A reading about the history of Spanish football: from the beginning to the Franco regime

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to approach the understanding of the history of Spanish football. Based on the fact that in football some of the dramas of society are revealed, I intend to go developing this history in relation to the characteristics of the nation and its political future during the period from the late nineteenth century until the beginning of Francoism. Thus, the professionalization or restructuring of the league, which are also global phenomena, will mark the attempts of a "backward" nation to move towards a sports modernity, in which the very characteristics of "backwardness" will become clear. The idea of modernity and Spanish regionalisms will appear in this analysis. To achieve this goal I will appeal to a series of academic works, both on these years of Spanish sport, and other nations, also briefly contrasting the processes, in order to understand the nature of a global phenomenon in Spanish lands.