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A Sociological Analysis of United Kingdom Football Fans: Historical Debates and Contemporary Issues

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Football Fandom in Europe and Latin America

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Abstract

This chapter examines the main themes, debates and issues relating to the sociological study of football fans in the United Kingdom. The discussion covers five main areas of sociological research. First, we explore national issues relating to football and fandom in the United Kingdom, primarily along the old lines of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, but also with reference to later debates on migration and multiculturalism. Second, we examine debates on football hooliganism that extend back to the late 1960s, and which provided the main focus for sociological study through much of the subsequent decades. Third, we explore how social scientists have examined the socio-cultural aspects of football fandom, with respect to themes such as identity, community, memory, belonging, and rivalry. Fourth, we examine sociological analyses of fans with respect to social divisions, notably along the lines of class, gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, and (dis)ability. Fifth, we examine the contemporary cultural politics of fandom, notably in relation to opposition or resistance movements established by fan movements at club and national levels.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Jamie Cleland

  2. Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

    Richard Giulianotti

  3. University of South-Eastern Norway, Telemark, Norway

    Richard Giulianotti

Authors
  1. Jamie Cleland
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  2. Richard Giulianotti
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Correspondence to Richard Giulianotti .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Research and Documentation on Brazilian Contemporary History, Getulio Vargas Foundation, Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Bernardo Buarque de Hollanda

  2. Centre International d’Etude du Sport, Neuchâtel, Neuchatel, Switzerland

    Thomas Busset

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Cleland, J., Giulianotti, R. (2023). A Sociological Analysis of United Kingdom Football Fans: Historical Debates and Contemporary Issues. In: Buarque de Hollanda, B., Busset, T. (eds) Football Fandom in Europe and Latin America. Football Research in an Enlarged Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06473-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06473-9_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-06472-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-06473-9

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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