Behaviors, Attitudes and Identities of Football Sports Fans - Term Paper Example

Sports Fans and Audiences: Football Introduction The canvas of sports following throughout the globe is expanding. The major reasons of increase in sports following is due to the role of media and internet. People tend to follow sports for entertainment purposes primarily but sooner they become a part of splinter group or division. Football is the most played and watched sports in the world because of its prestigious history and convenient accessibility. European countries enhanced and flourished this game by introducing football leagues. The purpose of these leagues remained to build social bonding between players of different countries and present better version of the game. The induction of premiere football leagues initiative sooner widespread in the world. The major region still remained Europe where football flourished by leaps and bounds (Szymanski, 2010). Football clubs started to make an impact on the society rapidly. Initially the supporters of football clubs were principally the residents of specific city or locality but sooner popularity of football clubs prolonged in the countries. Sports news on print and electronic media started to influence and club football matches started to telecast on televisions. The hype and advertisement of football clubs lingered all over the globe and people started to follow football religiously. Currently it is estimated that more than half population of the world leans to follow football (Leeson, 2012). The behaviors of people due to football following have been changed. People defend their respective football clubs religiously and don’t want to hear anything bad about it. Violence and fights are common among football fans because of psychological intensity. The purpose of this study is to scrutinize sports fans behaviors, attitudes, identities and characteristics. What are the pragmatic constituents due to which rivalry between football clubs and nations occur and what sorts of impact prevail on the mind of individuals. Cultural paradigm, contention, psychological and physical violence along with critical analysis is elaborated for precise understanding. Football Following The fan following of football is tremendous and elevated than any other sports on earth. Followers of football are found in every country, every nation and among all localities. It is also one of the most played games in the world. The component uplifting the sphere remains dynamical and fibrous spirit of the game. The followers of football are intransigent fans of their respective club sides. The following leads to several advantages and disadvantages for the clubs. The profitability element by selling tickets of matches is always there. Moreover fans tend to purchase products of their clubs. It is deemed that the fans of football are blind followers of their teams due to which problem arises in the ground sometimes (Andreff and Szymanski, 2009). The atmosphere prevalent in the stadium enthralls crowd massively due to which fights start. Verbal violence is very common among the crowd however physical problem can be seen too. The fans of football love their respective team so much that even sometimes spontaneous deaths occur. They cannot see their side losing matches. The players of the clubs are also given special importance. People follow them like religious individuals. David Beckham of England played for Manchester United and is known as one of the most popular players of the world. His elegance, style and even hair cut were copied throughout the globe. He was known as the chocolate boy of football and got immense popularity. He is also known as the player of having the most fans following in the world (Frosdick and Marsh, 2013). Cultural Paradigm The cultural aspect has colossal significance while discussing football. The football culture is paramount in Europe primarily. Some parts of Asia, Africa and America have great interest in the game too but European countries fundamentally have football crown. The influence of European countries on FIFA is therefore considerable. The football rules and regulations are regulated by FIFA but the impact of European countries is substantial. Within the cultural context; Europeans inclining behavior on football is preeminent. In Europe football is the only game which is cherished by the masses. Some of the Europeans individual’s perception may differ but overall on the broader canvas European people follow football devotedly (Tsoukala, 2009). In Europe, football fans sing several songs to encourage their team which is known as ‘chants’. The term refers to the creation of songs impulsively in the stadiums. It is part of the traditional European football culture. In England, watching football games is associated with conventional foot ingestion in the ground. Bovril and meat pies are highly appraised food in United Kingdom while watching matches. The experience of watching game is eventually converted into best practice of time by eating meat pies along with Bovril (Chakraborty, 2011). Alcohol is also sold in stadiums for the entertainment purposes. The outcomes obtained through selling of alcohol in stadiums are not promising but due to great demand by the customers; officials cannot ban it. In United Kingdom, all stadiums allow selling of alcohol, while in Scotland selling of alcohol is banned (Szymanski, 2010). The debate over selling alcohol in stadiums is under great pressure because several analysts are against it and numerous with it. The pragmatic element suggests that already hype and atmosphere of the stadium is too much that people are not their full senses. Especially in the matches against rivals, behavior and attitudes of masses is hostile. Drinking alcohol in such circumstances would lay negative impact on the mind more. They would enhance further and many hurt individuals too (Rouvrais-Charron and Durand, 2009). The disasters occurred previously during football matches indicate that culprits were found mostly drunk. The people against alcohol ban affiliate it with culture and deem it as the attack on luxurious football culture. People come into stadiums for entertainment purposes and alcohol is one of the biggest sources of getting fun therefore it should not be banned (Andreff and Szymanski, 2009). Fan Characteristics It is exalted that the language of football is universal; understood and spoken in the same way. The characteristics of fans are pretty interesting and unlike any other sports fans of the world. The fans of football are of all ages, different ethnicities and have various interesting behaviors. They love and respect their respective team and its members. The feelings and expressions of football fans are more or same as they follow their teams by heart (Tsoukala, 2011). The variation in the level of following teams may differ but enthusiasm level is superlative of all fans while watching the game. Several psychological studies have been done on the characteristics of football fans which depict that fans cannot see their team losing. The patience level of football fans is very less. The tremendous exaggerated scenarios in the stadiums specially motivate individuals greatly therefore unavoidable circumstances sometimes occur on football grounds (Eliasson, 2009). The media is the main body that regulates the spectrum of excitement and publicity. Ordinary sides’ matches are even made important through advertising. Important league matches are too much advertised that everybody willingly or unwillingly becomes a part of it. The circumstance at home environment is the same as in stadiums. People follow matches consistently. Mental tension and heart pulse rate increase as the match starts. True fans support and love their team even if they win or lose however some diehard fans died after watching their teams losing (Frosdick and Marsh, 2013). Football Hooligans The term ‘Hooliganism’ is specially referred to football violence. The infatuation of fans in their teams, clubs and players caused this mechanism due to which physical violence takes place. The hooligans are formed into the society now and small hooligan associations support their football sides passionately and curse for rival sides too. In case of losing game or having terrible circumstances, hooligans start fighting in the stadiums. Several disasters have been taken place due to football hooligans. The Football War and Heysel Stadium disaster are renowned events in which hooligans participated massively. The killing of fans in this hooligan warfare has occurred too. In case of verbal abuse to their club side; hooligan communities tend to murder the individuals. The football hooligans are found enormously in European countries (Guardian, 2012). The main inspiring body motivating hooligans is their utmost love and worship for their side. Killing individuals for the sake of love is totally immoral and illegal. Special police forces are trained in Europe to take care of nasty circumstances in stadiums. Especially it is forced that even verbal violence would not take place in the stadium. Verbal abuse basically leads to physical abuse. Football players have been targeted by hooligans too. One of the Italian players died in 1944 by the attack of hooligan. Security measures have been taken seriously throughout the world which instate that spirit of the game goes on and hooligans must be dealt with force (Rouvrais-Charron and Durand, 2009). Clubs Rivalry The rivalry between the clubs has caused many problems for the players and fans. Football managers are also involved in creating ambiguous circumstances due to which rivalry between the clubs increase. Researchers believe that due to club rivalries football culture is alive. Long serving Managers of Manchester United Sir Mats Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson played eminent role in increasing rivalry between the clubs. This element enthralls players and spectators at the same time. Moreover for revenue generation purposes, club rivalry is important to maintain by the officials (Bright, 2009). Manchester United- one of the most successful clubs of Europe has great rivalry from some top teams of the world. In the English premier league Manchester United has club rivalry with Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City football club. The rivalry of these club sides is in all levels, even managers like Arsene Wenger has clashes with Sir Alex Ferguson. The rivalry mechanism ultimately impacts on the mind of fans and they tend to show diverse behaviors due to this mechanism (Ley, 2012). Arsenal has been competing with Manchester United for many years and the game between two sides has been always interesting. Manchester City has made its roar within last 4-5 years by showing great game performance. The rivalry between Manchester United and Manchester City is now most applauded in English Premier League. Meanwhile in Spanish league, Real Madrid has tremendous rivalry with Barcelona. The club rivalry is the essence of watching football (Szymanski, 2010). Manchester United and Arsenal Rivalry Both Manchester United and Arsenal have club history of more than 100 years. The rivalry between both sides is followed by the world because of interesting strings attached to it. For instance the statements given by both managers are attention-grabbing. The attitudes and behaviors of fans after hearing Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are uplifted. The rivalry between the two sides has delivered lot to the game of football. Great players have emerged in this whole time spam that has brought revolutionary techniques and tactics in the playing conditions. Big names like David Beckham, Robin Van Persie, Christiano Ronaldo, Thiery Henry and Wayne Rooney have come to lime light because of rivalry (Ley, 2012). The fans of both sides wait for the respective matches and tickets of these matches are sold out months ago. The main reason is the great history of both clubs and the efforts done by managers to uplift the pride of their respective sides. Arsenal got success and triumph when Arsene Wenger took over the side and started competing with Manchester United on equal basis. Arsenal has rivalry with Chelsea and Liverpool too. The main five sides of English premier league; Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City have enormous rivalry history (Bright, 2009). Conclusion The fans of football clubs support and respect their teams faithfully. The patience level among the fans is generally low as the involvement is too much into the game. The intensity of love for their respective football sides tends to increase after purchasing customized products. The spending of true football fans on clubs customized products is certainly more. Football hooligans have made negative impact about the game of football. People believe that football fans are crazy and can do anything stupid just for the sake of uplifting club’s pride; in fact they lean the pride down by doing this so. The violence by fans must be eradicated and patient behaviorism amongst the fans should prevail. Media must play its vital role in highlighting this problem. References Andreff, W., & Szymanski, S. (2009). Handbook on the Economics of Sport, Edward Elgar Publishing. Bright, R. (2009). Sir Alex Fergusons Manchester United legacy is secure, says Stepney, The Telegraph, Accessed April 8, 2013 Chakraborty, S. R. (2011). Football Comes Home: Symbolic Identities in European Football. Soccer & Society, 12(5), 706-709. Chakraborty, S. R. (2011). Football Comes Home: Symbolic Identities in European Football. Soccer & Society, 12(5), 706-709. Eliasson, A. (2009). The European football market, globalization and mobility among players, Soccer & Society, 10(3-4), 386-397 Frosdick, S., & Marsh, P. (2013). Football hooliganism, Willan Guardian, (2012). Liverpool fan banned for racist abuse of Patrice Evra, Accessed April 8, 2013 Leeson, P. T. (2012). Hooligans, Revue déconomie politique, 122(2), 213-231 Ley, J (2012). Manchester United v Arsenal, The Telegraph, Accessed April 8, 2013 Rouvrais-Charron, C., & Durand, C. (2009). 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