Summary: Sociological Review Of Football Fans

Sociological Review of Football (Soccer) Fans

Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to understand how sociologists examine the sport institution of Football (soccer) fans. Through reading articles I have found and read about the emotions of being a football (soccer) fan and the comparison of the feelings, expressions and behavior of fans associated with support of their team. All the research I have read showed that while there are differences between countries in the way fans express their emotions and behavior, ultimately they all are the same fans. The theoretical perspective that I believe follows this fandom life style is being in an organizational culture; within this subculture there is
The referee halted the game while firemen rushed to the field and removed the flares. After the smoke had cleared, the game did not resume” (Guschwan, M. 2007). A common theme amongst all the articles is the emotion, joy, and pure excitement as well as tragedy and turmoil, which the game brings to the fans, families, towns, cities, and nations. A club’s organization includes concrete and symbolic elements like the club’s jersey, flag, club history, colors, anthem, songs, mascot, stadium and titles. Fans take liberty in remembering the chants, buying and wearing the jerseys, hanging the flag outside their houses, and always wearing the colors with pride. Soccer fans try to motivate players, which in return increases their dedication to the team, which will make them contest for more championships (Morato, 2005). Such the intensity of the game to some, that two thirds of fans have cried at a football match, whether it is for joy or the occasional despair (cannon). The release of emotions described as the pure joy of watching football games generates an atmosphere within the stadium that nearly all fans see is being just as important as the game its self. Most football fans consider themselves the “12th” man on the field; they are essential to the success of the team. The actions the 12th man (fans) perform are the ritual chants, songs,
For years racism has greatly disturbed the play of football all over Europe. Racism, only since the last decade that the sport’s associations that govern have come to see it as their task to fight this occurrence (Tagsold, C. 2010). Racism in football is still a major problem in Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands “Ajax” fans have a tradition of using Jewish symbols to express their following of the team. This shows how the picture can often be very complex, these “Ajax” fans are for the majority not Jewish in any way what so ever, but use the Jewish symbols because of their historical connections to the club and the area and time it was founded before WWI (UNESCO, 2000). Within the United Kingdom there are many different patterns of racism, and different things being performed to seize it. In Scotland or Northern Ireland it is different from that in England and Wales, where they are a bit more lax on it, for the time being (UNESCO, 2000). Some have placed ethnicity as a root problem in the dwindling attendance to some countries teams (Lock, D. 2009). The rest of the inequality falls into gender roles. Football has always been a male sport. Founded by men, played by men, and on the supported by men. Women have gained increasing access and participation in sport in the twentieth and twenty first century. How ever this fact doesn’t carry over into football. The