The present paper aims to outline and explain the social world of the most committed football supporters in Poland. The analysis proceeds from the assumption that such a community is based on a particular culture established by its own discourses, constituting the habitus of individuals who generate strong social bonds and a normative structure, and is a source of social capital. Since this sub-culture can be understood as a multidimensional sphere, the article argues that fans can no longer be adequately described in terms of the 'hooligan' discourse. Although hooligan behaviour has not vanished entirely, it has been pushed out of the stadiums and increasingly functions in a niche outside the immediate context of football. The present article is intended as a contribution to the discussion on European football hooliganism/fandom and its transformation.
The main aim of this article is to show some characteristics of the identity of Polish football supporters. The results of a study conducted among 309 fans actively engaged in formal (supporters’ associations) and informal groups (e.g., hooligans or ultras), as well as data from qualitative research, reveal their strong identification with Poland as a country, with their family, club, and group of supporters. At the same time, Polish fans do not identify with “Europe” as a category. The fandom culture in Poland is characterized by such attitudes as honour, steadfastness, the “might is right” principle, and moral and economic conservatism. Supporters tend to sympathize with political parties embracing right-wing values. The article points out important elements of Polish history that could have affected the ideological construction of the supporters’ vision. In the absence of historical civic and left-wing tradition, Polish supporters emerged during the period of the country’s struggle for freedom as a community structured by militant, conservative, punitive, and masculine frames of reference. Since the values of a particular group cannot be analysed without an assessment of its broader cultural and social context, the article also presents the different dimensions of Polish history and society in order to provide a contextual background influencing fandom.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.