‘Why do I want to go and watch that?’ English non-league football fans in the Premier League era

Abstract

There has been plenty of recent academic work on sports fandom, especially football fandom, but very little empirical work on the experiences and motivations of supporters of non-league, non-professional clubs. This article addresses that omission in an interview-based study of a sample of male supporters drawn from the English club, Bradford Park Avenue. It asks how and why, in the late-modern era of spectacularized and globalized sport, such minor football clubs continue to exercise such a hold over the imagination and loyalty of local male fans. We analyze the distinctive attractions for fans of traditionality, sociality and belonging, horizontal relationships with club players and officials, the relative lack of regulation at non-league level of the fan experience, and the economic incoherence of elite football. The paper ends by considering the dilemma faced by many non-league fans: chasing the possibility of promotion and success, or settling for a satisfying and familiar existence in the lower reaches of the sport.