This is an ethnographic account of English football fans who travel home
and away following their team, based upon sixteen years' participant
observation. The author identifies a distinct sub-culture of supporter -
the 'carnival fan' - who dominated the travelling support of the three
teams observed - Manchester United, Blackpool and the England National
Team. This accessible account follows these groups home and abroad,
describing their interpretations, motivations and behaviour and
challenging a number of the myths about 'hooliganism' and crowd control.
An Ethnography of English football fans identifies the primary
motivation of these fan groups to be the creation of a carnival - a
period of transgression from the norms of everyday life based upon
congregating in groups, alcohol consumption, humour and tomfoolery, and
expressions of identity. In achieving these aims, the fan groups were
frequently brought into conflict with the football authorities, police
and 'hooligan' groups and this account includes explanations of some of
the most serious instances of crowd disorder involving English fans in
the last two decades. The book also looks at issues such as attitudes to
gender, sexuality and race, and the impact of technology upon football
fandom.
The text will be of value to anyone studying, researching or interested
in the behaviour of football fans, or ethnographic modes of enquiry more
generally. It will be of particular value to those in the academic
disciplines of policing, criminal justice, sociology, criminology,
sports studies or research methods and to practitioners involved in the
policing and management of sports crowds.
