The 2nd annual Football and Community conference will be held at Manchester Metropolitan University on 13th and 14th June 2013, arranged by Manchester Metropolitan University Football Cluster (MMUFC) in association with National Football Museum. Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, the value of regularly bringing together the latest in research, theory and practice from a range of disciplines and various local, national and international perspectives was clear. Therefore, football industry practitioners, academics, fans, journalists and researchers are invited to participate in two days of presentations, papers and debate on the realities and challenges faced by the football world as it negotiates its uncertain role in the lives of all the people it touches.
Within a broader context of globalisation, and the political, economic and social reality of global capitalism, debt and austerity, it is perhaps tempting to consign notions of football and community to nostalgic reflections of what are recalled as less commercial, more locally rooted experiences of ‘The People’s Game’. Perhaps tellingly though, football regularly appears to be finding itself uncomfortably embroiled in complex and controversial issues of diversity, inclusion and sustainability. We believe that a multi-disciplinary approach to developing a deeper understanding of these issues is beneficial not just within academia, but also for the football industry and the game’s various community stakeholders.
Please send paper titles and abstracts (250 words max) by 22nd April 2013. Each session will consist of a mix of academic/research papers and presentations from football industry practitioners. If you are a practitioner and interested in participating in any of the sessions this would involve giving a (15min) presentation on your work, or an issue you are dealing with, that is related to that session’s theme. We would ask therefore that with your initial expression of interest you provide a brief (250 word max) abstract/preview of what you intend to cover in your presentation
If you would like to organise a panel discussion or present a paper on an alternative theme, or if you have any other questions regarding the conference, please email Chris Porter on c.porter@mmu.ac.uk
You can book to attend the conference here.
Draft programme here: draftprog (subject to change)
Further information, including event location and schedule, registration guidelines as well as evening events and keynote speakers will be available here soon. The full 2 day fee is £125 with a concession rate of £75.
