Sport and the contestation of ethnic identity: Football and Irishness in Scotland

Citation

Bradley J (2006) Sport and the contestation of ethnic identity: Football and Irishness in Scotland. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32 (7), pp. 1189-1208. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830600821885

Abstract
The greatest single immigrant group in Scotland derives from the island of Ireland. During the years of the Great Irish Famine in the mid-nineteenth century until the First Word War, several hundred thousand Irish migrated to Scotland. Traditionally, this migrant community has been largely ignored in academic, popular and public literature and representations. It is primarily through the sport of soccer that this group's distinctiveness and identities are manifest in Scotland. However, the existence and the successes of Celtic, a football club founded and supported by the Irish Catholic immigrant community, highlights not only this marginalisation but the prejudice perceived and experienced by the Irish diaspora in Scotland. This paper highlights the role and significance of the Scottish print media in reflecting, creating, sustaining and disseminating this prejudice.

Keywords
Irishness; Celtic; Scotland; media discourses; ethnic identity; Scotland Emigration and immigration History;Ireland Emigration and immigration History;Scotland Relations Ireland;Ireland Relations Scotland

Journal
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies: Volume 32, Issue 7