thefandomofbritishfootball.com
Fans Devotion
Superstitions:
Fan’s devotion to their team can be seen through a variety of ways, one being superstitions. Superstitions are something that are beliefs or practices that are attributed to fate. For fans, this can be acts of good luck or things they don’t do in case of bad luck. Fans repeat certain acts that they felt contributed to the win and continue to do so until felt otherwise. For example, a fan supporting the Arsenal football club stated that his superstition for the games includes “anything from drinking two pints of beer before a match, to having a certain pack of crisps at halftime” (Dóczi et al., 2009, 36). We even see that fans commit to the superstition so much that “a study of 2,000 football fans revealed wearing your team’s scarf, watching a match with the same people and meeting at the same pub for a game were other practices carried out by football-loving Brits” (Richmond, 2021). They mentioned that they felt that if they weren’t it would be a reason for the team’s defeat. This is an aspect of folklore and specifically this folk group of fans because of the idea of beliefs bringing the community together which is what these superstitions do.
Traditions:
Fan’s devotion can also be seen through traditions. “Participating and sharing in a particular group’s traditions allows members of the group to feel they are a part of it” (Sims and Stephens, 2011, 71), which is a crucial aspect of a folk group and groups of fans. These are things that bring the group together through social interaction and common interests. “Repetition is important in establishing continuity, since a group repeats something because it matters to the group; if it isn’t meaningful, it won’t be repeated, and if it isn’t repeated, it won’t become a tradition” (Sims and Stephens, 2011, 70-71). This can be seen through wearing certain colors, waving banners and flags, and singing/chanting certain things as a folk group. Many examples of tradition through chants of British football fans are found in almost every club expressing their form of identity as a folk group and showing that they are proud to be devoted fans. Fans devote a lot of time and money to being a supporter of their team and doing certain events that are traditions for the folk group. An example of a tradition “is the pub crawl when friends go to pubs before and after the matches” (Dóczi, et al., 2009, 36). Some even mentioned that a specific drink is part of the tradition and only done in this type of setting.​