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This paper draws on recent research to explore the changing cultures of racism in English football. Starting from a critical analysis of key themes in the literature on football it seeks to show that existing analytical frameworks need to be reworked if they are going to adequately account for the complex forms through which racism is expressed in contemporary football cultures. In the course of this analysis we question some of the ways in which the issue of racism in football is collapsed into broader accounts of 'hooliganism' and other forms of violence among football fans. From this starting point the paper draws on some elements of our empirical research in order to outline an alternative way of framing the issues of racism and multiculturalism in football.KEYWORDS: Football; racism; social theory CUP FINAL DAY, MAY 1997 The rituals of Englishness are on display as the nation settles to watch the biggest event in the sporting calendar. The Guard's Band leads Cliff Richard and the capacity crowd through Abide with Me and the national anthem: but this nal between Chelsea and Middlesbrough seemed different. Chelsea, managed by the black Dutch international Ruud Gullit, eventually triumph 2-0 over a cosmopolitan Middlesbrough side that included the Italian Fabrizio Ravanelli and the famed Brazilians, Juninho and Emerson. The Middlesbrough fans performance of the unlikely phenomenon of a 'Teeside Samba' at Wembley signalled that local football culture, even in England's North East, has assimilated new rhythms and textures. The match marked something more than a new beginning for the victorious West London club. It captured in microcosm the changing face of English football.As Chelsea's 'cheeky cockney' Denis Wise lifted the cup for Chelsea for the rst time in 26 years the television coverage cut to the jubilant Chelsea fans. Two young black men appear in club colours singing 'Chelsea,

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