‘The Janus‐faced sport’: English football, community and the legacy of the ‘third way’

This essay reflects on what has happened to the concept of ‘community’ in English football since the election of the New Labour government in Britain. It seeks to understand present governance arrangements around the game in terms of the legacy of ‘the third‐way’: the political philosophy adopted by New Labour when it came to power in the late 1990s. Specifically, it seeks to understand how the Labour government’s avowed commitment to ensuring economic freedom and prosperity on the one hand and equality of opportunity and social justice on the other has resulted in English football adopting a relatively unregulated corporate social responsibility approach to meeting community ‘obligations’. The essay argues that the result has been the emergence of a ‘Janus‐faced’ sport which, to some degree, separates out ‘community concerns’ from more everyday business operations and practices.