Abstract
This paper examines the elaborate celebrations organized by the fans of Valletta City football (soccer) club, Malta, when they win the Maltese football league. It argues that these celebrations constitute a continuation of the carnivalesque. Valletta fans have a reputation for their fanatical support, and are renowned as tough‐guys. Their celebrations are moments of drunken excess, which celebrate this “diamond‐in‐the‐rough” authenticity, and satirize their opponents, which they see as inauthentic “pretenders.” The celebrations use symbolism drawn from an earlier carnival tradition—particularly the symbolism of death, and the re‐enactment of funereal performance. The paper therefore argues that contemporary football celebration has replaced the carnival as a cultural form through which social antagonisms—of locality and social class—are manifest. The paper also examines the relationship between these spontaneous celebrations, and state‐sponsored pageants—including the modern carnival—which are primarily aimed at tourists. [Football Celebration, Valletta, Carnival, Nostalgia, Class].
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