Quote:
Originally Posted by Sephiroth
My working definition of "culture" leans towards the anthropological meaning; so feel free to agree/disagree. To me, it means the values, goals, beliefs, behaviours etc shared by a society. Football is not one of those, not even within the etc range! Football is a widely shared interest that has little or no bearing on British culture.
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Your assertion re football makes no sense in the context of your perfectly fine definition of culture.
Football, in common with all sports, very obviously says something about the values of our culture with regards to competition, teamwork, applied physical prowess and the sharing of heightened emotional experiences. Football, as a primary spectator and participation sport, says more than most.
It goes to the heart of behaviour in our culture when the sport has an aggregate attendance at professional domestic league matches in excess of 30 million over the course of a season, with many more watching on TV at home or in the pub.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...nited-kingdom/
Replica shirts, bumper stickers, hats and scarves are everywhere, all year round. It is appealed to in conversation as metaphor constantly. For you to attempt to pass it off as a 'widely shared interest' with 'little or no bearing' on culture is bizarre. I'm beginning to think you've argued yourself into a corner and haven't quite worked out how to get out of it.