“We Once Were Comrades”: Soccer, Nostalgia, and Violence in Makhanda, South Africa

This article is based on an ethnographic project focusing on soccer, hope, and nostalgia in Makhanda, South Africa. Through a focus on the first soccer clubs in the African township and interviews with soccer players, coaches, and managers, as well as archival research, the article presents the complex ways that violence intersects with soccer, and the ways that nostalgia can present restorative and reflective visions of the past. The original clubs that were formed in the 1970s were founded both as political organisations and to address crime, vandalism, and violence in the township. Clubs operated as sporting organisations, but also became community service organisations, providing mutual aid and meeting spaces. Crucially, the dedication and discipline developed through soccer also translated into community-sanctioned violence through the formation of vigilante groups that aimed to protect the community from gangs and political opponents. The nostalgia for past struggles and the possibilities they presented are described through the lens of what Nelson Mandela called a forlorn hope, an impossible desire for an alternative world that becomes an invitation to continue struggling for a better world. Further, the nostalgia for the past is linked to how current-day soccer coaches and managers envision the future of soccer in Makhanda. It is a future that is grounded in the camaraderie, discipline, and mutuality that were experienced through soccer in the past.