Rapid Bucharest: the challenge to power of Grivița’s railwaymen

A railwaymen team in a long-term conflict with power

Stories, lives, educational resources

What's New

Italy’s victory in the France Rimet Cup of 1938.

Lives

Luigi Colàusig

The story of the first multiple scorer in a World Cup final: his surname had been changed by fascist authorities.

Gary Lineker (right) and social causes go hand in hand (Photo: Flickr, British Airways).

Stories

Gary Lineker: More than a Tweet

What does the reaction to Gary Lineker’s tweet mean for modern day football's current role in wider society?

Lives

Claudio Tamburrini

The story of the first footballer to disappear in Argentina, how he escaped prison, tortures and finally found safety in Europe.

FMH SOCIAL MEDIA

Feeding your feed with football.

Stories that score

Trending now

Footballers of Hajduk Split and Red Star Belgrade after the match was stopped (Photo: MN Press).

Fergus Suter played for Darwen and Blackburn Rovers from 1878 to 1889.

Stories

AEK Athens fans and their deep anti fascist identity

A trip through the history of one of the most supported Greek teams, and its origin among Anatolian refugees

Stories

On May 4th 1980 Yugoslav communist leader and lifelong president Marshal Tito passed away while the country was watching the game between Hajduk Split and Red Star Belgrade. Ten years later, another game siding a Croatian club against a Serbian club on May 13th 1990, had the country on the brink of collapse.

Lives

Fergus Suter

Fergus Sutter was one of the first (semi)professional footballers, playing against aristocratic players. A story of origins.

Quote of the week

What I know most surely in the long run about morality and obligations, I owe to football

Albert Camus, 1957.

Must watch videos

ALL VIDEOS

Playing

The Most Dangerous Game of Football: Calcio Storico

Playing

The Most Dangerous Game of Football: Calcio Storico

Playing

The Climb to Equality

Playing

The amazing story of Sierra Leone’s Amputee Team

The Mad Grandma (Photo: COPA90 Stories).

Playing

The Mad Grandma: Botafogo’s 83-year-old superfan

Playing

The Right to Play

Odd Frantzen and the Norway team at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin (Photo: Wikimedia Commons).

Playing

The football signpost to WWII

David Goldblatt in his studio in Bristol.

Playing

Why Teach Football History?

David Goldblatt in his apartment in Bristol (Photo: FMH).

Playing

Football: A People’s History of Europe?

Playing

FC Union Berlin: A rebellious football club in a rebellious city

Diversity & discrimination

Thematic tips

Womens World Cup Final in 1971 with 110.000 (!) paying fans.

Stories

“We played for 95.000 people but came home to a ban”

While FIFA now touts progress, this article unveils the remarkable achievements of forgotten female footballers who played against all odds.

Women’s Football: the new player in the sport industry

Women’s football is becoming profitable and attracting new fans and investors

Winnie McKenna

Ambassador for Women’s Football

Students talk with FC Den Bosch player (photo: DTV Nieuws).

One full schoolweek on football and Europe?

When a teacher organised an entire week to combine football and Europe

Teaching students with objects (photo: Brian Sheehy).

Sports in the History Classroom

Football, rugby, soccer and more allow students to engage in history

TOP READER RATING SCORES

Natalie Portman, one of the founders of Angel City FC.

Angel City FC: An in-vitro football sensation

100+ life stories (FMH Photo collage). Credits: Ebru Köksal; John Blankenstein (Photo: Bart Molendijk / Dutch National Archives); Otto “Tull” Harder (Photo: Dutch National Archive); Petra Landers (Photo: Heinz Reinders / Wikimedia Commons).

Learning history in 100 football life stories

BVB Trip Changing the Chants (Photo: Lina Nikelowski).

5

Football vs. antisemitism

Life Stories

Football Makes History gathers life stories of unique individuals that help us connect the history of football to diversity and inclusion.

view football lives

Chérif Souleymane

African in the DDR

Christian Karembeu

Facing Empire in Football

Hughie Gallacher

No Life after Football

Eniola Aluko

Legacy of Empire

Educational Resources

Last 30-days engaging resources & collections on Football Makes History

What does identity have to do with football?

An interactive activity connecting football affiliations with personal identity in various historical contexts.

Soldiers in Congo in uniform, approx 1910-1925 (Source: Collectie Stichting Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen).

Football, Colonialism, and Migration

How did football evolve over time in both the Congo and Belgium? How has football (environments) been used beyond playing a sport? This is a learning activity to help students explore these topics.

A mob football match played at London’s Crowe Street (Source: WikiCommons).

Spread of football as cultural history

Students can explore 19th and 20th century global history through the cultural spread of the game.

Fair Play Screenshot (Source: Fair Play | Anne Frank House).

Educational game about dealing with discrimination

An educational game about dealing with discrimination and confronts young people with their own choices. The players get to react to discrimination and have the choice to either let it happen or do something about it. The game developed by the Anne Frank House is available in several languages.

Naples Maradona mural and action-figure.

North vs South. The Italian football division

A multimedia activity connecting the performances of football teams and the fame of players to economic inequalities and capitalism.

The US National Team lifts the world cup in 2019 (Photo: AppaIoosa on Flickr).

Equal Pay for Equal Play

How is the gender pay gap reflected in women’s football and what can be done to change it? How do we help students reflect on this?

Map of migration in Europe over three periods of time.

Understanding the history of migration through the lens of Football

A journey through time with an activity connecting football to migration in 19th and 20th centuries.

General Moscardó hands over the Copa del Generalísimo, 1939 (Photo: Joseph Brangulí / ABC de Sevilla).

Nationalism in Spanish Football in the 20th Century

A lesson plan putting the Spanish Civil War and football in perspective.

French national team in 2018 (Photo: Кирилл Венедиктов, Wikimedia Commons).

Football as a portal to French colonial history

Learn about colonialism and migration by tracing the origins of French football players.

Educational resources

Latest learning activities & collections

Athletic Club Bilbao and Real Sociedad carrying the Ikurinna, the Basque flag.

Learning Activities

We. We are the best

Helping students define nationalism by looking at photos of football matches and reflecting on the main expressions of it in the stadiums.

Learning Activities

Equal Pay for Equal Play

How is the gender pay gap reflected in women’s football and what can be done to change it? How do we help students reflect on this?

Source Collections

Football, Colonialism, and Migration

How did football evolve over time in both the Congo and Belgium? How has football (environments) been used beyond playing a sport? This is a learning activity to help students explore these topics.

read & download the toolkit

Toolkit

Toolkit for using historical and cultural heritage dimensions of football to enhance social inclusion and promote diversity in non-formal setting.

toolkit

Inclusion & Integration

Thematic Tips

Lives

Appie Nouri

Nouri is a young local talent who was making his way to the top level when tragedy befell him. He suffered severe brain damage.

Reviews

21 short stories of football in Amsterdam

Telling the history of a city through football stories: a celebration of Amsterdam.

Lucy Bronze chasing the ball (Photo: Dominique Mallen, WikiCommons).

Learning Activities

Beyond imitators of men

Through examples from football, we can encourage students to think out of the box on complex issues such as equality and inclusion, and ask thought-provoking questions.

FC Bayern Munich Fans on Fire with Bengalos (Photo: Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash).

Learning Activities

Chants in Football. Beyond the Fan and the Other

What if your students could talk with someone who has been hurt by a football chant, asking them why and analysing the chant with them?

Football in Cultural Heritage

Thematic Tips

Anchored to the past?

Fans refuse Spezia’s new logo: “It looks Nazi”

Discussion on Heritage and Football at imagine IC.

More than trophies

Football clubs can do more than they realize in the field of history and heritage

Pass, Shoot, Goal! Football in the Jazz Age – a review

Iconic Jazz songs highlight the overlap between art and sports

Time Travel to the European Championship of 1454

Football can be used as a language to explore the past

Rethinking the football museum

A museum should not just be a place to display objects, but a room for discussion and dialogue.

Angel City FC: An in-vitro football sensation

Angel City FC, the brand new women-majority owned and run club in Los Angeles.

Stories

Learning history in 100 football life stories

Over 100 life stories have been collected. Together they present a story of the people of Europe in the last 150 years. Time to connect the dots.

Lives

Fatmire Alushi

Fatmire Bajramaj Alushi was a refugee from war, she achieved star status in German women’s football and won the World Cup. Her story is one diversity, equality and inclusion.