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The McDonald’s on Elland Road in Leeds, near the stadium of Leeds United, is, apparently, the only McDonald’s there is that has removed any element with the color red. Because Red, that is Manchester United, the rose of Lancaster in the badge of Manchester City. And roses, as well as soccer shirts, in Yorkshire are white… except until this Summer, when two red bulls, the logo of an Austrian energy drink, gallopped onto that white jersey, as the new main sponsor.

I have a personal past here: I was in Austria when the same energy drink bought and erased Austria Salzburg, in the Austrian Bundeliga, in 2005. Red Bull, almost killed the old Austria Salzburg then. We now have Red Bull branded and/or owned clubs all over the world. The question in Leeds, then, is not about the color on a jersey, but rather "are we next in the now almost 20 year old history of Red Bull turning football clubs into promo and marketing vehicles?"

Maybe. And maybe not. Brace for a little history lesson from me about what happened there, 20 years ago, but most of all look forward to Adam Willerton from the Leeds United Supporters Trust, the largest independent fan organization that related supporters and club heritage interests to the club, as well as Wayne Gamble who also works with the trust and is a fan of Leeds United - and Austria Salzburg.

The soundtrack to today is Luke Haines' wonderful "Leeds United," about when the devil did indeed come to Yorkshire. Here are the lyrics.

HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:

Leeds United Supporters Trust

LUST statement on Red Bull, 31st May 2024

The Yorkshire Evening Post from the same day covers the statement and "maximum resistance" from supporters

The Leeds Press giving voice to the "don't worry about Red Bull" camp recently

Nancy Froston from The Athletic/The New York Times on "Why Red Bull Bought Sports Teams - and the Impact on Them" a few da

Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook.

If you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please

• Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help.
• Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me.

Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind

Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

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In a bit of a parallel episode to Episode 24 ("The Footballer who Defied the Nazis? The Myth of Matthias Sindelar"), this is the story of Hakoach Vienna. A child of central European Jewish emancipation movements and of the "muscular religion" fashionable at the time, the Jewish club became Austria's first professional champion in 1925, subsequently lost its important players to North American clubs, was home to Bela Guttman in Austria, and was shut down 3 days after the Anschluss of Austria to Germany. It lives on in at least 3 clubs, on 3 continents, one of them a re-formed Hakoah, in Vienna itself.

Marcus Patka is here to tell this story. A historian and curator at the Jewish Museum of Vienna, he created and curates the Hakoah collection from the interwar years at the Museum.

HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:

William D. Bowman, "Hakoah Vienna and the International Nature of Interwar Austrian Sports," Central European History 44 (2011), 642–668.

"West Ham 0-5 Hakoah: How an All-Jewish Team Defeated the English at their own Game, Conquered Austrian Soccer and Defied the Nazis," An Interview with Michael Lower (University of Minnesota)

"How a 1926 soccer match divided the St. Louis Jewish Community," STL Jewish Light, August 3 2023

Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook.

If you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please

• Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help.
• Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me.

Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind

Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

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To critique the state of our world, our communities, to critique what is wrong with soccer in late stage capitalism is one thing. It actually isn’t a hard thing. But to dream, think and even plan for a better world, and a better football, that is something different entirely. Alina Schwermer, a young and extremely talented German journalist, has done just that, on 450 pages, in her book Futopia: Ideas for a Better Footballing World. It’s a book about football, and about utopias. About the game and how we can reimagine it, but also about a different, more vibrant and just world. We discuss new rulebooks, a critique of competition and beauty as we now know it, a new financial order for the sport, and some DIY ideas for your local context.

Tune in and, I promise, you will be rewarded and your imagination will be stretched. And you can tell your friends afterwards that you are well ahead of the curve by having listened into this book, because it isn’t translated into English. Not yet.

HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:

Alina Schwermer, Futopia (book page and interview in German with the publisher, Werkstatt Verlag)

Futopia on Twitter/X @FussballUtopien

Futopia for purchase in the U.S.

Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook.

f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please

• Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help.
• Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me.

Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind

Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

NEW: send me a text message! (I'd love to hear your thoughts - texts get to me anonymously, without charge or signup)

Gent in Belgium. Rasgrad in Bulgaria. Mostar in Bosnia. Borås in Sweden. Tiraspol in, well, Moldova. Or Differdange in Luxemburg

If you know where these places are, have some sense of what it looks like there, what the vibe is, perhaps it is because of the early UEFA club competitions' qualifying rounds. It is for me. If it isn't for you yet, it's time it was. I know I’ve often said in the past this podcast is intended to look beyond the big leagues, beyond stars and their goals, but never have we cast the ned so deeply and widely as today. Lee Wingate is the Visiting Professor today, an Englishman who lives in Vienna. He shares with us his deep knowledge of the faraway corners of European football, corners that are on full display during these weeks, because it’s the best season of them all: the qualifying rounds for the European club tournaments are on. How these tournaments work, what countries, teams or scenic grounds to watch out for - listen in.

HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:

The Sweeper

UEFA Europa League 2024/25

UEFA Conference League 2024/25

Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook.

f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please

• Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help.
• Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me.

Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind

Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

NEW: send me a text message! (I'd love to hear your thoughts - texts get to me anonymously, without charge or signup)

If you follow a club that plays in the English Premier League, you may have gotten wind of it: over the Summer, quite a few clubs increased their season ticket prices, and phased out - or partially phased out - discounted tickets for kids and seniors, so called concession tickets. And for once, English fans seem to get organized and cooperative in resistance. Wolverhampton, Tottenham and West Ham in particular are the hotspots right now, but there are others, and they are talking. If the fans do this right, you will witness some public action at the start of the season. And good on them. Why does this matter, what vision are the clubs following, and can English fans pull off a successful protest against the robberbaron capitalism of modern soccer like German fans did in Spring? Here to tell us are two fans who are in the trenches of this fight at West Ham United: Andy, from Hammers United, who was with us in season 1 already, and Alex from the campaign #saveourconcessions.

LINKS TO THIS EPISODE:

#saveourconcessions on X/twitter

The petition, Hammers United

Alex' viral video

Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook.

f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please

• Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help.
• Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me.

Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind

Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

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The end of Season 2 of The Assistant Professor of Football is nigh, and we check in with guests from the last year to hear how their club, cause or research have been doing. Here are, in order:

Peter K Wagner on Sturm Graz’s sensational champions league and cup winning season

Fabio Schaupp, also from Graz, on the promotion of Graz’s other team, GAK, to the Austrian Bundesliga, so regular Graz derbies from now own.

Fredrik Rakar, chairman of Degerfors IF in Sweden, on a dramatic relegation and a new beginning in the second league.

Claus Melchior, on the ever-entertaining 1860 on and off the pitch - Claus and I went to a game together in Munich this Spring, as you may remember.

Patrik Stoehr, from the red side of Munich, FC Bayern, with an update on the work of the Kurt Landauer foundation to create a culture of and for memory and antidiscrimination.

Benjamin Senouillet on the continuing turmoil at Olympique Marseille, Europa League semifinalist

Ruben Schoeneberger from FC St. Gallen, with a brief update on how their season finished.

Raphael Molter on the future of fan activism and the German Bundesliga after the investor deal had to be cancelled, live on air here by the way, back in Spring.

And finally Felipe Tobar, currently at the Euros in Germany, on the future of football tourism, overtourism, and the public soccer memories he is researching about in Germany.

Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook.

f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please

• Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help.
• Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me.

Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind

Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

Goshen, Indiana is home to a private college without an American Football team - and, most recently, a semi-professional soccer club that serves as an - albeit unusual - case study for how grassroots soccer in the U.S. can thrive and build a community.
The overarching theme of The Assistant Professor is that football is not merely about goals and stars. It is, done properly, a participatory culture, an identity-forging community and even a political space. And to experience any of these aspects, it takes an active role of and for fans. That is possible, most easily, in local clubs. In a nutshell: support your local club.
No country's soccer culture makes this vision harder than the U.S.'s - but perhaps no country has greater potential. How does a soccer club get born, in this culture? And can one bring the beautiful game and a local community together so it forges identity beyond stars and goals?
Henrique Eichenberger will take us through the particular case study of Goshen. He is from Brazil, he played for and studied at the university I teach at, and he founded Goshen City FC in 2022.

HELPFUL LINKS FOR TODAY'S EPISODE:

Goshen City FC

Goshen College Athletics

The Record, "GCFC Gears Up for Second Season"

Goshen City FC (Facebook)

R.E.M. - "Orange Crush" (Youtube video)

Young Wonder - Orange (Youtube Video)

Gilbert Becaud - L'Orange (Youtube video)

Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook.

f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please

• Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help.
• Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me.

Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind

Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/

NEW: send me a text message! (I'd love to hear your thoughts - texts get to me anonymously, without charge or signup)

Today's episode is a mix between soccer detective story and true crime podcasting. British investigative journalist Paul Brown is our Visiting Professor for the day. He and his colleague Philippe Auclair have piled up pathbreaking research on the backstory, money trail and flat out baffling activities of a group called 777 partners. Their activities in the insurance and airplanes business would be a story well worth telling in and of itself, but they feature here today because they own stakes in prominent football clubs in Brazil, Belgium, France Italy and Germany (Hertha Berlin, from 3 episodes ago!) and, last but not least are currently trying to buy Everton of the Premier League. And that deal is what might make the whole scheme go belly up, with plenty of casualties on the way - in the soccer world, but also among retirees, insurance brokers and airplane passengers.

HELPFUL LINKS FOPR TODAY'S EPISODE:

"The 777 Football Mystery" (1st investigative reporting by Paul and Philippe on josimarfootball.com)

"Out of the Blues" (most recent piece by Paul and Philippe)

"Kind of Blue" (includes the story of a 777 Airline entering administration)

"How the Private Equity Firm Buying Everton Built Its Business" (the Washington Post weighs in)

Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook.

f you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please

• Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help.
• Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me.

Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind

Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/