UNIT 1 QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Who was Pierre de Coubertin and what role did he play in the history of early

football in France and the world (Provide and analyze specific textual details and

evidence of his role and why you think he was influential in the history of

football)

Geoff Hare, notes that Baron Pierre de Coubertin was the founder of the modern

Olympic movement (Hare 15), president of the Union des sociétés françaises sportive et

Athlétiques (Hare 16), and presided over the early French federation of sports clubs

(USFSA). In 1894, the USFSA organized the first (amateur) 'national' competition,

which featured six Parisian clubs called le championnat de France. This new

competition was important in creating an interest in middle and lower class workers in

France. Coubertin's Olympic ideal that, "...taking part is more important than winning"

helped cultivate the physical and moral qualities that are seen in sports today. According

to Hare, his ideology helped educate young people in sportsmanship and mutual

understanding and served to make the world a better and more peaceful place. (Hare

29). Coubertin's impact on French football, professional and recreational, was very

significant.

2. Recount how football developed in France in its early days according to Hare.

What are the main football organizations and competitions that we owe to the

French?

French Football is largely due to English influences. Hare mentions that even the

vocabulary of ‘le football’ is partly English. The first English clubs had been founded in

the 1850’s and the Football association in 1863. By 1885 there was already a national
professional championship. In contrast, the first French ametauer championship did not

exist until 1894, and only six teams participated. A national professional league was only

created in 1932 (Hare 15). However, the establishment of the international governing

body FIFA, the World Cup competition, UEFA, European Club competitions, the

European Nations Championship, are all owed to the French. State regulation, a French

tradition, was also influential to these organizations and competitions.

3. How did the two world wars affect football in France?

According to Hare, “ …before the First World War, football was played by an

urban social elite in imitation of its elitist amateur British roots.'' However, army service

helped spread the influence of the game. During the war, football was played as a way to

promote discipline, pride and organization and the French began enjoying Association

football. The French Cup, a national knock-out competition open to all clubs, was

created after World War 1. This success increased football’s popularity and unity. Hare

mentions that, “...overcoming ideological divergence, internal politics, and personal

rivalries” transformed the CFI into a single French Football Federation in 1919. Football

spread to the industrial working class and the countryside between wars.

4. Discuss the relationship between football and politics in France.

After the military invasion and defeat of France, the new Republican regime

promoted physical fitness among the nation’s youth in order to counter the idea of

French national decline and to prepare the nation’s youth for a war of revenge. For

individual people, however, enjoyment and the social aspects outweighed the militaristic

and moral values the organizers put forward. The first French football club was founded

in Le Havre as ‘Le Havre Athletic Club’ in 1872 by Oxford and Cambridge, however, the
first truly French association football club was Le Club français in 1892 (Hare, 16).

Football was played by the urban elite and was only spread to the industrial worker class

after the first World War.

5. Discuss the “geography of French football.” Why is Paris a “special case”

according to Hare? Why is hosting the World Cup a major opportunity for French

cities?

6. Referring to and analyzing textual evidence in Football in France, argue how

football and French national identity connected according to Hare?

When football achieves national popularity it can contribute to the idea of a

collective national identity. According to Hare, “The symbiotic relationship of

football and nation was recognised early when the French Cup Final was quickly

invested with a significance as a national annual ritual” (Hare, 121). In international

football competitions, like the World Cup, nations are pitted against each other, this

idea has a way of imposing itself on the popular imagination (Hare, 120). There

were many important aspects of the 1998 World cup victory that was played in

France. Many people went to the stadiums before and during the matches to

participate in the atmosphere, then return to the city and watch on television. This

allowed thousands of spectators to feel a part of the community and strengthen

their sense of national identity. According to Hare, “The symbiotic relationship of

football and nation was recognised early when the French Cup Final was quickly

invested with a significance as a national annual ritual” (Hare, 121).

During the World Cup Finals in 1998, spectators experienced a rise in solidarity

among French people from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Both President Chirac

and his socialist prime minister, Jospin, promoted the metaphor of ‘football team equals

nation’. Discussion of the multiracial nature moved from the sports pages to the front

pages and was even covered abroad (Hare, 135). The saying, “black, blanc, beur” was

created after the national colors, ‘bleu-blanc-rouge’ to recount the nation’s unity in their

diversity. Demographer Michèle Tribalat, saw the multicolored team and compared them to the

all white German team and the Turkish team. She wrote that the French system opts for

universalism.

8. Who are the following people and why are they important according to Hare?

a. Raymond Kopa was the Stade de Reims star forward in the 1950’s. Kopa was a

technically brilliant dribbler, playing either on the right-wing or inside forward,

with a short-passing game and an eye for the defense-splitting pass. He was also a

symbol of social advancement through hard work. Reims dominated French

football, with six french championships, however they fell 4-3 to Real Madrid at

the final European hurdle in Paris. They reached the final again in 1959 and Kopa

gained his third winner’s medal playing alongside Di Stefano of Real. France

finished third in the world cup in Sweden, and according to Hare, “with Kopa

creating many of Just Fontaine’s 13 goals in six matches in the course of the

finals, a record unlikely to be beaten in today’s more defensive game” (Hare, 122).
b. Michel Platini played for the clubs Nancy, Saint-Étienne, and Juventus. Hare

writes that he was known for his vision, his eye for the goal, his determination

and his expertise with free-kicks. France Football elected Platini as the French

Player of the Century. By the time he retired in 1987 aged 31 Platini had won

everything except the World Cup. In France he won the French Cup with Nancy

(1978), the Championship with Saint-Etienne (1981), with Juventus the Italian

Cup (1983), two Italian championships (1984 and 1986), the European Cup

Winners Cup and European Super Cup (1984), the European Champions Cup

(1985). He was three times both top scorer in Italy and European Footballer of

the Year (1983–85). He scored 41 goals in 72 matches for France, out of 353

career goals (Hare, 125). Hare writes that he was known for His vision, his eye for

goal, his determination and his expertise with free-kicks.

c. Roger Milla became African Player of the Year in 1975 and 1976 with Yaoundé’s

Tonnerre. He moved to France to become a full professional, however he was

disappointed with the living conditions and felt discriminated against due to his

race. He traveled to Monaco where he was a substitute and then traveled to

Bastia and scored the winning goal in the French Cup. In 1982 he moved on again

to Saint-Etienne who had been relegated to Division 2, and he helped them back

to Division 1 with 22 goals. Meanwhile he assisted the Cameroon Lions to win the

African Cup and won the player of the tournament trophy. He moved to

Montpelier in 1986 and said he was the happiest because he was not being

“ripped off” (Hare, 127). In semi-retirement he led the Cameroon national team
 to victory in the Italian World cup and became a legend and was voted African

player of the century.

d. Chris Waddle, also known as ‘Magic’ Waddle, was integral to the Olympique

Marseille of the early 1990’s. As stated by Alan Hansen, “For a defender, Chris

running at you is the worst sight in football” (Ball and Shaw, 47). Some young

fans adopted his signature mullet haircut and bought replica shirts. Harder

training made him fitter than he had been at Spurs and he was given the freedom

to operate wide behind the lone striker Jean-Pierre Papin, with no midfield

covering duties (Hare, 127). He went on to win three championships and reached

the French Cup FInal and a European Cup final and semi-final in three seasons.

He was known for his style and his recognition of the fans’ importance. Another

memorable contribution was his winning goal in the quarter-finals of the

European Cup in 1991 against the reigning champions AC Milan.

e. Eric Cantona showed France flashes of the talent that became the player’s

stock-in-trade in the red of Manchester United, but that was overshadowed by his

inability to control his temper and remain on good terms with clubs and

teammates. He does not figure in the French team of the century selected by the

premier football annual and he came only tenth in the French Player of the

Century vote (Hare, 129). The French media, in the puppet show Les Guignols de

l’info, chose to portray him and his southern accent as the harmless philosopher-poet

with a deadpan quip for every occasion. In Britain his image is tainted by the marks

inflicted by the press following his drop-kick at the fan insulting him– for which he
served a half-season ban and community service. According to Hare, he won the English

championships with Leeds, and Manchester United before retiring in 1997. His 45

international caps were won, and 20 goals scored, between 1987 and 1995.