Protectors, threatening, informers, mediators, powerful, fragile… The figure of goalkeepers, full of nuances and prejudices, is part of the collective imagination. “It is a profession that emerged in a context of urban development, at the end of the 19th century, linked to neighborhoods, but also to citizen control. It is a figure that mediates between the neighbors and the public space ―the street―, including the authority,” explains Daniel Oviedo Silva (Segovia, 36 years old). This professor of Contemporary History at the Public University of Navarra has become an expert in goalkeepers and goalkeepers. In addition to researching them for four years for his doctoral thesis, he is the author of The enemy at the doors. Doormen and accusatory practices in Madrid (1936-1945)edited by Comares, where he analyzes the role they played during the Civil War and the postwar period.
Ask. What happened to the goalkeepers at that time?
Answer. This is a subaltern figure ―generally in a vulnerable social position― who, at the same time, has de facto power over the complex and diverse relationships of a neighborhood. Between 1900 and the Civil War, Madrid practically doubled its population. This accelerated growth overwhelmed the police forces, who saw in the doormen a figure of proximity who knew the neighborhoods very well. This is where collaboration practices with the authority begin, which in many cases are forced, mandatory by legislation. During the years before the conflict, on many doorways there was a sign that said: “No one passes without speaking to the doorman.” I set out to identify the ways in which the doormen participated in the accusatory practices.
P. What are accusatory practices?
R. I prefer this term, more plural, to denunciation or snitch. The doormen participated in the social relations that led to violence. The idea was to find out if they facilitated or contributed to it, first, in collaboration with the republican police; or, later, with the Franco authorities. Because they also had the ability to short-circuit that violence by ignoring them when they were asked. Without forgetting that they were also victims.
P. Did they have that much capacity for action?
R. That capacity has been exaggerated, although the coercion and constraints are there. During the war, imagine that a group of armed militiamen comes. Theoretically, the doormen had to notify the General Directorate of Security. But of course, you have to encounter a dozen armed militiamen who are trying to access the property and you are there at the goal. In the postwar period, in addition, there was a whole legal and judicial apparatus that forced the doormen to issue statements, or to take a position regarding the behavior that the neighbors, and even the domestic staff, had had during the war. At the same time, the doormen were being investigated as possible informers. These situations don’t leave much room for maneuver.
P. Without a doubt, they are figures in whom a lot of trust is placed.
R. And for this they pay the price of being permanent suspects of anything that happens. If there has been a robbery it is because they have not been sufficiently vigilant or even because they are in cahoots. The idea that “the goalkeeper always knows something” emanates from there.
P. Was its role magnified during the war after the triumph of the fascists?
R. The topic was widely exploited by the Franco regime. It is also true that, in Madrid, during the war, there was a group of doormen (from the Republican side) that was active within the García Atadell Brigade, which participated in many arrests and was responsible for numerous murders. What I question is whether they managed to build a network that would allow for an effective systematization of complaints, as fascist propaganda spread. Of the more than 20,000 doormen in Madrid – theoretically, legislation obliged properties to have one – it can be said that only around thirty actively participated in that brigade. Furthermore, it was in force for a short time: until the fall of ’36. There were, in any case, other ways to participate in violence.
P. What about the goalkeepers?
R. This is difficult to document. In the goals of the most humble neighborhoods, it is difficult to define who was in charge. Sometimes, the profession was linked to a family, and all its members – children, partners, but also other close friends – participated in the tasks. Other times, the contract was in the man’s name, but since he had another job, the woman performed it. Yes, it was quite characteristic that in the highest-income neighborhoods, like Salamanca, the goal was occupied by men. Furthermore, they worked in uniform, with livery, which made them more recognizable, while at the same time exuding classism with respect to the less well-off sector of the profession. The doorwomen were more present in the most popular neighborhoods.
P. How much did a goalkeeper earn?
R. In the Republic, when the salaries of goalkeepers are regulated, the difference between those who earn the most and those who earn the least can be multiplied by ten: salaries range from 30 pesetas to 350.
P. The doormen also play a relevant social function, linked to caring for the neighbors, the property, or the garden.
R. Yes, they are a referential figure, related to building links. This is due to the functions they have historically performed. In their origins in France, at the beginning of the 19th century, they were related to status. Later, their functions diversified (towards the aforementioned care or surveillance). They are liminal, interstitial figures that can unite a community. In fact, there are programs to reintroduce doormen in social housing buildings in the United Kingdom, France, or Norway.
P. Do we know little about goalkeepers?
R. More research should be done; develop a social history, but also an urban and cultural one. There are very good jobs in France; also, an investigation into the role of doormen in the Holocaust in Budapest; or a brilliant work on Barcelona, coordinated by the anthropologist Joan Bestard.
P. The series of The managerstarring an Argentine goalkeeper, exploits many of the archetypes it mentions.
R. The series condenses the figure of the goalkeeper with tact, skill and rhythm. It highlights all those contradictory situations related to the profession: the servile, subaltern character, who, at the same time, can pull the strings of a community or neighborhood. It incurs some of the stigmas associated with the profession, but in a nice way. And with a very fine balance between the public and private facet of the goalkeeper, which the viewer sees at all times. A doorman is intimate: he has the keys to your house; He knows when you come in, when you leave; know your visits…