Celtic, Cultural Identities and the Globalization of Football: Notes from the 2003 UEFA Cup Final in Seville

Abstract

It was mid-afternoon on the humid, sunny eve of the UEFA Cup final in Seville, and I was walking back along the Avenue de la Constitucion in the host city's centre. Awaiting ahead round the corner was Flaherty's Irish bar. across from the city's cathedral, and the main congregation point for hundreds of Celtic fans. From that direction emerged two elegant, East Asian couples, all in late middle age. They stopped and turned their attention to two green-and-white Celtic shirts that the men had just acquired from a streettrader. Upon adorning the shirts, the two men gained joking approval from their spouses; suitably hooped, they continued their stroll through the historic centre of the Andalucian capital. Football's record books note that Celtic lost the 2003 UEFA Cup final in a dramatic 3-2 extra-time defeat to Porto, the Portuguese champions. But the occasion had wider sociological significance in terms of Celtic supporters' social and cultural identity, and the club's international location. In this discussion, I focus on three dimensions of the Seville excursion. First, it is important to reflect on the club's achievement in reaching the final, and on its capacity to draw an exceptionally large and diverse support to Seville. Second, the final provides for some wider sociological observations regarding the internal and external social relations of Celtic fans in Seville. I develop this discussion through the sociological metaphor of religious solidarity (via the ideas of Emile Durkheim), and my prior analyses of