clubs matter in relation to the wider global political issues, and particularly can they be part of an effort to ‘sex-up’ left-wing politics and increase their guttural, emotional appeal in an attempt to take on a political right that has recently been much more successful than the left in reaching out to the tribal heart that beats loudly in global political partisanship?