Football and Literature #1: 'Wildlife' by Joe Stretch

I've just finished reading Wildlife by Joe Stretch. It's a freshly sharpened novel that takes on social networking and blogging, and the blur that occurs between these spheres and reality. The characters are on the trail of an upcoming mass change in society that will result in the introduction of a 'Wild World'. These characters bleed into internet and technology, whilst the web and technology squats on/in them.

The various extremes and conventions of Wildlife are worthy of lengthy discussion, and if you do read it, ring me for a pint and a discussion. I'll turn up. But, the concern here is the arrival of football in literature, and in Wildlife, the narrative dumps the characters into a banqueting suite at Stamford Bridge for the conclusion of their journey. The windows of the room where Ian The Dickhead begins to introduce the 'Wild World' provide a view of an ongoing Chelsea match.

Inside the suite, one bloke shouts 'Come on, Chelsea' whilst another responds with 'Fuck off, Chelsea.' There is a glass barrier between the insanity of the Wild World intro and the clash of teams occurring on the pitch, but the two elements are connected. The attendees to the football match create an intense community, momentary and anonymous. They might know the season ticket holder two seats across from them or their mate from work, who's come down, but in the large part, they don't know anyone -- but, they have to act as a community for ninety minutes. The anonymity and short lived commune is similar to the nature of web communities, where Joe Stretch sees fleeting moments and relationships between people with no real-life avatar. The difference lies in the fact that the 20/30/40/50/60/70,000 fans at a Premier League game all have a destination and a desire: 90 minutes of play and a win for their team. The characters who sit down in the banqueting suite of Stretch's novel, Joe, Life and Sam the Man, amongst others, have no destination and no real desire. By placing his protagonists within the environment of a tightly fought football match, Stretch forces us to realise their lack of place within a false community.

This point is further intensified by the escape of El Rogerio and Anka, from the madness of the banqueting sweet, to the magnificence of the pitch. As a goal hungry Frank Lampard closes in on the penalty box, Anka rides El Rogerio in pursuit. Quickly, the moment collapses with a large exclamation (I'll leave it for you to read), and the exultant connection between the web-based, life-hungry couple and the football match is over. Over, it seems, but the ref awards a free kick and they carry on. The football match continues because reality (and football) cannot cease under the pressure of a big/unusual event. Servers, websites and blogs however, will overload when the moment becomes too large to manage.

Next, El Rogerio and Anka accomplish ultimate communion in the Chelsea changing rooms and their conclusion is completely separate from the Dickhead's 'Wild World'. They've participated, albeit fantastically, in the game, and consequently the technology that has seeped into and influenced them, falls away. This occurs because they have broken the glass windows of the banqueting suite and burst into a real-life community. The entirely human moment of the football match emancipates them, and it is consequently a crucial, and well chosen, pivot for Stretch's novel.