UP263 Eng-ger-land: Football, race and identity politics

Actor and playwright Hannah Kumari has been performing her own one woman play 'Eng-ger-land' at football clubs around Britain. The play was written in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests and is inspired by Hannah’s own experiences of going to football matches as a mixed-race teenager in the 90s.ENG-ER-LAND blends 90s nostalgia with themes of racism, identity politics, lad culture and the idea of Englishness; what does it mean to be English and who gets to define that? Her story gives a view rarely heard within the sports business conversation and gives much needed context to debates about fandom, athlete activism and the relationship between women and football.If you enjoy the podcasts, make sure you're signed up to the Unofficial Partner newsletter that goes out every Thursday where you'll also find details of our upcoming live event, in the evening of 21st September, in partnership with Arsenal Football Club, at the Emirates Stadium in London. You can buy tickets for that event here.And if that's not enough...Leaders Week London returns this September - mark your diaries. Slightly earlier date than you may be used to, this year it will be from 26 to 29 September 2022, just 6 weeks away. For those who don't know, Leaders Week London is so much more than just your average conference - it's a 4-day festival of industry insight, connection building and relationship nurturing. The Summit, part of Leaders Week, will be held at Twickenham Stadium on 28th and 29th September. Use UP15 for a 15% discount on your Summit passes. Visit leadersinsport.com/UP for more information.Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 500 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify and every podcast app. If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series and live events, you can reach us via the website.