The increasing insecurity in the English society is countered by a resurgence of nostalgia and remembering the old times. This phenomenon can be found in football, too, but it differs from the need for nostalgia that is visible in society. High Street shops like Past Times are hugely successful in selling commodities that remember the English Commonwealth with goods from the countries that once belonged to it. Also, this becomes visible by the many replica items of daily life that are designed in a retro style but contain modern technology such as radios, watches, alarm clocks and furniture. Football fans can purchase replica shirts of their favourite club from the seventies and even earlier.In the field of football, the introduction of the Premier League in England has changed the face of football massively. After the Heysel and Hillsborough disasters football fans got active themselves and started to publish football fanzines. In these outlets they mostly opposed the view that every football fan is a hooligan. They also used football fanzines as a platform to remember their heroes and glories of eras long gone. For this reason cultures of memory did become a part of football fanzines and did so very vivid.

This book examines the topic of identity and collective memory in football fandom. Drawing on global research in history, sociology and political science, the book looks at how, where and why football fans and supporters’ groups introduce particular role models into their self-identity and performative narratives. The book presents original, cutting-edge research that illustrates the complex, multidimensional nature of the (re-)formulation of collective memory and the elevation of role models. It looks at the processes by which some supporters’ groups celebrate historical and contemporary figures – including political leaders, warriors, revolutionaries, or armed resistance groups – that they believe embody patriotic, regional or nationalist virtues, as well as supporters’ groups who define their patriotism in opposition to these figures. The book presents cases ranging from Ukrainian football ultras in the shadow of Russian aggression, and Jewish role models in Germany’s collective football memory, to the symbology of Che Guevara and Diego Maradona in Brazilian and Argentinian football, to hero formation and the myths of national identity in Australian football. This is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the sociology, culture or politics of sport, or in fandom, identity, nationalism more broadly in sociology, political science or history.

CSA Sociological Abstracts abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,800+ serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers.

The increasing insecurity in the English society is countered by a resurgence of nostalgia and remembering the old times. This phenomenon can be found in football, too, but it differs from the need for nostalgia that is visible in society. High Street shops like Past Times are hugely successful in selling commodities that remember the English Commonwealth with goods from the countries that once belonged to it. Also, this becomes visible by the many replica items of daily life that are designed in a retro style but contain modern technology such as radios, watches, alarm clocks and furniture. Football fans can purchase replica shirts of their favourite club from the seventies and even earlier. In the field of football, the introduction of the Premier League in England has changed the face of football massively. After the Heysel and Hillsborough disasters football fans got active themselves and started to publish football fanzines. In these outlets they mostly opposed the view that every football fan is a hooligan. They also used football fanzines as a platform to remember their heroes and glories of eras long gone. For this reason cultures of memory did become a part of football fanzines and did so very vivid.

Sociology of Sport and Social Theory presents current research perspectives from major sport scholars and leading sociologists regarding issues germane to the sociology of sport while addressing traditional and contemporary sociological theories.

Examining the ways in which media sport has insinuated itself into contemporary everyday life, this book traces the rise of the sports media and the economic and political influences on and implications of the media sports cultural complex.

Content analysis is a complex research methodology. This book provides an accessible text for upper level undergraduates and graduate students, comprising step-by-step instructions and practical advice.