Miracle or Debacle? Anti-Colonialism, Nationalism, and Pan-Africanism in Reports of the Friendly Football Match between Kenya and Ghana in 1965

Miracle or Debacle? Anti-Colonialism, Nationalism, and Pan-Africanism in Reports of the Friendly Football Match between Kenya and Ghana in 1965

Authors

  • Tianyue Li The University of Edinburgh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53469/jsshl.2023.06(06).08

Abstract

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).

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): 224.

Richard Giulianotti, Gary Armstrong, ""Entering the Field,"" New perspectives on World Football (1997): 138.

Paul Darby, ""Out of Africa: The Exodus of Elite African Football Talent to Europe,"" In Sport and Migration (LONDON: Routledge, 2011): 263-276.

Chris Bolsmann, ""White Football in South Africa: Empire, Apartheid and Change, 1892-1977,"" Soccer & Society 11(2010):1-2, 29-45.

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.

Peterson, Derek, Steph Newell, and Emma Hunter, ""Print Culture in Colonial Africa"", in African Print Cultures: Newspapers and their Publics in the Twentieth Century, (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2016): 11.

Ibid.

Richard Peltz, ""The Sportswriter as Development Journalist: Covering African football,"" Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies, 31:2 (2010): 149-173.

Andreas Mehler, ""Political discourse in football coverage - the cases of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, Soccer & Society,"" 9:1(2008): 96-110.

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.

Wiebe Boer, ""Football, Mobilization and Protest: Nnamdi Azikiwe and the Goodwill Tours of World War II."" Lagos historical review 6 (2006):39.

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.

Hilda Nissimi, ""Mau Mau and the Decolonisation of Kenya,"" Journal of Military and Strategic Studies 8:3 (2006): 8.

David Percox, ""British Counter‐Insurgency in Kenya, 1952–56: Extension of internal security policy or prelude to decolonisation?"" Small Wars & Insurgencies 9.3 (1998): 46.

""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.

Paul Darby, ""Africa and the 'World'Cup: FIFA politics, eurocentrism and resistance,"" The International journal of the History of Sport 22.5 (2005): 888.

Armstrong, Gary, and Richard Giulianotti, Football in Africa: Conflict, Conciliation, and Community (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 74.

""Ghana Black Stars Booked for Kenya,"" Daily Nation, December 4, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651204-01.1.15.

""Benfica Don't Interest English Fans,"" Daily Nation, May 21, 1963. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19630521-01.1.13.

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.

""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-----.

""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.

John Kerr, ""Emotional Dynamics of Soccer Fans at Winning and Losing Games,"" Personality and individual Differences 38.8 (2005): 1862.

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.

Solomon Waliaula and Okong'o Joseph, ""Performing Luo Identity in Kenya: Songs of Gor Mahia,"" Identity and Nation in African Football: Fans, Community, and Clubs (2014): 91.

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.

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): 7.

Anne Waiguru, ""Corruption and patronage politics: Harambee in Kenya,"" Measuring corruption (2006): 251-263.

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.

""Batchelor Gets Players' Vote."" Daily Nation, December 15, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651215-01.1.22.

""Benfica Don't Interest English Fans."" Daily Nation, May 21, 1963. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19630521-01.1.13.

""Black Star's Visit Raised Queries."" Daily Nation, February 17, 1966. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19660217-01.1.4.

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-----.

""Don't expect miracles —Kenya coach."" Daily Nation, December 13, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651213-01.1.18.

""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.

""Ghana Black Stars Booked for Kenya."" Daily Nation, December 4, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651204-01.1.15.

""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.

""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.

""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.

""KENYA LOSE VITAL TIME."" Daily Nation, December 10, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651210-01.1.22.

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.

""KENYA NEEDS A FOOTBALL REVOLUTION,"" Daily Nation, December 14, 1965.https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651214-01.1.22.

""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.

""Kenyans Toil as Stars Take It Easy."" Daily Nation, December 11, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651211-01.1.14.

""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.

""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.

""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.

""Time for Action."" Daily Nation, December 13, 1965. https://gpa-eastview-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/crl/ean/newspapers/dlyn19651213-01.1.18.

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Nyangena, Kenneth O. ""Jomo Kenyatta: An Epitome of Indigenous Pan-Africanism, Nationalism and Intellectual Production in Kenya."" African Journal of International Affairs 6.1-2 (2003): 1-18.

O'Brien, Jim. ""'El Clasico' and the Demise of Tradition in Spanish Club Football: Perspectives on Shifting Patterns of Cultural Identity."" Soccer and society 14, no. 3 (2013): 315–330.

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Shobe, Hunter. ""Place, Identity and Football: Catalonia, Catalanisme and Football Club Barcelona, 1899-1975."" National Identities 10, no. 3 (2008): 329–343.

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Published

2023-12-29
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