7.4 /10 1 Votes
3.7/5 AbeBooks Language English Publication date 2008 Originally published 2008 | 3.7/5 Goodreads Country United Kingdom Genre Sports, Football Media type Print (hardcover) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Publisher Pegasus Elliot MacKenzie, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Theatre of Silence (2008) is a book about association football written by Matthew Bazell. The book documents the disenfranchisement of an ordinary football supporter in the face of ever increasing commercialisation, especially rising ticket prices. The second edition (released 2011) contains a guest chapter written by former Sex Pistols front man, John Lydon.
Summary
Theatre of Silence describes how an Arsenal supporter was motivated to write a "letter of resignation" to his football club, which concludes "You have ripped to shreds the identity and heart of the football club which I loved.” He sends his membership card back with the letter. Further chapters deal with the increasing commercialization of the Premier League clubs in general and how that has affected supporters. Bazell writes "With low-cost air travel it can be cheaper to fly to Milan, hop on a tram, buy a match ticket for Inter or AC, have a panini, and fly home, all for the same price as a ticket to a Premier League game.”