Brexit, Trump and Aldershot FC

This week David and Helen talk with the historian David Kynaston about his diary of the 2016-17 season in football and in politics, when a lot happened both to the world and to his beloved Aldershot FC. It's a conversation about loyalty, identity and belonging, and about what sorts of change we can tolerate and what we can't. Plus Helen reflects on her life as a West Ham fan.

Talking Points:

For David Kynaston, football is about identity.

We all have our personal myths.Continuity of space, even colours, is also important.

Football in Britain has derived a lot of meaning from the relationship between club and place.

The continuity between location and fan base broke at some point in the 1990s, maybe earlier. And then there are questions of ownership, management.

For David Kynaston, football is rooted in place; politics is not.

Small and medium sized towns feel ‘left behind’; these places have also been left behind in the football sense. But anger about the inequalities or the premier league doesn’t have a lot of political purchase. 

What is the relationship between the planning period of the 50s and 60s and Brexit voters?

People who lived through that maybe had reasons to distrust people telling them what was best.There was also a coarsening of popular culture, led by Murdoch and the Sun.

Mentioned in this Episode:

David Kynaston’s new book, Shots in the DarkAnthony Powell, A Dance to the Music of TimeColin Shindler’s books on Manchester United and Manchester CityOur post-Trump episode David Goodhart on somewheres and anywheresLiverpool’s vote and Sun readershipThe Financial Times editorial on Trump and Portland

Further Learning:

Helen on West HamHelen on coronavirus and the Premier League

And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking