Mark Doidge
@markdoidge.bsky.social
Sociologist at Loughborough researching sport, environmental sustainability, antiracism & refugees. Member @fanseurope, trustee @britsoci
Pinned
Mark Doidge
@markdoidge.bsky.social
· Oct 17
One of the hardest things to do in academia is to try new skills and make yourself uncomfortable. We tried new creative methodologies with football fans and, for me at least, fear of looking stupid was a big thing.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Mark Doidge
The year is 2025 and French public authorities are still incapable of emptying an away sector in safe and secure conditions.
Left: Marseille-Newcastle
Right: PSG-Tottenham
Left: Marseille-Newcastle
Right: PSG-Tottenham
November 27, 2025 at 4:29 PM
The year is 2025 and French public authorities are still incapable of emptying an away sector in safe and secure conditions.
Left: Marseille-Newcastle
Right: PSG-Tottenham
Left: Marseille-Newcastle
Right: PSG-Tottenham
Reposted by Mark Doidge
“It’s only fair that you pay back the costs of going to university because you’ll get a better paid job at the end of it … but we’re going to make you pay back those costs even if you get a job at near minimum wage because we’d otherwise have to tax millionaires.”
Threshold for repaying student loans to converge with minimum wage on.ft.com/3M2AYkD
Threshold for repaying student loans to converge with minimum wage
Surprise move from chancellor means some university graduates in England may have to pay back debts sooner
on.ft.com
November 27, 2025 at 8:38 AM
“It’s only fair that you pay back the costs of going to university because you’ll get a better paid job at the end of it … but we’re going to make you pay back those costs even if you get a job at near minimum wage because we’d otherwise have to tax millionaires.”
These headlines are straight out of the 1990s and early 2000s. The right wing always hit downwards. More recently they have focused on migrants, but now they've got Labour enacting Reform policies, the next people will be welfare and the poorest.
The predictable crushing uniformity of the coverage of this Budget tells you an awful lot about the priorities of those papers, and also why there's actually quite a lot to praise in it bylinetimes.com/2025/11/26/t...
November 27, 2025 at 10:26 AM
These headlines are straight out of the 1990s and early 2000s. The right wing always hit downwards. More recently they have focused on migrants, but now they've got Labour enacting Reform policies, the next people will be welfare and the poorest.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
With every outright racist things he says I think back to his former students and colleagues at a pretty diverse university who had to work with someone who clearly did not respect or value them.
Reflections on the budget from the head of Students4Reform
November 26, 2025 at 10:09 PM
With every outright racist things he says I think back to his former students and colleagues at a pretty diverse university who had to work with someone who clearly did not respect or value them.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
In other news, the Pope is in fact Catholic.
OBR says lower net migration will hurt overall productivity
November 26, 2025 at 6:27 PM
In other news, the Pope is in fact Catholic.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
This. The enshittification of Google is not really helpful for users.
November 26, 2025 at 11:43 AM
This. The enshittification of Google is not really helpful for users.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
"For fan culture. For security. For dialogue."
Baden-Württemberg clubs VfB Stuttgart, SC Freiburg, Karlsruher SC, 1. FC Heidenheim & TSG Hoffenheim reject "collective measures such as personalised tickets which would affect peaceful fans" and emphasise police figures which show stadiums are safe.
Baden-Württemberg clubs VfB Stuttgart, SC Freiburg, Karlsruher SC, 1. FC Heidenheim & TSG Hoffenheim reject "collective measures such as personalised tickets which would affect peaceful fans" and emphasise police figures which show stadiums are safe.
Für Fankultur. Für Sicherheit. Für Dialog.
Gemeinsame Stellungnahme zur Versachlichung der Debatte um Stadionsicherheit und Fankultur – Stadionallianzen in Baden-Württemberg als Erfolgsmodell.
Zur Stellungnahme: go.vfb.de/news7057
#VfB | #VfB1893
Gemeinsame Stellungnahme zur Versachlichung der Debatte um Stadionsicherheit und Fankultur – Stadionallianzen in Baden-Württemberg als Erfolgsmodell.
Zur Stellungnahme: go.vfb.de/news7057
#VfB | #VfB1893
November 26, 2025 at 1:18 PM
"For fan culture. For security. For dialogue."
Baden-Württemberg clubs VfB Stuttgart, SC Freiburg, Karlsruher SC, 1. FC Heidenheim & TSG Hoffenheim reject "collective measures such as personalised tickets which would affect peaceful fans" and emphasise police figures which show stadiums are safe.
Baden-Württemberg clubs VfB Stuttgart, SC Freiburg, Karlsruher SC, 1. FC Heidenheim & TSG Hoffenheim reject "collective measures such as personalised tickets which would affect peaceful fans" and emphasise police figures which show stadiums are safe.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
This is something that really bothers me in so much talk about benefits including from some policy wonks.
Not everyone who is given something from the state is Oliver Twist, nor should they be.
The state should provide help to all sorts of people in different circs, not just gruel for the needy
Not everyone who is given something from the state is Oliver Twist, nor should they be.
The state should provide help to all sorts of people in different circs, not just gruel for the needy
Sorry, no, Motability was not about 'helping the most vulnerable' - it was about providing people who need modified vehicles modified vehicles!
November 26, 2025 at 1:19 PM
This is something that really bothers me in so much talk about benefits including from some policy wonks.
Not everyone who is given something from the state is Oliver Twist, nor should they be.
The state should provide help to all sorts of people in different circs, not just gruel for the needy
Not everyone who is given something from the state is Oliver Twist, nor should they be.
The state should provide help to all sorts of people in different circs, not just gruel for the needy
Reposted by Mark Doidge
# We don't need no education #
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Fifty higher education providers at risk of exiting market in England, MPs told
Regulator says 24 are at more immediate risk and may have to stop degree courses within next 12 months
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:26 PM
# We don't need no education #
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Mark Doidge
“exiting the market”
November 25, 2025 at 6:23 PM
“exiting the market”
Donald Trump is the Frank Spencer of our age; everyone tries to do an impression of him. And that’s where the similarity ends.
a man in a suit and tie is wearing a black beret and making a funny face .
ALT: a man in a suit and tie is wearing a black beret and making a funny face .
media.tenor.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Donald Trump is the Frank Spencer of our age; everyone tries to do an impression of him. And that’s where the similarity ends.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
A few days after Cristiano Ronaldo was at the White House, FIFA says it has suspended the remaining two games of Cristiano Ronaldo's three-game ban for violent conduct, meaning he can play in Portugal's first two World Cup games.
Coincidence or not, it's certainly timing.
Coincidence or not, it's certainly timing.
November 25, 2025 at 4:45 PM
A few days after Cristiano Ronaldo was at the White House, FIFA says it has suspended the remaining two games of Cristiano Ronaldo's three-game ban for violent conduct, meaning he can play in Portugal's first two World Cup games.
Coincidence or not, it's certainly timing.
Coincidence or not, it's certainly timing.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
In 2021 Good Law Project went for an Orwell Prize for uncovering the Covid PPE VIP lane - an issue which helped bring down the last Government. We didn't even get shortlisted - one of the judges was a Director General under the last Government working on... the Covid response. 😂
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove Made Orwell Prize Judge Despite Record of Attacking Journalists and Dodging Scrutiny
Critics say "Orwell would have enjoyed the irony" of the former Conservative minister's appointment
bylinetimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:10 PM
In 2021 Good Law Project went for an Orwell Prize for uncovering the Covid PPE VIP lane - an issue which helped bring down the last Government. We didn't even get shortlisted - one of the judges was a Director General under the last Government working on... the Covid response. 😂
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Boavista FC is dead. 💔
After 125 years, the historic Porto club is yet another victim of “modern football” and multiclub ownership.
Panteras Negras FC is a new club created by one of their ultra groups. An example of the “punk football” that exists in the margins of “modern football.”
After 125 years, the historic Porto club is yet another victim of “modern football” and multiclub ownership.
Panteras Negras FC is a new club created by one of their ultra groups. An example of the “punk football” that exists in the margins of “modern football.”
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Boavista FC is dead. 💔
After 125 years, the historic Porto club is yet another victim of “modern football” and multiclub ownership.
Panteras Negras FC is a new club created by one of their ultra groups. An example of the “punk football” that exists in the margins of “modern football.”
After 125 years, the historic Porto club is yet another victim of “modern football” and multiclub ownership.
Panteras Negras FC is a new club created by one of their ultra groups. An example of the “punk football” that exists in the margins of “modern football.”
If you build roads and car parks, people drive. If you build cycle lanes, people cycle. It’s called induced demand. There’s nothing ‘natural’ about driving everywhere.
Some good news: Cycling journeys up by 43% in London, report finds www.bbc.com/news/article...
Cycling journeys up by 43% in London, TfL report suggests
Cycling journeys have increased to more than 1.5 million daily this year, according to a new report.
www.bbc.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:08 PM
If you build roads and car parks, people drive. If you build cycle lanes, people cycle. It’s called induced demand. There’s nothing ‘natural’ about driving everywhere.
Reform are importing US hate to the UK. They hate foreigners unless they bankroll their hate
Reform’s ‘Trumpian’ legal threats hint at more aggressive approach to media
Reform’s ‘Trumpian’ legal threats hint at more aggressive approach to media
Ultimatums sent to publications appear to intensify as Nigel Farage’s party rises in polls
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Reform are importing US hate to the UK. They hate foreigners unless they bankroll their hate
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Trevor Philips in the Times, calling for a Trump/Miller-style of random deportations based on skin colour.
archive.ph/RlXPj
archive.ph/RlXPj
November 24, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Trevor Philips in the Times, calling for a Trump/Miller-style of random deportations based on skin colour.
archive.ph/RlXPj
archive.ph/RlXPj
This man was chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Human rights for some, but not others
Just a jaw-dropping paragraph in Trevor Phillips's column for The Times.
This is a policy that, by his own account, has left parents of a particular race too frightened to walk their children to school.
And that's the example he chooses of the "vigour" we "need".
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
This is a policy that, by his own account, has left parents of a particular race too frightened to walk their children to school.
And that's the example he chooses of the "vigour" we "need".
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
November 25, 2025 at 8:18 AM
This man was chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Human rights for some, but not others
Reposted by Mark Doidge
FIFA and Saudi Arabia announce joint $1bn fund for infrastructure for FIFA members. Unclear why this is needed. FIFA already distributes huge sums to FAs. Oversight of that existing spending is mixed.
November 24, 2025 at 3:23 PM
FIFA and Saudi Arabia announce joint $1bn fund for infrastructure for FIFA members. Unclear why this is needed. FIFA already distributes huge sums to FAs. Oversight of that existing spending is mixed.
Performative cruelty to appeal to voters who won’t vote for you anyway is just another level of moral decrepitude
Labour's anti-asylum policies are already fundamentally inhumane and discriminatory. Applying them retrospectively is pure cruelty though. It serves absolutely no purpose. Meanwhile it will increase the costs and bureaucracy of an already dysfunctional Home Office.
www.thetimes.com/article/6f83...
www.thetimes.com/article/6f83...
November 24, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Performative cruelty to appeal to voters who won’t vote for you anyway is just another level of moral decrepitude
These patriots are dividing ‘their’ country which benefits Russia, a foreign enemy. Brexit, Trump & the far-right are all helping Russia. So much for patriotism 🙄
This is one of the big accounts boosting Tommy Robinson, Farage and Reform and ‘English Patriots’.
It’s Russian.
It’s Russian.
November 24, 2025 at 10:12 AM
These patriots are dividing ‘their’ country which benefits Russia, a foreign enemy. Brexit, Trump & the far-right are all helping Russia. So much for patriotism 🙄
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Today is the 4th anniversary of the worst ever tragedy in the Channel.
At least 27 men, women & children drowned in the freezing water, & 4 more have never been found.
Since then, neither we nor the French have done a thing to offer people in this situation with real solutions.
At least 27 men, women & children drowned in the freezing water, & 4 more have never been found.
Since then, neither we nor the French have done a thing to offer people in this situation with real solutions.
November 24, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Today is the 4th anniversary of the worst ever tragedy in the Channel.
At least 27 men, women & children drowned in the freezing water, & 4 more have never been found.
Since then, neither we nor the French have done a thing to offer people in this situation with real solutions.
At least 27 men, women & children drowned in the freezing water, & 4 more have never been found.
Since then, neither we nor the French have done a thing to offer people in this situation with real solutions.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
I really do not understand stretching power resources to produce more of a thing no one needs
Problem: AI needs massive amounts of power to thrive. Nuclear makes lots of power. Nuclear takes a long long time to do safely.
Proposed solution that I'm sure will have no unpleasant consequences: Use AI to speed up the construction of new nuclear plants.
Proposed solution that I'm sure will have no unpleasant consequences: Use AI to speed up the construction of new nuclear plants.
Power Companies Are Using AI To Build Nuclear Power Plants
Tech companies are betting big on nuclear energy to meet AIs massive power demands and they're using that AI to speed up the construction of new nuclear power plants.
www.404media.co
November 24, 2025 at 9:07 AM
I really do not understand stretching power resources to produce more of a thing no one needs
Reposted by Mark Doidge
To be clear, this is a tariff on our own exports.
Yes, it will raise money - tariffs do. The question is whether it will also cut exports from one of our core economic strengths- HE.
Yes, it will raise money - tariffs do. The question is whether it will also cut exports from one of our core economic strengths- HE.
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 23, 2025 at 10:15 PM
To be clear, this is a tariff on our own exports.
Yes, it will raise money - tariffs do. The question is whether it will also cut exports from one of our core economic strengths- HE.
Yes, it will raise money - tariffs do. The question is whether it will also cut exports from one of our core economic strengths- HE.