The FootPol Podcast
The podcast that brings together football and politics. We'll be exploring the relationship between the two, both inside and outside the game.
The podcast covers "Big Politics" like politicians, clubs, international and national federations and other organised groups and how they use or abuse the game to "Small, Everyday Politics" in the form of community-level clubs, fan associations and the way that football reflects the political challenges of our day to day lives.
The FootPol Podcast is brought to you by co-hosts Drs Francesco Belcastro and Guy Burton.
The FootPol Podcast
Fueling or burning the game? Football clubs, fans and energy companies ft. Leslie Mabon
In the latest FootPol Podcast episode, Leslie Mabon, senior lecturer in environmental systems at The Open University discusses how football’s deep ties to industry reveal a bigger story about climate change, community identity, and the energy transition.
From the coalfields of Fife to the steelworks of Dortmund and Japan’s industrial clubs, football’s roots run through carbon-intensive economies. Mabon explains how clubs are now reinterpreting their industrial heritage — through shirts, banners, and community initiatives — while grappling with questions of sportswashing, ethical sponsorship, and sustainability.
The episode explores how energy and identity intersect: oil and gas companies still sponsor around half of Scotland’s Highland League teams, but a shift toward renewable energy sponsorship is under way — signalling how the game may help normalise the low-carbon transition.
As Mabon argues, football’s evolution mirrors society’s: industries that once drove emissions are now helping power the clean energy future. And while putting a wind turbine logo on a shirt won’t decarbonise a region overnight, it might just spark the conversations that do.
