Football Religion - Liverpool FC

Football Religion - Liverpool FC

‘Good afternoon,’ the tall bespectacled man beamed, his thinning sandy hair shifted in the breeze. ‘Please take a seat for today’s paean.’ His hands indicated left or right, seating arrangements of little concern, the emphasis is on being present – the only thing of importance here. A congregation, worldwide, lusting for today’s eulogy. Around the country – and the world – there are many such temples, a spectrum of different shapes and sizes. Yet there is a difference here, minor, …
Faith and Football: Liverpool's Muslim Men

Faith and Football: Liverpool's Muslim Men

What do Mo Salah, Sadio Mané, Xherdan Shaqiri and Naby Keïta have in common? Besides their football club, of course. The answer I'm looking for though is their religion, Islam. It's very rare in my writing that I stray away from tactics, statistics or areas in which I feel well-versed in, indeed, identity and faith are aspects rarely covered by sporting literature in general. Exceptions do stand out - take Muhammad Ali as a physical manifestation of a religiously-centred sportsman, …
Liverpool FC: More Than Just a Football Club

Liverpool FC: More Than Just a Football Club

On Thursday afternoon, Liverpool FC's Twitter account tweeted a video of the new CEO, Peter Moore, detailing how Liverpool FC would be a proud member of Liverpool Pride: https://twitter.com/LFC/status/888042309505470464 I was not prepared for the comments that followed in response to the tweet. Similarly, the same type of comments were directed at Peter Moore, who also tweeted the same video. Initially, taken aback, I remembered that intolerance and homophobia within football are something that, even now, in 2017, is a prevalent …