Kmflett's Blog

Eric Hobsbawm on the FA Cup

The Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm wrote about the link between a working class identity and culture and the rise of professional football. Hobsbawm himself was certainly a football fan and was suspected of being an Arsenal fan.

In the Invention of Tradition (jointly with Terence Ranger) Hobsbawm argued that the history of football cup finals tells the historian more about the development of an urban working class culture than more conventional sources.

In the Making of the Working Class 1870-1914 (a nod and a critique of E P Thompson as Hobsbawm notes) he argues that an increasing secular tendency saw working class support for unions and the Labour Party but it was also characterised by fish and chip shops and cup finals.

Where that culture is on the first weekend of April 2026 which saw four FA Cup quarter finals played is perhaps worth discussion.