Leicester City FC - When Style and Substance Meet

Image result for leicester city foreign players

Pic: ESPNFC

The Economist magazine ran an interesting feature article to mark the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II's now record reign. The story looked at aspects of UK politics and its social and economic history and highlighted the enormous differences found in the country as it was in 1952, when she ascended to the throne. The city of Leicester, home of Leicester City FC, was featured as a town that has experienced huge changes in that time.

"Today Leicester is Britain's first big settlement with a non-white majority," said the article's writer.

What is really interesting about this fact is the performance of Leicester City in the EPL. Currently sitting in 5th, above big guns like Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea, the Foxes are one of the more dynamic squads in the league this year.

They are playing an exciting brand of attacking football, some old school touches like flying wing backs and out and out wingers, they are near the top of the goals scored list - equal with West Ham and below only Manchester City who just had a 6-1 win to put them top in the Goals For ledger and top the league table.

They are playing an exciting brand of fast, open, expansive football. It sounds a bit like Leicester itself.

And there are 17 non-English nationalities represented in the current 23-member first team squad. That's 74% non-English players in the squad. The manager is of course an Italian.

Of course, Leicester City's foreigner-heavy squad is due in some part to the impact of the Bosman ruling and is in the context of the overall globalisation of the English game with the advent of the EPL.

But, the increased openness to migrants that the city of Leicester epitomises seems to be holding up a mirror to an abundance of freedom and expression on the pitch at the King Power Stadium.

In fact, we think Leicester City FC, given the demographic moment, really captures something special in this trend and and expresses A Moment. When a city's culture seems to be having a positive influence on, and is being similarly influenced by, the football club in its midst, it's a good look.

In short Leicester City, now 131 years old, is not just the new, exciting face of English football, but right now, it may show the way for Britain as a whole.

Comments

Post-UNOSDP - Is the IOC fool's gold?

This is a longer version of an article published on SportandDev.org With the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace closed down by the global body, there is undoubtedly a void in this space in which many of us here work. But, for all the high profile oomph the UNOSDP added to the world of sport for good, it’s passing need not be seen as devastating. For one, the work the UNOSDP has already done in its 16 years of life has laid a platform for the development of sport for social justice. While many of us knew for years that sport had a wider purpose beyond mere business or entertainment, the UNOSDP has provided a base of credibility that may have otherwise taken much longer to establish. While much of the work is, in many ways, still to be done, the UNOSDP has left a positive legacy on which we can all build. More problematic is the shifting of the UNOSDP’s brief to the IOC. Obliging the IOC to administer to the peace and development facets ...

Statement on Funding for the Rohingya Football Club

We are very pleased to announce that The Kick Project has received a $AUD16,500 donation from the Australian Government to fund a pilot soccer program with Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. The funds, coming through the Australian High Commission in Malaysia, will allow the charity to support the Rohingya Football Club which has become a vital part of the exiled Rohingya community in Kuala Lumpur. The program entails kitting out the team, providing transport to games and establishing a sports and community hub where Rohingya people can access sporting equipment and coaching. Young people, and girls in particular, are the long term focus of the initiative. The Kick Project founder James Rose says the Rohingya are in dire need of assistance. "The UN has called the Rohingya arguably the most persecuted group in the world. They've been forced to flee their homelands in Myanmar, where they have been made stateless by government decree, and many have lost their lives...

How Sport For Development and Peace Works (Pt 1)

Pic: abc.net.au Some of us from The Kick Project team were in a meeting with potential partners recently, when we were asked a question about “Proof of Concept” of sport for development and peace. The context of the question was that we were talking about sport for development and peace - especially football - but we weren't putting the pieces together. As she said, “It's all good. But I don't see how this works. How does sport and football generate peace and development? What's the proof of concept ?” It made us think: it can be easy when you're working away on your stuff to lose touch of your context. In this case, this person was someone who wrote grant applications. She wanted to know how she would sell our concept to attract funding. Completely fair enough. So, we (hopefully) addressed her concerns at the time and took her concern on notice for next time we spoke. Debriefing afterwards, we realised there may be others out there who don't quite see t...

The Kick Project

Search This Blog