ABSTRACT
In this essay, we focus on how questions of independent identity and style are embedded in the discourse that assesses the Republic of Ireland national men’s soccer team. We claim that the equation of playing style with national identity is complicated by Ireland’s colonial history and the current ontological distinction in soccer that eulogizes the practices and ideals of a continental sensibility. Where other field and team sports have been instrumentalized in the projects of Irish cultural revival and local identity (Amateur Gaelic Games) and national unity (Rugby Football Union), soccer is from the national perspective traditionally the lesser cousin of the codes. However, as the only major sport on the island that respects the international border, soccer in Ireland, we argue, negotiates the politics of independence in a more immediate way than these other codes. In terms of legitimacy we contend that the challenge for Ireland has moved from one of participation to style. The discourse and media rhetoric surrounding soccer in Ireland cultivates a conflicted identity in terms of style and success. We demonstrate this argument through the defining management of Jack Charlton. Using the Irish context, we reconsider the ontological distinction in soccer, especially in its aesthetic appreciation, that denies the beauty of direct play as a legitimate style in soccer.
