Introduction : football and community – practical and theoretical considerations

From introduction - During the past 15 years, interest in association football across many areas of the world has risen to a new level. This is manifest in the blanket media coverage that seemingly accompanies every aspect of the elite levels of the game, the increased attendances which have been enjoyed in many countries, and the ritualised identifications with football that have come to permeate wider contemporary social formations. Professional football clubs have been regarded as sites for the expression of common identity for much of the game’s history, and it could be argued that recent developments in and around football have seen this process emphasized with renewed vigour. Football clubs now, as much as ever, embody many of the collective symbols, identifications and processes of connectivity which have long been associated with the notion of ‘community’.