A brief overview on the emergence of football fans in the Kingdom of SCS/Yugoslavia

Abstract

With the development of football in the interwar period, when this sport became an important part of everyday life for many people in Yugoslavia, it also led to the rise of the phenomenon which followed football around the world: commercialization, professionalism, social stratification, but also the phenomenon of sports fandom. This paper aims to give a brief overview of the history of football fans in Yugoslavia during the interwar period, to determine the basis for further research, to try to explain the causes of the emergence of fan movement (if it can even be considered a movement), how football fandom manifested, how was it perceived by its contemporaries, and what were the fandom rivalries (local, regional, national and political). Since the early history of Yugoslav football fans was scarcely studied in historiography and other social sciences, one of the main purposes of this paper is to serve as an introduction of sorts to further research of this fascinating subject. The paper was written on the basis of available archival material, relevant literature, available press clippings and preserved memories, memoirs and diaries.