Sport, Culture and Heritage

After Sunday is rooted in the history and culture of the North East. Any true north easterner, whether football fan or not, will have felt a sense of disappointment at the relegation of two of our Premier football teams this week.

An interesting article in The Guardian had the headline 'How the heart was torn from Newcastle' .It is perhaps not peculiar to the North East that football is so embedded in the culture of a region that the emotions run so high as to suggest heartbreak for a whole city. The article suggests that the football club mirrored the rise of the region from a redundant ship building town to a centre of renewed city slickers. A report looked at the impact of the rebranding of Newcastle, following promotion to the Premiership:

The brute truth, anyway, is that marketing, and making a city centre more attractive, can take a city only so far. In July 2006 the Paris-based OECD, a partnership of 30 governments including our own, reviewed Newcastle's efforts to reinvent itself. The report punched hard, finding that, although there were success stories, the North-East economy, employment and incomes lagged behind other regions. The area had the country's worst unemployment among people aged 55-64 – many of them former miners and shipbuilders thrown on the scrap heap while Sir John Hall was building his shopping centre. Too few businesses were starting up compared with elsewhere in the UK. Two companies hailed as beacons were Northern Rock, which afterwards became the landmark first victim of the credit crunch, and Nissan, which in January laid off 1,200 workers.

David Conn, The Guardian : 'How the heart was torn from Newcastle'  2nd May 2009

Faith and football are often talked about in the same language - passion, belief, religion, faithful followers. What can a perspective of our Christian faith - which we believe is based on more that a ball and a net - bring to people who have built their lives around faith in a football team? The question may seem frivolous but for a city who defines itself of the success or failure of the football team - hope for the future must come from elsewhere.

Poll : Does sport affect culture?

Following Newcastle and Middlesbrough's relegation, is it understandable that the culture of the region takes a downturn?

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Resources for Sport, Culture and Heritage

Here are some resources for Christians working in the field of Sport, Culture and Heritage.  Let us know of other resources you find supportive and encouraging.

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The Forum:Share your thought and ideas

If you would like to comment on the above story, or join in / initiate other discussions about issues in Sport, Culture and Heritage then you can do so through our forum. Go on, have your say!

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What are the major issues and challenges for those working in sport, culture or heritage today?

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