ORCID Profile
0000-0001-9025-9101
Current Organisations
Western Sydney University
,
Bournemouth University
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Publisher: Unpublished
Date: 2013
Publisher: Human Kinetics
Date: 12-2019
Abstract: This article presents the findings of 2,415 posts collected from two prominent Australian Football League message boards that responded to a racist incident involving a banana being thrown at Adelaide Crows player, Eddie Betts, in August 2016. It adopts Bourdieu’s concept of habitus to examine the online practice of fans for evidence of racist discourse and the extent to which this was supported or contested by fellow fans. The overall findings are that online debates about race in Australian Rules Football and wider Australian society remain ided, with some posters continuing to reflect racial prejudice and discrimination towards non-whites. However, for the vast majority, views deemed to have racist connotations are contested and challenged in a presentation centering on social change and racial equality.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-01-2023
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 02-02-2022
Abstract: Women's football faces an existential threat from COVID-19. Using case studies, the authors explore the COVID-19 responses of three highly ranked national football associations (Australia, England and the USA) and their professional women's football leagues to (a) compare and shed new insights into the wide range of phased responses and (b) establish recommendations for other nations to navigate major crises with their social and ethical responsibilities to women's football. Drawing on institutional theory, a framework analysis was undertaken examining 71 articles to analyse the gendered global impacts of COVID-19 on women's football. Results highlight several important recommendations for nations to consider during the pandemic: (1) maintain active communication with the community to allay worries about the future of women's football, (2) gather support from health and government officials, (3) seek out commercial and broadcasting partnerships to drive revenue, and (4) the interests of women's football are best served when responsibility for the elite women's league does not rest (solely) with national football associations. The authors argue that sport is an interwoven part of society and cannot be separated from gender equality issues irrespective of the pandemic. The study is first to explore institutional pressures and football governing bodies during COVID-19 and provides a framework for nations to manage major crises.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 07-07-2020
Abstract: This article examines the continued presence of racial folklore and the reproduction of dominant racial ideologies as presented by the media and fan interactions. The case of Israel (Izzy) Folau’s time at the Greater Western Sydney Giants Australian football club is presented, utilising an analysis of the club’s email communications, media coverage and discussions by sports fans on online message boards. The analysis identifies the significance of the player’s racialised body in constructions of masculinity and the extent to which it plays a role in the acceptance (or not) of an athlete. The article concludes that the narratives that are constructed around athletes are fluid and often change over time or in response to sporting performances or other external influences such as a change of team.
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
Date: 20-09-2021
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 15-06-2022
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 24-11-2022
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 08-12-2023
DOI: 10.1177/21674795211041024
Abstract: This article examines British media coverage of women’s association football during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, to identify how the media framed the women’s game and how these frames could shape the public perceptions of it. Through a database search of British-based news coverage of women’s football, 100 news articles were identified in the first 6 months after the start of the pandemic. A thematic analysis was conducted, and five dominant frames were detected in the context of COVID-19: 1) financial precariousness of women’s football 2) the commercial prioritisation of men’s football 3) practical consideration of the sport (e.g., alterations to national and international competitions) 4) debating the future of women’s football and 5) concern for players (e.g., welfare, uncertain working conditions). These frames depart from the past trivialisation and sexualisation of women’s sport, demonstrate the increased visibility of women’s football, and shift the narrative towards the elite stratum of the game. Most of this reporting was by women journalists, while men were shown to write less than women about women’s football. This research advocates continued ersification of the sports journalism workforce to dissolve the hegemonic masculine culture that still largely dominates the industry.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 03-11-2023
DOI: 10.1177/10126902221132802
Abstract: The Black Lives Matter movement and coronavirus pandemic have raised awareness of society's categorisation of non-white people and institutional language used. We add to contemporary debate on the BAME acronym (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) by providing a critical examination of the perceptions and attitudes towards it in the UK. Drawing on in-depth interviews with women from these communities who were working in the hyper-masculinised and white-dominated sporting industry, we privilege the voices of those who traditionally have been omitted. Adopting a Critical Race Theory approach and an intersectional lens three overarching themes were identified: rejection and indifference towards the BAME acronym filling in the form – inadequacies of the system and, making up the quota – perpetuating (work-related) insecurity(ies). The findings provide analytical insight into institutional language and highlight the potential for the BAME acronym to cause distress and alienation while preserving the concept of Whiteness.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 21-08-2022
Publisher: Western Sydney University
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.26183/3DS3-JS10
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 18-01-2021
Abstract: The emergence of social media and digital channels have expanded communication practices and also created new, virtual spaces where sports fans can interact and communicate directly with each other and with clubs. This article examines the potential for social media brand communities to develop a sense of both community and place amongst sports fans. It explores their influence in placemaking initiatives through the bonding and bridging social capital of a football club’s supporters. A netnographic study of a football club’s supporter networks (five channels) and their interactions with social media brand communities was performed. Data gathered from online sources was underpinned by interviews with 25 members of the community. Findings were analysed via NVivo using bridging and bonding social capital as a theoretical lens. The paper makes two primary contributions to knowledge. It enhances our understanding of the impact of SMBCs and their use in a sporting context—an area that has become increasingly significant during the COVID-19 pandemic enforced lockdowns that have kept fans out of venues. It also contributes to our understanding of the influence of placemaking strategies upon the social capital of supporter communities.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 17-08-2020
Abstract: Concussion is a growing issue within sport, including within soccer. Despite the developing medical understanding of concussion, there is still an array of sociocultural discourses and misconceptions around it. In the 2018 UEFA Ch ions League Final, Liverpool Football Club goalkeeper Loris Karius suffered a head collision in the 48th minute. Postmatch, he was subsequently diagnosed as being concussed. As a result of his concussion, Karius’ performance was arguably impeded, with suggestions that this may have resulted in him making some key errors in the game. Through an analysis of media framing in 52 news articles in the days following the incident, four dominant frames were identified: deflection away from concussion, misunderstanding concussion, education on concussion, and recommendations. Frames that focussed on the lack of awareness and preventative measures that are present in soccer served to highlight the lack of significance afforded to concussion at this particular point in time. In particular, we highlight differences in concussion discourses between those working inside and outside the soccer industry. Overall, these findings contribute to the growing body of sociological work examining concussion in sport.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 22-02-2022
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-2019
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 05-09-2019
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 22-04-2016
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-03-2020
Publisher: Human Kinetics
Date: 04-2020
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 28-03-2019
Abstract: Academic research into sports fans has grown in recent years with studies examining a variety of aspects associated with fandom. However, recent changes in the professionalisation and commercialisation of sport have resulted in the creation of new spaces for fan experiences. In this article, we examine one of these created spaces, the fan zone. Through a case study on matchgoing fans from Everton Football Club we explore how this new space sits alongside traditional pre-match gathering places such as the ‘pub’ and examine the gendered organisation of these spaces. Drawing on Bale’s concept of boundaries within sports fan communities we show that traditional venues for pre-match activities enhance, maintain and legitimise masculine boundaries within sports fandom. We argue that fan zones provide an alternative match day atmosphere and experience that is centred on a family-friendly or at least family-inclusive culture.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 30-06-2021
DOI: 10.1177/21674795211027292
Abstract: Rugby union, alongside other collision and contact sports, faces ever mounting pressure from increased recognition of concussive injuries and the risks they present to athletes, both in the short-term and long-term. Here, the media is a central component of increasing pressure for cultural change. This research analysed data from 524 self-selected survey respondents to examine rugby union fans’ and stakeholders’ perceptions of media portrayal of concussion and how it might influence their own perceptions. We found evidence of a complex and heterogenous relationship between perceptions of masculinity, views and attitudes toward mass media, and degree of involvement in rugby union. Specifically, partisans of the sport generally saw mass media as hostile, with coverage biased against rugby, allowing them to manufacture doubt regarding risk information, as well as maintaining involvement in the sport. We conclude that critical commentaries from the media have the ability to challenge masculinities around concussion.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 14-05-2020
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-02-2023
Publisher: Academia.edu
Date: 13-04-2021
DOI: 10.20935/AL488
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 24-06-2020
Abstract: This article explores the implications of widely publicized national anthem protests by several Indigenous rugby league players in Australia during 2019. With a goal of doing justice to these Indigenous voices (and in this case also their silence), a critical race theory framework was deployed to both listen to and interpret the reasons behind the protests. The data source was online media reports that centered on the perspectives of players and rugby league officials, along with responses to the protests by prominent journalists and politicians via online opinion pieces. The findings indicate that the voices of Indigenous athletes in Australia are important in raising concerns about nationalist rituals and symbols that, by their colonialist nature, subjugate Aboriginal peoples. Importantly, the Indigenous rugby league players were not alone in their c aign. The Recognition in Anthem Project, which began in 2017, indicates that the perspectives of these protesting rugby players were part of a wider discussion about change. The movement for a new national anthem, therefore, was not just isolated to sport, and this appears to have provided the Indigenous rugby players—as social commentators—with atypical influence.
Publisher: Springer Nature Singapore
Date: 27-11-2022
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 16-02-2009
Publisher: IEEE
Date: 03-2009
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 03-08-2012
DOI: 10.1108/14439881211248374
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of autoethnography within the context of sports fandom. This paper advocates the use of such qualitative methodologies to enable a greater understanding of sports fans. The paper also aims to provide greater understanding of sports fandom. The research moves away from traditional methodologies of studying sports fandom from an objective viewpoint and uses an evocative autoethnography to provide an account of the lived experience of a sports fan. By writing himself into his research it has been possible to gain a deeper insight into sports fandom. The subject of passion arises and while the Dualistic Model of Passion was explored as a mechanism for dealing with obsessive passion it is suggested that attempting to move away from a state of obsessive passion may diminish the enjoyment of being a sports fan. This paper highlights the benefits that methodologies such as autoethnography can have for academics studying sports fandom and other disciplines. It encourages academics to overcome the perceived lack of academic acceptance of the method. This paper utilises a qualitative methodology to explore the experience of being a sports fan. This methodological approach is yet to be fully embraced within this field and hence there is a lack of in‐depth data on the experiences of sports fans. This account will allow readers to develop a greater understanding and insight of sports fans.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2018
Publisher: Human Kinetics
Date: 06-2022
Abstract: Rugby has traditionally existed as a leading definer of masculinity in British culture, which has included overt homophobia. However, cultural attitudes toward homosexuality have improved rapidly in the 21st century. To assess the impact of wider societal change on gay rugby teams, we employed a multiple methods investigation across five gay rugby teams in England. Results show that, whereas athletes once played for these teams to escape homophobia in broader rugby culture, this is no longer true. Affiliation with gay clubs is now primarily for social purposes, and gay rugby clubs now protect the physical safety of gay men from being less prepared to play the game, whereas before it was safety from homophobia. This research shows that gay rugby clubs have undergone an organizational shift in response to the increased social acceptance of sexual minorities.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 13-02-2015
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 17-02-2021
Abstract: This article develops a theoretical framework to understand how sexuality can be institutionalised through debates about marriage equality. We first examine 13 Australian sporting organisations concerning their support for marriage equality and sexual minority inclusion before showing they drew cultural capital from supporting episodes of equality exogenous to their organisation, while failing to promote internal inclusion. We use online content analysis alongside the identification of institutional speech acts within policy to analyse results through three conceptual lenses: Ahmed’s institutional ersity work, Ogburn’s cultural lag, and Evan’s organisational lag, from which we propose a hybrid – organisational cultural lag – as a theoretical tool within social movement theory.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 28-12-2020
Publisher: Human Kinetics
Date: 2023
Abstract: This study analyzed media framing of athletes who have suffered mental ill health. The mass media play a crucial role in shaping public attitudes and perceptions surrounding mental health, and the present study aimed to examine the media reporting of athletes’ mental ill health and to further explore how this reporting has changed over time. We examined the reporting of elite athletes in three U.K. media outlets between January 2000 and December 2019, identifying 75 athletes from 26 different sports. From analysis, four themes were developed to consider the content of media reporting and how it has changed over three time phases. The analysis revealed that media reporting of mental ill health has increased over time, and changes were observed in terms of the specific terminology used, with greater depth in the articles, such as journalists speaking to other professionals to construct the articles. This study contributes toward our growing understanding of the reporting of mental ill health by providing empirical evidence of the increased attention to the topic and increasingly responsible reporting in the media.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Start Date: 2022
End Date: 2024
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council
View Funded Activity