Whether they helped bring down Jose Mourinho, led a march against their club owner or pushed back against plans to commercialize their sport, fans have a long history of using their passion for football to fight for change. These stories remind us that fan activism isn’t a passing fad and is a powerful tool in the fight for social change.
Despite the limitations of their limited resources, many Black fans were able to maintain protests over long periods of time through their local and national media coverage. This included the use of Black newspapers that published boycott information, pickets that were placed on public property such as stadiums or bus stops, and even direct action such as boycotting a game in response to racist seating policies.
When a news story is about a person who is part of a protest, it’s important to focus on their personal characteristics. This includes writing about their personality, hobbies and family to humanize them and to provide a fuller picture of their life. This helps readers to connect with the person and can help to promote positive attitudes toward the person, the protest and the protesters.
Sport stadia are seminal leisure spaces for the expression of fan activism and the construction of leisure activist identities. This collection of articles considers the complexities of these spaces and their relationships with wider processes of change. It demonstrates that the gendered performance of fandom and its search for authenticity amongst networked fan actors has profound implications for the politics of modern leisure activism.