Miracle or Debacle? Anti-Colonialism, Nationalism, and Pan-Africanism in Reports of the Friendly Football Match between Kenya and Ghana in 1965
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53469/jsshl.2023.06(06).08Abstract
This article examines the 1965 friendly football match between Kenya and Ghana within the broader context of Kenya's early post-colonial era. It conducts a textual analysis of pre-match reports to reveal how the Ghanaian national team was portrayed as a symbol of decolonialism. Additionally, the study investigates the role of journalism in transforming public frustration regarding the match's outcome into a critique of the government. Finally, it discusses how various interpretations of this match have contributed to the construction of collective memories, especially in the context of pan-Africanism. This research sheds light on the complex interplay between sports, political sentiments, and social dynamics in a newly independent Kenya.
References
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For instance, David Goldblatt attempts to reconstruct the history of modern world colonialism and globalization through a global history of football. Laurent Dubois focuses on the identity of two pivotal players in French football history, Zinedine Zidane and Lilian Thuram, and discusses the unique connection between colonialism, football politics, and the French context. Geoff Pearson discusses the male gaze and the stigmatization of female fans in football from a gender perspective. See David Goldblatt, The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football (London: Penguin UK, 2007); Laurent Dubois, Soccer Empire: The World Cup and the Future of France (California: University of California Press, 2010); Geoff Pearson, An Ethnography of English Football Fans: Cans, Cops and Carnivals (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2012).
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Only Njororai traces the history of football in Kenya. See Wycliffe W. Simiyu Njororai, ""Colonial Legacy, Minorities and Association Football in Kenya,"" Soccer and society 10:6 (2009): 866-882.
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Ibid.
Richard Peltz, ""The Sportswriter as Development Journalist: Covering African football,"" Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies, 31:2 (2010): 149-173.
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Emmanuel Ifeduba, ""European Football Club Newspapers in Nigeria: Gratifications or Media Imperialism?"" Journal of Research in National Development 9 (2011): 331-340.
Paul Darby: Africa, Football and FIFA: Politics, Colonialism and Resistance (London: Frank Cass, 2002): 27-30.
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Paul Darby, ""'Let us rally around the flag': Football, Nation-building, and Pan-Africanism in Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana,"" The Journal of African History 54.2 (2013): 234.
""Black Stars for Kenya – it's official!"" Daily Nation, November 15, 1965, https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/?a=d&d=dlyn19651115-01.1.14&srpos=9&e=------196-en-25-dlyn-1--img-txIN-Black+Stars----1965-----.
Ibid.
""The Rise of the Black Stars…the team that held Real Madrid,"" Daily Nation, December 8, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651208-01.1.21.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
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""The Rise of the Black Stars…the team that held Real Madrid,"" Daily Nation, December 8, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651208-01.1.21.
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Armstrong, Gary, and Richard Giulianotti, Football in Africa: Conflict, Conciliation, and Community (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 74.
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Jim O'Brien, ""'El Clasico' and the Demise of Tradition in Spanish Club Football: Perspectives on Shifting Patterns of Cultural Identity,"" Soccer & Society, 14:3(2013): 321.
Kwame Dankwa, ""The History and Development of Football in Ghana"", in: Ayuk, A.E. (eds) Football (Soccer) in Africa (Cham, Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), 181.
""The Rise of the Black Stars…the team that held Real Madrid,"" Daily Nation, December 8, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651208-01.1.21.
Ibid.
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""Time for Action,"" Daily Nation, December 13, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651213-01.1.18.
Gerhard Thonhauser and Michael Wetzels, ""Emotional sharing in football audiences,"" Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 46(2019):2:229, 233.
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For example, after Argentina's exit from the World Cup group stage in 2016, many newspapers accused the Argentine players of lacking masculinity. Such reports pointed the direction for the public to vent their anger. When the Argentine players returned to Buenos Aires, they were greeted with a flood of coins and insults. See Eduardo Archetti, ""The Moralities of Argentinian Football,"" in The Ethnography of Moralities (London: Routledge, 2005), 111-136.
""Time for Action,"" Daily Nation, December 13, 1965, https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651213-01.1.18.
Ibid.
For example, Real Madrid, as mentioned above, represented central authority and Francoism during the Franco period. But another Spanish football club, Athletic Bilbao stands for Basque and backed the Basque autonomy; and FC Barcelona representing Catalonia have always played an important role in the social construction of Catalan nationalism. For more details, see Ramón Llopis Goig Identity, ""Nation‐state and Football in Spain: the Evolution of Nationalist Feelings in Spanish Football,"" Soccer & Society, 9:1(2008): 58-59; Hunter Shobe, ""Place, Identity and Football: Catalonia, Catalanisme and Football Club Barcelona, 1899-1975,"" National Identities, 10:3(2008):329-343.
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Because the Independence Day a year ago was one of the precious few moments of authentic unity in this complex and diverse country. Daniel Branch, Kenya: Between Hope and Despair, 1963-2011 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011), 22.
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Daniel Branch, Kenya: Between Hope and Despair, 1963-2011, 26.
Ibid, 33.
Ibid, 28.
Ibid, 7.
John Lonsdale, ""Kenyatta's Trials: Breaking and Making an African Nationalist,"" in Peter Coss ed., The Moral World of the Law (Cambridge: Present Society, 2000), 199.
Donald Savage, ""Kenyatta and the Development of African Nationalism in Kenya,"" International Journal 25.3 (1970): 518.
""Time for Action,"" Daily Nation, December 13, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651213-01.1.18.
Ibid.
Ibid.
""Kenya Miracle Men Hold Stars,"" Daily Nation, December 14, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651214-01.1.22.
Ibid.
""Time for Action,"" Daily Nation, December 13, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651213-01.1.18.
""Kenya Miracle Men Hold Stars."" Daily Nation, December 14, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651214-01.1.22.
Daniel Branch, Kenya: Between Hope and Despair, 1963-2011, 33.
Ibid, 37.
Donald Savage, ""Kenyatta and the Development of African Nationalism in Kenya,"" International Journal 25.3 (1970): 527.
Daniel Branch, Kenya: Between Hope and Despair, 1963-2011, 7.
Cyprian Fernandes, Yesterday in Paradise: 1950-1974 (Bloomington: Balboa Press Australita, 2016), 73.
Ibid, 79.
Ibid.
""Kenya Soccer Goes on Chopping Block,"" Daily Nation, February 26, 1966. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19660226-01.1.17.
Ibid.
Ibid.
""The Other Big Whipping was by Zambia,"" Daily Nation, December 22, 2012. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn20121222-01.1.48.
""If Kenya had Listened to Charles Gyamfi"" Daily Nation, December 22, 2012, https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn20121222-01.1.48.
Ibid.
""Ghana's Hearts of Oak May Land Kenya Soccer Tour,"" Daily Nation, February 18, 1969. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19690218-01.1.19.
""Remembering the Football Debacle of 1965 When Ghana Thumped Kenya"", Daily Nation, December 22, 2012. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn20121222-01.1.48.
""Fare thee well, Gyamfi: Giant of African Football,"" Daily Nation, September 5, 2015, https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn20150905-01.1.49.
Ibid.
Paul Darby, ""'Let us rally around the flag': Football, nation-building, and pan-Africanism in Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana,"" The Journal of African History 54.2 (2013): 234.
""Ghanaians Reported to FIFA,"" Daily Nation, January 13, 1966. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19660113-01.1.18.
aul Darby, ""'Let us rally around the flag': Football, nation-building, and pan-Africanism in Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana,"" The Journal of African History 54.2 (2013): 238.
An example is the hosting of 2010 World Cup in South Africa. For more details, see Gatsheni Sabelo, ""Pan-Africanism and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa,"" Development Southern Africa, 28:3(2011): 401-413.
Kenneth Nyangena, ""Jomo Kenyatta: An Epitome of Indigenous Pan-Africanism, Nationalism and Intellectual Production in Kenya."" African Journal of International Affairs 6.1-2 (2003): 12.
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1111111""Black Stars for Kenya – it's official!"" Daily Nation, November 15, 1965, https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/?a=d&d=dlyn19651115-01.1.14&srpos=9&e=------196-en-25-dlyn-1--img-txIN-Black+Stars----1965-----.
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111111111111111111""Kenya Miracle Men Hold Stars."" Daily Nation, December 14, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651214-01.1.22.
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""Soccer 'Nursery Needed – Holt."" Daily Nation, January 10, 1966. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19660110-01.1.18.
""The Other Big Whipping was by Zambia."" Daily Nation, December 22, 2012. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn20121222-01.1.48.
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