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The Defiant: A History of Football Against Fascism
The Defiant: A History of Football Against Fascism uncovers the role that footballers and fans have played in the fight against fascism and the far right. Follow the path of football activism from the turbulent 1920s to the culture wars of the 21st century.
What role did footballers play in World War Two? How did a Portuguese Cup Final help bring down Western Europe's longest-running dictatorship? What impact did the football community have in bringing the atrocities of Latin America's cruelest dictators to global attention?
Football historian and author Chris Lee shines a spotlight on the roles of players, fans, coaches and officials in the fight against the dictatorships of Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, Salazar and authoritarian states in Latin America, bringing us an intriguing cast of rebels, partisans, spies and activists. Featuring interviews with leading authors and academics, fans and progressive football clubs, The Defiant shows that football and politics cannot be separated and asks what the future holds.
What role did footballers play in World War Two? How did a Portuguese Cup Final help bring down Western Europe's longest-running dictatorship? What impact did the football community have in bringing the atrocities of Latin America's cruelest dictators to global attention?
Football historian and author Chris Lee shines a spotlight on the roles of players, fans, coaches and officials in the fight against the dictatorships of Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, Salazar and authoritarian states in Latin America, bringing us an intriguing cast of rebels, partisans, spies and activists. Featuring interviews with leading authors and academics, fans and progressive football clubs, The Defiant shows that football and politics cannot be separated and asks what the future holds.
256 pages, Paperback
Published October 10, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 4, 2023
Nick got this for me for Christmas. Not written particularly compellingly, and it jumped from topic to topic without going into much depth about anything, but I must keep reminding myself that not all nonfiction books can be Say Nothing. I shall think of this as an appetiser for doing more research and reading about things that interested me the most, like de Oliveira and Socrates.
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December 8, 2023A look at football and its relationships with fascism and far-right politics in Europe and South America. I must echo some other reviews I've read of this that it starts quite strongly, with chapters on Italy, Spain and Portugal, and central Europe that do an interesting job in picking out stories of club resistance and capitulation to fascism, and individual responses from players and associated others.
The later chapters feel a bit more lightweight, mostly taking the form in Europe of going country by country covering what happened in WWII and then skipping ahead to the 90s onwards to look at smaller clubs reacting to far-right activity with community action. The chapter on South America is a bit ore varied, albeit because South America has more history of far-right dictatorships post-1945. However, that South American chapter could have been a whole book on its own, with this serving as an introduction level survey.
It's an easy enough read and there is good value in the first hundred pages or so (in my case, a welcome distraction from being stuck in an A&E waiting room for five hours overnight).
The later chapters feel a bit more lightweight, mostly taking the form in Europe of going country by country covering what happened in WWII and then skipping ahead to the 90s onwards to look at smaller clubs reacting to far-right activity with community action. The chapter on South America is a bit ore varied, albeit because South America has more history of far-right dictatorships post-1945. However, that South American chapter could have been a whole book on its own, with this serving as an introduction level survey.
It's an easy enough read and there is good value in the first hundred pages or so (in my case, a welcome distraction from being stuck in an A&E waiting room for five hours overnight).
October 23, 2022
A brilliantly written book which encapsulates football, politics and history all in one. Chris documents stories from numerous countries and clubs across the world, talking about how the respective governments used football as propaganda to either sportswash their dictatorships or regimes and how it was used to spark nationalism. However, the book also talks about the heroes, the martyrs and those who stay true to themselves in the face of adversity, fear and potential death. Truly inspiring, remarkable and an insightful read
January 7, 2023
A bit underwhelming I'm afraid. Felt like it was written both against a tight deadline (certain sections felt rushed and under-edited) and budget (it seems like the author didn't visit most of these clubs, or meet with many actual supporters). As a result it feels a bit confused as to whether it wants to be a history of football around World War Two, football against more recent dictatorships, or an analysis of the dynamics of modern ultra culture - and doesn't really satisfy on any of those fronts. There are some strange omissions - Celtic in Scotland an obvious one, Egypt and Colombia (which had an actual left-wing insurgency) another. Other regions like Turkey and the US are covered in a couple of hurried sentences in the conclusion. If you want an immersive, descriptive book about 21st-century supporter culture, I recommend "1312" by James Montague instead. If you want a high-level overview of different threads of anti-fascist football history in certain parts of the world, maybe this is a helpful starting-point but you can't help feeling that the works of the writers this author sporadically interviews in different countries' sections will provide the depth and context this slim volume lacks. A good subject but this was a missed opportunity to do it justice.
May 6, 2024
“The Defiant” in the title of Chris Lee’s thought-provoking and occasionally inspiring book refers to those footballers and football fans who refused to kow-tow to authoritarianism and racism. As Lee outlines, it is a book that “explores football’s role in challenging fascism and the far-right for more than a century”.
This is a task that allows the author to analyse repressive regimes from Mussolini’s Italy, Germany and Austria under the Nazis, various Latin American dictatorships, and to the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath under General Franco. But “The Defiant” is also the story of the footballing communities that pushed back against these forms of fascism – more often than not at great personal risk and human cost – and the clubs (from St. Pauli and Livorno in Germany and Italy, to Corinthinians in Brazil) who acted as quasi resistance movements for progressive politics.
“The Defiant” is not exactly a fun book nor one chock-full of belly laughs (not least because the anti-fascist side doesn’t always win). The section on the contemporary Eastern European fan scene is particularly grim. But it is quite an important book that, in an age where European football is scarred by sportswashing ownership and endemic racism on the terraces, does give some credence to Chris Lee’s concluding statement that “football can be used as a force for good: to educate, to include, to break down barriers and come together”.
One factor about the “The Defiant”, however, that I found jarring is that – without wanting to sound like Eamon Dunphy – this book has no index, which appears a baffling editorial decision given how much research it is reliant on and how Lee’s narrative jumps between so many countries and continents (perhaps peevishly, I lobbed off one ‘star’ for that reason alone).
This is a task that allows the author to analyse repressive regimes from Mussolini’s Italy, Germany and Austria under the Nazis, various Latin American dictatorships, and to the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath under General Franco. But “The Defiant” is also the story of the footballing communities that pushed back against these forms of fascism – more often than not at great personal risk and human cost – and the clubs (from St. Pauli and Livorno in Germany and Italy, to Corinthinians in Brazil) who acted as quasi resistance movements for progressive politics.
“The Defiant” is not exactly a fun book nor one chock-full of belly laughs (not least because the anti-fascist side doesn’t always win). The section on the contemporary Eastern European fan scene is particularly grim. But it is quite an important book that, in an age where European football is scarred by sportswashing ownership and endemic racism on the terraces, does give some credence to Chris Lee’s concluding statement that “football can be used as a force for good: to educate, to include, to break down barriers and come together”.
One factor about the “The Defiant”, however, that I found jarring is that – without wanting to sound like Eamon Dunphy – this book has no index, which appears a baffling editorial decision given how much research it is reliant on and how Lee’s narrative jumps between so many countries and continents (perhaps peevishly, I lobbed off one ‘star’ for that reason alone).
February 19, 2023
The book is an absolute belter. Football historian Chris Lee walks us through the shoddy shower of far-right dictatorships trying to harness football as a trojan horse to further their tinpot, despotic aims but resisted by players, fans, coaches and officials as they tried to appropriate football as cruel and futile theft.
A shoddy roll call of diminutive dictators from Mussolini to Hitler practice their shonky forms of sport washing with uneven results forgetting how sport, unlike politics, can’t be broken by the barrel of a gun. Each chapter focusses on geographical battlegrounds of ideology from Italy through Eastern Europe, Latin America and Britain to remind us how, whatever the stage, fascism consumes itself with withering hatred that grows weaker by what it feeds on.
The Iconic golden shirt was also appropriated by far right Brazilian President Bolsonaro in the 2022 elections. The shirt was weighed down by too much divisive symbolism and many Brazilians chose not to wear it when they voted for fear of confrontation. Diffusing the classic shirt with dissent means that, across the political spectrum, the beauty of Brazilian history has been tarnished, with many locals choosing instead to wear the blue away shirt.
A shoddy roll call of diminutive dictators from Mussolini to Hitler practice their shonky forms of sport washing with uneven results forgetting how sport, unlike politics, can’t be broken by the barrel of a gun. Each chapter focusses on geographical battlegrounds of ideology from Italy through Eastern Europe, Latin America and Britain to remind us how, whatever the stage, fascism consumes itself with withering hatred that grows weaker by what it feeds on.
The Iconic golden shirt was also appropriated by far right Brazilian President Bolsonaro in the 2022 elections. The shirt was weighed down by too much divisive symbolism and many Brazilians chose not to wear it when they voted for fear of confrontation. Diffusing the classic shirt with dissent means that, across the political spectrum, the beauty of Brazilian history has been tarnished, with many locals choosing instead to wear the blue away shirt.
February 17, 2023
No doubt very well researched. The two opening chapters are really strong. After these two, it felt like the writer attempted to cram in the rest
The strength of the first two chapters was that they took their time exploring both Italy and the Iberian peninsula. To then include Western and Central Europe as one chapter on its own didn't really do it justice and this continued with eastern Europe and the Balkans and then Latin America.
The last chapter on Britain seemed tagged on with not much historical content and more a look at left leaning clubs in the south of England ignoring any clubs north of London.
The strength of the first two chapters was that they took their time exploring both Italy and the Iberian peninsula. To then include Western and Central Europe as one chapter on its own didn't really do it justice and this continued with eastern Europe and the Balkans and then Latin America.
The last chapter on Britain seemed tagged on with not much historical content and more a look at left leaning clubs in the south of England ignoring any clubs north of London.
November 11, 2024
I’m going echo other reviewers and say that the later chapters feel a little rushed. However, there’s plenty about this book to love. The first two chapters on Italy and the Iberian peninsula are pretty comprehensive.
Besides, I love Chris’s football travel podcast Outside Write and the book mentions my beloved Clapton CFC several times which is worth an extra star in itself (I never promised this review wouldn’t be partisan).
For readers looking for more detail on many of the ultra groups and stories in this book, I highly recommend James Montague’s 1312 and Mikael Correia’s A People’s History of Football.
Besides, I love Chris’s football travel podcast Outside Write and the book mentions my beloved Clapton CFC several times which is worth an extra star in itself (I never promised this review wouldn’t be partisan).
For readers looking for more detail on many of the ultra groups and stories in this book, I highly recommend James Montague’s 1312 and Mikael Correia’s A People’s History of Football.
March 29, 2023
Very comprehensive look at football and Fascism. Chapters are arranged geographically and try to describe what happened in different countries under right wing dictatorships or under occupation during World War 2. Then the stories are brought up to date, talking about Fascist ultra gangs, and clubs that try to follow an anti-fascist ideal. Many fascinating stories of individual actions and organised responses. With so much crammed into one book it almost feels like being beaten about the head with fact after fact at times, but it is well organised and easy to read.
September 1, 2023
A really interesting and nice account into both football individuals, clubs and countries opposition to fascism. Nice insight with some great information and historical stories of how football under fascisit times and dictatorships. Highly recommend.
February 15, 2023
Another fantastic book by Chris Lee. Football, politics and history- my 3 favourite things all in one book!
June 8, 2023
I already know most of the stories that the book approaches, but for all the persons out there that like football and politics ( left wing principally ) is a really good book to learn more!
July 11, 2025
Solid book about resistance in football to Fascism with both history and modern clubs
August 12, 2024
Wish it had focused on some of the bigger clubs. Some great chapters.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews