Judaism in association football

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There is a long history of Judaism in association football, as "club owners, players, agents, analysts, fans, and directors".[1][2] In Europe before World War Two, "Jews played a prominent part in European football as players, coaches, administrators and patrons, not to mention supporters".[3]

History[edit]

Béla Guttmann as a Hakoah Wien player (1925)

England[edit]

In England, Jewish businessmen helped form the Premier League in 1992.[4]

Tottenham Hotspur has a large proportion of Jewish supporters.[5] Their supporters refer to themselves as "Yids", seen as a derogatory term for Jews. The Metropolitan Police have said they will arrest anyone who uses the term Yid.[6] Their previous three chairmen were Jewish.[7] Leyton Orient (originally Clapton Orient) had Jewish players before the Second World War and continued to field Jewish players regularly up until the 80s, with their time in English top flight in the 60s being funded by two Jewish businessmen.[8]

In September 2010, West Ham United manager, Avram Grant and defender Tal Ben Haim were given permission to be absent from a game against Stoke City so they could celebrate the Jewish festival of Yom Kippur.[9]

In 2011 Rabbi Alex Goldberg was appointed as chairperson for the Football Association's Faith in Football group[10] and attended an anti-discrimination in football summit hosted by the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street in February 2012.[11] In 2019, he initiated a project that saw the building of a Sukkah in Wembley Stadium, the home of English football.[12] In October 2023, Goldberg resigned from the Faith in Football group following the decision not to light the arch at Wembley Stadium, before upcoming England matches, in blue and white, the colours of the Israeli flag following the Hamas attack on Israel.[13]

In January 2020, Chelsea unveiled a mural by Solomon Souza on an outside wall of the West Stand at their Stamford Bridge stadium. The mural was part of Chelsea's 'Say No to Antisemitism' campaign funded by Jewish club owner Roman Abramovich. Included on the mural were depictions of footballers Julius Hirsch and Árpád Weisz, who were killed at Auschwitz concentration camp, and Ron Jones, a British prisoner of war known as the 'Goalkeeper of Auschwitz'.[14] In 2023, Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, led a commemorative service for Hirsch at Stamford Bridge before a Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund. He delivered a prayer of remembrance and lit a yahrzeit candle, marking 80 years since Hirsch was murdered at Auschwitz.[15]

In January 2021, Premier League clubs commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day remembering the six million Jewish men, women and children killed between 1941 and 1945 by the Nazis and their collaborators in The Holocaust.[16]

Scotland[edit]

In Scotland, Third Lanark was predominantly supported by Jewish supporters due to being in a mostly-Jewish area of Glasgow.[17] When Third Lanark dissolved in the 1960s, some Jewish supporters started to follow Celtic due to contemporary successes.[17] In modern times, many Jewish football fans in the city supported Rangers due to gaining support while at Protestant schools which were more open to Jewish students than Catholic schools. Rangers fans also fly the flag of Israel at matches in response to their Old Firm rivals Celtic using the flag of Palestine.[17] This was despite the Jewish Representative Council of Glasgow asking fans to stop due to the mix of politics and football making some feel uncomfortable.[17]

Netherlands[edit]

AFC Ajax of Amsterdam, like Tottenham Hotspur, has a long history of Jewish support and involvement despite not being an officially Jewish club. The club's former De Meer Stadion was located in the largely Jewish east side of the city. Three club presidents since World War II have been Jewish. Since 1976, some Ajax fans, largely non-Jewish, have dubbed themselves "Super Jews" in response to antisemitic chanting by rivals such as Feyenoord.[18]

Israel[edit]

The Mandatory Palestine national football team was founded as team representing Mandatory Palestine but only fielded Jewish players and played the Jewish song "Hatikvah" alongside "God Save the King" during their FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[19] In 1948, the governing body changed their name to the Israel Football Association following the establishment of Israel.[20]

Jewish footballers[edit]

Main article: List of Jewish footballers

Modern Jewish footballers have said they want to inspire others.[21] Jewish footballers playing in foreign countries have been allowed to avoid playing on the High Holy Day of Yom Kippur, or remain a substitute until the observance has finished.[22][23]

Jewish clubs[edit]

Main page: Category:Jewish football clubs

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Jews and Soccer: A Complicated Relationship". Haaretz.
  2. ^ Karpen, Elizabeth (7 June 2023). "The untold story of Jews and soccer". Unpacked.
  3. ^ "Jewish footballers in Europe". Apollo Magazine. 25 August 2023.
  4. ^ Judah, Jacob (25 February 2022). "British Jews love soccer. So why are there no Jews in the Premier League?".
  5. ^ https://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/features/how-tottenham-became-the-jewish-football-team-1.53784
  6. ^ Steinberg, Jacob (5 October 2013). "West Ham's David Gold knows the pain fans caused at Tottenham Hotspur". the Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  7. ^ "What you need to understand about Tottenham and the Y-word". 27 February 2019.
  8. ^ https://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/all/revealed-the-forgotten-jews-of-english-football-1.36935?reloadTime=1666915200011
  9. ^ "Avram Grant and Tal Ben Haim to be absent as West Ham seek first point". the Guardian. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Faith in Football". www.thefa.com. 27 June 2011.
  11. ^ "Cameron discusses Racism and Football". Jewish Chronicle. 23 February 2012.
  12. ^ Cohen, Justin. "Wembley Stadium hosts succah for the first time!". jewishnews.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  13. ^ Jackson, Siba (13 October 2023). "Israel-Hamas war: Rabbi quits over FA decision to not light up Wembley arch in Israeli colours". Sky News. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Chelsea unveils mural with Jewish soccer players murdered at Auschwitz". The Jerusalem Post. 20 January 2020.
  15. ^ Silver, Neil; Solicitors), Sewell (8 March 2023). "Chief Rabbi leads service in honour of German Jewish footballer murdered at Auschwitz". Jewish News. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  16. ^ "League and clubs commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day". Premier League Football News, Fixtures, Scores & Results. 28 January 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  17. ^ a b c d Judah, Jacob. "Why Scotland's fiercest soccer rivalry features Israeli vs. Palestinian flags". www.timesofisrael.com.
  18. ^ Buchheister, Hendrik (4 October 2023). "Football Teams' 'Jewish' Identities Questioned". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  19. ^ "Palestine - International Results - Details".
  20. ^ "A Fractured History of Football in Israel".
  21. ^ Victor, Tom (6 November 2022). "Jewish footballers looking to inspire - "important to see someone is like you"". mirror.
  22. ^ Forsyth, Paul (4 October 2022). "Celtic's Liel Abada set to miss RB Leipzig contest due to beliefs". The Times. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  23. ^ Weich, Ben (20 September 2018). "Hemed stars for QPR after Yom Kippur fast". Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
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