More Than Just a Game: Football v Apartheid

Description

The most important football story ever told. `It is amazing to think that a game that people take for granted all around the world, was the very same game that gave a group of prisoners sanity - and in a way, gave us the resolve to carry on the struggle'. Anthony Suze, Robben Island Prisoner. This is the astonishing story of a unique group of political prisoners and freedom fighters who found a sense of dignity in one of the ugliest hellholes on Earth: South Africa's infamous Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was famously incarderated. Despite all odds and regular torture, beatings and daily backbreaking hard labour, these extraordinary men turned soccer into an active force in the struggle for freedom. For nearly 20 years, these prisoners found the energy, spirit and resolve to organise a 1400 prisoner-strong, eight club football league which was played with strict adherance to FIFA rules. The prisoners themselves represented a broad array of political beliefs and backgrounds, yet football became an impassioned and unified symbol of resistance against apartheid. They refused to let their own political differences sway their devotion to the sport, which allowed them to organise and maintain leadership right under the noses of their captors. This league not only provided sanctuary and respite from the prisoners' cruel surroundings, it kept their minds active and many credit it with keeping them alive. More Than Just a Game chronicles their story, the politics of the time, the extraordinary characters, their heroism and the thrilling matches themselves.

Chuck Korr is a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Missouri, St. Louis and is Visiting Research Professor in the International Centre for Sport History and Culture at De Monfort University. He continues to teach a graduate seminar in comparative history of sport and has lectured in the FIFA MA program since its inception. In 1969, he received his Ph.D. in seventeenth century English history. Since 1973, the focus of his research and teaching has been sport history with emphasis on social, political, and economic issues. He has lectured on sport history in more than fifteen countries on five continents. He has twice been a visiting professor at the University of the Western Capein Cape Town, South Africa. He was an assistant to the Mayor of the City of St. Louis from 1977 to 1981, an adviser to the Cape Town 2004 Olympic Bid Committee and to the Robben Island Museum, and has been a consultant and on-air participant in numerous television and radio broadcasts. In addition to his academic publications, his writing has appeared in newspapers including The Observer and the New York Sunday Times. Chuck Korr is a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Missouri, St. Louis and is Visiting Research Professor in the International Centre for Sport History and Culture at De Monfort University. He continues to teach a graduate seminar in comparative history of sport and has lectured in the FIFA MA program since its inception. In 1969, he received his Ph.D. in seventeenth century English history. Since 1973, the focus of his research and teaching has been sport history with emphasis on social, political, and economic issues. He has lectured on sport history in more than fifteen countries on five continents. He has twice been a visiting professor at the University of the Western Capein Cape Town, South Africa. He was an assistant to the Mayor of the City of St. Louis from 1977 to 1981, an adviser to the Cape Town 2004 Olympic Bid Committee and to the Robben Island Museum, and has been a consultant and on-air participant in numerous television and radio broadcasts. In addition to his academic publications, his writing has appeared in newspapers including The Observer and the New York Sunday Times.

"A fascinating account of the immense importance of the sport." The Guardian "Utterly Compelling." Independent "This story adds a compelling dimension to our understanding of the struggle against apartheid." Desmond Tutu "The unbreakable spirit of a fraternity of prisoners...reminds us of how wonderful the battered old game can be." Hugh McIlvanney "A little-known story well worth rescuing from the mists of history." The Metro 'An engaging tale.'The Guardian 'An uplifting and humbling story, that has been painstakingly researched, and lovingly told.' Yorkshire Post