ABSTRACT
Introduction: the invisible game For a sport that generates such an extensive volume of what we now call ‘media content’, football has often been strangely absent in research coming out of media and communication studies. This lacuna relating to the study of football is part of a wider trend that has seen sport as a cultural form to a large extent ignored or marginalised as an area of study within media research. Hutchins and Rowe (2012: 184) argue that:
Inattention stems from many sources, including the personal preferences of many scholars and commentators. The physicality and anti-intellectualism of many sporting cultures, combined with the widely publicized indiscretions of well-paid athletes, hold little fascination for those who consider them to be serious thinkers, and whose media habits may, in fact, involve the determined avoidance of sport.
