History of Football

This document explores the history of football in France, including the role of Pierre De Coubertin, development in the early days, impact of World Wars, relationship with politics, and the connection to French national identity.

Running Head: HISTORY OF FOOTBALL
History of Football
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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1. Pierre De Coubertin and the Role Played by him in the History of Early Football
in France and the World
In the view of Geoff Hare (2003), Baron Pierre De Coubertin is responsible for the
founding of the modern day Olympics movement. As stated by Hare, Coubertin served as the
President of Union Des Societes Francais Sportives et Athletiques, known also as the Early
French Federation of Sports Clubs. This particular body is responsible for hosting the very
first nation-wide competition between as many as six Parisian Clubs in the year of 1894,
which came to be known as Le Championnat de France. This new competition, which was
generated and also governed by Coubertin proved to be very crucial in creating interest
among middle class and lower class workers in the country of France, however none of these
outcomes are those that can be entirely attributed to the involvement and efforts made by
Baron Pierre De Coubertin. Hare shows a complete lack of interest in his book when it comes
to the direct influence that Pierre Coubertin was known to have exercised when it comes to
the spreading of the soccer sport in France. Apart from the ideas or ethos that taking part in
the sport is far more important than winning the game, the influence that Coubertin came to
exercise on the development of the game of football in France is quite minimal as he did not
really contribute to the game growing and flourishing in the country in any way. On the other
hand, foreign workers and immigrants are largely responsible for spreading awareness about
competitive football all across the country. Hare (2003), himself refers to Scottish and
British men working in France who facilitated the creation of different types of football clubs
while contributing to an increased interest in football in many of the urban areas in the
country. While football in France did not experience the same rate of development as it did in
a country such as England, athletes in France, both those who were native to France and
athletes from abroad, fostered in a mutual way the gradual adaptation and integration of this
game into French society. Hare provides plenty of examples regarding this in his work, by

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alluding to the amazing prowess and super abilities of footballers like Kopa and Zidane, both
of who hailed from immigrant backgrounds. While an attitude towards assimilation came to
be embraced by French society at a later date, the players and the contributions which
emerged as a consequence of integration proved to a major cornerstone for constructing
football as a sport in France (Hare 2003).
2. Understanding how Football was Developed in France in the Early Days
according to Geoff Hare
The growth and development of a sport like football in the country of France, is
something that was influenced very heavily by England. Prior to the outbreak of the First
World War, the game of football was one that was played exclusively by the urban elite in
society, largely because of the British roots of the game. By the turn of the century however,
there were as many as 2000 players taking part in the game officially for the country of
France. The fascination on the part of the French for everything British has gone a long way
in encouraging the development of football as a game in France, making it a huge favorite
among the French middle class. As argued by Geoff Hare (2003), this influence is
something that is clearly evident through the use of words such as Le gardien for goalkeeper
and La Ligue for league. Due to the fact that football as a sport had been established already
in England by then, it was easy for such an influence to spread to France. The spread and
development of the game of football in France in the early part of the twentieth century is
something that can be attributed as well to the French defeat in the war with Prussia. In the
view of Hare, this particular defeat led to quite a large increase in attention to physical fitness
among the youth of the nation for the purpose of countering the idea of national decline in
France and, “to prepare the nation’s youth for war and revenge”. At the tender age of eight,
the famous French personality Barron Pierre de Coubertin came to know of the shocking
defeat that his country had suffered at the hands of the German people. Getting to know about

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such a defeat made Pierre Coubertin absolutely determined to promote the idea of physical
fitness among his people. He wanted to uplift the pride of the French people as best as he
possibly could. What Coubertin succeeded in doing was to transform the Olympic Committee
entirely using his influence. Hare also points to what he terms as, “tradition of French state
regulation” in his work, the explain the growing involvement of France in international
tournaments like the FIFA World Cup, European Nations Championships and European Club
Competitions. The regulations entailed establishing a number of important regulations on
crucial French values which were later transferred and found manifestation in the game of
football (Hare 2003).
3. Understanding how the Two World Wars Affected Football in France
Upon reading Geoff Hare (2003), what clearly comes across about the game of
football as played in the country of France, is that it served as a morale booster. Hare (2003),
alludes to here and there, about how the French aristocracy such as the like of Pierre
Coubertin played a crucial role in spreading the growth and development of the game in the
country, primarily because he wanted to uplift the spirits of the French people and make them
believe that they could achieve anything they set their heart out to achieve. The fact that the
British and the French were also allies in both the First World War and the Second World
War and that football was primarily a British sport that was later adopted and integrated into
French society also went a long way in getting football to be loved and played in France. The
French people and the French aristocrats in particular were very heavily influenced what was
happening in Britain during the period of the First World War and the Second World War and
consequently had the inclination to watch football games and engage in football games with
great levels of enthusiasm. The period of the two World Wars were those that were
characterized by a great deal of devastation and destruction. There was death and despair all
around, with the country of France losing thousands and thousands of soldiers in the course

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of the War. The French morale was particularly low during the Wars, primarily due to the
fact that the French were losing heavily at the hands of the German soldiers who were
stronger and who were more well positioned to be successful in the war because of human
and financial resources. The French defeat at the hands of the Prussian army in particular in
the period of the First World War, was very humiliating as was the oppression that the French
people and the French forces would face at the hands of the Nazis in the Second World War.
The French animosity towards the German people, the superiority shown by the German
forces and the alliance between Britain and France all contributed to the French passion and
love for football during the period of the two World Wars, as seen clearly from what has been
written by Geoff Hare. The French turned to football because it boosted their morale and kept
them proactively and constructively engaged in the game, thus distracting them from the
despair and the destruction of war (Hare 2003).
4. Understanding the Relationship between Football and Politics in France
Politics and football in France are two things that are woven together quite intricately.
While in England where the growth and the development of the game of football was more of
an individual initiative rather than a political initiative, in France it was the exact opposite.
The regulatory system in the country, French civic values, public bodies and statutory
organizations in France and government initiatives all contributed to the game being known
about in the country by leaps and bounds. It is also important to remember that the love and
the passion for football in France is something that was promoted greatly by the industrial
sector in the country. This implies that many people in France took to the game of football
because they wanted to represent the various different companies that they were working for,
and to represent them well at that. In chapter 8 of the book, Geoff Hare (2003), mentions how
the methodology is something that underwent a transition in favor of sports teams, with
businesses in France modeling themselves after sports teams in France from the 1980’s

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onwards. Politicians in France came to associate themselves increasingly with sports teams
for the purpose of personal gain, as in the case of Bernard Tapie. Tapie was a wealthy French
nobleman who invested in the French games such as the sports club Olympique de Marseille
leading to huge success on the part of the club eventually. This is a team that ranked right at
the top in football for a considerable number of years and was credited with having won a
number of important championships in one straight row. However, soon there was a large
scale scandal that involved Bernard Tapie and the game of football after which a number of
concerns were raised over the changes that were taking place with regard to the relationship
between business and football. The French government was determined more than ever to
maintain its control over the game of football and to keep this sport confined to the public
domain as much as possible. The French government did not want free market laws to
interfere with the growth and development of the game of football in France. It wanted to
maintain close fiscal or financial security over professional French sports clubs as well as
French players as much as possible. Such stringent scrutiny and methods of control
ultimately, in the view of Geoff Hare (2003), helped the sport to expand and grow by a
considerable extent in France. As Hare argues, the modernization of the game is something
that began in the 1980’s, with a new business model being put in place that involved key
rewards, financial as well as sporting rewards via the process of what Hare calls, the
“Europeanization” of football (Hare 2003).
5. Geography of Football and Why Paris is a Special Case
In the game of soccer, having a specific team that represents a particular city is not an
uncommon thing at all. Some of the most well known games that come to the mind,
when thinking about the game of football in terms of cities are Madrid, Manchester,
Rome, London and Paris. Paris in particular had a very hard time gaining representation
and popularity in spite of the popularity that the city enjoys now worldwide in with

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respect to football. As argued by Hare (2003), Paris was never really regarded as a
“footballing city” in Europe, until the decade of the 1970’s. With more and more
provincials coming into Paris in the last two centuries, any large-scale support for a Paris
based football club was deemed to be unusual. In the decade of the 1970’s, football came
to be recognized as an activity that was quite popular among middle class citizens living
in Paris. Slowly and steadily the love and passion for football in Paris started to grow
with the French eventually showing the world that they were skilled in the game by
winning the French Cup. Racing Club, Red Start and Olympic Pantin were considered to
be the successful teams, with Hare stating clearly that the Red Star ended up, “winning
the French Cup four times in the 1920s and again in 1942, and Racing five times
between 1967 and 1936 and 1949”. This success however was not to last, with both of
the clubs losing quite heavily at a later date and dropping by a considerable degree in
their divisions. Racing was at one point of time in Division 3 and Red Star was at one
point of time in Division 4, as a result of which none of the clubs were selected for
representing the city of Paris in football at the nation-wide level. From the 1970’s
however, things turned out to be very different for the football scene in the country of
France. Paris Saint Germane, a powerhouse team in France was well positioned to take
advantage of all the new globalization standards which make use of large business,
broadcasting and marketing in order to give the club the spotlight and the attention that it
needed to win. Such a move, made it easy for the football clubs to gain fame overnight
while also acquiring the motivation and the support that was needed to secure a victory on
the football field. In the decade of the 1990’s, several opportunities were made use of for
communicating to the public people in France about how football is a great game to play
and how it should be promoted as much as possible. Many French clubs came together to
form a fantastic team that was capable of representing France well enough in the World

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Cup as they believed this would help in boosting tourism, supporters and investors in the
long run. As stated by Geoff Hare (2003), the cities of the country came closer together
and a strong community that was united by the love and passion for football was created
(Hare 2003).
6. Understanding how French National Identity and Football are Connected
French football is something that is intrinsically connected with the concept of
national identity. Players on the French football team are keen to identify with the French
national identity in spite of coming from diverse economic backgrounds. This desire to
identify the with French national identity is in keeping with the post revolutionary concept of
La Patrie which is following up a many as two hundred and fifty years after it was declared,
with every desire being present among the French to contribute as best as they can to the
fatherland. The concept of immigration and the notion of working class have also been
connected to French football and French national identity for quite some time now. Two very
well known French football players by the names of Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine came
from immigrant families. Fontaine was born in Morocco while both of Kopa’s parents had
been Polish (Hare 2003).
7. Understanding the France Black, Blanc, Beur and its Significance as mentioned
by Geoff Hare
The France Black, Blanc Beur are words that have been used by Geoff Hare (2003),
in order to indicate the French Flag, which was being used by the author as a metaphor at the
same given time, given the fact that society in France was united a number of different ethnic
identities. Black stands for the African American people who are residing in France, beur
indicates the Arab people living in France while Blanc refers to the white people of France.
The national flag of France is known to always be red, white and blue, and what this term

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really shows is how the country of France was gradually turned into one large melting pot,
with people of so many different ethnicities residing in the country, something that was later
evident through the different cultures present in the French football team. As argued by Hare,
“The phrase black-blanc-beur was created on the pattern of the national colours (bleu-
blanc-rouge) to describe the special Frenchness of the team and the nation’s unity in
diversity.” Thus, the French football team was one that was characterized by universal
ethnicity and many of the people living in France could identify with the nation largely
because of the fact that they could relate with the diversity that was present in the French
football team. Hare (2003), argues that one could witness quite a bit of, “gusto with which
the multicoloured team sang the Marseillaise and in the joyful nationalism of supporters
from all backgrounds a moment in identification with the nation.” What this ended up
proving is that the French football team was one that was succeeding in the breaking of
barriers. It was transforming into a well blended team rather than being a team that was
characterized by one single ethnicity. In fact having a team that was made up of people
hailing from so many diverse ethnic backgrounds and having this entire team sing the
national anthem of the country turned out to be quite a huge moment for the phenomenon of
globalization of football. Soon enough, this diverse representation on the French football
team became known all over the world, as stated by Hare, with this being the major subject
of discussion on the front pages of international dailies. Hare states, “the football team
equals the nation”, with black, blanc and beur meaning that certain players in the team hailed
from families which had roots in post colonial immigration and French colonialism. The
phrase was coined to imply or indicate racial tolerance (Hare 2003).
8. Importance of French Footballers according to Hare
Raymond Kopa

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Raymond Kopa is one of the best known footballers of France who shot to fame after he
began playing for the Spanish club Real Madrid. He was ended up winning the Player of
the Year Trophy that was awarded on an all European level and also won the famous
Ballon d’OR that was awarded by France Football. As stated by Hare, Kopa was
“undoubtedly the player of his generation and was at the end of the twentieth century
remembered as one of the top three French players of all time.” (Hare 2003).
Michele Platini
Michele Platini is one of the best known French football players in the world who is
of Italian ancestry. He has won the Ballon d’OR several times as well and has represented
the country of France well enough in different international championships including in
World Cup Football. His parents were Italian immigrants in France following the period
of the First World War, and Geoff Hare states how Platini too identified with the French
national identity and was filled with the desire to do well for his fatherland, in spite of
coming from a different ethnic background (Hare 2003).
Roger Milla
Roger Milla is a great French football player who is of Cameroonian heritage and who
became one of the very first African football stars to represent the country of Cameroon on
the world stage. The French football club Valencienenes is one that Roger Milla had played
for, for several years, ranking as one of the top most stars of this football club (Hare 2003).
Chris Waddle
Chris Waddle was a renowned English football player who found the freedom that he
needed to realize his potential when he started playing for French football clubs. He made the
controversial decision to leave France and go and play in France, a decision which in the

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view of Geoff Hare was made largely because of the non discriminatory way in which
football was played in France, with diversity being acknowledged at every level (Hare 2003).

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References
Hare, G., 2003. Football in France: A cultural history. Berg Publishers