The contours of contemporary English football: conjunctural change in the Premier League since 1992

Abstract

This paper examines the main contours of change in contemporary English football since the inception of the Premier League in 1992 through a wide range of empirical material. It explores these changes through the conceptual prisms of cultural intensification, globalisation and post-modernism. The Premier League became more popular during this era: attendances doubled between 1992 and 2017, despite rising ticket prices. It also became more ‘civilised’ with arrests at Premier League games falling by half between 2002 and 2018. Premier League football also became more central to everyday discourse. Television and radio coverage burgeoned and there was a growth in magazines and newspapers devoted to football. This has been complemented by the emergence of social media interest in the game and the growth of gambling penetration of top tier football as further elements in this cultural intensification. The English Premier League can be seen as a quintessential site of post-modern hyper consumption. This is probed through a range of phenomena including monopolisation, alienation, consumerism and waste. The Premier League era also witnessed a significant de-traditionalisation of time and a concomitant growth in flexible forms of employment at stadia. Overall the experience of spectators at top tier English football stadia has changed significantly since 1992. These stadia have been transformed into multi-functional sites with powerful affective elements.

Keywords:

• English Premier League
• football
• change
• post-modernism
• globalisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 See Home Office data at http://data.gov.uk/dataset/football-arrests

2 This paper is based upon an earlier presentation at the Conference on Contemporary Football Stadia held at the Dacia Arena in Udinese titled ‘Theatres of Dreams: New Generation Stadia as Emotional and Affective Phenomena’ in July 2019.

3 All were major sponsors of the 2018 Football World Cup.

4 Based upon British Audience Research Bureau estimates

5 English Football’s popularity in the Nordic countries dates from at least the 1950s when games in England were broadcast live on radio there (see Hognestad, 2003; Kerr & Emery, 2016; Reimer, 2004). Games were televised live from the late 1960s – well before In England.

6 Taken from Rollin (1991) Rothman’s Football Yearbook 1991–1992 and Anderson (2018) Football Yearbook 2018–2019.

7 Taken from Rollin (1991) Rothman’s Football Yearbook 1991–1992.

8 According to the Bank of England Inflation Calculator prices rose by 100% between 1992 and 2018. In other words £10 in 1992 was equivalent to £20.3 in 2018 [www.bankofengland.co.uk>monetary-policy>inflation-calculator].

9 See Home Office data at http://data.gov.uk/dataset/football-arrests London (2019).

10 These titles are illustrative. A much longer list is available at https://www.standamf.com/a-to-zine-the-stand-fanzine-directory/

11 For each of the 5-year periods since 1992, 20 clubs could potentially have occupied the top four finishes. This would signify complete competitive balance and a concentration ratio of zero. Conversely, the same four clubs could have occupied these top four finishes in each of the five seasons and the concentration ratio would have been 1.

12 A season ticket at Manchester United guarantees the dates of the first three or four games. Other kick-off dates and times are determined much nearer the actual fixture itself.

13 See ‘Manchester United will continue to pay all casual match day staff even if the remainder of their season is cancelled or played behind closed doors’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51967328