Football In Hulme
HULME
MANCHESTER UNITED
1909-
MANCHESTER CITY
1923-2003
MANCHESTER CITY
2003 -
Hulme sits between two of the biggest and most succesful football clubs in England, Manchester United and Manchester City. Manchester City were previously based at Maine Road in Hulme's neighbouring ward Mosside.
The above photo of Manchester City's Maine Road in Mosside was attended by almost 85000 supporters. At the heart of the community, Maine Road was 'home' to anyone who wanted to be a part of it; an inclusive centre of the community.
Football Stadiums are often compared to:
Religous sites
Homes
Heritage Sites
Hearts of Localities
However according to Niel Taylor 'The days when a football club could convincingly claim to be at the heart of ‘its’ community are over; the issue is far more complex and muddled nowdays’ (Taylor, 2004, p. 58). The second photo taken in Hulme during the 'slum' era shows kids playing football in the small streets that connected its community.
It is widely acknowledged that over the last 50 years, professional football has undergone a great transformation, so much so that ‘today’s football landscape is hardly anymore the world of the ordinary working men and women’s weekend entertainment’ (Crane & Matten, 2004, p. 260).
Club: an association or organization dedicated to a particular interest or activity.
Business: the practice of making one's living by engaging in commerce.
John Bale suggested that ‘British football is currently witnessing a series of developments that promise (or threaten) to sever the sportsplace bond which has traditionally linked the football club with the locality in which the ground is situated.’ (Bale 1991). To summarise, football clubs can be seen to have strong connections with both community and place, although there is speculation that these relationships have recently undergone a transformation.
The Manchester City game photographed above raised £5,426 in gate recipts. This roughly equates to £70,000 today. This works out roughly as 80p of todays money per supporter. This would class as INCLUSIVE. The Manchester City vs Chelsea game at the start of the 2015/16 season was priced FROM £58 per head. This would class as EXCLUSIVE.
Manchester United Captain Wayne Rooney's weekly salary is reported to be £300,000.
Hulme average housing price is approximately £130,000
It would take just 72 hours for Mr Rooney to buy an average Hulme Property.
Site 1 on Leaf Street
Site 2 on Upper Medlock Street
Extracts taken from Hulme FC's Website about page.
'Hulme FC is a newly formed football team that will be competing in the Manchester Amateur Sunday League in 2013-2014 season. We are based in Hulme and are a community based team so we have been working with the locals and have a lot of plans to work with and alongside the community in the future. Our current home pitch is Hulme park which has been well maintained.'
'Hulme FC has big plans to expand in the future, and we intend on making a youth team next year and also moving on to the Saturday league in a few years. So this is not your ordinary Sunday league as it is driven by young entrepreneurs who intend to take the club big places in the future.'
Conclusion
I believe there potential to develop a community football club in Hulme. An inclusive football 'club' not a 'buisiness'. Creating footballing facilities and community spirit through football in Hulme, giving Hulme Fc the footing to develop.
Garry Crawford. 2004. Consuming Sport: Fans, Sport and Culture
Andrew Crane, Dirk Matten. 2006.
Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization
Watson, N. .2000. Football in the community: what’s the score? Soccer & Society, 1 (1).