Introduction

With its visibility and focus on symbols, winning, competition, partisan fans – and in team games the necessity of collective struggle – few other cultural forms lend themselves as easily as sport to being used as an indicator of certain national characteristics and, by extension, of being representative of a national identity. Examples include examining how the Gaelic games of hurling or football typify Irish character (Humphries, 1996, 2007); contrasting English and Italian cultural life through an analysis of their differing footballing cultures (Vialli and Marcotti, 2007); noting the integral position of football in Scottish culture (Cosgrove, 1998; Giulianotti, 2005a) or the extent to which sports such as cricket or rugby have come to symbolize a particular aspect of Englishness (Paxman, 1998; Marqusee, 2001; Tuck, 2003). The ritual and ceremony of sport – particularly national and international sport – carry with them a symbolic significance which far outweigh sport's importance as organized play.