"Football in the streets" and the press: between “good” and “bad”, order and disorder. (1910-1919)
Football / Rio de Janeiro / Press / First RepublicThe early years of football in the city of Rio de Janeiro, intensely associated with the elites of Rio de Janeiro, clubs and associations opened around 1901, with an interest in the new sport, lead us to observe the process of popularization of football as something gradual. . Something that is limited to the elites, dissipates reaching the carioca suburb and finally reaches the city streets bringing intense discomfort. In this way, the wealthy layers of Rio are conceived as fundamental for the development of sport in the city, ignoring other actors and spaces in this process. It is important to realize that football is consolidating itself as the main leisure practice also by the people for particular reasons of the game. Well, there are other sports in the city that precede it and, even so, they do not acquire the same expression among the less wealthy.
From the so-called “Caso da Rua Soares” exposed in the Gazeta de Notícias, I propose to reflect on how the practice of football in the streets makes it possible to think about the different conflicts that permeate the city of Rio de Janeiro between 1910 and 1919.