Leagues Apart: Football, Northern Ireland and Me Raymond Crozier Author

This book provides a personal account of my own football experiences in the context of political and social changes in the post-Second World War Northern Ireland in which I grew up. It has been an extended period of extreme turbulence, with over 3,00... Read more

This book provides a personal account of my own football experiences in the context of political and social changes in the post-Second World War Northern Ireland in which I grew up. It has been an extended period of extreme turbulence, with over 3,000 violent and avoidable deaths since the 1960s. I begin with a brief account of major turning points in the history of partition and sectarianism in Northern Ireland before turning to the different forms of football. I write about my own experience of football while I was growing up and consider the question of sectarianism in sport within Northern Ireland. I discuss the political changes that took place in Northern Ireland that led to the Troubles and examine the role in this played by students at Queen's University, Belfast, where I was an undergraduate from 1964 to 1968. Finally, I consider how barriers between the communities might be overcome, and ask what psychological research might contribute to this process. Less