DISSERTATION ASSESSMENT PROFORMA: Empirical 1

Cardiff School of Sport DISSERTATION ASSESSMENT PROFORMA: Empirical 1

Student name: Christian James Byard Student ID: 10004222

Programme: SD

Dissertation title: Football Fandom: A Process for Identity and Inclusion

Supervisor: Professor Scott Fleming

Comments Section Title and Abstract

Title to include: A concise indication of the research question/problem. Abstract to include: A concise summary of the empirical study undertaken. Introduction and literature review

To include: outline of context (theoretical/conceptual/applied) for the question; analysis of findings of previous related research including gaps in the literature and relevant contributions; logical flow to, and clear presentation of the research problem/ question; an indication of any research expectations, (i.e., hypotheses if applicable). Methods and Research Design

To include: details of the research design and justification for the methods applied; participant details; comprehensive replicable protocol. Results and Analysis 2

To include: description and justification of data treatment/ data analysis procedures; appropriate presentation of analysed data within text and in tables or figures; description of critical findings. Discussion and Conclusions 2

To include: collation of information and ideas and evaluation of those ideas relative to the extant literature/concept/theory and research question/problem; adoption of a personal position on the study by linking and combining different elements of the data reported; discussion of the real-life impact of your research findings for coaches and/or practitioners (i.e. practical implications); discussion of the limitations and a critical reflection of the approach/process adopted; and indication of potential improvements and future developments building on the study; and a conclusion which summarises the relationship between the research question and the major findings. Presentation

To include: academic writing style; depth, scope and accuracy of referencing in the text and final reference list; clarity in organisation, formatting and visual presentation

1 This form should be used for both quantitative and qualitative dissertations. The descriptors associated with both quantitative and qualitative dissertations should be referred to by both students and markers. 2 There is scope within qualitative dissertations for the RESULTS and DISCUSSION sections to be presented as a combined section followed by an appropriate CONCLUSION. The mark distribution and criteria across these two sections should be aggregated in those circumstances.

CARDIFF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY Prifysgol Fetropolitan Caerdydd

CARDIFF SCHOOL OF SPORT

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS)

SPORTS DEVELOPMENT

Football Fandom: A Process for Identity and Inclusion

Socio-Cultural

CHRISTIAN JAMES BYARD

ST10004222

iii

CHRISTIAN JAMES BYARD

ST10004222

CARDIFF SCHOOL OF SPORT

CARDIFF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

FOOTBALL FANDOM: A PROCESS FOR IDENTITY AND

INCLUSION

Cardiff Metropolitan University

Prifysgol Fetropolitan Caerdydd

Certificate of student

By submitting this document, I certify that the whole of this work is the result of my individual effort, that all quotations from books and journals have been acknowledged, and that the word count given below is a true and accurate record of the words contained (omitting contents pages, acknowledgements, indices, tables, figures, plates, reference list and appendices).

Word count: 10, 124 Date: 21/3/2013

Certificate of Dissertation Supervisor responsible

I am satisfied that this work is the result of the student’s own effort. I have received a dissertation verification file from this student

Name: Date:

Notes: The University owns the right to reprint all or part of this document.

Contents

Acknowledgements...... 3

Abstract...... 4

Chapter 1 - Introduction

1.1 Background into the Study...... 5 1.2 Aims and Objectives...... 6 1.3 Rationale of the Study...... 7

Chapter 2 – Literature Review

2.1 Fans - is it worth the time? ...... 9 2.2 Demonising the Fan...... 10 2.3 Fandom...... 11 2.4 Identity Construction...... 12 2.5 New Football Cultural Changes...... 16 2.6 Characterising the Fan...... 17

Chapter 3 – Methodology

3.1 Introduction to methodology...... 21 3.2 Data Collection...... 22 3.3 Participants...... 24 3.4 Ethical Issues...... 25 3.5 Data Analysis...... 26

Chapter 4 – Discussion and Results

4.1 Influences...... 27 4.2 Media...... 30 4.3 Identification of the “Fan”...... 34

Chapter 5 - Conclusion

5.1 Findings of the Study...... 39 5.2 Limitations and Observations for Future Research...... 40

References...... 41

Appendices

Appendix A: Participant information & Consent Form…………………………………...... 46

Appendix B: Interview Questions...... 50

Appendix C: Transcripts of Participants...... 51

Malcolm ...... 51

Paul...... 56

David...... 62

Matthew & Alan...... 67

Jimmy & John...... 76

Luke...... 89

Acknowledgements

Firstly, I wish to express my thanks to Professor Scott Fleming for his continued support and guidance throughout this study. Thank you Sir.

Secondly, I would like to thank the participants in this study who kindly gave their time and shared such deep thoughts and opinions. It was a great pleasure to share a common love with like minded individuals.

Finally my Mam, Dad, Brother and Sister. Thank you for your patience, support and love the past three years. The efforts of this study could not have been made easier without your help and allowing me to commandeer the kitchen table every night.

Thank you All.

Abstract

The issue of fandom is in a constant state of evolution (Brown, 1998). Over the last forty years, academics such as Williams, Giulianotti and Brown have tussled with the complexity of football fandom which has most certainly transformed in line with wider social changes (Dixon, 2011). This research regarding the nature of football fans, and their identities, is best suited to an interpretive study involving a qualitative approach (Gomm, 2004). By using such an approach, it will invoke in depth opinions from the participants of the study rather than the uniform statistical analytical methods which in contrast the participants will provide elaborated and more detailed answers, which will produce better or more relevant data for analysis (Seale, 2004) Stone (2007) has identified that what is missing is a protracted study, concerning the conventional behaviours and attitudes as well as the more subtle expressions of football fandom. Thus, by exploring the nature of fandom in one’s everyday life, we can begin to view this culture and how it is merely experienced and expressed by the ordinary fan.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Background into the study 1.1

As only a real supporter of football would ever understand. The simple act of kicking a ball between two sticks can drastically change your view of everything in the world. (Firth, 2009, pg. 3)

Moreover, very little academic work has conclusively acknowledged football fans who aren’t hooligans. The academics Wann and Hamlet estimated that in 1995 only four percent of research on sport concentrates on the fan (Kuper & Szymanski,

2012) Also, Jones, Malcolm and Waddington (2000) five years later produced the same statistic whereby review’s into the majority of sociology and psychology journals in sport discovered still only four percent had focused their attention on the fans.

Recent research has begun to question previous research in order to ‘re-think’ the very nature of football fandom (Williams, 2007). For example, Williams, is very critical of conforming the identity of the fans under one umbrella. Thus, academic studies of this nature, including football involved in ‘every-day life’ have and remained very much secondary to such studies that are more concerned with

rendering football fans as ‘Hooligans’, ‘Racists’, ‘Xenophobes’ and the ‘Obsessive’

(Dixon, 2011).

In a much wider broader sense, the study of ‘everyday life’ is more often than not discussed solely in the context of popular culture. However, very few academics and researchers have applied this idea to a sporting context, and even fewer again have empirically applied it to the world phenomenon, that is football (Brown 1998,

Giulianotti, 1999).

1.2 Rationale of the study

Research in this field of study has been mostly concerned with the nature of sport audiences. Those fans who regularly attend live events and matches in stadia across the country. However, what this research neglects is the consumption of this activity in everyday life (Stone, 2007).

As suggested by Crawford (2004) relating to his study on the consumption of sport, there appears to be crucial elements that are missing with regards to the relationship of fans and their practice of fandom beyond the match day. Stone (2007) has identified that what is missing is a protracted study, concerning the conventional behaviours and attitudes as well as the more subtle expressions of football fandom.

Thus, by exploring the nature of fandom in one’s everyday life, we can begin to view this culture and how it is merely experienced and expressed by the ordinary fan.

Thereby, the Objective of the this study is to investigate the ordinary fans who have been neglected in favour of the violent and more fame seeking supporters who wish to proclaim ‘superiority’ as the true fan who ‘fights’ for their club. However, what must be distinguished is, is the distinction between ‘True Fans’ who are highlighted by researchers but considered a disruptive minority, to that of the ordinary fans who

wish to merely follow the club as opposed to causing riots and bloody noses (Brown,

2007).

1.3 Aims and Objectives of the study

In particular the objectives are:

 To investigate the nature of the fan and the formation of identity

 More specifically, can being a fan been seen as a more positive activity and a

medium for inclusion.

Firstly the study will set the scene for the topic, which will involve a review of an extensive range of relevant literature. This proceeds to the formulation of a research strategy that will allow a suitable methodology to be developed for the study. The specific methodology chosen will enable a suitable number of responses to draw up; therefore conclusions can be drawn and discussed in detail on what has been found within the results section. This will be largely dependent on the transcriptions of the interviews that will take place with eight participants.

Finally the study will present the data collected from the analysis of the results and provide an extensive discussion of the research found from the participants responses and conclusively base this on the background knowledge that was developed largely and solely from the review of the literature. This will inevitably involve comparing the raw data collected from the interviews conducted, therefore reviewing and critically evaluating this against the literature already discussed. The intention of the study is to discover and provide a new positive and bright future for football fandom and the consumption of football into everyday life. What this study aims to accomplish is a clear, thoughtful and innovative study of fans and their fandom, in terms of interaction, connection and consumptions in its innumerable

forms, identities, media and spaces in which football fandom is enacted (Jones,

Malcolm & Waddington, 2000).

Chapter 2

Literature Review

2.1 Fans – is it worth the time?

Whilst, much of today’s scholarly work has looked at football as a research topic, very few have taken the time to view and examine the much villianized creature, that is, the fan (Brimson, 1998). In contrast, to almost every other matter of contention, surrounding football has been bound and perpetuated in the history of football research. The fan, as a separate entity, has received very little, if not a nonexistent spectrum of observation and analysis.

Many practitioners and researchers such as Williams, Marsh and Dunning are still concerned with the notions of power and discrimination amongst football fans.

However more recent studies, such as Gray, Harrington and Sandvoss (2007) suggest that fandom is now being interpreted into separate communities and not disclosed under one blanket definition. In today’s society, as being a fan is now considered to be the common ideal of cultural and sociological consumption, many models of fans that practitioners have come to design, within cultures, consequently did not match the portrayal of those who characterize themselves as fans (Armstrong

& Giuilianotti, 1999).

Moreover, such studies of fans and their fandom, for example Williams (2007) paper on ‘Rethinking Sports fandom’, can assist us in understanding, and consequently combat the challenges that have been inducted by the mould of popular culture.

However, perhaps the most important contribution that these studies can provide into the research on fans is in the understanding of how fandom can form emotional, lifelong bonds in today’s mediated and modernized world (Jones, 2000).

The premise here is to introduce the ordinary supporter and casual television viewer of football to the fold, as it has been the norm to dismiss these fans in literature based on irregular consumption. This, in addition, the ubiquity of football, in many numbers of mediated forms, offers a plethora of engagements for the fan which can be utilized in various reasons, times and ways (Redhead, 1997: Stone, 2007).

2.2 - Demonising the fan

In terms of literature, already in existence in the public domain, it has however received a fair bit of recognition if compared with that of others works on fans of other sports. This recognition, nevertheless, is eclipsed by the ever remaining issue that fans are only known and forever illustrated as hooligans (Jones, Malcolm &

Waddington, 2000). Thus the violent persona, portrayed by researchers, has been slowly but surely re-addressed since the 80s and the early 90s.

This instigated a change in the attitude of football sociologists to re-direct their efforts towards new and other aspects that encompass the fandom phenomenon

(Giulianotti, 2000). The culture of football, more specifically, the culture of being a football fan has never been a static affair. For the many fans in Britain today, past, present and future, fandom will never be considered a static condition but merely a process (Kuper &Szymanski, 2012).

The various modes of support have been in a constant state of flux due to and in parallel accordance to that of socio-historical influences that have altered the culture that determines the fandom in question. However, the plethora of academic work and debates that surround the cultures of fandom have been more concerned with

‘authenticity’, thus the need to determine and inevitably capture the ‘fan’ (Stone,

2007). However, recent and much stronger focus on normative football fandom has

begun to re-juvenate and reconceptualise the scholarly discussion of young male fans who are disruptive and are the sole case of violence and heated confrontation when in the context of football environments (Williams, 2007).

2.3 - Fandom

Fandom is explained to be the cultural signification of being a fan, and has largely been one of the most dynamic and contested concepts with recent sociological discussion of sport (Sage, 2009). In The United Kingdom, football fandom plays a major cultural role in people’s lives. This may be due to the fact that we created the game and it attracts roughly over thirty million people a year at live matches, which doesn’t take into consideration the millions who watch it on television.

However, despite the popularity of football presently, questions are beginning to surface whether football remains ‘The People’s Game’ or is it consequently being run by men in suits, directors and overseas owners, who are more concerned with commercialisation of the club than the army of followers who support the club and one of the key stakeholders for the club (Brown, 1998).

Moreover, the idea that football is still ‘The People’s Game’ has never been more in jeopardy as it is in today’s modern sporting world (Jones, 2000). Such issues of power and control that dominate football, the impact of television for the supporter with technology now at the forefront of fans thirst for news regarding their involvement and relationship with the club. All these areas of modernity have commenced the legitimacy of how football is received by today’s society and the specific mediated communities that now surround the nature of contemporary football fandom (Brown, 1998). This now begs the question what is the role of modern football for the modern day fan?

As Carlton Brick argues (Garland, Malcolm & Rowe, 2000) in the last ten years the image of the fan has seen an extraordinary transformation within the context of dramatic changes that have arisen. Also, the rise of television rights and the internet has meant that fandom today and surely in the future, can and will begin to exist as a community with affiliation (Garland, Malcolm & Rowe, 2000). Moreover, it is now more commonly claimed that football is severely lacking in what was perceived in the past as possessing a deep-rootedness, which was majorly provided and sourced from the past and previously loyal and local core of football fans (Williams, 2007).

Furthermore, what is clear is the motivation for football fans to attend to their fandom is complex and rather diffuse in its nature, extending well beyond the admittedly vital matters, which are also evolving and inevitably changing (Williams, 2007). As such, the modern nexus of football is now underpinned by the ever increasing nature of social, and the complexity of cultural life (Giulianotti, 2000).

2.4 - Identity Construction

This section highlights, how being a football fan can construct an individual’s sense of identity and why an individual identifies as a fan, determining now a critical component in the make-up of the modern football fan.

Identity is an extremely difficult concept to define, and as a form of practice, it differs from what it was assumed to be in the past (Porat, 2010). Identity has become increasingly complex in nature due to the rise of the digital age, and the effect mediated sport has on the individual or collective (Boyle, 2010).

What is evident is that a definition of ‘identity’ of fans that actively follow their club seems to evade many sociologists. Is the fan the one who buys the season ticket?

Or the one who that pays the Sky Sports fees to watch every game? How do we begin to identify the context in which these acts exist?

The processes of identification are not set in stone. Identity, then, can be thought of as one’s longing to ‘identify’ within a context that their are compelled to be a part of.

This signifies, for a fan, the process of choice and action on their own terms.

Moreover, identity is subtle, elusive and thus contains many fragmented qualities bundled under one heading. These qualities can be seen as the emotional and symbolic processes associated with being involved in being a fan of football (Norris,

1999).

In terms of football, identity should be understood not as a static, essential element of one’s being but as a multifaceted connection of characteristics that are brought about through a plethora of discursive acts with an array of contexts (Kersting,

2007). As Williams (2007) explains, in new social conditions of late modernity, many individuals engaging in a sporting culture like football, increasingly draw on their football for identity construction and ultimately, confirmation (Jones, Malcolm &

Waddington, 2000).

Current research about football fan identities assesses the similarities and differences regarding football fans in terms of identification with fan interest

(Fanship) and thus further identification with other fans (Fandom) as a collective

(Branscombe et al, 2010). As Porat (2010) states, it is more commonly the social that forms the individual and not the vice versa (p, 279). Identity, could be argued as being indestructible, beginning at birth and ending at death. Thus being permanent and bounded with the individual during their lifetime.

As identity is a multifaceted practice, fan identity is the process of selecting options from those experiences that are available to the fan. The importance of such fandom

contributes to a shared identity and links not only to shared success with one’s team, but also safeguarding the individual from isolation in the face of failure (Jones,

Malcolm & Waddington, 2000). A psychological commitment to a club can contribute positively to an individual’s life satisfaction and self-esteem. (Eskiller, Sari & Soyer,

2011).

The idea of fan identity can be understood through the Social Identity Theory (Tajfel

& Turner, 1979) and also Self Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 2012).

Social identity theory proposes that fans recognise themselves and connect to a social group by knowledge and membership (Jacobson, 2003). Whereas, SDT is referred to as being the human need for competence and relatedness (Eskiller, Sari

& Soyer, 2011).

This collective identity which is invoked by the social aspect and the context that fandom is enacted with fellow fans which enforces the notion that being a fan is a positive activity. With belonging and acceptance from others, being a fan contributes a state of mental well being and life satisfaction (Jacobson, 2003). Moreover, the club/team is a symbol with which football fans signify and identify themselves. It is a chance for the individual fan to differentiate, as well as compare. Ultimately, it is an indication of identity for the individual (Porat, 2010).

The construction of identity throughout a person’s lifespan can be an ever-changing process. Identity is also characterized in social life through innumerable communicative acts including, for example, the ritualised engagement of singing, chanting and other forms of vocalisation, as well as other expressive mediated forms which include costuming in club kit or even holding aloft posters and banners

(Guschwan, 2011).

Football is a vehicle for identity, for being part of a collective entity, and therefore can be seen as a context fans to indulge in their fandom, becoming indirectly embraced in a symbolic fight for possession and supremacy of a collective space, thus sociologically making relevant distinctions which define the identity of the fan. These distinctions are thus formed by the emotional and symbolic identification a fan feels regarding the lifelong process of being a football fan (Miklos, 2000).

Here, fandom is more than merely an act of following a club, team or football itself.

Football is thus deemed as a mechanism which solidifies the individual need to belong to a collective (Norbert, 2007). Furthermore, football offers the fan anchorage in the past, present and anticipated future of the club to which the fan belongs and has invisibly formed a lifelong bond (Porat, 2010).

For many, being a fan matters is to declare that it matters and fandom is, specifically:

It can be constructed as a collective strategy, a communal effort to from interpretive communities that in their subcultural cohesion evaded the preferred and intended meanings of the “power bloc” represented by popular media (Harrington, Gray and Sandvoss, 2007, Pp, 2)

Football Fandom is ever evolving as a part of popular culture. Therefore, football fandom studies require innovative and deep rooted connectedness towards the fans in order to explore their vitality in all their forms, identities, media and spaces (Gray,

Sandvoss and Harrington, 2007). Here, the football fan is a complex social unit and entity that is filled with subtle distinctions which occupy their own particular role in the following of football and more openly, the club/team. It is ultimately a process, without origin or completion, merely a negotiation in time and discourse (Morris, 1981).

2.5 - New football cultural changes

If your work interferes with your football, give it up (Armstrong & Giulianotti, 1999, pg. 15).

The above statement was issued in Lancashire, as a pre-war saying. As much as it can be taken that football is a way of life as Bill Shankly stated that “Football is not a matter of life and death...its much more than that” (Kyper & Szymanski, 2012) This statement clearly exercises the sheer involvement of football in the vast majority of peoples lives which has endured for the last hundred and fifty years.

Due to football in Britain expanding to well beyond our realm, even European football fans are now faced with the prospect of the balance of consumption and control tipping further away from their grasp. Thus, now treating the fan as merely a consumer and not a cherished part of the make-up of football. As such, football is now considered to be on par with education and mass media as one of the world’s central and leading cultural institutions (Giulianotti, 2000).

As modernisation is on the rise in terms of sport (Characterised by industrialisation, migration and urbanisation) it is now slowly beginning to dissect the outdated social and cultural ties that are still in existence within the rural and seasoned communities of football. Nowadays, there is fresh and innovative ways of re-juvenating and unifying people that are disaparating and conclusively forming imagined communities

(Armstrong & Giulianotti, 1999).

These ‘imagined communities’ in relation to football fans, have been developed by that of the technological power of mass media i.e. sky sports and fan forums. Thus providing fans with access from all corners of the nation to share, participate and bond. In fact, in 2002, more than nine million people watched live sport from the pub

or from the comfort of their own home. What is even more striking is that only eight million people (on average) watched sport live at the event (Weed, 2007).

With modernisation (the all seater stadia) and the rising of technology, fans are now beginning to evolve, or more notably the contemporary football fan culture is thus becoming a battle of the old and new fan. Moreover, in the eyes of the press and sports broadcasting, the modernisation of facilities has not only re-addressed the relationship of the club and fan but the view of the fan base of football itself. The key issue to recognise is that these changes have not affected the experience and commodity of fandom; it is more a case of the context within which fandom is enacted

(Jones, Malcolm & Waddington, 2000)

As the onset of modernisation is merely a process and not a fixed event and as long as there are equivalent procedures in place, fans will always continue to be attracted to football. As such, the challenge that ultimately faces football fans in today’s modern world is that it needs to challenge what has consistently been, up until now, unchallenged (Garland, Malcolm & Rowe, 2000).

2.6 - Characterising the fan

There have been huge clusters of books and non-fictional novels and diaries that have professed to construct and conclusively model what a football fan does, their behaviours at a match and the risks they take to support their club (Brimson, 1998).

Many of these books fashion this idea of participation of the fan to only portray the fan as still the thug and the hooligan, whereby this concept of the ‘Fan’ succeeds in only and consistently deploy the notion of demonizing the fan (Garland, Malcolm &

Rowe, 2000).

However, there are many more books that have dismissed the fan as being only the

‘hooligan’ or ‘thug’. Most notably these are ‘This Supporting Life’ By Kevin Baldwin

(1994) and ‘Fever Pitch’ By Nick Hornby (1992). The difference here is that Baldwin aims to assist those wanting to be a football fan by setting guidelines on dress codes etc. He is also quick to make clear that you are either a fan or not.

However under no circumstances should you attempt to justify your behaviour by claiming “I am simply an admirer of good football” No one will believe you (Baldwin, 1994, pg 7).

Also Baldwin briefly touches upon the idea of football being related to religion as football, like Christianity, Judaism, Islam has a large follow where people congregate

(Stadium, mosque, church). They also chant songs, like hymns at mass. Fans are committed to a cause and it what drives their day to day activity. The comparison he makes is parallel of that of football fan and a person of religious conformity.

Conclusively, players at a club are regarded as ‘saviours’ if they win games, as this provides hope and salvation for the fans, as Baldwin also remarks in many studies that a fan level of pro-activity and potency rapidly declines on a Monday morning after their teams has suffered a defeat within the weekend fixtures (Baldwin, 1994).

This characterisation by Baldwin serves as only a study into the many activities that football fans attend to in their space and context as a ‘Fan’. In contrast to Baldwin’s work, Nick Hornby the author of ‘Fever Pitch’, is the telling of how an ordinary fan loves, hates, feels and thinks about the club he supports. For Instance, one confession reads:

I have read books written, for want of a better word, by hooligans, but at least 95 percent of the millions who watch games every year have never hit anyone in their lives (Hornby, 1992, pp 4).

Hornby also depicts his commitment to football by comparison with falling in love with women: suddenly, uncritically, inexplicitly, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it (Hornby, 1992, pp7). Furthermore, what is interesting to note is that Hornby himself, questions the loyalty and commitment of many of the fans in

Britain, ironically in 1992, when this book was written, unconsciously depicting a shift in attendance to matches at the stadium at every game to merely those who only attend one or two games per season? Moreover, he begins the process of interrogation to see what separates those fans who attend games and those who don’t.

Due to the success of Hornby’s novel, Britain has become attracted to the idea of the

‘Fan’ tied for life to their club, and the club described as something they ‘fell for’

(Kyper & Szymanski, 2012). Also, characterising the fan as a dedicated individual who cannot abandon his team, no matter what the state, result or outcome of the team. This is further highlighted again by Baldwin (1992) who claims that a ‘Fan’ who decides to switch allegiance is a fickle opportunist who can therefore not be trusted or constituted as a true fan.

Presently, theorists and practitioners identify ‘Fans’ as being “chained” to their clubs.

In effect, this is very ‘Hornbyesque’ as it uses metaphors, like Hornby, to expose the

‘Fan’ in comparison to drug addicts or romantically in love as those feelings are closely linked to how a fan feels about their club and the nature of their fandom

(Kyper & Szymanski, 2012).

Moreover, all this makes the fan a particularly appealing character. The fan can be referred to as a British version of a blood and soil myth. The fan has roots that date back to when they could first walk. Time will pass, people come and go but this fan supports their ‘local’ team. Local, in this context, is referred to what is close to the

fans very being, identity, values and beliefs. Many of those who aren’t considered to be ‘Hornby’s’, want to be. That romantic fantasy of supporting their club until their last breath. This fan, which is a national fantasy, of truth and identity in a country that has lost its very soul in recent times. Being a fan is the epitomy of not giving up when all has crumbled around them (Kyper & Szymanski, 2012: Stone, 2007, Giulianotti,

2000). In conjunction with the very purpose of this research project, the construction of the fan has changed. Has commercialisation,

modernisation and television rights changed how fans interact and/or attracted to their club?

Football is, at best, an emotional entity that these who are fans take to their hearts.

Maybe, then it is not people/fans who have changed by the context in which fandom is enacted. Just as grieving about a lost relative or friend is not one ideal way. The identity and make-up of the ‘fan’ has many different avenues of emotions and connections, not least under symbolised by those who profess to understand the

‘fan’. The question still remains, however, why be a football fan or even a fan of football?

Chapter 3

Methodology

3.1 - Introduction

This research regarding the nature of football fans, and their identities, is best suited to an interpretive study involving a qualitative approach (Gomm, 2004). The researcher then has the ability to target participants thoughts and feelings on such personal matters, with innate opinions and firsthand accounts. For this to take place, a clear methodology is paramount if the collection and analysis of data is to be conducted (Silverman, 2001). A methodology is the overall strategy which considers structure, process and type of analysis for research to be valid. It is therefore a tool which forms a pathway for validity of outcome, to both future research and the gap in the existing research.

Qualitative research focuses on the discovery of thought, opinion and experiences which links to an interpretive approach (Belk, 2006). Such an approach may provide many common factors among participants involved in the study, even the slightest word or rarest of experiences can enlighten any study. Such is the value of the qualitative avenue for collecting data, in reference to the following study (Krane,

1997).

By using such a format, it almost guarantees the participants will generate personal opinion and identification of being a fan which is neglected by quantitative statistical procedures which require the methods of quantification (Strauss & Corbin, 1999). By using such an approach, it will invoke in depth opinions from the participants of the study rather than the uniform statistical analytical methods which in contrast the participants will provide elaborated and more detailed answers, which will produce better or more relevant data for analysis (Seale, 2004).

Particular attention must be paid to the validity. Validity then refers to the extent to which an account accurately represents the social phenomena to which it refers

(Hamersley, 1990). Moreover validity is concerned with the provision of fair, honest and importantly a

balanced account of social life. In relation to this study, the validity comes from the gap existing in the present research on football fans, concerning both extreme and the ordinary as being classed under one umbrella term, suggesting the need to validate the social phenomena of football fans in certain distinctions in order for study to be valid for further studies to take place. For example, the use of a

Dictaphone instead of noting participants response on paper will surely approve the study in terms of creditability and reliability of the study

The validity of such data that is to be collected is valid here, as fans have common ground in terms of interpretation involving fan actions e.g. wanting the club to succeed, happy when they win, and sad when they lose. Validity here concerns itself with common opinions and thoughts of fans across the spectrum of fan culture.

3.2 - Data Collection

Qualitative methodology is the optimum approach for rich yet subjective data, placing emphasis on the opinions and attitudes of the individuals to the topic. Due to the contextual nature of the subject matter, research will not only be gathered through isolated, one on one interviews but also in combined interviews with selected participants, gaining interaction data through small focus groups (Gratton & Jones,

2004).

Interviews will be the best form to collect raw data. Allowing participants to respond and elaborate the why and how on the question about their fandom, and the reasons for their decisions, despite the negative persona fans perceive. As Punch (2005) briefly explains, interviews are the most efficient method of extracting information, accessing thought, feelings and the perceptions of being. This method also does not allow for generalisation. Although it is certain that patterns will appear among the data, conducting interviews allows the freedom and opportunity for participants to explore their experiences and reveal real emotion and opinion, whereas a method such as a questionnaire aims to close out, and channel responses, recording more objective results (Doczi, 2009).

For a qualitative study of identity and football fanship and fandom, the semi- structured interview will be the most beneficial method to identify key characteristics in this area of football fandom. Firstly, the semi-structured interview would aid this study of football fans because it is flexible, but allows researcher and participant to take an active part in the interview, conducting an elaborate process of data collection. Interviewer can change order of questions (dependent on interview situation) to suit participants, allowing participants to expand on their answers asked by the interviewer (Flick, 2002).

Also the researcher will interview certain participants in pairs. This type of interview allows for interaction between members. The benefit of such interaction leads to greater discussion between members, making information collected much richer as members are eager to convey their opinion. However, due to the dynamics of this interaction, the researcher must take more care in facilitating the interview, keeping the discussion relevant to the topic. This form of data collection mirrors the environmental context that fans enact within, with differences and similarities of fan

opinions, which are at the heart of why such a study is relevant in terms of the discovery of football fan identity and behaviour (Smith, 2010). The semi-structured interview process will help gain a better understanding of fans viewpoints. Although the same questions will be asked, participant’s answers will differ diversely, thus not affecting the responses that will be given.

The semi structured interview is most beneficial as the use of open questions allows interviewee to be more open and extend answers, intending interviewee to not be halted in their trail of thought. The interview itself will consist of 3-4 key questions around the subject area, with sub questions being used to help invoke more elaboration and opinion from participants which in turn promotes more data for analysis. With this in mind, no time limit will be involved in the interview, thus keeping the participant in a relax space in which to talk and answer on participants time and terms. Moreover, this helps gain rapport between interviewer and participant, therefore questions asked later in the interview, which are more personal wont hinder participant response (Flick, 2002).

3.3 - Participants

The participants in this study will be solely football fans. Selection of these participants for the study will be sampled purposely due to their active engagement in football. The researcher will select participants personally to be used in the study which is done on the basis of their judgement of their typicality (Cohen et al, 2000).

For participants in such a semi-structured interview however, it contains elements of both a structured and unstructured process. As Askey and Knight (1999) explains however that interviews may also have the room for the interviewer to impose

questions to clarify or extend answers if the interview process is not running as smoothly or successfully due to lack of response to questions of interest.

The participants will not only be tested on an individual basis, but also through a focus group as this allows interaction between members of a group, mirroring an important element of the study. Therefore, one-on-one interviews will determine a level of individual fanship from the participants, and the paired interviews will build a profile of fandom, the social interaction of the group element of football fans. This will inevitably enhance the validity of the study (Gratton & Jones, 2004).

3.4 - Ethical issues

As with any research study involving human participation, the researcher must be fully aware of the ethical issues that surround such a study. These issues involve the right of any participant to withdraw from the study at any given time. Consent must be given and forms signed by participants, with thorough information provided about the study for participant to fully understand the procedure of the study. It is imperative that the researcher makes the participant that is involved well aware that their withdrawal from the study can be made at any time during the process

(Breakwell, 2006).

Keeping participant anonymity is also a key part of the ethical issues one must take into account. All information on participants that is obtained during the process of the study must remain anonymous unless prior agreement between researcher and participant is officially understood in a written document stating that information can be shared if study is ever published. If this is the case information given in a public domain must not be highlighted as being that of the study’s participants thus voiding

the anonymity of the participants involved. Therefore pseudonyms will be used to protect participant’s identity (Smith, 2010).

3.5 - Data Analysis

The first step in qualitative analysis is to ensure that data is organised efficiently, thus data is not accidently lost or been tampered with which may affect the validity and reliability of the study (Gratton & Jones, 2004).

In a qualitative study, when analysing data that has been collected, coding the data is deemed a crucial aspect of the study is to discuss the issue intended by the study.

What must be done is a thorough scope of the participant’s response in which to actively mark key responses to the questions answered by the participants. The study the becomes a much more manageable process, creating original answers to data from the questions. By coding data and transcribing data, original ideas and understanding come to the forefront enabling the investigator to better analyse what has been said (Smith, 2010).

In this particular study, it is felt that this method of data analyse is most appropriate because it ultimately has hidden benefits. From this, the investigator can identify trends and patterns from participant’s responses, as well as individual responses not given by all participants thus providing the study with original and new insights not considered by the initial study review (Marshall and Rossman, 2006).

Chapter 4

Discussion

This section of the paper aims to discuss the findings of the data collected through the interviews conducted. Due to the nature of the interviews, responses received will differ from participant to participant, however, three reoccurring themes featured prominently throughout the process.

4.1 - Influences

The first theme that was common amongst the participants was the influences of how they became a football fan, but more notably why. These influences can be broken down into two sub sections: Family and Social.

Family was the biggest influence. Almost every one of the participants revealed they were influenced by a family member, be that immediate or distant. Many participants, for example, David, not only suggests that football is influenced by family:

“It just runs in the family mate, it’s just one of those things that get past down from generation to generation...”

Here the participant is suggesting that football within the family, and the football club is considered as a precious item of safe keeping. What is clear here is that many participants also note to the social aspect of the family involved in football, re- enforcing the notion of belonging and Self Determination Theory (Eskiller, Sari &

Soyer, 2011). Malcolm also backs up this notion with the following statement regarding the need to feel part of a group:

Malcolm: “I wasn’t pushed down the route of supporting Liverpool but it was easier and quicker to fit in with my two cousins who were so close and their friends, there was a group of about six or seven, four of them Liverpool fans and being with my cousins that was the team that was always on tele down there so it just fell into place...”

With family and social of significant importance, Paul, blends this theory of football as a family past time:

“My priority is my family, and time with my family. And part of that is sharing the football with my youngest son...”

To quote the previous point of football being past down “Generation to Generation”, the use of football is not a disruptive nature, but a nature of affiliation, togetherness, bonding and an event where football unifies a family on a common ground. This relates to Guillianotti’s (2002) work which concerns itself with supporting a team as

“Akin to the same bond you have with your family” (Pg, 33).

The social factor of being a fan is more the common acceptance of fan activity. With

Fans gathering in groups, fan clubs, supporters groups. It is important to emphasise that many of the participants regard football as a social activity. Malcolm and Jimmy both admit that:

Malcolm: “Football is generally a reason to get together and chat”

Jimmy: “it’s just the natural thing to do, since all your mates are doing the same thing”

Here the participants relay the fact that football is a powerful vehicle for social inclusion. Football is not only an inclusive nature on a friendship and family level but also on a professional working level. A number of participants actively use football to therefore build effective professional relationships, as highlighted by Matthew:

“in my job where my work is very relational based, and you got to build relationships with clients, it’s quite important for me to be the same, Matthew the employee and Matthew the fan, because a lot of my clients, to get a good grounding with them, is because a lot of them are working class kind of area, they love football and it’s an easy way to make contact with them and build bridges with them, so you can them build a good working relationship with...”

To increase the portrayal of football as a positive entity in our lives, Stone (cited in

Brown, 2007) explains that explicit examinations of our everyday activity regarding football can be a focus for routine. Therefore the aspects of life we take for granted, are proposed as fundamental to the success and failure of our daily activities.

Football as a routine can bind and connect people through a mutual understanding on social and professional levels of engagement. The use of football here, as participants have said, is a common avenue for integration and Building effective relationships due to it being a universal language that the majority of the population have in common (Williams, 2007).

It is here in the everyday nature of routine and engagement, socially and professionally, the culture of football is at its most pervasive, through activities such as conversation and interpersonal relations. As Jimmy remarks:

“For me, it’s brought my family closer together; football is now a family thing...”

For example, at work or in the pub, football as an everyday activity logically seeks to maintain the authentic and communal belonging of the individual in society and unity in the family environment (Brown, 2007).

4.2 - Media

As well as an influence to why an individual becomes a fan of football, media now plays a vital role in the construction of a person’s engagement and knowledge in a social context.

All participants admit to regular consumption of media intake be it general football news (Sky Sports News) or linking themselves to forums on the internet with their specific club. Forums are a way of connecting with like minded individuals and are a product of integration and confirmation of fandom. This form of media allows individuals to form “Communities” or the “Imagined Collective”. Sandvoss (2005) suggests that fans perceive themselves as members of groups, even if they are not with the social surrounding, thus forums are a way of sustaining fan interest. This is highlight further by Matthew and Alan:

Alan: “I look at the message boards quite a lot to see what’s in the news, who Cardiff are linked with in the transfer windows, just stuff like that...”

Matthew: “Yeah, every day possible I look in the football news to see what’s going on, I look specifically at the Cardiff news and try and find out what’s up with Cardiff and I do like to look on the message boards as well and just look at what people’s opinions are, see where people are coming from about certain issues. So yeah it definitely intervenes with daily life, it’s a hobby, it’s an interest, and it’s something different from work”

Due to the common accessibility of individuals able to engage in football more often, media has now filled the workplace with distractions, and a cause for non- productivity. The participants in the study accounted for keeping up to date during

their working hours or allowing their working routine to be disrupted because of their need to know the football headlines or news regarding their club.

Jimmy: “And it’s the banter in work, you want an example of disrupting my work, its distracting my work life for example my lunch hour I’ll get twenty minutes out of my lunch hour to check if there is any news on, as a sports fan, sport in general, and first of all I check united...”

Malcolm: “No it wouldn’t disrupt my working routine...but my boss would disagree with me checking on my phone during work.”

David: “Oh yeah, I never get any work done. No no, I mean to be fair we do have quite a lot of discussions in work about football and to be fair it does take over your life, it does, there is no doubt about that. I don’t think I have gone in a day in my life in the last ten years without some sort of football knowledge or some sort of conversation about football whether it is Cardiff or football in general...”

Without discounting the cost to many businesses, football here can be used to promote camaraderie and a shared sense of purpose which many business managers strive to achieve to invoke cohesion and understanding (Gantz, 2012). It is not implying that working hours should be constantly disrupted; however the workplace should incorporate the use of football to integrate a team of people to increase productivity and morale within a team or division. Moreover having football as a commonality among work colleagues will only help in building working relationships in the workplace. Football, in this sense, can be seen as the key driver in furthering a sense of togetherness, unity and cohesion on a professional level.

Due to the media, it is now increasingly accessible to watch, follow and listen to football with a myriad of TV programmes, internet blogs and radio talk shows, football is now moving towards being classed as a soap opera. This is further emphasised by many of the participants who mention the hysteria of “Transfer

Deadline Day” on Sky Sports News. The following conversational data from John and Jimmy is of particular interest, as it highlights the excitement of football for a fan, and how the media accentuates that excitement:

John: “It’s the drama; it’s just the drama...”

Jimmy: “There is a few points here, they say they won’t but there is always that possibility while that window is open, and of course other clubs, our rivals are doing business, if Manchester City are going to offload Balotelli, I want to know about it, because I want to know straight away because that will effect the destination of the title, that could affect what Manchester united win, what business Manchester City do, effects Manchester United...”

John: “If City go and buy a big player, then that could turn the title in their favour...”

Jimmy: “It’s also interesting to see young players moving, like Tom Ince, if he goes to Reading or Liverpool, that will affect his development and that will effect, say if Tom Inca doesn’t move and stays where he is, a couple of years time Man United might sign him...”

John: “...or it is just the drama of watching that Jim White is in the building, you know...or just for the fact rumours you hear “my mates brother works at Newcastle airport and he has just seen Lionel Messi...” that’s deadline day, there is no other business, any business in the world other than football...”

Jimmy: “I normally take a day off work cause of it...”

With participants commonly engaging with media to follow the daily ongoing of their club or football in general, television is the most used window for viewer consumption, with the use of Sky Sports, ESPN, ITV and BBC portrayal football now as a soap opera with players, managers as cast, TV show presenters as narrators and the fans as the viewers of the drama. Modern day football is now regarded and evaluated as a specialised yet dedicated centrepiece of many media marketing

strategies, with the fan considered more of a customer, than an important stakeholder (Garland, Malcolm & Rowe, 2000).

Be it part of the nature now of being a fan, media allows more active engagement in football. Therefore fans are more able to interact, again making the point that football is more inclined to be an inclusive nature than one to be frowned upon. However, the older participants in the study such as Luke profess:

Luke: “sky sports news, Jim white, it’s a circus...”

While some accentuate the growth of football as a mass past time, others, such as

Luke above, emphasise the ways in which professionalization and rationalisation robbed the sport of its spontaneity and its natural affinities (Boyle & Haynes, 2004).

Media generates ideals and opinions that affect fans, for example, Luke explains that:

“I used to watch Swansea City play when I didn’t know the team sheet until it came out over the tanoy at ten to three. I know the team sheet now an hour before, a player could tweet he is injured...so takes away that element of surprise I guess, when I watched football, football was a game now it is a business...”

The belief that football is now a business, is formally a reason for the media’s growth out of modernisation to attract more fans for consumption, defining media as positive, yet negative entity dependent upon the need for the fan. The fans, nowadays, are interacting with modernisation processes, incorporating them in to the fan experience. Furthermore, Luke again, defines this new age of fan that the media has given birth to. Luke states:

“it seems to me now what comes with being a football fan is having an Chairman from the middle east or far east, Man City last season bought the title, without a shadow of a doubt, is that what football is all about, it’s not but there is not much you can do about that.”

Due to the complexities in defining a football fan, it is not always possible to give a clear objective view. But what remains is that football will be the constant, media merely only accentuates the level of intensity of a fan involvement. Media can more openly be considered as the vantage point for confirmation of one’s fandom.

4.3 - Identification of the “Fan”

This theme of this research concerns itself with the identification with football both in symbolic and emotional connection that can dominate the activity of fans within this study, and as such portraying the possible behaviours of majority of football fans.

Jimmy: “If football was alcohol, then I am alcoholic...”

John: “Yeah it is an addiction, it’s like drugs, fags, cigarettes, and you can’t help that feeling of winning...”

Luke: “I pay a lot of money for something that isn’t necessarily going to make me feel happy at the end of the day... I couldn’t live without that passion for my team now you know...”

David: “It’s just one of those things when you see your first game, you just get hooked, it’s as simple as that, once you’re in you’re in. There is no turning back then...”

Paul: “In my case, I like to think that I am one of them; I like to think of myself, as you know I sometimes call myself a scouser, which I am clearly not... I think of myself as one of them... I like to think that it means as much to me as it does to the people on the kop...”

The activities of such fans in this study are heavily contrasting in opinion yet distinctly reveal a behaviour that links such individual’s in a collective. Devotion, love,

addiction, hooked and passion are just a few words that define what we consider to be is the connection of the individual to football.

These ideas of identity relate to the distinct connection a fan feels towards their club.

David, in particular, due to his love for his club, he actively admits that he would practice voluntary frugality in order to be able see his club play:

“You got to love the club, you got to love the club and you know you’re a fan when you will do anything for the club. Anything, what wouldn’t I do, what would I give up watching Cardiff city, I know I would give up most things in life to watch Cardiff. You know if someone said to me listen you know, you got sky in your house, I have got all the channels at the moment, if they were to say to me “you are going to be cut off next week so you can afford your season ticket next season...” I’d say yeah, let’s do it...”

This identification relates to the concept that being a fan is a serious leisure activity:

“The systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer activity that participants find so substantial and interesting that, in a typical case, they launch themselves on a career centred on acquiring and expressing, its special skills, knowledge and experience.” (Stebbins, 1992, pg.3)

This idea of serious leisure, in terms of being a football fan, takes the form of two common avenues: Symbolic and emotional. The symbolic identification can be identified as the fan outwardly projecting this identity through the use of the club’s jersey, kit or the monetary connections such as membership and season tickets.

Many participants state that they use the shirt to show that they support, thus signifying a solid identity.

Paul: “...the whole point of the shirt is to let other people know that you’re a fan. I’ll wear when they are playing, whether I am watching the game or not. If Liverpool got a game I’ll try and wear my Liverpool shirt, it makes me feel good, makes me feel like I am doing something, I know it’s not contributing at all to their performance but it makes me feel like I am there and part of it.”

David: “As I said to you the money I spend watching Cardiff per season is astronomical, we talking thousands of pounds a year, it’s not just buying a season ticket, I got three strips this year, it’s the home kit, the away kit and the 3rd strip, that’s £120, you know what I mean...”

Alan: “I like to broadcast that I am a Cardiff fan, cause a round here it’s not that common, a lot of people support Manchester united, Arsenal Liverpool Chelsea, it does show, and if someone sees me in a Cardiff shirt that is a bit different they might say and ask me what club is that you know, who you supporting, what players you got, that can bore interest into other people and other fans, potential fans. I wouldn’t say umm, I would say it does help in showing my identity as a Cardiff fan...”

This symbolic identity re-enforces the notion of wanting to be part of a group, relating to Tajfel & Turner (1979) on the Social Identity Theory. Therefore a fan does whatever it takes to confirm to others they belong to their club, and that they are a football fan, not because they have to, but because they want to. Their passion for the club runs deep within them, and this symbolic identification is merely the outer layer of a deep ocean of emotional attachment.

A fan then is seen as being proud to show off their identity openly, thus symbolic level of fandom is the most effective in the portrayal of a fan’s identity. This symbolic nature allows the fan to differentiate but also compare with the many other fans.

Moreover, it is an indication that football is crucial part of the individual’s life and furthermore, identity (Gantz, 2012).

The emotional connection for identification is more difficult to conceptualise. For the individual the club is at the heart of their personage, it is what they have grown up with, and affiliated with for a considerable period of time. This is emphasised mainly by Paul who states:

“...if you’re a proper supporter, if you’re a fanatic, you belong to the club. You don’t just follow the club, you don’t just follow the team, you belong to the club. I will never forget the day of Hillsborough, and even though I wasn’t there and I don’t know any

one close that has suffered as part of it, I still feel a connection with it because it was my club...”

This statement from Paul falls in line with what Porat (2010) claims that neither individual nor collective could exist without identity. This statement is brought together by Jimmy who professes:

“...I think the club is the identity, I think they represent you not you represent them...I am not the club, but I am a part of the club so any time I see you are wearing a Manchester united shirt, or John is wearing a Manchester united hat, you are representing me as well, because that badge means a lot to me.”

Football here is merely more than a game, emotion and identity is a connection of deep emotions that affiliate with an individual and the individual to the collective, to become one shared community (Williams, 2007). Combining the symbolic and emotional connection, an individual can therefore conclusively make a case for identity as a fan. It is possible to suggest that from the data collected, being a fan is having the ability to portray an identity that relates to the individual as well as the collective fan base in the pursuit of a common goal. Therefore the football club is what differentiates the individual and the many collectives or communities built by following a club. But what binds us is football itself.

To conclude this section, Matthew sums up this point of identity:

“I identify myself by just that I love football, it’s so much that people can support teams without buying a shirt and going to games regularly, I think you know you just love that team you want them to do well. Like for me I just love football, I want to see Cardiff do better than anyone else but I take an interest in wide areas of football, other teams in England, certain teams I have soft spots for you know, I’ll take an interest in all leagues, see who is doing well etc, other countries, you know I just love football really. To be a football fan that’s what it is, you love football. It doesn’t matter if you support lots of teams or one team or no team, if you love football, by definition makes you a football fan.”

Identity then is highly instrumental; it indicates sameness and otherness. Football is a natural language that binds us, yet distinctly defines us. It characterizes us in such a unique way, as each of us who call ourselves fans, express our fandom in different ways, just as one grieves for a loved one; there is no ideal way of being a fan. It is how we as people wish to personate our fandom (Jones, 2000; Williams, 2007 &

Porat, 2010).

Chapter 5

Conclusion

5.1 - Findings of the Study

The objective of this paper was to capture the act of being a football fan. A decade ago, academic work and literature surrounding the nature of football fans was exclusively geared towards the ‘hooligan’ problem that came with being a football fan. It is evident from this study and the review of the recent research that football and its fans are being considered with questions regarding identity and their ever growing participation in the game (Brown, 1998).

What this study found is that football fandom is more than the act of being a fan of a club or football in general. From the data collected and analysed it is possible to regard being a football fan now as a positive entity for unity and a shared identity, not only among fellow fans but more importantly, family. The rise of media has made football more accessible, with television now a prime source of communion for family and social relations to gather together through a common bond. Being a football fan helps to grow social and professional relationships and unites individuals through a commonality which perpetuates commitment and togetherness while providing a social support network from the onset of negative emotions such as anxiety, depression and loneliness (Brown, 2007).

The construction of a fan has consequently changed; a football fan is particularly an appealing character. Many fans who aren’t considered ‘Hornby’s’ by academia, want to be. Britain may be a nation of fans, but due to the complexities, diversity and intensity associated with being a fan however, it is scarcely a nation of Hornby’s.

(Stone, 2007).

5.2 - Limitations and Observations for future research

The clear limitation of this study is evident by the fact that only eight participants were examined for this study. The other significant limitation pertaining to the study is that all participants interviewed for this study originate from South Wales. Fundamentally, this only generates a focused opinion and not a wider consensus of a large volume of

British football fans. Therefore, to further our knowledge of football fan activity it is important to dissect the phenomenon of the ‘Hornby’ ideal of a football fan. Against all evidence, the stereotype persists in that every football fan is the epitomy of

Hornby’s personification. What this study has failed to analyse is the deep rooted connection of why and how football occupies one’s life. It holistically conveys that research into football fandom is a complex process, and that from the limitations identified, we can benefit further studies by broadening the range of participants for future academic analysis.

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Appendix – A

Participant Information Sheet

Principal Investigator: Christian James Byard

Student Number: ST10004222

Email: [email protected]

Contact Number: 07880557928

Football Fandom: A Process for Identity and Inclusion

Background of study

Fandom can be perceived as a cultural signification of being a fan which in turn can be viewed as one of the most dynamic and highly contested concepts within contemporary sociological discussion surrounding the sport (Richardson, 2008).

The Study that you, as a participant will be involved in, is the exploration of football fans in today’s modern society. Thus, exploring the nature of being a football fan in your social context (i.e a season ticket holder, an “armchair” fan, and non regular live spectator).

Aims of the study

Therefore, to succinctly justify such a study of whether fandom matters is to declare that it matters to those who are fans

The objective of the proposed research study will aim to build and thusly re-develop our current base of knowledge whilst striving to uncover many of the complexities

and dimensions that make up football fans from all walks of life in modern day society.

The Participant

As a voluntary participant in this study, you have the right at any time to withdraw yourself from the study.

Procedure

During this study you will designate the times and location when data collection will take place, therefore making it convenient and at your leisure. This will be in the form of a semi structured interview, with opportunity to for to ask questions as well as answer. The interview will only involve the principal investigator and the interview will be recorded via a Dictaphone which will be transcribed for data analysis. You will be encouraged to elaborate on any of the discussion issues for the investigator to analyse.

Confidentiality

All of the information regarding your participation will not be released to anyone other than the research team. With pseudonyms used instead of participant names to ensure that identity is protected. Any information collated from the study will be locked away with only the researcher having access.

For any further information regarding this study, please do not hesitate to contact the investigator, who will be more than happy to assist in any aspect of the proposed study involvement.

Interview Consent Form

Note to participants: Please reply not applicable (N/A) to any points which are not relevant to you.

I have read and understood the Information Booklet provided. I have been given a full explanation by the investigators of the nature, purpose, location and likely duration of the study, and of what I will be expected to do. (Please tick)

I have been advised about any discomfort and possible ill-effects on my health and well-being which may result. I have been given the opportunity to ask questions on all aspects of the study and have understood the advice and information given as a result. I agree to comply with any instruction given to me during the study and to co- operate fully with the researchers. (Please tick)

I consent to my personal data, as outlined in the accompanying information sheet, being used for this study and other research. I understand that all personal data relating to volunteers is held and processed in the strictest confidence, and in accordance with the Data Protection Act (1998). (Please tick)

I understand that I am free to withdraw from the study at any time without needing to justify my decision and without prejudice. I confirm that I have read and understood the above and freely consent to participating in this study. I have been given adequate time to consider my participation and agree to comply with the instructions and restrictions of the study. (Please tick)

Declaration:

I agree that I have read the information above and agree to voluntarily take part in the study on DATE

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Signed …………………………………………………………………

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Appendix – B

Interview Questions

Dissertation Questions – Football Fandom

Football

Why are you a football fan?

What influenced this?

Why football?

Fandom

What do your friends and family feel about you being a football fan?

Do you attend games at the stadium? If not why?

Is there a difference in those who attend and those who don’t? Why?

Everyday life

Do you let football intervene with you daily routine?

Does it disrupt your working routine?

Is it essential to keep up to date with you club/team through media? why?

Identity

How would you describe your identity as a football fan?

Is buying shirts, magazines enough to be considered a fan?

Do you believe there is a difference between a football fan and a fan of football?

Appendix C

Transcripts for Dissertation

Participant 1 (Malcolm) Liverpool – 23

Why are you a fan football?

Well basically a lot of my youth I grew up with my aunties and uncles, because my parents always worked so and both my cousins were football fanatics. You could say it wasn’t chosen but happy with the way it has turn out

What influenced this?

It’s got to be my two older cousins.

Why football?

It was a sport that was always on the tele and was easier to get into and playing it as well and the enthusiasm just grew and grew then.

What do you friends and family feel about you being a football fan?

In terms of watching it on the tele can be quite annoying for my parents especially being a Liverpool fan, in my life time it hasn’t actually been all that good so I do shout quite a bit and apart from the temper they seem to get on with it. They generally all enjoy it, just another form of banter, all with the boys, all support different teams so there is always some form of jibs and a little bit of...generally a reason to get together and have a chat.

Is getting together the essence of being a football fan?

I suppose being a football fan everyone has a different view on football but the thing that makes football so interesting to watch is how much the game always evolves and never really gets boring to watch or be a part of.

Do you attend games at Anfield (Liverpool home ground)?

I haven’t been for a while but since the age of seven I have been up over fifty times. It’s just that Anfield being so far away it’s just the expense of getting up there if it was a lot local id would be going up a lot more.

What are the barriers to attending games at Anfield?

Well living in south Wales it is generally finances that have stopped me from getting up there, the ticket prices are reasonable compared to other teams so it’s more the travel and the fact that it takes an entire day to get up there. If it’s a Sunday game and you have work on a Monday it’s just depends how it goes.

Do you reckon there is a difference in those then who attend every week to those who dip in and out?

Definitely. It’s the same with everything. If you do everything over and over again very consciously it same times gets humdrum but if you love it that much it’s not going to make any difference what so ever, just your enthusiasm is just going to grow for it.

Do you believe there is a difference between you as a fan and someone who is in the kop every week?

There is probably going to be a difference, they are going to have a much more rounded view of how the team is actually doing and be much better equipped to answer questions on the team than myself.

Do you believe then you are an inferior fan to the regular attendee?

I wouldn’t necessarily say inferior because if I can’t get to game I will watch it on tele, if it not on the tele I will listen to it live. If I am out and I can’t actually listen to it online, I’m checking the scores every ten minutes so in terms of following the club, I wouldn’t say less of a fan but I would say they have a better fan experience 24/7.

Do you let football then intervene with your day to day routine?

I wouldn’t say intervene but it does play a part. I mean, if I am not watching football I am generally playing it. 5-a-side, 11-a-side, I got training for a team and games on the weekend so generally I will only miss watching a game if I am playing some sort of football anywhere.

So does your enjoyment of playing football take over from watching a game then?

Yeah if I can actually be involved and actually do something in terms of football id choose that over actually watching football. Just to improve my football education really.

Does it disrupt your working routine then?

No it wouldn’t disrupt my working routine, at the end of the day it a hard world you have got to work. And you got to make sure you have the resources to actually play or watch football where ever it is.

So does football then become a secondary, or does it depend on your daily situation?

It has got to be secondary, you got to have a life from sport as much as you enjoy it have got to get on with whatever you do through the day to get through it and then use the sport as your hobby just to enjoy as something which takes you away from the hustle and bustle of just working all the time. Use it as a release.

Do you differentiate your working life and football life?

I would say so yeah, but my boss would disagree with me checking on my phone during work.

Leads back to my last question, does it disrupt your working routine?

I wouldn’t say disrupt, I only check on my phone the football scores during my down time so but it doesn’t disrupt but...it doesn’t disrupt but it does overlap.

Do you reckon it is essential to keep up to date with your team through the media?

I wouldn’t say essential, it’s just the way I choose to follow my team.

Why?

I just like to be in the know and I like to be better equipped to integrate with my friends if it is a football topic which comes up in conversation and I like to be able to get my opinion across and I generally feel that my opinion is much stronger when I actually do know more about that topic.

Would you rather, be essential then to have an app, internet, the avenues to keep up with your fandom than not?

For me personally yes, but I known plenty of people who just turn up on the weekend and watch their team, that’s the way they choose to follow their team and then it doesn’t matter what sport it is there is going to be diverse ways that people look at it and whatever suits them is the path that they take.

Do you believe there is a right and a wrong way to be a fan in that sense?

It’s not right or wrong, at the end of the day following a sport is a luxury and you get to choose your own luxuries but it’s not what you get landed with.

Do you then pick and choose how you support football?

You can pick and choose. But being from south Wales you could be more inclined to follow rugby due to your parents, but in terms of that it is definitely not inbred you do get to choose from me following football and my father being hell bent on following rugby and that’s the opposite way.

Do you think your family then influences what you pick, in choosing your own club?

To an extent yeah, I mean I was, I wasn’t pushed down the route of supporting Liverpool but it was easier and quicker to fit in with my two cousins who were so close and their friends, there was a group of about six or seven, four of them Liverpool fans and being with my cousins that was the team that was always on tele

down there so it just fell into place. But outside influences definitely can, but it’s how you wish to be perceived.

Is it important how people perceive you then?

No not necessarily, but umm at the time it was just easier but never regret a choice. Your club your club, you can change it; if you change it you’re not a true fan.

So how would you describe your identity then as I football fan? How would you identity with being a football fan?

I’d say more of a football enthusiast than a club enthusiast but there is generally not a lot I don’t know about the Liverpool team or the past, which is quite important for a Liverpool fan living in the past.

Is buying shirts, magazines, badges enough to be considered a fan?

To an extent yeah, I consider anybody who follows football a fan but different degrees, different magnitudes of how much of a fan they are, somebody can watch football once a month and still be a football a fan if they enjoy it that much. It doesn’t make a blind bit of difference.

Can you define the magnitudes of fan then?

Everybody is different, they are only going to follow something they enjoy as much as they want to follow it, there is no level to what you need to follow to be considered a fan but people who are more enthusiast about following their team are generally going to look into it a lot more but they are never going to be more of a fan than somebody who generally just enjoys the sport.

Do you think there is a level of difference then between someone who is a club fan who devotes all their time to one club than someone who is just a football enthusiast who watches real Madrid in the Spanish, Ac Milan is the Italian league and Liverpool in England?

I’d say people who watch a lot more football, especially when you say about watching different leagues their football knowledge should be much more rounded, in terms of the way the passing style in Spain, the way the defence is organised in Italian, to the hustle and bustle of the premier league. It is just all different and the more we watch, it’s the same with everything, the more time you’re actually spent doing something, the better your perception is of that topic whatever it is, sport or not.

Finally, do you believe then there is a difference between someone who is a football fan and a fan of football?

I’m assuming you’re saying a football fan is someone who will follow their team and wants their team to win all the time, whereas a fan of football is somebody who will just like to watch a game of football.

Yes, in terms of that or, in terms of that, for example, someone who will watch Liverpool week in week out but will not switch on the tele to watch real Madrid or even a league 1 side or league 2 or championship, but solely focuses on one club as a football fan, to someone to is fan of football which if it is on the tele will sit down and watch it. Do you believe there is difference between these fans?

There is a difference between them but anybody who watches, if you broaden your range of football your willing to watch, you are going to spend more time involved in football and watching football so, I would say difference, it’s down to personal opinion it just depends what appeals to you. Personally, I’m a fan of football first so ill watch any form of football to increase my football knowledge or anything I can apply to my own game I’m likely to learn more watching ten games a week than just watching the one game a week. But in terms of splitting them as fans I wouldn’t say no cause I would say anybody who watches any amount of, or takes part in sport is considered a fan or an enthusiast. I’d just say there are different degrees in the level of their involvement or the intensity they wish to pursue being involved with the sport.

So can a fan then be as intense then watching one club to a variety of clubs?

Intense yes, in terms of not missing a game yes. That’s pretty much it, the intensity can be the same, and it is just spread across more matches if you watch other games.

In terms of spreading that intensity of across matches, does that make you less of a fan than solely someone on one club or can you make one inferior to another?

I wouldn’t say one inferior to another; again it’s down to personal choice. My person choice is to watch any form of football that is on the tele but if I ever had to choose between two games on the tele and I had to choose between a Liverpool game and something else it will always be Liverpool game id watch.

Why?

Because I am a Liverpool fan after being a football fan, but if you can tick two boxes instead of one, id tick the two.

Participant 2 (Paul) Liverpool - 49

Why are you a football fan?

Probably goes back to when I was a kid between the ages of 4 and 8. My dad was a Chelsea fan and he started taking me to the games, and I’ve just loved football since I was a kid. Chelsea were a good team at the time, won the FA cup in 1970, and it just went on from there then, I was hooked on football from a young age.

You said you went to see Chelsea play first off, so how the change to Liverpool?

As I said 1970 Chelsea won the cup, living in Chelsea at the time the rivalry between Chelsea and arsenal was huge. And they had people like “Charlie George” and “John Radford” these really big stars. In 1971 Arsenal played Liverpool in the FA Cup Final. As a Chelsea fan, I was supporting Liverpool because we didn’t want Arsenal to win anything. As it turned out Arsenal won, “Charlie George” scored, and we all hated “Charlie George” so that was the first time I could remember supporting Liverpool but only because they were playing Arsenal and in the summer following that final Liverpool signed “Kevin Keegan” and this was a huge, huge, story in the media and I just latched onto it and we moved away from Chelsea the year after and I just stuck with Liverpool. And that’s how it started.

So why football, why not rugby?

Because we were in Chelsea and in Chelsea football is everything. You know you’re in the hotbed of English football I suppose, at the time where all the London clubs were doing well, perhaps Leeds were the only other club challenging the London clubs at the time. And so it was just something that I grew up with. When we moved back to Wales, I was already hooked on football and I didn’t really become interested in Rugby until I was 23, when we moved to Pontypridd. We originally lived in Dinas Powys which isn’t really a ( 2mins 49 seconds) of Rugby, they’re more Cardiff City football supporters, so I wasn’t in a Rugby environment when we came back to Wales, but when we moved up to Pontypridd when I was 23 started going to the local matches. That’s when I became interested in Rugby but it was always football just because we lived in Chelsea.

So can you pinpoint what influenced the decision for football, was it locality? Was it family? Was it media?

It was definitely locality we were within walking distance of Stamford Bridge; we walked to every home game. The Players were like Gods, us kids we looked up to them. People you’ve probably never heard of, people like “Charlie Cook” “Eddie McCredie” “Frank Mclintock”. Not all Chelsea Players but these London players were really held in high esteem and I remember collecting football cards and being really excited when I got “Jimmy Greaves” because he was a god. Playing for Spurs at the time in London. It was just... I suppose really my looking up to the players as individuals and wanting to be my favourite “Charlie Cook” with Chelsea, I wanted to

be like “Charlie Cook”, like kids these days want to be Beckham, Messi. It was just like that 40/50 years ago.

What do friends and family think about you being a football fan?

Interesting, my dad still supports Chelsea, he’s in his 80’s not as passionately as I support Liverpool but he follows Chelsea. He’s not so much a fan but he follows Chelsea. My close family, my wife hates it she’s not a football fan at all, not the least bit interested but she understands my passion for it. She’s a sports person, she played netball for Wales so she understands sporting environments, and she understands the passion for sport. My eldest son who is nearly 19 supports Liverpool, mainly because I do and I sort of brought him up with it and he’s gone along with it. He’s never been a huge fan but if there was a club it would be Liverpool and he does go to the pub to watch the matches. My youngest who is 10, nearly 11 is passionate about Liverpool as I am. He really latched on to it at a very early age, more so than my eldest did and now his walls are covered in posters. We’ve been up to Anfield a couple of times, he loves it and we have lots of really good conversations about not just Liverpool, about transfers, promotion, relegation, “Lionel Messi” is one of his heroes. We like to think of ourselves as adopted Barcelona fans as well, and he’s just grasped onto football the way I did when I was his age. My daughter not least bit interested at all, she’s got a Liverpool shirt, that’s because I bought her one and that’s about as far as it goes. Out of my family including my brother’s family and my parents, I’m the only real football fan. The others follow it but I can only call myself a fan.

In terms then, you said you take your youngest son to Anfield, how often do you attend the games and if you don’t why, are there any barriers to that?

In the forty, forty odd years I have been supporting Liverpool, I have been to Anfield three times. The main reason is cost. Obviously distance adds to that, you know distance and cost is the main reason. I have been up (to Anfield) twice in the last 18 months. Took my youngest son up to a cup match where we beat Brighton 6-1, so that was a great time for him to go to his first match at Anfield. And then I went last summer, not last summer, last autumn when we played Swansea, because a mate of mine is a Swansea city season ticket holder, so we went up together. And cup matches are cheaper, so there was that as well, so I certainly wouldn’t call myself a regular attendee, you know three times in over forty years is not a lot. But whenever they are playing, if I can’t watch them I’ll have texts coming through, I’ll be on sky sports following the score as its going so in that way I never miss a match, but I’m not there as often as I’d like to be.

That leads me on to next question, do you think there is a difference then between you then who doesn’t get the time, because of the barriers like cost, do you think there is a difference between fans who can make games and the fans who don’t? Can you differentiate yourself maybe that the fans that are there are superior and you inferior?

In my case, I like to think that I am one of them; I like to think of myself, as you know I sometimes call myself a scouser, which I am clearly not. But I think there is a connection; my passion for the club is shared with the regular attendee’s, like people

sat in the kop. I think of myself as one of them. Even though I’m not there as much as I would like to be, I like to think that my support of the club is as passionate as theirs. And not just through following matches, but everything connected to the club, the history of it, you know, you’ve got your Hillsborough, all the cup wins, and the 18 league championships and it’s just I love to watch them play football, I feel I am connected to the club. Because it’s that sort of club, so even though I haven’t got a season ticket and I’m not up there anyway as near enough as I would like to be, I like to think that it means as much to me as it does to the people on the kop.

So do you let football intervene with you daily routine?

Oh yes (laughter). It doesn’t go down very well with the wife. Umm yeah, if there is a football match going on and not just Liverpool, if there are matches concerning the teams around Liverpool in the league, I’ll be following it I want to know to know what the score is and I’ll have it on my Phone every few minutes checking the score so whatever I am doing I’m conscious of what the score is. You know, and my wife will be talking to be about something and I haven’t got a clue what she is talking about, and she will say you know you’re not listening are you, and I’m like no sorry sky sports news is on, "Thomo" (PHIL THOMPSON) is on the tele telling me what’s happening. So it does interfere, because it is that important to me I suppose. And fair play to her she doesn’t get angry and we have a joke about it. As far as disrupting in my life, it’s probably not that much, not that I say “sorry love I cant meet the parents tonight Liverpool is on, my family will always come first, but while I’m with my family I’m also keeping a check on the scores.

In a sense then does it disrupt your working routine?

It doesn’t disrupt my working routine at all. No, when I am in work I am working, when I’m not in work I am not working. Whether there is football on or not. So in terms of interrupting my job, no not at all. They are very, there is no conflict there, and there is no need for the conflict.

You see it as more of a double life then?

Oh absolutely, absolutely. When I’m in work, I am a teacher and I am a professional. As soon as I’m out the gates work is gone. My priority is my family, and time with my family and part of that is sharing the football with my youngest son.

So do you think then it is essential to keep up to date with your club through the media, through internet, apps?

I don’t pay much attention to media in terms of newspapers, umm not always through news programmes; I don’t really much attention to them because most of that is gossip. And my feeling towards that is that if it is true we will find out in the end. What I do like to do is tap into the Liverpool website, and I have got an app, not an app, a couple of groups on facebook, that are attached to Liverpool. So the news I get about Liverpool is from primary sources. It is important to me that I keep in touch with what is going on umm because it is part of my life and I am passionate about the club, umm transfer window, I’m watching it all the time, tomorrow nights the big one, you know who we going to get, who we going to sell, umm so in that

respect yes media is important in that it helps me keep up to date with what’s going on but I’m very careful with what media I choose and what I listen to.

So does it make you feel, when you think, look and engage with the media does it make you more of a fan if you know these things than if you don’t?

I suppose in a way it does, I think you have to be in touch with what’s going on, umm to understand the club, where is the club is going, you have to know what’s going on behind the scenes and the only way you are going to find that out is through the media so it is important. Obviously if I didn’t have any input from the media at all I wouldn’t be as in touch with the club as I would like to be. So it is vital umm whether it would change how passionate I am as a supporter, as a follower of Liverpool, I don’t know but I think you got to make a distinction between someone who is supporter and someone who is fan, bearing in mind the word fan is short for fanatic and I think of myself as a fanatic. People supporter a football club, I think of myself as a Liverpool fanatic, because it’s not just how the team are doing at the moment, it is everything to do with the club. You know I wear a Hillsborough t-shirt; I bought a Hillsborough t-shirt to raise money because I feel so strongly about it. So it’s other things going on with the club as well as how the team are doing.

So you think that point of buying the Hillsborough t-shirt then, do you think that re-enforces your connection to the club?

Oh absolutely, yeah absolutely. I bought it because I believe in what it stands for. But mostly very proud to wear it to show other people that I support it and I believe in what they are fighting for. No matter how well or badly the team are doing I’m always proud to say I am a Liverpool fan because of what the club stands for but I don’t think you can understand what the club stand stands for unless you really understand football and k now enough about the club.

Perfectly on to my next question then, how would you describe your identity as being a football fan then? How do you identify with being a football fan?

Well the fact that I think I sometimes call myself a scouser, being a football fan is being a part of a club, not just supporting and following a club but actually feeling like you belong to the club and even though I am not up there very often, when I go up there I feel at home, I feel that I am another scouser, another Liverpool fan at home where we want to be.

So do feel supporting a club is a feeling of belonging?

Oh absolutely, if you’re a proper supporter, if you’re a fanatic, you belong to the club. You don’t just follow the club, you don’t just follow the team, belong to the club. I will never forget the day of Hillsborough, and even though I wasn’t there and I don’t know any one close that has suffered as part of it, I still feel a connection with it because it was my club. Every time, I have been up there (Anfield) I have been a point of going to the memorial, and touching the memorial just having a minute there. And following it closely on the news, what’s happening with the Hillsborough court case and everything else, it’s almost irrelevant how well the team are doing, if you are a supporter of a club it doesn’t matter. The number of times I have had

conversations with kids in school saying “why do you support Liverpool, they are rubbish” well that has got nothing to do with. You know man united could go on to win forty league titles, which is not going to change the way I feel about my club. If you’re a feel supporter, then you are a member of the club. And I am a member, I have actually got membership, sorry I should say that, I do actually pay membership, I do pay membership fees so I have access to different things on the internet, so I can get first pick of tickets if I need to I am actually a member of Liverpool football club. But even without that monetary connection I am always there.

So is buying shirts, DVDs, hats, scarf’s, calendars, is that enough then to be considered a fan?

No not at all. I mean, I don’t know what to say to that really. I got the shirts, but I’ve made sure my family have all got shirts and they all wear it but it doesn’t mean the same to them as it does to me. Umm whether I have got the shirt or not I am still a passionate fan, the whole point of the shirt is to let other people know that you’re a fan. I’ll wear when they are playing, whether I am watching the game or not. If Liverpool got a game I’ll try and wear my Liverpool shirt, it makes me feel good, makes me feel like I am doing something, I know it’s not contributing at all to their performance but it makes me feel like I am there and part of it. It’s very easy, I mean kids, like my youngest boy he has got a Barcelona shirt, a couple of Barca shirts actually, but he is not a Barcelona fan in the same way he is a Liverpool fan just because he got the shirt, so the merchandise that you buy again is irrelevant, it is the reason you buy it that counts, that’s what makes you a supporter, a fan.

Lead on to my last question then, do you think there is a difference then between a football fan and someone who is a fan of football?

You mean a supporter of a club, and supporter of football?

Can someone then be a fan of arsenal, for example, but then like to watch Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Ac Milan?

Oh yeah absolutely, absolutely. Part from being a passionate football fan, I love to watch Barcelona in Spain; you know you can appreciate football. Even if Man United are playing good football, I can appreciate the football, you don’t have to appreciate the team, but you can appreciate football. So if you’re a lover of football, whoever you support, you can enjoy watching the game.

So can you differentiate then who will solely watch football and no one else, but someone who watches Liverpool but will still watch everyone else? Is that fan who solely devotees them self to Liverpool more of a fan than someone who has a rounded enthusiastic nature for the game itself?

No, I don’t think so. Somebody who is passionate about Liverpool, and doesn’t care about any other team, in fact I don’t believe that person exists. If you’re passionate about Liverpool, then what other clubs are doing effects you? It doesn’t necessarily mean you want to watch Barcelona, you want to watch juventus play, and it might just be Liverpool and other clubs that effect Liverpool. Umm but no I don’t believe that there is a person who exists who just supports one club and isn’t interested in

anything else, I don’t think that happens. If you support a club passionately then you appreciate football. I think you have to appreciate football to be passionate about the game.

Participant 3 (David) Cardiff City - 23

Why are you a football fan?

That’s a good one. Well, being a football fan means a lot to me, umm I mean it sort of dates back to about ten years ago, when i first started going to football with my grandfather, remember the feeling going home from the matches from ten twelve years ago, coming home with a win, suppose it just makes me happy you know. Find it a bit of a release, from your normally stressful life you know.

So what influenced you being a football fan?

My grandfather was a massive influence, he has been a season ticket holder at Cardiff for about forty years and started taking me down when I was 11/12 to the old Ninian park and every home game, some away trips, seeing the boys walk out on to the pitch, I don’t think there is anything better than that in the world.

So in a sense then why football, why not rugby or tennis, why does football make you feel like this?

It just runs in the family mate, it’s just one of those things that gets past down from generation to generation, and grandfathers father who was a massive Cardiff fan as well and attended the 1927 FA cup final, and passed on to my grandfather then me, and just runs deep in the family mate, it’s just one of those things when you see your first game, you just get hooked, it’s as simple as that, once you’re in your in. There is no turning back then.

Talking about being hooked what does it feel like to be hooked then, what does that mean then to be hooked?

I don’t think there is any better feeling in the world, you know, when the music starts and the boys are walking down the tunnel, it’s almost as like if you are one of the boys like, you’re the twelve man, kicking every ball heading every ball, umm the adrenaline rush you get is just incredible.

So what do your friends and family feel about you being a football fan?

I tell you one thing the Mrs. is not happy, she never is. No, she is starting to get around to the fact of liking it. But me and my old man have been season ticket holders now for 4/5 years and my grandfather is on my mother’s side so umm she has been sort of influenced by it all as well, she keeps an eye on the scores but she is obviously not a football fan as such but she does like to keep an eye on the Cardiff score now and again, umm but mainly id say me and my dad we are the main two in the family who are big football fans, and then my cousins then who my grandfather also had an influence on but yeah me and my dad mainly.

So what do your friends feel about you being a football fan?

Friends umm, mate they are all armchair fans like most of them are armchair Liverpool fans, I can’t stand it, they talk to me about Cardiff and stuff, down playing it all and saying Cardiff are shit and all the rest of it, ah come you don’t even go to watch them play, don’t comment on the championship football.

So leads on to my next question then, was going to ask do you attend games at the stadium but we obviously now know that you do, is there a difference then between fans who do attend the stadium and fans who don’t?

Oh absolutely mate. Yeah yeah, massively different, it think there is two different types of people, you get the people who go to watch the live games, I don’t go to many every games but I attend every home game every season and have been for the last 8 years and then you know when I talk to people who are watching live on sky you know, a couple of games a month like, you know it’s a completely different ball game. Most of them don’t even know what they are talking about and the people who do they are just statisticians if you ask them about a player how they played in the last match, they say “did they play?” it’s that sort of thing you know, I pride myself on knowing everything about the championship, if I’m going to watch Cardiff live, I’ll watch other teams in the league so I know what we are up against, so I can make comment on the other teams you know, I think that’s really important.

Due to your regular attendance at games then, so for those then who are not in locality of their club, for example someone who is from south Wales but a Manchester united fan, or a Liverpool fan or an arsenal fan, can you still compare yourself to those people who can’t attend regular games due to geography, or is it just a case of being unlucky with club choice?

No I mean I can sympathise with them you know if they are fans and been influenced by their father, grandfather who have supported the club all their life, if the club runs deep in their family then that’s fair enough. I have nothing against armchair fans but when they degrade your club you have been watching for ten years, it just when they pass judgement on you as a football fan when you support a worse team than they do, that when it starts to get a bit, I couldn’t imagine anything worse than becoming an armchair fan if I couldn’t be a season ticket holder for next year for instance, when we get to the premier league, hopefully, umm no listen if I was to go back to being an armchair fan, you know, I couldn’t.

In terms then, you have clearly made a definition then between the stadium fan and the armchair fan. Do you believe then because you have been both, is the level of intensity different, can you still be as intense as a fan who is only really able to watch games on the tele to those who regularly attend games, can you still be considered as much of a fan to those who attend the stadium?

To be honest with you, as I said to you the different is between going to the games and watching it live on tele, is when you’re at the stadium you almost feel as if you are one of the lads, as one of the players, you are the twelfth man in the ground, you can’t really do that from your tele screen or your armchair, no one will hear you, but in the stadium they are going to hear you, whether it’s one of you shouting or 20000

thousand of you they are going to hear you, so I think mate from experience talking to armchairs fans and stadium supporters I always find that the stadium supporters are far more passionate about the club and football in general than your general armchair fan.

So do you let football intervene with your daily routine?

Oh yeah, I never get any work done. No no, I mean to be fair we do have quite a lot of discussions in work about football and to be fair it does take over your life, it does, there is no doubt about that. I don’t think I have gone in a day in my life in the last ten years without some sort of football knowledge or some sort of conversation about football whether it is Cardiff or football in general. You know it’s just one of those things once you’re hooked your hooked. You know I pride myself in knowing a lot about football, as you know I manage my own team, I find it quite important.

So as you said then, does it disrupt your working routine?

No I get on with my work mate but I think that it one of those things that when you are in a conversation with someone and you’re in a debate about, about football it can go on for an hour, it could go on for 3, it just one of those things where that you got to call an end to it somewhere, you got to agree to disagree.

So can you differentiate then from your working self to your football fan self? Or are you two of the same person?

I think we are the same person, in the back of my head, I see myself going to work so I can pay for my season ticket, so constantly in the back of my mind I’m only here until Saturday, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Sunday, and then I’m out of here going to watch the football, I think that the best way to look at it to be honest.

Do you think it’s essential then to keep up to date with your club then through the media?

Oh yeah, I am on forums, Cardiff website, bbc.co.uk, sky sports every day, every day, and we are talking about two to three hours a day.

Can you be considered a fan then if you don’t take interest in your day to day information of the club? Can you still watch the team, turn up at the stadium and watch without this knowledge?

I think right this is where your difference comes in between a supporter and a fan, I think you can support the club by buying the shirt and just sitting back and watching a couple of games a year and pass comment. But to be a fan, to me a football fan someone who can attend games on a regular basis or if they geographically cant, attend a couple of games a year, you know, but have, a constant up to date with their club, who is running, how its run, players in the team, formations they play, and the last match they played, last couple of matches they played. I think I know a lot of supporters and not enough fans.

In one word answer then are there more followers/supporters than actually fans, or are there more fans than followers?

In south Wales?

In general, let’s say football fans in general.

I’d like to think there are more fans, but there ain't, there are more followers than fans.

How would you describe your identity as a football then, how would you identify with being a football fan?

As I said to you the money I spend watching Cardiff per season is astronomical, we talking thousands of pounds a year, it’s not just buying a season ticket, I got three strips this year, it’s the home kit, the away kit and the 3rd strip, that a £120, you know what I mean. And then you go to club shop, you spend 200 quid at Christmas, 100 quid on your birthday you know, that only that away games are 100 quid a time, 23 of them of in the championship, only 19 in the premiership (laughter), and it all adds up mate let’s not kid ourselves, it’s an expensive hobby.

In a sense then, is buying shirts, scarf’s, DVDs, is that then enough to be considered a fan?

No, you got to love the club, you got to love the club and you know you’re a fan when you will do anything for the club. Anything, what wouldn’t I do, what would I give up watching Cardiff city, I know I would give up most things in life to watch Cardiff. You know if someone said to me listen you know, you got sky in your house, I have got all the channels at the moment, if they were to say to me “you are going to be cut off next week so you can afford your season ticket next season...” I’d say yeah, let’s do it. You can take anything away from me apart from my family. The only thing I would keep is my family. Other than that, its football.

So then leads me on to my last question then, do you believe then there is difference then between someone then who is a football fan and a fan of football?

Yeah, yeah. 100%. As I said to you a football fan to me is someone who goes to watch the matches, home and away, invests in the club. That’s effectively what a football does invest in the club, because they want to see the club succeed, reach bigger heights. A fan of football is some who someone who likes “oh yeah, I like man u or Liverpool...” that’s all well and good but how many games you been to see this season? That’s one of my first questions to a fan of football who supports a club not geographically in their area and has pretty much no association with them, that’s my first question “how many times you been to see them, how often you been to the stadium, how often do you follow the games?” perfect example, I got a Chelsea fan in work with me, and he goes to Stamford bridge twice, three times a season which is fair enough but at the end of the day I said to him who you got on the weekend? He didn’t have a clue. And that’s the difference; I can list you the next five Cardiff city fixtures in a row, Huddersfield on Saturday...

So let’s ask you another question, one more question, in terms of being fan then, take you for example, a pure Cardiff city fan, you just follow Cardiff city and invest their time into Cardiff city. Are you any more of a fan than someone who is also a Cardiff city fan but also enjoys watching Real Madrid, Ac Milan, Juventus or what not, is that intensity the same or different even though they are a fan of football?

No mate I like to think of myself not only a football fan but a fan of football also, I watch hundreds of La Liga games, I watch Bundesliga, I watch Italian Serie A, I watch any football that’s on, welsh league, any football, grass roots, local football team.

Can you say there is distinctly say there is a difference between the two or are we all football fans and fans of football?

I don’t know that’s a difficult one, I like to think of myself as both. But I think like I said there is a difference between a football fan and a fan of football, I put myself in the category of both.

Why?

I think a football fan to me is someone who watches the games, and invests in the club, and I don’t think investing in the club is watching subscribing the sky sports so they can watch a couple a games a season or buying the home shirt so they look like a fan out on the town with the boys, who goes to the snooker hall and wears the top now and again. A football fan invests in the club, loves the club and you will literally pay anything to go see them, Wembley, 300 pound a trip. And I think that is a football fan mate, a fan of football is some who watches on sky sports, watches other games of football as well as the team they support, and that will be me, I’ll be watching Watford v crystal palace tomorrow live on sky sports, they are in the league that I am playing in, Cardiff are playing in, and both contenders for championship playoffs. It’s just one of things mate, I’ll watch any football, I don’t care I’ll watch anything mate, I like to think of myself as a fan of football but a massive football fan.

Participant 4 (Matthew) 24 – Cardiff City

Participant 5 (Alan) 19 - Cardiff City

Why are you a football fan?

A: Quite a broad question to start.

M: yes (laughs)

A: I just like football and playing football, ever since I was young. The family started watching football, it all goes back to a Leeds games in the FA cup, when Cardiff beat Leeds 2-1, I was about 8/9 and all my family were around the TV watching it and then which Cardiff scored in the 85th minute, and yeah.

M: probably my earliest memory is playing football in primary school. It was the only sport we kind of played in school and really enjoyed playing it, I think being good at a position in school makes you want to investigate the game more. One of the other things I have learned from it as well, I was collecting football stickers when I was 6, having those big albums when you find the stickers, and I used to love that. And another thing memory I had when I was younger, to like certain teams because I like their badge or had a few players I liked. And then I remember watching match of the day on a Sunday mornings, on the repeat they have at something like 7.30am , I remember always watching that as well. I think I started supporting a team, and I think you just kind of get in to it then, you follow and you keep following your team, and that the, bad word but the drug keeps you going in football.

So being football fans yourselves, what do you believe influenced you to be football fans?

A: the fans probably, because my grandparents are really massive Cardiff city fans. They’ve be going since the 1940’s, they’ve been supporting Cardiff since then, they encouraged me and they even bought me my first football boots when I was about 6/7 years of age. Kept telling me to play football and then they bought me season tickets for Cardiff and I’ve been going ever since.

M: the thing for me is partly the drama of the game and when you’re younger watching match of the day you kind of get involved in the title race, which’s team is going down and just the ups and downs of each match you watch. You get hooked on the drama and then when you’re supporting a team and getting into a team, looking out of them, that get's you involved as well. It’s that kind of fascination with the whole sport, it does give you a lot to talk and think about.

So why football? Why not rugby or tennis, why football?

A: it’s a lot more complex football compared to rugby, a lot more tactical situations and I quite like football in general and I’ve always liked playing football, I started when I was 6/7. I’ve never been interested in rugby at all.

M: I think its exposure when I was younger. In this country particularly, football is the biggest sport, it’s the main sport on TV, kids play it, it’s an easy sport to play therefore kids play it. With that kind of exposure means that there’s always going to like football more than anything else. There are other sports I like and there are other sports I’ve grown to like. That’s pretty much been a result of exposure to them as well.

In terms of exposure, is it more of a social aspect that draws people to football?

M: I think because there are more football fans in Britain than any other sport, I think because everybody knows something about it because of the exposure. It’s easy to talk about with people. In work I talk about football probably more than I talk about work with my colleagues.

A: everyone likes football, not everyone but most people I know. It’s the culture in Britain; the gate capacity across Britain is thousands and thousands who watch it. You have to look at the people who don’t go to the matches as well, the ones on twitter and facebook. And all over the media, it is well exposed.

So what do friends and family feel about you being football fans?

A: my mum hates me, she does. She says every time I go to a Cardiff game I hope they win because I come back quite moody if they lose. Especially if the referee has been bad as well.

M: well my parents don’t actually have that much of interest in football before me and brother came along but we started enjoying football and they started to enjoy it as well. My dad was more so than my mam, and they will sit down and watch a game with us even now. And we enjoy it and then talk about it with them and they know what’s going on and know what we are talking about. My brother liking football as well encourages me to like it as well. For us to have a big thing in common, and my granddad has always been a football fan. He took me to my first game when I was about 8. So my Nan thinks its great exercise. I think they are more than happy for me to like football.

So does the moody attitude, does that cause conflict between friends and family?

A: sometimes it can, well yeah if I’m moody and can come back from a football game I tend to keep myself to myself, I go to sulk in my room. It only last about a day, bit of a sulker.

So does that influence how you go about your activities for the rest of the day or the week?

A: yeah I can be, it can put a bit of downer on you, usually with Cardiff its up and downs, so you can never look forward to most things because they are a up and down club.

So Cardiff City, do you guys attend matches at the stadium?

A: yeah I’m season ticket holder.

M: not as much as I’d like too.

Why don’t you attend games at Cardiff City?

M: I do attend; I go as many times as I really can. I can’t really afford a season ticket. It’s a lot of money and I have other priorities at the moment. And also I struggle with making the time every Saturday, or every other Saturday and week nights as well. It’s hard for me to go all the time.

So is there a difference between a fan who goes to the games and those who have to resort to using the radio or TV, is there a difference between fans who attend games and those who don’t?

A: I wouldn’t say there is a difference in support, mike supports probably supports them the same as I do, I can appreciate what different players do, it’s different to listening it on the radio then being in the stadium, when you watch it in the stadium it’s a lot easier for me to comment on how they play and how they move, it’s hard to state on the radio if they’ve played well and played resilient.

For hypothetical reasons, we will state here that Matthew you don’t attend as much as Alan which you don’t, so Alan do you feel superior to Matthew as a fan and Matthew do you feel inferior to Alan because of your attendance to the games?

A: I wouldn’t say I’m superior to Matthew, I attend more games but I wouldn’t sat I’m more superior at all. At the end of the day it’s not a normal club for people to support, not everyone supports Cardiff city, well most people round south Wales support your Manchester united, your Liverpool, your arsenal, your Chelsea, so to support Cardiff is quite a small catchment area so yeah I wouldn’t say superior.

M: I wouldn’t say inferior to Alan, the reason for that is, I feel like we love the club and want the club to succeed in the right way, we both have the similar passion for the team, it’s just that one of us is able to go and one of us isn’t able to as much as we like, you know. And then there is a difference between fans then like us who care about the team and go whenever we can to those who only really care when they make a cup final.

A: Some people only support Cardiff when its suits them...Example is Portsmouth and Cardiff in the FA Cup final in 2008, I was there at the stadium, did you go too? (To matthew)

M: I was there for the 2008...

A: Yeah it cost us over 300 pound that day, and then there was people all over facebook saying come on Cardiff, and they had no interest in it before, and they were actually Manchester united fans.

M: its gutting almost, how many people I know who A) not Cardiff fans and outwardly support other teams and B) who just don’t care about Cardiff who even don’t support another team who got to go to the cup final, I couldn’t get to the playoff final 2010 or carling cup final 2012, and I know people in work who support Liverpool, or a friend of mine who supports west ham or people who are not even sure they like football who go and then like through cost and other reasons are not able to go.

How does that make you feel then as a fan, for example, you support that club through thick and thin, that’s your club, that’s who you belong to, you’re not able to see your team for whatever reason, yet someone who is not a fan of your club who is lucky enough to get a ticket does, how does that make you feel as a fan then?

A: I wouldn’t say it’s a pleasant feeling you know, I refer to them as plastic fans, cause they are only there when its suits them, they are not there for the long haul, if Cardiff ended up in league two now they wouldn’t be there. Although they would have the money and still support the club financially, but they wouldn’t t be there because they wouldn’t be interested. Same as Swansea, when they were in the championship they only had 14,000, and every time a rugby game was on they would struggle to fill a tenth of that in that stadium, it holds more than 20000, and now they are in the premiership they get 22,000 and regular Swansea I know can’t get a ticket in the home seats cause it is sold out every week. Weeks before the fixtures come out, so as a Cardiff fan I feel quite sorry for some of them who have been there a while and can’t get a ticket for their club. I’d say Cardiff is a more rich population, cause it’s a bigger city, it’s the capital, there is probably more disposable income in Cardiff to a Swansea so the regular supporters of Swansea probably won’t be able to buy the tickets and premiership football increases the ticket prices, cause I think Swansea tickets are up to thirty five pounds now, and some fans, even maybe man U fans have bought seasons tickets at Swansea just to see united and it think that’s quite harsh on some of the other fans then, that’ll probably effect Cardiff fans next season if we go up.

M: I think for me, I agree with Alan, I don’t like to see genuine die in the water fans, miss out at the expense as what you refer to as plastics, but at the same time I have this, if I can’t go I can’t go for reason it’s not through lack of opportunity, it’s just for other reasons, a lack of cost or not available on the day but part of what I hope with people who go who don’t usually support the club is that I kind of hope that one day they will become proper supporters, because I know like once myself when I was younger I supported a premier league team because it’s what you watched on TV, and like through going to Cardiff I became a Cardiff fan, and I know a few people who used to support other premier league teams, and because they have been going to Cardiff and got involved they now are fully Cardiff and I hope that people support them because for the future of the club, the more fans they have the better really.

A: Also there is talk of increasing the stadium to 35000, and again you need some of those people...

M: You can’t fill it without plastics

A: they are fundamentally part of football unfortunately...you can’t do much about it.

So do you let football then intervene with your daily routine? Does it come into your daily routine often? Does it intervene with everything you do?

A: Sometimes, cause I look at the message boards quite a lot to see what’s in the news, who Cardiff are linked with in the transfer windows, just stuff like that and then some parts of Wales online where they post stuff to do with Cardiff every day so I have a quick browse on that so yeah. I do have a look and check up on Cardiff every day.

M: Yeah, every day possible I look in the football news to see what’s going on, I look specifically at the Cardiff news and try and find out what’s up with Cardiff and I do like to look on the message boards as well and just look at what people’s opinions are, see where people are coming from about certain issues. So yeah it definitely intervenes with daily life, it’s a hobby, it’s an interest, and it’s something different from work.

Does it disrupt your working routine? For example, in a working day does it disrupt your pro-activity, or what you’re actually doing in that day?

M: Not unless it's transfer deadline day or something (laughter).

A: Unless there is a match on, then you go out of your way, you make it a priority especially if you’re a season ticket holder like I am, my grandparents forked out the money for me so you got to make your that you are able to go. And I play football four times a week as well, so I’m involved in that so, football does take a lot of time in my life. I wouldn’t say it disrupts, it works around my life, so say I got university 9-5 ill look afterwards or before.

M: it’s just transfer deadline day really, it’s the only day really I can’t help but look you know. It can disrupt yeah but I manage it so it doesn’t disrupt too much.

In terms of that, do you believe that you as a fan is different from you then as professional, to you alan as a student or to you as an accountant Matthew, are we the same or can we differentiate ourselves between Alan the fan and Alan the student or Matthew the fan and Matthew the accountant, or are we one in the same person?

A: I’d say I’m the same person, I wouldn’t say that it separates me at all. I don’t change my approach to either of them; I don’t think I change as person.

M: in my job where my work is very relational based, and you got to build relationships with clients, it’s quite important for me to be the same, Matthew the employee and Matthew the fan, because a lot of my clients, to get a good grounding

with them, is because a lot of them are working class kind of area, they love football and it’s an easy way to make contact with them and build bridges with them, so you can them build a good working relationship with.

Is it essential then to keep up to date then with Cardiff city and football through the media, through apps on your phone, television, radio, and internet? Is it essential to be involved and know specific things as a fan?

A: I think so, because if you are going to be a regular fan, I think you need to be up to date, you need to know what’s going, you need to have that interest, if you don’t have that interest I wouldn’t say your much of a fan. If you a fan like me and Matthew, you want to know what’s happening with your club, you want to know if your best player is injured, someone is suspended, you want to know if someone is coming in, what’s going on in the club, yeah the way you find out is mostly through the media. Radios, newspapers, the media does play a large part in the life of a fan.

M: I wouldn’t say it’s an essential. I know a lot of people who do a lot of work and you ask them something and they go “oh didn’t know that...” but they go every week to games. I think though its useful, supporting I think sport can be influenced by what’s socially around you, but I think even conversation can encourage your support of a team, I think by definition supporting a team is also wanting to see the best happen to them and best way to do that is following the news, making sure, seeing if they signed someone or if someone is injured or suspended, by definition you’ll be interested.

Last part of the interview then, how would you describe your identity as a football fan, for example is buying the shirt, DVD, hat, scarf’s, calendar, posters, is that enough then to be considered a fan?

A: I personally buy the shirts and get ridiculed by my family because I spend so much money or I’m wasting my money. But I like to broadcast that I am I Cardiff fan, cause a round here it’s not that common, a lot of people support, Manchester united, arsenal Liverpool Chelsea, it does show, and if someone sees me in a Cardiff shirt that is a bit different they might say and ask me what club is that you know, who you supporting, what players you got, that can bore interest into other people and other fans, potential fans. I wouldn’t say umm, I would say it does help in showing my identity as a Cardiff fan, you don’t have to wear all the shirts and the scarf’s to be a Cardiff fan at all.

Why?

A: I don’t know, it’s quite hard, I just don’t think you need to broadcast that you are a Cardiff fan to be a Cardiff fan, as long as you’re interested in the club, and you want to know the information, whose there, you want to support the club I think that’s enough to be a fan, you don’t have to buy all the shirts. My grandfather for example, since the 1940s, he doesn’t feel the need to broadcast, I don’t think it is essential to broadcast at all.

In terms of that identity then with you and your grandfather, in terms of broadcasting and buying the shirts, do you feel it’s a modern thing then to

broadcast then it would have been in the 40s, is it essential these days to actually broadcast your fan to bring you identity into place?

A: I think it’s set by trends because obviously a lot of people nowadays are buying shirts, it’s a common trend, if you support the club you tend to buy the shirt and that’s where clubs make money, they advertise the shirts as it brings a lot of revenue into the club so, yeah it is more of a modern thing.

M: going back to the question then of identifying myself as a football fan, umm I identify myself by just that I love football, it’s so much that people can support teams without buying a shirt and going to games regularly, I think you know you just love that team you want them to do well. Like for me I just love football, I want to see Cardiff do better than anyone else but I take an interest in wide areas of football, other teams in England, certain teams I have soft spots for you know, I’ll take an interest in all leagues, see who is doing well etc, other countries, you know I just love football really. To be a football fan that’s what it is, you love football. It doesn’t matter if you support lots of teams or one team or no team, if you love football, by definition makes you a football fan.

In terms of Alan’s point of wearing the shirt and not wearing the shirt, if we take away the shirt and we wasn’t able to buy the shirt, or any kind of merchandise, how would we then identify ourselves as football fans, do you feel we need to broadcast it or can we keep it as an innate thing, or what can we do to identify with our club or football for that matter?

A: That’s quite a tricky question. I like football in general, match of the day, Cardiff are on football league show, you can see all different players, how they are doing, and there is always a different score every weekend you just got to keep watching. That can relate to all, where I play. Because if I’m watching football I can see he has done that quite well and ill try and do it as I’ve always done that in training, and I’ll do that in training next time. I feel that helps my game is as well, helps me to play better in way.

M: it comes down to culture with local support; you ask people how you think the team are doing. If you haven’t got any merchandise, and you can’t show it outwardly then I guess you talk about it, I think that’s how you would broadcast your support, you’d say are you going down the city, people be like oh yeah occasionally, and that’s really how you let them know then I guess. Can think of too many ways other than talking...

A: Social media is going on all the time...

Can you identify with a relationship with fans then?

A: yeah exactly, like you feel as part of group, a base, rather than being individual, so say that Cardiff city forums, there is two or three at the moment, you feel as part of a group. All they go up on coaches to away games, it’s like another social group, you got your friends, your work place and you got your message boards. Your friends in football go together, a lot of fans down Cardiff go with is part of a routine, I

know people who get into a big group and go together and make friends for life that way.

Last Question of the study then, do you believe there is a difference between someone who is a football fan and a fan of football. in terms, example you guys a Cardiff city, is there a difference then between someone then who solely supports Cardiff city and who doesn’t take any interest in any other team around them, to someone who is a Cardiff city fan yet has a keen interest in football in the likes of watching the premier league, Serie A, La Liga, Eredivisie in Holland. Is there a difference between those two fans or is there not a definition of that?

A: I wouldn’t say there is a definition; I think these days most fans tend to appreciate football in general. They tend to appreciate the different things different players do. Like as a Cardiff fan I appreciate the way Swansea plays football, even though they are our most fierce rivals, they play football well. They play out from the back, you can appreciate it. You attend to not have your blinkers on and see the world around you, you do have the hardcore fans in every club they don’t want to know other stuff but I’d say the modern thing is that people appreciate the other teams around them now, different players around the world. And football manager, people get addicted to that and you know every footballer in the world. I was on that until 3am last night.

M: I think there is a big difference, and I think there is a small difference. The small difference as alan said the opinions of some people, because they just support Cardiff can be like completely unobjective about their opinions about football, can be completely Cardiff-centric in their opinions. They are perhaps somebody who has a wider vision of football they see things more objectively as a result and there can be a big difference in that... (thought lost)...sometimes fans of just one club they can be more, it might not just be about the football it can be more a part of something, cult like, I’m a Cardiff city fan, may not watch football apart from that, they may like other sports as well. A fan of football who will watch football no matter who is playing, they’ll just love watching football, that’s kind of their motivation for going, some people go because they love Cardiff, and some people will go because they love watching football, they’ll support Cardiff but they just love watching football, even if the only game they could go to was two completely different teams, they would still go because it is football.

So can you be considered less of a fan then if you support Cardiff city but you want to watch other teams, are you considered less of a fan than those who just watch Cardiff city?

A: I wouldn’t say your less of a fan at all, most fans these days have a general appreciation for football around the world, and you do get some fans that just go for the buzz of it, the atmosphere, walking into the stadium for the first time.

M: I think if there is a difference, the people who enjoy a wide variety of football are probably more football fans than those who don’t, but that’s not knocking those other fans either, I think there is different ways in which people enjoy and take in football, different levels of passion people have, room for different things in their lives and

some people have less than others so I think if anything liking a wide variety of football makes you more of fan, I don’t think it’s much of a difference in most cases.

Participant 6 and 7 (Jimmy, 21, John, 22, Manchester United)

Why are you a football fan?

John: I was born to be, I was born to be a football fan, now and from a young age I’ve played football, I have watched football, I live and breathe football personally.

Jimmy: For me it’s the competitive edge, I love competitive sports, for me growing up it was football and motorsport, anything that was competitive. I think the thrill of winning; I don’t get how people survive without that, what drives you if you’re not driven by success.

John: Yeah basically football is the most passionate sport in the world.

What influenced you being a football fan?

Jimmy: I grew up around boys, and everyone my age was into football and I took to it like a duck to water, I just loved it.

John: Even though my family was into rugby, my brother supported football, he is an Everton fan, people around me growing up have always played football, wake up at 10am in the morning and be down the field, every single day of the summer holiday.

Jimmy: I think a big influence as well has got to be watching it and seeing. I remember 99 watching the Uefa Champions League Final that definitely has got to inspire any young kid to want to play.

John: It’s just, even when your team loses; you just support them from a young age, so you just crave that winning mentality.

Why football?

Jimmy: Because it was mainstream, it was the one that everyone else was participating in. It was always going to be sport for me, whether it was rugby or football, I was always going to participate in those two sports, my father is a football fan, my bamp is football fan, they have gone to games through the years, been to watch Liverpool, been up to watch whoever they follow, you know, it’s just the natural thing to do, since all your mates are doing the same thing.

John: natural thing really, you just always what to play football,

Is it then an innate thing or is it a social?

John: I think it’s in you...

Jimmy: I think it’s a bit of both, certainly more of a social thing as you grew older, but as a kid its more inside you because at that choice between rugby and football, those are the two sports that you don’t need hundreds of pounds of equipment to go kick a ball around, all you need is a ball and kick it against a wall.

John: Yeah kick it against a wall, smash windows (laughter)

If we bring it back to being a fan, what is it about football that makes you a fan?

Jimmy: For me it’s when you first step into the ground, if you are going to watch a game live it’s when you first step into the ground, it’s that first step you take, on to the terrace onto the seated area, whatever

John: I wouldn’t even say inside, it’s when you’re at the stadium, when you see thousands of fans, all going for the same thing as you, when especially as soon as you enter the ground or near the ground, you hear the fans singing, you don’t get that anywhere across the world. People play football, countries play football...

Jimmy: it’s the noise and the sight...the noise and the sight especially...

So is there a difference between individually watching football as personally yourself, or does it change then when your immersed with loads of people or can you be just as big a football fan on your own?

Jimmy: I think as long as you have been to a game...

John: I think it is a bit of both, I think...

Jimmy:...because once you have been to one game, and you know what that feeling is like, every time you turn that TV on to watch a game, it takes you there, and it’s as if you are at the ground, its exactly the same feeling so, as long as you have experienced the hairs on the back of your neck once, I think you can always experience it through the television...

John: especially when your team scores, you celebrate it as if you were there, even if you concede a goal frustration is still the same, it doesn’t matter where you are in this world, if you are watching your team and you are passionate, you just scream...

Jimmy: I think you are almost concentrating more watching it on the tele cause if you at the game and you are watching it live, its right in front of eyes, whereas if you are watching it on a TV screen then it is easier to get persuaded by what other people are saying rather than actually taking in your own view of the game. I think it means more if you are watching it on the tele, I know it is a stupid thing to say...

Why?

Jimmy: When you look at a football game, you pour yourself into the game, when you are watching it on the tele, cause you have to concentrate more you are making your own judgements rather than the judgements that other people are making in the commentary box, because of the TV angles or whatever, you feel as if you are pouring yourself more into the game...

John: I agree that you are pouring yourself more into the game...

In terms then of what John said then about concentration in watching a game, with not being there at the ground and watching a game, do you feel then you have to be more of a fan watching the tele because you are not at the ground?

Jimmy: no I disagree, any fan who feels he has to show something, isn’t showing it naturally. He is doing it for effect. Like I wouldn’t go and watch a game and go and think I am going to scream and shout today, if I jump up and celebrate, it’s the pure joy, it’s a natural reaction...

John: It is a natural reaction. If you support a team, You could be anywhere in the world, you could be on holiday you know your team is on, you like, when it comes to match day you just know like where you are going to be, tomorrow Manchester united play Southampton, you know you are going to be either watching it on the internet looking at the scores, you just know when their next game is, and the game after that. But if you are not a proper fan, and you are someone who goes a couple of times a year or like only take an interest from take to time, any passionate fan knows when their team are playing anywhere in the world,

Jimmy: For me I look at the fixtures the start of the month... I know what games I’m going to.

What do your friends and family feel about you being a football fan then?

John: they think I am mad, they don’t want to be in the house with me when united play but they actually love it because I show a passion...

Is that a bad thing or a good thing then?

John: It can be disruptive because when man united won the champions league in 2008 I actually ran around my street, woke a few people up. I think because in 99 I was only nine, you remember it but when your 17 and they have just won the biggest competition in club football...

Jimmy: See I remember 99 more, I can tell you my exact reaction, and I smacked my head on a table...

John: yeah for my family it can be like, it’s a good thing because you show passion in something, with friends, it’s the majority who like football...

Jimmy: I think its swings and roundabouts for me, to start with my parents both wanted me to support football, not specifically football but sport. My father practically wanted me to follow football, supporting football, enjoying my football has yes they supported that but I think when it goes to extremes when your shouting, you know, jumping up and down, then they don’t enjoy it so much...

John: Especially when your team loses a big game, you don’t want to be around people...

Jimmy: For instance if united are playing Liverpool, my dad is a Liverpool fan, we can’t watch it in the same house, cause of the way, I go over my Nan’s at half time in the game, we can be in the same room...it’s the same for him as well, in that sense my mother hates it...

John: I remember being in my cousins boyfriends house, couple of years ago and Liverpool drew against Everton, and because I celebrated when Tim Cahill scored he didn’t want me to watch another Liverpool game with him, when John O’shea scored the winner against Liverpool couple of years ago, I actually ran out of the house and my dad was half way up the street and could hear me screaming.

So in terms of like leaving the house, can football for family be a disruptive nature or be a togetherness nature?

Jimmy: I think it is distractive in the nature it is, but then I suppose with my mother over the years the way me and my father are, my mother has started going to games herself, she never used to when I was a kid or come and watch me play, but I got two younger brothers now and my youngest brother she goes every week. And she is involved with the club; she wants to go on the football tour this year you know...

John: My parents have never been into football...

Jimmy: For me, it’s brought my family closer together; football is now a family thing...

John: It’s still just me and my brother who support football...

So do you both attend games at Old Trafford?

John: I have been 3 or 4 times...

Jimmy: I have been a couple of times yeah; I think...I have seen more Wales internationals...

So do you go often or are there barriers?

John: Travel, season ticket holders get first choice...

Jimmy: In terms of old Trafford, yeah it is a lot of money to be spending, as much as I love the football, financially if I was better off, I want to have a season ticket, I want to be going, I will in life look to get a season ticket at some point...

So with old Trafford being far away do you feel inferior as a fan to those who go to the games?

Jimmy: I totally disagree with this argument, I understand where fans are coming from support your local side but for me...

John: If you’re born with that team...

Jimmy: You get it a lot right, coming from this area, being in the valleys, Cardiff is the local big team if you like, but then when fans say to me “support your local side...” I’d say then why don’t you go support Pontypridd? Rhydyfelin, why don’t you go support your town side? They call us glory supporters for travelling to old Trafford, but in effect they are doing the same, saying why aren’t they supporting a Welsh league side?

John: Even if they supported Barry...

Jimmy: At the end of the day Cardiff city or Manchester united are in the English league, they are not England, and that’s the difference for me...

John: It is a bit frustrating for me, saying I’m a glory fan and I’m only singing when I’m winning, when we are losing you don’t hear from me...

Jimmy: Local fans, what you tend to find, is that they don’t appreciate football much, you’ll find a fan that has grown up with the game will choose a bigger side because of the reputation, I chose man united as a boy and I have stuck by that decision, and what given child is going to choose they local team over a man united, Liverpool, arsenal, a global super power? If you turn around and say to me you are a bigger fan because you support your local side I guarantee you that, not in all cases, but in most cases the age you started watching football is probably more like 11/12 than from when you are born.

Do you feel then media influences people decisions?

John: it does a bit...

Jimmy: success influences people...

John: Premiership is the biggest brand in the world, any league in the world, premiership is around the world, a lot of countries, Asia, Australia watch the premiership now they support MU, MC, Chelsea Liverpool arsenal, so media does have a big effect...

Why do you feel then you are not as inferior to those fans that go and attend the games at the stadium week in week out?

Jimmy: because one fan does support a team right, one fan doesn’t make that team, that team is not built on one fan. It’s built on millions, whether you buy one replica shirt a season, whether you buy one replica shirt in a life time, one scarf or whatever, that money all goes towards the club, whatever your contribution is towards that club, you are still a part of that club. Now the glazers have put more money in that club than anyone else but that doesn’t make them fans, they have done it out of business interests. When the fans pay money for their season tickets, yes they are fans but they are also getting to watch live football

John: Yeah you do get people who don’t go see them, but they still support man united...

Jimmy: Yeah fair play I probably am inferior, well not inferior, not as dedicated as someone who travels to every single game for fifty years you know...

John: and the ones who go to away games...champions league away game...

Jimmy: Given the choice if finances weren’t an issue, I travel to every game, id happily do it.

If we take out of the way money, argue for me now why you feel you are just as much a fan of Manchester united as those others?

Jimmy: I have only ever owned a man united football shirt you know, they are the only club side that I want to win, that is my club. You can’t take that away from me, just because I live down in south Wales and Manchester united are up in the north does not make a difference...if Manchester was a nation and you had to be from Manchester to support them then fair enough, I should be support my nation, Alex Ferguson does not come from Manchester, Ryan Giggs does not come from Manchester, David Beckham is a London boy, all these players who have played over the years,

John: Beckham loves united...

Jimmy:...But they see that as their club you know, if a player can play his entire career, like Ryan Giggs, born in Cardiff, plays his entire career at Manchester united, can you tell me he is not a Manchester united fan, because I couldn’t...

Do you let football intervene with your daily routine?

John: It does, it just does...

Jimmy: When it is your lunch hour in work, and your checking the transfer news...

John: (TRANSFERE DEADLINE DAY 31ST Jan) Thursday, wherever you are, if you are a football fan you will be watching sky sports news, radios on, TV’s on, laptops, iPod, it will intervene...

Manchester united fans then are not going to do any transfer dealings at all on Thursday, so why would you watch that?

John: It’s the drama; it’s just the drama...

Jimmy: there is a few points here, they say they won’t but there is always that possibility while that window is open, and of course other clubs, our rivals are doing business, if Manchester city are going to offload Balotelli, I want to know about it, because I want to know straight away because that effect the destination of the title, that could affect what Manchester united win, what business Manchester city do, effects Manchester united.

John: IF City go and buy a big player, then that could turn the title in their favour.

Jimmy: It’s also interesting to see young players moving, like Tom Ince, if he goes to reading or Liverpool, that will affect his development and that will effect, say if Tom Inca doesn’t move and stays where he is, a couple of years time man united might sign him...

John: or it is just the drama of watching that Jim White is in the building, you know...or just for the fact rumours you hear “my mates brother works at Newcastle airport and he has just seen Lionel Messi...” that’s deadline day, there is no other business, any business in the world other than football...

Jimmy: I normally take a day off work cause of it...

So then does it disrupt your working routine?

Jimmy: Yeah it does cause I take days off for it...

John: Think about it like, can you imagine people got work after watching a man united game, or after the title was won last season, Manchester united were so down about that, and like going to work, all the passionate fans were probably down...

Jimmy: I remember when I was in school as a teenager, I had a Saturday job and they ask me to work the man united v arsenal game and I threatened to quit my job, I offered my cousin 50 pound to switch a shift with me... it was the wrong attitude

John: Especially in school I was dreading going in next day when we lost, and when united went out of the Champions League in the group stage, with my head down...

Jimmy: It does get you down....and at the same time it gets you up...And it’s the banter in work, you want an example of disrupting my work, its distracting my work life for example my lunch hour I’ll get twenty minutes out of my lunch hour to check if there is any news on, as a sports fan, sport in general, and first of all I check united....

John: Especially in January and august...it does effect a fan you are always talking about it; you can’t get away from football...

Jimmy: And I hate to say it but your standards of work do fluctuate throughout the year but if there is a game on the Saturday and I’m doing my job on the Friday my mind is 100% not on the job, I’m already thinking ahead...

Do you reckon then it is essential to keep up to date with your club/team through the media?

John: Yeah especially...

Jimmy: For me it is essential, for other fans it might not be but some fans, it depends to what extent

John: How much of a fan you are...

Argue for me then, to what extent why it is not essential and why it is?

Jimmy: some people only follow football because it is a social event...fans who take up support of their club in late teens early twenties might not matter so much to them because their mates are doing it and go for a drink afterwards, it’s a good way to meet people so for them fans probably not essential...who am I to judge a fan, it’s up to you the extent you follow them but for me personally because my life does in part revolve around football, so for me I have got to, I have got to be up to date...

Why do you let it intervene then with your daily routine?

John: You can’t help it, it is in you, when your team loses or win you can’t not do nothing about it...

Why?

Jimmy: This is the way I see it, it is almost like a time share you have invested so much time into them...

John: You can’t help it is like a feeling of when they lose or win...

Jimmy: It is like an addiction...

John: Yeah it is an addiction, it’s like drugs, fags, cigarettes, and you can’t help that feeling of winning...

Jimmy: If football was alcohol, then I am alcoholic...if you said to me we cannot watch another united game, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself, what do you do, how do you take away 21 years of someone’s life...

John: or even if they took away football in general...

Is football then a relationship with your club?

John: It is like religion, it is as big as religion...

Jimmy: It is a marriage; it is a marriage that will never break up...

John: You got one love for your club...

Jimmy: Sometimes my football comes before anything...

John: It gets in the way of everything, any part of your life...

Jimmy: Even relationships, if I am going out to dinner, I look up the fixture list and if there is a game on, oh sorry can’t do that...

John: I do that all the time, with big champion’s league games...

Jimmy: Even talking about my love for united, but even more than that Wales...

Well, leads nicely to my next question, how would you describe your identity as a football fan?

Jimmy: Right, man united and my love for man united, is an addiction that will never go away and it’s a love...I think the club is the identity, I think they represent you not you represent them...I feel when, a lot of people, you see gangs, I know I’m going on but gangs in America where they all wear the same t-shirts, they wear that t-shirt and that t-shirt represents them. I am not the club, but I am a part of the club so any time I see you are wearing a Manchester united shirt, or James is wearing a Manchester united hat, you are representing me as well, because that badge means a lot to me. And where Manchester united was out of choice, as a young kid, the nation is more important to me, because that wasn’t out of choice, that is because you got to...

John: I am against Jimmy there, I know you can’t help it where you are born but when you support your club its every single day, I’d rather win something with, like when my team wins cause it is every day rather than, as much as I would like to see Wales win the world cup, for man united to win the champions league is the ultimate. You support them every day...

Jimmy: you got to argue you chose man united as a kid...

John: yeah I chose it

Jimmy: as a player right, if you chose one club and it doesn’t work out you can always chose another one, but with your nation your nation chooses you, it is the greatest honour that you can ever have it is for someone to turn around and chose you...

Could you argue then that that wasn’t a choice by you, for all you know you could have been born in Scotland or Belgium, that is put on you, is there more of an importance in choosing something, you didn’t chose Wales, Wales chose you, but because you chose Manchester united, do you think there is less of an emotional involvement or not?

John: I think when you choose someone, you have put yourself, I’m going to support that club or I am going to play for that club. Especially, for players, if I won something for my football team with Ac Ponty, they see their team mates every single day, they are mates...

Jimmy: The counter argument to that would be, you know, obviously yeah you chose them but my support for Wales isn’t any less than it is for man united, when I turn up to the games or watch the games on tele or whatever it is, I still feel the same way because, but if things go wrong with Wales there is no alternative that is my nation...

But is there no alternative with your club?

John: When you start supporting your club, for example if Manchester united started not playing so well or Fergie left, and we were finishing mid table, you are so much in

love with that club, you are still going to support them every single day, you are still going to be shouting at the tele, but like I said when you are winning stuff with the people you are with every single day, you get to know these people so well, it’s like family...

Jimmy: The difference is, the club one day, not in my life time, but the club could be taken away, look at Milton Keynes, once upon a time Wimbledon...

John: But there is still a Wimbledon...

Jimmy: But is a different club...

John: But they are still there now...

Jimmy: Same fans, different club...

John: But there still there now, they are coming back...

Jimmy: If they took Manchester united out of Manchester, and moved it the other side of the world...

John: That’s not going to happen...

Jimmy: You put them in a blue kit instead of a red kit, is that still Manchester united? I’d still support them but there would be a lot of fan who wouldn’t but where as Wales they can do what the hell they like to them, make them play in pink and purple for all I care, id still be there every week, because they are the welsh national team, they are still going to play in Wales, they are there for life where as Manchester united you know were Newton heath, the names change over the years...but it won’t happen in our life time and the fact of that very reason, and for that reason I put country first...

So you identify with yourself then not only as a club fan, is your glory on a bigger scale than an actually scale as Manchester united?

Jimmy: Both of them are emotional attachments, but because I had the choice of united in the first place that my choice and because I had that choice and the choice element came into it, I don’t think that can ever be something you are born into, as much as I love man united you know...

John: I feel different towards that...

Jimmy: I can understand the other point of view, because I chose it, I feel it matters more...

John: Yeah I have given myself to it, and talk about it every day, you know Wales play about 6/7 times a year...

Jimmy: You go to war you represent Wales...you don’t represent man united...

John: You represent Britain...

Ok, do you reckon buying shirts, magazines, DVDs, hats, is that enough to be a football fan?

John: No, not really...you just buy a kit...

Jimmy: not for me, but yes it is though, because without them shirts and without them fans that are like that clubs wouldn’t be as big as they are today

John: Fair enough on commercial value, but you have seen many people in china and Asia buying man united shirts...I have seen people who don’t even like football with a man united top on because they are fans?

Jimmy: I am not saying they are the same type of fans, and I am not saying it matters as much to them...they are not fans in our sense of the word...

John: A fan is a fan, you are passionate...

Jimmy: Your passionate, you can’t walk away from it, but it is still a fan...

Are there certain degrees of fans then?

Jimmy: yeah there is, but I don’t think it is fair, as much as there are certain degrees of fans I couldn’t turn around and say I’m more of a fan than you...

Why?

Jimmy: Because I couldn’t it is not fair, who am I to judge...

John: If I asked someone in the street if they are a man united fan, name me easy facts, not stupid facts, when did Sir Alex Ferguson win his first trophy...?

Jimmy: For all I know they could spend more of their time thinking about Manchester united than I do, and they might only have one shirt, its going back to our argument of going to the ground...cause they buy one shirt doesn’t make them less of a fan than I am...

John: We are on about buying shirts not going to the ground...They buy the shirt because they like the shirt, doesn’t make them a fan....

Jimmy: I couldn’t be the one to judge because I don’t know what they think about...

John: Yeah I know that but when you are around somebody you know they are a fan, and you’re in a pub you can tell, you some people have the tops on, and they are not really concentrating on the game...

Jimmy: You can tell the here and now but you can’t tell the future, you could say man united if in five years time are relegated, can you tell whether those fans would stick around, they might be the ones who still buy the shirt, but it could be some who class

themselves as diehard fans who go every week but might suddenly turn around and say oh I support Manchester city now...

Ok one word answer, if I was to ask you, is buying shirts, DVDs, magazines, posters, calendars enough to be considered a fan?

Jimmy: Yes...

John: No...

Do you believe there is a difference between a football fan and someone who is a fan of football? Is there a difference between someone who purely supports Manchester united who will only watch Manchester united games, to someone who will switch on the television and watch Brentford v Cheltenham town in league two, Swindon town vs. Crawley Town in league one, Millwall vs. Cardiff city in the championship and then Sunderland v Swansea in the premier league. Is there is a difference between those fans?

Jimmy: Yeah...

Why?

Jimmy: Because the ones who watch, truly if you are a true man united fan, if cared and it mattered to you, you would support someone...

Take me for example, I am a Manchester united fan, I will watch every united game, I will to anything man united on the television or radio, on my mobile phone app, internet. But I will still watch real Madrid, Barcelona, ac Milan, MLS, am I considered less of a fan than someone who purely watches Manchester united?

Jimmy: I’d say your more, because I don’t get how you can get to that level of obsession, addiction of a club without watching other clubs too, I don’t think that is possible...you have got to look around the leagues

John: When the champions league starts up again with the games in four slots on the last 16 Tuesday Wednesday, week after Tuesday Wednesday, I’ll watch a game on every one of those, I have seen every champions league goal this season, highlights, if you are a proper football fan you will obviously watch your club but you will notes from others clubs...

Can you differ then from someone who is a football fan and a fan of football?

John: You can and you can’t...

Jimmy: I don’t think you can be a fan of football....how can you only be a fan of football and the art of football without appreciating one club because you get drawn into it...

John: I don’t really know anyone who is just a fan of football...

Jimmy: I have never seen it maybe you can appreciate it as an art without ever following a club...

John: There is people out there, who are involved in football, are the ones who are passionate about least one club but they will take an interest in other teams...

In terms of that then, can you be considered less of a Manchester united fan if you watch games from La Liga for example?

Jimmy: If anything you are more likely to be more of a Manchester united fan, because you are taking an interest in outside...for me I am like you, but the reason I watch it, it is because I am interested in the styles...

John: The players...

Could you say then you are fans of football, not just purely football fans?

John: Yeah...

Jimmy: Yeah, I’d say if you are a pure football fan you have got to be a fan of football, the two go hand in hand, you can’t be a pure football fan without being a fan of football...

Participant 8 (Luke) Swansea - 34

Why are you a football Fan?

Umm well it’s a good question actually, living in the valleys in south Wales it is either football or rugby, umm I think for me two things had an impact on why I became a football fan, family and the school I went too. What you normally find in primary schools and comprehensive schools in the south Wales valleys is you have a tendency to have a P.E teacher who will drive rugby or drive football, and when I was in junior school we had a P.E teacher who was fanatical football fan. Much to the disappointment of P.E staff in comp schools, every P.E session we had involved a football and I think that paved the way from an early age in school. And then outside of school then my dad was a semi professional footballer, he played for Havant and Waterlooville, my grandfather was goalkeeper for Ajax and since only going back a few years ago now when I was growing up watching football, my dad was, well went from playing to coaching, from coaching to refereeing, and then from refereeing to becoming a selector for Wales and then became chief scout for Middlesbrough when they were in the premier league at the time. So there has always been football around me and I think my older cousins who got me involved in Swansea city, they actually took me down as a Christmas present when I was about 8, was the first time I was down the vetch, and that was boxing day, so was a big boxing day fixture, that was his Christmas present to me, and it went from there. So my dad has always had the TV on where it’s been football and then my cousins who are a lot older than me then took me down as a Christmas present with my uncle and it just evolved from there then. So that’s where it started so I think I grew into it rather than being introduced to it...

Do you think then being a football fan is something you are born into?

Yes I think its umm yeah cause all, well a lot of my very close friends, my best man at my wedding hates football, he cycles, I had four best men at my wedding, one of them was a season ticket holder at Cardiff city, my other best man uh played rugby for Wales, hates football, uh my other best man was a fanatic for, sorry three best men, my other best man was a cyclist, so we had a cyclist, a rugby player and a football player, all grew up in Aberdare so I think umm yeah I grew into it, it wasn’t a decision I made growing up you know, I want to do football, I want to play football, I think your schooling and the guy who likes rugby is the biggest one of the lot of us and I think growing up in school had a lot to you know, if you were selected to play for the rugby team at an early age you play for, but I think his family were big rugby fans as well and but for me it has always been football.

So why football then, what attracts you to football?

I can’t really say what attracted me to football when I first started watching it other than the fact that that was the norm. But I don’t know if that makes any sense, I don’t think I was ever old enough as a young kid to make a decision that football was the sport which was for me, you know I always had a kick about, you could play football anywhere but I don’t think I can ever remember growing up as a young kid thinking

out of all the sports out there this is the one for me, because I didn’t know any other sport.

Do you reckon there is a difference then between the sport choosing you and you choosing the sport?

Yeah probably, I mean I look at it like this right, I kayaked, and I use to kayak a lot when I was a kid, and up until the age of fourteen I used to kayak every week and that was only because I had an opportunity to go because I had a caravan down in west Wales, and there was one for sale, and then from there my dad bought me the kayak and he said listen in the summer when we are down the caravan get on the kayak, and the reason I say this is that when we came back to Aberdare I joined the canoe club, the Aberdare canoe club, and I would have never ever have thought of going, I kinda like fell into this chance, my dad had done a lot of sailing so I fell into this chance of doing this, now I didn’t fall into football, I was kind of like nurtured into football and I think the reason I say the kayak thing is because I honestly believe, and I joke about this, had I kept that up, I think at fourteen I could hand row I could do a heck of a lot, I was going down rapids I was going on the sea, it was brilliant, and the only reason I stopped is because the club stopped, it actually went an hour later, and I was too young to be going out at twenty to eleven at night then, and I watched the Olympics in the summer and people doing sports in the Olympics which I had never ever ever had the opportunity to do, and I don’t think it comes as a surprise when you see some people who do really well, it’s a family thing, parents had done it so they introduced their children into that sport, you know, and I think for me with football and watching football, I was what my dad had introduced to me, so I was never going to have an opportunity to do the triple jump or be a pole vaulter, or any of those others, the shooting or sports which are not deemed being your traditional sports which you pick up in school so I think for me, yeah it was what I knew, I was what I used to sit down with my dad and watch match of the day, id watch match of the day, there was no sky then.

I would go and watch my dad play football, when I was six, he would take me down there so I use to stand in Aberdare on a Saturday afternoon, watch a football being kicked, I used to kick a football with my dad, so I think, it’s tough to say whether the sport chooses me or I choose the sport, because really I guess I could have decided to grow out of it but you know for me, when I started playing the involvement of following a team, now it was the following of the football team which really cemented my love for the game then umm, I know a couple of mates of mine who play football but they don’t really follow anybody, umm so can really take it or leave it in some respects but they enjoy the game but when I was enjoying football, and playing in school, I was never any good though, umm and I went down the coaching route in the end which I was much better at, but then the football team, of a team appeared, I always supported a premier league club, in junior school, there was only two to choose from, Liverpool and Everton, they were the big teams in the eighties but then I realised then that there were other teams out there, and when my cousin took me down, you know I can actually go and watch these, and that’s when, I suppose the seed was planted then I didn’t realise it at time, but that seed which got planted was you know your passion then and your support for that club, I don’t think it was until I was the age of I don’t know maybe fifteen sixteen that I realised you know I think I had to write down my hobby on one of my CV’s when you do your practice CV’s, and

on my hobby I said following Swansea city football club and I think that might have been the first time I thought actually that is what I enjoy doing you know, I thought you don’t enjoy watching Swansea city football, I have never said that before but then all of a sudden it became real. So that was around the age of yeah fourteen, fifteen really that I, I guess it was umm it started to not took over but I had a vested interest in something and it was a football team, that was my interest.

So you feel it was an emotional connection then?

Do you know what right, YEAH, well not then, it wasn’t so much, I guess I was too young to feel the emotion then but it was more enjoyment, that’s what I enjoyed doing. Now since I have been getting older that emotion of enjoyment has turned well it’s gone in all different directions and that’s purely through what I feel about that football club. Now that could be, people think I am a little bit barmy with regards to that but you know I don’t think so because it’s a passion that I have and I know some people have said I would love to have a passion like you have for your sport in anything, umm I couldn’t live without that passion for my team now you know, that’s how it is, but umm yeah I wouldn’t change it though.

What do you friends and family feel about you being a football fan?

My wife thinks I’m nuts. Umm or luckily she knew me as a football fan before we married so she knows she takes it as a bit of a joke, umm my sister rolls her eyes, but I have been a football fan twenty, I’m 34, and I went down when I was eight, so I say I went down at eight I wasn’t a season ticket holder, I started going down proper at the age of fourteen, thirteen, fourteen. If I started at fourteen, I think what’s that, eighteen years, and I’m only thirty four so eighteen solid years I’ve watched Swansea city play umm now out of all those years watching Swansea city play, it’s only been in the past two years we have been in the premier league, ten years and three weeks ago we were rock bottom of division three, playing in the game of our lives against hull city to stay in the league that’s all I ever knew, now unlike you speak to some fans who follow the likes of united, arsenal, Liverpool, they have always been, they don’t know anything other than being consistently good, now I don’t know anything other than being consistently bad, yet in the past five years out of eighteen, we have started, I remember going to watch Notts county on a Tuesday night, I counted the fans there, there was sixty, that’s a guess but I counted them, and we lost 3-1 in a meaningless divisions three game, old school division three, and we got back in the car, I was seventeen at the time and one of my best mates who was a Swansea fan he had a car, he was one of the first to drive so we used to go, Mitch off afternoon school and go. And we did, and the only reason I used to get away with it was because my D&T teacher at the time was a Swansea fan and he always used to say I’ll let you go off if you get me a programme, so we used to go. I have done loads, we used to drive up, and there was no sat nav, I don’t think I had a mobile phone then and we used to do the away trips, petrol was cheap then you know, I done millwall on a Tuesday night in the cup, Norwich, Notts County, I have been everywhere, I have done more lower league games than, I remember standing on the away games with sixty people, I remember standing down the vetch umm and it was a fiver to get in, using my NUS card, average attendance then of maybe 4,000, and on a good day 6,000, and I’m going to Wembley now at the end of the month where there will be 90,000 there, and there will be 32,000 Swansea fans, I

went to the reading game with 45,000 Swansea fans, our average attendance now at home now is a sell out, if we had a 35,000 seater stadium it would be a sell out, but I remember standing on the terraces when there would be 4,000, you know, I think it’s been amazing journey, so really quick for us and me as a fan, umm that in itself playing havoc really because I am not used to this on the TV all the time its umm it’s a bit weird actually.

In terms then, going off the books of my questions, terms of your experience as a fan then do you think seeing your team go from nothing to the premier league, does that reinforce yourself as being a fan?

Yeah, if someone wants to get under my skin and call me a glory hunter, and the only people who say that through tongue in cheek but the fact that I watched my, I feel quite proud that there was a hand full of people around me, you know Leyton orient boxing day lost 3-1, great day because we scored first you know, stood in the rain on the side of Brisbane road, but the fact that I was there, don’t get me wrong in the eighties Swansea were up in division one, the only club to go 4,3,2,1 with Toshack and then 1,2,3,4 but fans disappear and when those fans disappear you are left with your hardcore supporters and obviously there was hardcore supporters from the eighties then there was your new, I think for me becoming a fan of a club when they were rubbish was the best thing for me I think you know I like the fact that I was there. But those moments, you know, when you have gone through the bad times you appreciate the good times. I don’t think a lot of people appreciate how it is for Swansea right now, I appreciate how good it is, umm but yeah it does make you appreciate it more, I certainly do anyway, in a daft thing I don’t enjoy the game no more, I don’t enjoy football o a match day now cause it’s so stressed out, I watched us smash teams in the lower leagues, I’ve watched us have 50 shots on target in lower leagues, I’ve watched other teams batter us but not put the ball in the back of the net, you get to the premier league I have watched us have a corner and in ten seconds the other team have gone up and scored, I watched us be 3-0 down in a blink of an eye that was home to Norwich city a couple months a ago, I’ve watched us get absolutely smashed off the park and for the ninety minutes I don’t enjoy my football no more, even if we are 1nil up or 2 nil up the other team could still come back, and think that’s is just how important it is to be in the premier league because it is sad really because, I am only happy when the final whistle goes so I don’t really remember much of the game, when we played Chelsea couple of weeks ago in semi final, never been to a cup final before, a big one you know, only auto glass, Johnstone paint trophy, hated the ninety minutes, hated it, umm guy got sent off ten minutes to go, I could breathe a little bit, umm I think my heartbeat was 120 a minute, and that’s the truth that is, it averages about 80 90 in a game anyway, and I’m not going to enjoy the final now because we are favourites against Bradford, so I’m not going to enjoy it because if we lose I don’t think I could live with that, if we win, we are expected to win so, it’s kind of a bit of a raw deal there for us, but if we win it, it will be brilliant for us, Europa league football next season. I don’t know, if we lose I won’t watch match of the day, I won’t watch goals on Sunday following day, I hate watching my club on TV if we lose, I won’t buy the Sunday paper, read observer and guardian but won’t read nothing else I don’t like them, and if we do win then I’m all over twitter seeing what people wrote, hash tag Swansea city, there is no better feeling than when somebody from another team commends you, I stood in the away end at Anfield where we got clapped off twice, we drew nil nil first season in the

league, the kop clapped us off, Liverpool had gone, we were there, we went up there beat them three one, I went up there with PARTICIPNAT 4, umm and they clapped us off again, it was brilliant, it was brilliant to be clapped off, that don’t happen often you know, Liverpool have a, they know their football Liverpool, and yeah so it really weird, all my friends who are Cardiff fans say it must be brilliant to be in the premier league, no I said enjoy winning now because it’s not like that, and it’s a sad fact you know, you know you go on a message board, you listen to the manager speak, chasing forty point forty points forty points, as soon as we get forty points we can breathe because we have survive another season, I mean I didn’t think that being a football fan for eighteen years would build up to a point whereby I would only get satisfaction from achieving forty points, you know, that just shows, I could go gone forever, but that just shows the massive gulf in the premier league, clubs who stay in the premier this year get up to seventy million pound, thanks to sky TV rights and if you get relegated you get parachute payments of fifty sixty million pound umm and that’s why everybody says about tony Fernandez at QPR, I’m sorry I know I’m going off but tony Fernandez at QPR says you are paying Chris samba hundred thousand pound a week and you bought him for twelve million pound well if QPR get relegated, number one there is probably a clause in his contract which means he can walk or he will get payed championship wages not premier league wages, and number two if they do get relegated they get parachute payments of fifty sixty million, which would cover Chris samba and his wages anyway, so I don’t see why. I just think it’s daft. He is not using his own money, he is using the clubs money which is a big gamble which is why a lot of people would like to see QPR fail, because that is not the way to run a football club, which on the opposite side the way Swansea are doing it is good but the issue you got with that is as a football fan do I want to see my club in the black with a couple of quid but in ninth, or do I want to see my club in first place like united but four hundred and fifty million pound in debt, and I think that is big question you got to ask yourself as well, you ask a man united fan when they are picking up a premier league trophy at the end of the season I think they would prefer that. Nobody is going to remember me and my club who has got money but I think that is another thing again you know, if you want to do another dissertation, Michele Platini cause he wanted to introduce a Uefa ruling, which they haven’t back that, I think the brand and the identity of everything about football is just too big now and umm I think there is a lot to be said for, my wife is Canadian so I spend a lot of time in Canada, and I could never ever understand the NFL, or I couldn’t never ever understand NHL the hockey, the basketball, no relegation and no promotion, so I said to the boys I said, listen I said, how can you be fanatical about a side that is not going to get relegated, and they were like I don’t know what you mean, I said you maybe within the first ten or fifty games of the season, they play a lot of a lot of games over there don’t get me wrong, so let’s be superficial, you know over a matter of time, if you’re in the bottom half, that’s it your season is done, eastern province, western province whatever your season is done, I said over in the uk you are in an exciting battle as to whether you stay up or going down, and they could bring in the geography and the logistics, but they said to me you know what though, i don’t know much about football but I know there is four clubs out of twenty teams that always win the premier league, whereas in the states everybody gets a chance because they get the draft, so you got to question whether or not you know, is the introduction of a draft system over here mean that you wouldn’t have the likes of man united ruling and Chelsea and man city just because they are super rich, it seems to me now what comes with being a football fan is having an chairman from the middle east

or far east, man city last season bought the title, without a shadow of a doubt, is that what football is all about, it’s not but there is not much you can do about that.

You said you attend games at the stadium, obviously when they had the vetch and the liberty stadium, do you reckon there is a difference between people who attend the games and people who don’t?

Umm, I think, you got to be fanatical because that is where the term fan comes from, umm I could potential, the fan that goes every now and again in and out, the fan who will be clambering over to getting a ticket for Wembley, I don’t think that fan would cry on the final whistle if we beat Bradford. I would, I cried when we got promoted against reading, perhaps not everybody cried but I did, but umm you go every week you do anything, any sport, if you go to any sport every week and you pay and I’ll summarise this because this is where it doesn’t make sense, I pay a lot of a lot of money for something that isn’t necessarily going to make me feel happy at the end of the day, you put that into any other context, and that is not going to make any sense but for me that’s just a little part of the bubble of the passion because I will cling on to the fact that feeling of where I was at Cheltenham town, Torquay, Exeter, Newcastle, I flew up and back in a day, cost me a fortunate but it’s those games, you could lose five on the bounce yet you go to an away game and you score in the 89th minute, you will realise why you follow football, umm the fact that I get so angry when we lose, I don’t get aggressive angry, its more frustrated and down when we lose, there is also I love that, I don’t enjoy it but it makes you realise, good god I must be crazy being a football fan because why should something get me this upset and it does, but its win you have those moments when you win, and you pull that draw back, anything like that you know, that’s when you know it’s worthwhile, umm those moments are the special moments and that’s what I enjoy, but I couldn’t be a fan that goes in and out though, I don’t Paul is a Liverpool fan, he would go up to Anfield every week if he could but because of geography it dictates that he can’t, geography didn’t dictate why I didn’t support Everton or Swansea, cause I know boys from Aberdare who are season ticket holders for united, I know two boys from school, one is season ticket holder for united and one for Liverpool, so I don’t know I just don’t think maybe umm people have got that really. I don’t understand those fans, if we got relegated we would lose a lot of fans, when Leeds united when they we top of the league had 40,000 in their stadium, now they don’t open the top section, I have been there in a cheese wedge in the corner and the stadium is huge but empty, Middlesbrough, riverside empty, but premier league Full, you need those fans though because without those fans Swansea would only have three thousand in the stadium, you need those fans, and I think those fans you could argue those are the ones who are normal cause they are not going to waste their money, they only want to see a winning team umm but that for me is not, they are sports fans they enjoy watching, I know a lot of people who bought season tickets just to watch the big games, I don’t care what the game is I’ll go, I don’t care who we are playing, it is nice to see those big teams but I go to any one but I think that is the difference, you got a fan who wants to win and you got the fan who goes win lose or draw, I think that is how you can divide those supporters.

So do you let football intervene with your daily routine?

Yeah, yeah I would, I have done, umm I mean from a professional point of view being a teacher you know no but things I have done, on the weekend, I am a season ticket holder so football first, I remember Wales playing international six nations, but Swansea were playing at home, its football. in fact I had a good conversation with somebody once going, off the point on but I’ll come back to that, he was a crystal palace fan and he was a big England fan as well and he said to me, wouldn’t you just love it for Wales to get to the world cup, I said I would actually but I would take Swansea city taking the premier league over Wales winning the world cup, and I think might go some way to describing what type of football fan I am, I chose to follow Swansea, I didn’t chose to follow Wales and because of that that’s mine, it’s a decision I made, and I don’t know how many football fans would say that, would you prefer your club to win over your country, I prefer my club, daft one. But going back, yeah I wouldn’t be one of these, maybe I am and I just don’t know it.

Does it disrupt your working routine then?

Yeah, Sunday afternoon I wouldn’t be upstairs marking if the premier league is on, I’ll watch the game, I don’t care who is playing, cause it doesn’t have to be my side, I’ll watch football, I’ll watch Serie A, I’ll watch any game, any country, any league in the world I’ll watch, umm I think I would book time off to go, in fact, if Swansea city beat Bradford on the 24th February, I will be writing a letter to my headmaster asking him for unpaid leave to go to Europe to watch my club, so that’s what I would, whether or not he lets me is another thing, but that would be the length I would go and I would ask him, I would go unpaid.

So there is not a split term of personality, you don’t see yourself as Participant 5 the football fan and Participant 5 the teacher, you see yourself as both, as just one entity?

Yeah, I think, everybody, loads of people in work got a love for something and umm my love is watching Swansea play, how much of that comes in to my everyday life is, yeah I told my wife tongue in cheek I would never move to Cardiff, and I wouldn’t, which is daft but anyway you know, I mean it does dictate it sometime I suppose, cause I have been fanatical for so long that is my routine, I had a meeting Wednesday night in school, I left the meeting early because we were playing, when I joined the senior management team and the meetings were o n a Tuesday night and I hope and prayed that they change the meeting and they did, changed it to a Wednesday night which meant I could go watch Swansea on the Tuesday, not that it would have made a difference I would have asked to have left, umm I don’t think there is anything wrong with that, so other than that, if the swans are on I’m there. So there has never really been, stop what I’m doing, because I would be there anyway.

So do you think it is essential to keep up to date then with your club/team through the media, like through internet, apps on your phone? Is it essential for a fan to have that knowledge?

I used to go on a few forums, I don’t now, I think the whole social media is horrible, umm I think its poisonous, I think the issues you have with social media, the bad

things that happen with social media are just evident, sky sports news, Jim white, it’s a circus, it never used to be like that, umm twitter, a friend of mine he is a referee in the welsh league and it kills him because you watch a game with 54 camera angles or so, course they are going to pick up a mistake, never used to before, umm, on twitter I follow 205 people, I also follow journalists, I don’t follow football players really, I follow a couple from my club but it’s the journalists I follow, because they get the breaking news or there is something, there is good journalists out there. I mean, I pay for sky, I suppose I’m a bit of a hypocrite really cause on the one hand I’m saying there can be too much with sky sports news but if my wife is not here I’ll have sky sports news on and I’ll have it on all day, and I know after 20minutes it is just repeating itself, but it is still on, so I can’t get away from it, it’s always on, you know, driving away from football, there is no better feeling than driving home from football with a gang of boys and you put the radio on, five live, talk sport, and you listen to them talk about my team, when I first met my wife, I came back from watching Swansea play, she said what you watching on TV, I said Swansea game, and she said you just been down to watch it, and I was like, I can’t explain that to you but I am watching it again, it doesn’t make sense, but I don’t know, she said you wouldn’t watch a movie twice and I wouldn’t, I can’t think of nothing worse, my friend been to cinema twice to see django unchained, he said I'm going again with my dad, I said you just watched it, he said yeah but I’m going to watch it again, I said I couldn’t think of nothing more stupid, yet I could stand there watch a football game for ninety minutes then come home and watch it again, on TV, yet I won’t watch it when we lose, I enjoy it when we win though, I don’t know how many times I have watched the playoff game against reading, every time I used to go out on a Saturday night and come in after a few beers and watch the game, ten minutes, thirty minutes, forty five minutes, and then we went 3-2 in the eighty first minute, and then Fabio Borini, penalty Scott Sinclair 4-2, I must have watched it about ten times and my wife taped over it, deleted by mistake, I think it’s a funny one social media, you know your football fan will hate it, everybody know everybody in football, you know the team sheet you know somebody is injured, you the rumours and however much you knock it, every football fan does it, it’s like it is here to stay so like it or lump it its still going to be here so if you can’t beat them join them. I think it is the same with anything though too much exposure, I think if you look at sky news, it sad really, the exposure with things on sky news, and this probably has nothing to do with your study, sky news will always look for that yellow scroll bar at the bottom and we live a life where we want to be the first to see things whatever it is, you know we want to be the first we want to be the first, sky sports Jim white was loving it when odemwingie was rolling up in his car, they repeated that, they want to be the first thing, at the end of the day what happened, nothing happened Jermaine Jenas joined QPR that’s it. So five hours on a countdown clock for Jermaine Jenas to join QPR on a free from spurs. And I think that’s how it is now all media driven.

Do you believe it depends on your level of how deep you are as a fan to how much you let media influence your decision as a fan?

No, depends what league you are in, watching Swansea city from division three to where we are now, I would have to read a three line cut out at the back page of national tabloid, the guardian and Sunday observer do not even comment on league 1 or 2 really, umm maybe a paragraph, championship a little bit, but it wasn’t until we go to the premier league that we became big news, because in a funny way that is

brilliant because we were never talked about, but now we are talked about and that is nice, but also I don’t people talking about Michu, talking about Scott Sinclair last season, Joe Allen, our goalkeeper, Steven caulker who come down from spurs who had an amazing season, every week caulker this caulker that, twitter, media, it was inevitably that he was staying at spurs because we could have had him for another year, with media everybody was eyes wide open, I don’t think you need to be a scout anymore really because you just let TV do the talking umm and think that’s all you need to do. It’s out there, I remember I joked when we got to the premier league I was going to buy a Panini sticker album, and for the first time in my life, open it up and have my team in there and complete the album and put it away for keeping then. Just things like that, you watch premier league review you know your team is going to be on there, umm you know there is going to be a big cut out on your team, you know they are going to feature a lot on Stan Collymore on talk sport, 606 with Robbie savage, it is nice to hear your team talked about, but at the same time when the going is good for the club, we are a selling club at the end of the day, you know sometimes you don’t want people to big you up too much, just get on with it.

Does it matter then to a fan whether, how much media influences your club then, as a fan then do you need that media? Do you need that information as a collective or individual to be classed as a fan?

No, you look at the incident with the ball boy and that was all over twitter, the news, it went global, I mean that’s the last thing my club wants, first final we got to and that wasn’t what come out of someone’s mouth you know, umm you don’t need that, I don’t need that, I used to watch Swansea city play when I didn’t know the team sheet until it came out over the tannoy at ten to three. I know the team sheet now an hour before, a player could tweet he is injured, you know, people got their little moles in the club, umm so takes away that element of surprise I guess, when I watched football, football was a game now it is a business, and I think because, especially in the premier league, the model of how things are done changes, and I think you got to just adapt to it, I’m watching a guy that is on the pitch on 40/50 grand a week, and I’m not even on that a year, umm so the whole model of football and the media and how its portrayed I think for me, it was never there when I followed my club, I suppose if you ask a fan who is young now, you got your Liverpool TV, you got your things through the net, you can sign up to Swansea iplayer with the interviews, if you have grown up in this era where everything is on your phone, on an app, android or smart phone, TV, sky sports, online, and then take it all away perhaps you would be lost but its global brand, Swansea now got fans over in Denmark, cause of Michael Laudrap, fans in Korea because of our new midfielder, umm I think for them if that’s what it takes to make my club bigger then so be it. I just want to be sure no matter how big we get, I’ll still have my season ticket that is all that matters to me.

So how would you describe your identity as a football fan then? How would you identify with being a football fan? Is buying shirts, magazines, DVDs, calendars, posters, would that class me as a fan?

No, I have only ever bought two shirts in my life, I got four shirts upstairs signed, and I got a flag in my garage that is forty foot long and thirty foot high. I never bought a DVD, of a season, umm although my cousins kid I bought loads for him but I love doing that umm my identity for me personally is as long as I had a scarf, that was

enough for me, there was never a need to have to own a shirt but then I put that down to, I’m 34 now, shirt was always good when I was a kid, I don’t need a shirt now, since we got to the premier league I had to buy a shirt to get the premier league badges, but then that is upstairs that’s framed, not yet but that will be framed, I don’t think umm what would classify, I look at Borussia Dortmund, every fan in that away end, Newcastle fan they all got they kit on, Borussia Dortmund in that yellow and black and it looks amazing, I mean for me personally to call yourself fan you go and watch the team play, now if that means you wear your colours great if it means you don’t then you don’t, I got a guy who sits behind me and he was a Swansea fan long before Toshack era and he don’t shout and sing like I do but he is not any less of a fan than I am umm you know, the south section which is full of family and children but the west section which is more your reserved kind of fans, then the east stand where I am, and you cannot say they are the most passionate fans cause they are not, they are the more vocal but that doesn’t make any one of us in that stadium any less of a fan, if though we shoot down the divisions and fans disappear, the guy singing next to me might disappear but the guy who sits in the south stand or west stand with his kid who doesn’t sing or clap, he is just as might of a fan as what I am so I don’t think I could line up twenty Swansea fans and say your fan, you are not, you’re a fan, your fan, you are not, but then again you could also bring in the finance part you know, I can never afford to go to games, I can never afford to go to away games, so I don’t know, but for me personally though, being a fan you are either an armchair football fan or a fan who is at the ground, some people who are unfortunate that they can’t get to the ground, they can only watch their team via the armchair and I say hard luck boy, if that’s what you want to enjoy then that’s up to you, for me I couldn’t do that umm I hate watching Swansea on sky I cant, but I think that’s just cause I feel if I’m there I got some sort of control, if I shout at my defender loud enough he will make a decision to pass the centre back instead of hoofing it, but then you got your other fans who follow their club through sky and who are passionate and will say they are as passionate as me and I can’t deny, I cant say that they are not, it is a tough one really, umm it is a tough one, I am under no illusion you ask that to somebody else they will give you a different answer, but for me, if I had to write my own dictionary definition of a football fan, it would be to be there when they win, when they lose or when they draw, and still be there through relegation or promotion, that is what a football fan is.

Whether or no they can make it to the stadium? For example, if someone lives in south Wales and a Manchester united fan whether united get relegated, and they go all the way down to league two but still support then yet still can’t make it to the stadium but they can watch it on the tele?

I think that brings me back to the very first point you made right, what got me into watching football, watching Swansea city, wasn’t a geographically thing for me it was a family thing which led me to Swansea, this is Swansea son, this is your team because Aberdare is 90% Cardiff fans, so all my mates are Cardiff fans, and it’s always been a nightmare and its always been why did you decide to be a jack, and my answer wasn’t my choice, my cousin took me down and before I knew it I was there watching them, had my cousin not taken me down god forbid I couldn’t have gone to see Cardiff play. Thankfully, my cousin took me down, it’s weird though, everybody says, Paul is a massive Liverpool fan, and I cannot say he is any less of a football fan because he doesn’t go to the games or have a season ticket, you know

the old cliché songs support your local, I remember at old Trafford and I shouted at man united fans, when it came over the tanoy could the representative of the Devon and Cornwall united supporters club, we all burst out laughing and singing we support our local team why don’t you support man city or Stockport or Oldham you know, but at the end of the day you support who you want, the reason why we support our local team is cause it is easier for me to get to that team, if I wanted to support my local team why aren’t I supporting Merthyr Tydfil in old Beazer homes league, so I think you can turn that around to anybody and they lived in moss side down the road from Maine road you know, if you lived in Salford and old Trafford was there, living by Stanley park and Liverpool and Everton, if you take geography out of the equation and I think it either be a family reason or how successful that club was at the time, why they support, that would be my reasoning of how you class a fan and why you support that team, geography to sum that up, it would be wrong of me to think, I’m under no illusions there are more fanatics than me who can’t get to watch their team play but I think it would be unfair for me to say that geography would dictate how much of a fan you can be, I think that would be wrong, because if you asked them what’s the one thing they hate about supporting their club they would say not being able to watch them, so I just count myself lucky that I can watch them.

Last question then do you believe there is a difference then between someone who is a football fan and a fan of football? Can you still be a Swansea city supporter and still watch ac Milan, real Madrid etc? Can you only just watch one club or are we all fans of football?

No, we are all fans of football but I don’t think all fans of football are as fanatical as fans of teams, I think, I love Swansea, I love football, so I watch football, but I don’t think, I think, how can I say this a fan of the game, what they are missing is that passion and an identity which links them to a club, whereas you got, I don’t think there is any football fan out there who won’t be watching man united against Everton next Sunday cause it is on, I go up the pub on a Sunday afternoon and it full for super Sunday, they aren’t there for a team but they love football but each of those boys are passionate about a side, so I think umm following a team allows you to enjoy football, I don’t think I have ever met anybody who doesn’t enjoy watching anybody other than their team, I don’t I ever have, I watch games, I watched spurs play West Brom, and I wanted spurs to win otherwise West Brom go above Swansea, so I mean champions league everybody will route for someone umm you know I would always route for the underdog and then I would always route for the side then because they beat my mates team so I could bug him, cause I know what it feels like to lose, so, yeah I think if you’re a football fan, you will definite watch anything, I know I would anyway...