The football fan and the pub: An enduring relationship

The pub: a history of sport involvement

Football cultures are a recent 19th century phenomenon that have their roots in the commercial sporting festivals of 1870s’ Lancashire, where five-, six- and seven-a-side football games are known to have been played for monetary prizes (Swain and Harvey, 2012). Following this, the development of football continued through to the codification of the eleven-a-side public school game and its concomitant dissemination into a form of regular, organised, professional sport for the wider population to enjoy as participants, or as spectators (Dixon, 2013b; Giulianotti, 1999; Goldblatt, 2007; Russell, 1997). Consequently, as football has diffused into the lives of working men and women, it has became part of the everyday life associated with the pastimes of ordinary people, and for centuries past, alcohol establishments were a crucial part of this (Walvin, 1994). First documented in a government survey of 1577 (although thought to exist prior to this, in the medieval period) there were three main establishments for the sale of alcoholic drink in England: the inn, the tavern and the alehouse (Jennings, 2007: 19). The term ‘public house’ came into use in the late 17th century and, as Clark (1983: 195) writes, its precise origin is unclear, although it seems likely to have derived from a contradiction on the term ‘public alehouse’ that was also in frequent use.

Prior to the codification of football, the pub and recreation sport have always maintained a relationship of one form or another. Even before the industrial revolution Vamplew (1988: 26) indicates that the pub could be relied on as a stable space for plebeian recreation, and the publican as a supporter of organised entertainment. With a long and established history, the pub has fulfilled multiple purposes. It has taken the role of a shop, a bookmaker and a place for working girls, musicians and magicians to apply their trade. Moreover, publicans have shown their hand as patrons for prize fights, cockfights, animal baiting and football teams (Vamplew, 1988). Hence, the pub has become a timeless supporter of various recreational activities that were used to attract custom. This, according to Holt (1990: 63), explains its enduring institutional success. He suggests that ‘the staying power of the alehouse’ ought to be attributed to its chameleon-like ability to adapt to ever-changing social attitudes and consumer demands; a contention that has particular relevance for the pub attaining status as the cultural home of the football fan (Holt, 1990; Weed, 2007).

For instance, Huggins (2004) explains that once spectator football had gained in popularity throughout the 19th century, football clubs and supporters often aligned themselves with the local ale house as a stable space to discuss the result of the latest match or the prospect of the next. Indeed, as Collins and Vamplew (2002: 70–73) suggest, much of the pre-industrial idea (detailing the sporting event as an occasion for drinking) was carried over into modern football, with the consumption of beer and sandwiches and the meeting of friends an essential part of the match-day experience. This, of course, could be prosperous for publicans. The directors of Mitchells and Butlers, for example, commissioned a study in 1910 which revealed that pubs near the Hawthorns (West Bromwich Albion’s ground) showed increased takings on the Saturday of home matches and, additionally, local public houses became key outlets for the sale of Saturday night Sport Specials newspapers, which themselves were filled with advertisements from pubs (Collins and Vamplew, 2000: 7).

Some connections ran deeper still, in the sense that a proportion of public house establishments were instrumentally linked to the genesis of football clubs. Mason (1980: 27) points out that in order to associate themselves with the local football club (often for reasons of commercial gain) they would rent out grounds as changing rooms. He explains that in the early years ‘there would be few other places in towns or villages which would be able to let out rooms in which a football team could change or hold meetings’. This, for Russell (1997: 15) is further evidence of the rich range of services that the pub supplied during this period, and in turn, the pub football team would become a neighbourhood club based on friendship groups, pub loyalty and civic identity. Holt (1989) suggests that by 1890 pub-teams were the most common type of all, with establishments offering a place to change, a venue for news and information, and a place where teams, management and supporters would convene and embrace as their communal football home. Perhaps Weed (2007) best summarises this position when he makes reference to the amalgamation of three emblematic factors that have been crucial to the development of football culture in pubs: (1) football, (2) alcohol (3) and male bonding: He writes:

The pub has been a place in which to read about football, to talk about football, and to meet with friends before going to a live match. The pub provides a place where the male holy trinity of alcohol, football and male bonding come together. (Weed, 2007: 400)

Whilst many of those historical functions remain, advancements in media technology have coerced pubs to transform once more in order to accommodate the media-driven football revolution of the 1990s when the British Sky Broadcasting group (BSkyB ¹ ) secured the exclusive live rights for televising the newly created FA Premier League in a deal worth three-hundred and four million pounds (Boyle and Haynes, 2004; Giulianotti, 1999). It is worth noting, however, that early evidence of football fandom during this period does not make reference to live televised broadcasts in public houses. For instance, during the second year of the Premier League in 1993, scholar Anthony King collected evidence from a group of Manchester United Fans that he coined ‘the lads’. He recalls that the lads were using the pub in the ‘traditional’ manner that Weed describes, above (pre and post-match); that is, to collect and to discuss the match. However, one key difference, described by King (1998), is that the pub had became a meeting space for disfranchised Manchester United fans that could no longer afford to attend the stadium. So, whilst he does not recall the pub as a space to watch live football on television (TV), he indicates that a nascent market was beginning to open up, ready for the next logical step to be taken. The first scholarly evidence of life for football fans as spectators in the pub (post-Premier League) was presented by Weed (2006) through ethnographic observations of the 2002 World Cup championships. Opening the way for academics to discuss the motives of football fans for consuming live televised broadcasts of scheduled matches in the public house, Weed offers a description of fandom practice that is carnivalesque, loud and potentially dangerous:

The carnivalesque party atmosphere continued into the early hours, with many people who had never met before chatting to each other, not only about their experiences of the football and the result, but also about their experience of watching the match in the pub! …Some of my experiences in pubs during the 2002 World Cup gave a clear indication of the potential for ‘football related public order offences’ in the UK around England’s EURO 2004 defeats. (Weed, 2006: 87–90)

Whilst providing a valuable account it is important to place portrayals of the pub, like this one, into context. The representation offered by Weed (2006, 2007, 2008) and similar versions by other scholars such as Gibbons and Lusted (2008) capture an important and yet specialised moment in time that represents the more frantic side of fandom practice in a pub during an international football tournament featuring the England national team. Whilst participant observations (like those associated with the authors above) can help to illustrate this phenomenon in specific circumstances, it should not masquerade as a typical representation of everyday experiences of football fans in the pub. Furthermore, whilst scholarly observations are a useful means of ‘getting a feel’ for a lived phenomenon, it is important to take into consideration the views and lived histories of football fans in order to gather narratives from those directly implicated in practice (Dixon, 2013a). Consequently, this paper attempts to bridge the hiatus in the existing scholarly narrative with an investigation into the everyday relationship between fans and the pub. Using the pub as its setting and verbatim accounts from a sample of 56 English football fans to add a narrative, this paper offers a rare insight into the structuration processes involved in this relationship.

Methods

The analysis presented here is based on in-depth interviews carried out as part of a doctoral programme of work (Dixon, 2011a). Whilst interviews covered a multitude of issues in relation to the genesis and evolution of football fandom culture, one key area pursued was related to dominant and emergent sites for the practice of football fandom culture. When addressed by participants, the ‘public house’ was a consistent feature of the narrative without exception. Participants were able to offer personal accounts to explain the role of the pub as an integral aspect of fandom practice both over time and in the moment. All interviews were conducted in public house venues across the north-east region of England at the request of the participant. Whilst the public house is an unusual site to conduct scholarly interviews, it was beneficial in two ways. Firstly, participants would feel comfortable in an informal setting; and secondly, participants could draw on rich cultural cues in relation to their practice of football fandom culture (Dixon, 2011a).

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Table 1.

Key characteristics of the sample.

Key characteristics of the sample	Number	Percentage
Male	32	57
Female	24	43
Age	29	51
19–29	11	20
30–39	11	20
40–49	05	09
50–59
Premier League fans	47	84
Lower Division fans	09	16

Participants

Fifty-six football fans (32 male and 24 female [aged 18–56]) were interviewed during the course of this investigation. In terms of supported teams, 47 participants were fans of one of the following 2008 English Premier League Clubs: Newcastle United; Middlesbrough; Sunderland; Liverpool; West Ham United. Of the remaining participants, nine were supporters of one of the following teams: Hartlepool United; Darlington. Key characteristics of this sample are shown in Table 1 below.

Data analysis

Verbatim transcripts of the interviews served as the raw data to be analysed using a framework of thematic analysis as described by Miles and Huberman (1994). Each transcript was read a number of times to gain a thorough understanding of the participant’s accounts. The transcripts were then re-read in full and emergent themes were recorded. A combined list of themes was then produced and new themes were tested against earlier transcripts in a cyclical fashion until saturation was reached.

Consequently, the findings of the work are communicated via verbatim responses, giving a voice to those whose story I have set out to uncover. This approach to writing allows the culture of the field to reveal itself to the reader via the discourse that football fans have themselves constructed and that has constructed them (Blackshaw, 2003). Accordingly, the data presented is representative of common themes and ideas that have emerged from the words of a sample of football fans. Those narratives selected here offer a thorough and accurate description of the range of opinions, experiences and reactions that were expressed by all subjects in relation to the role of ‘the pub’ within football fandom culture. Thus, in what follows the work focuses on two main recurring issues that help to explain processes of structuration, and to challenge some common assumptions that have found a stable base within scholarly writings. First I discuss the origins of live spectatorship in the pub, before going on to explore the evolution of this phenomenon in light of the implications of contemporary consumer choice.

Subtle transformations of practice: the origins of live spectatorship in the pub

For Giddens (1984), practice is produced and reproduced across time and space because it is reinforced in the continuity of daily life. From the perspective of structuration then, continuity is important to agents in order that feelings of security (gleaned from implicitly understanding a culture and ones role within it) are not breached. Giddens explains that ‘ontological security’ ² is one of the driving forces behind action, and those feelings of security are maintained through the routinisation of social interactions, the continuity of practice and the stability of ‘practical consciousness’. ³ Paradoxically, however, Giddens notes that cultures continue to evolve through subtle nuances that are implemented in practice. In turn, those nuances take on board wider cultural and technological advancements, and in time they merge seamlessly within one’s practical consciousness. In the case of football fandom it is possible to observe patterns of structuration in relation to the embracement of live televised football in the pub as a virtual, but culturally acceptable way to consume live football.

Live spectatorship in the pub is now a well-established mode of football fandom practice, but this has not always been the case. In order to explain the success of this phenomenon, I look initially to the personal narratives of those fans that were attending pubs during the formative years of the establishment of the Premier League, due to its association with the pay-TV format for the consumption of live televised football. Yet, even before the involvement of satellite TV in football, it is worth reasserting the point that the pub had always been a stable part of fandom practice for participants:

From the perspective of this participant and supported by the work of a plethora of academics (Holt, 1989; Mason, 1980; Russell, 1997; Vamplew, 1988), the pub continues to be is a site for masculine bonding (for some) in relation to football and an acceptable leisure pursuit for men that is passed down by football fans from one generation to the next (Dixon, 2013b). Others, like Ian, ⁴ reaffirm this view when they report ‘football and the pub are part of the fabric of masculine culture’, and Luke ⁵ suggests ‘on turning 18 and probably before, lads gravitate to pubs’. However, it is important to emphasise that whilst football culture was recursive for some males in this way, most participants (the majority of both male and female fans interviewed) placed greater emphasis on sociability beyond discussions of gender, and all felt ‘at home’ in the pub. The very fact that females felt comfortable at all in public houses is testament to the structuration of practice – with football and indeed, many pubs, sharing histories of gender discrimination and segregation (Collins and Vamplew, 2002). Generally speaking, this was a history forgotten by both genders and consequently discussions were dominated by more inclusive notions of sociability. Kirsty, ⁶ for instance, talks of ‘an environment where enthusiasm or apprehension is shared with friends’, and hence, because fandom is known to induce anxiety in certain instances (Banyard and Shevlin, 2001; Dixon, 2013a), having a stable space that can be relied on to share nervous tension was valued by participants. In this sample, the pub was noted by most as a site to manage those feelings via interactions with other likeminded souls:

Tim: On the day of the match it soothes anxieties…A pivotal part of football has always been going to the pub with my mates before and after the match. Even when I was 18 and 19 we were in the away pubs talking to away fans, it was just for the craic and everybody had football in common. [Middlesbrough, aged 54]

Social interactions, and more specifically engaging in craic, were dominant reasons given by participants for attending the pub. Moreover, the pub was renowned as an important site for shared humour and, in agreement with Morreal (1991), collective laughter was thought to bond agents together and create feelings of cultural security that would override any anxieties. Tim continues:

Even if you get beat, go to the pub with your mates and it’s alright!…It’s only recently really that people watch football in pubs. But like – it’s blatantly obvious, if the technology’s available then it was always going to be the next logical step for pubs. [Middlesbrough, aged 54]

Tim reflects on the seemingly omnipresent availability of Sky Sports Broadcasts in many contemporary pubs, but it is worth noting that the successful integration of this feature was not a foregone conclusion. Giulianotti (1999) observes that there were initial reservations around a pay-TV system, although it became increasingly evident soon after that consumer demand for the product was strong enough to sustain this business model. However, according to Weed (2007: 401), in the early days of their production and promotions, BSkyB were more effective at targeting businesses, with pubs, bars and clubs making up the bulk of the new custom. Concomitantly, he argues that as a consequence of low levels of private subscription in the home, coupled with higher prices charged at live venues and the blanket installation of season ticket methods of payment at numerous Premier League clubs, many football fans turned to the pub as a form of convenience in order to retain contact with the live performance in an affordable and ad-hoc manner. Brick (2001: 8) makes a similar argument; however, this vision is at odds with participant responses in the current sample:

Graham indicates that the gravitation towards watching football in public houses did not simply happen as a consequence of those factors mentioned by Weed or Brick. For instance, the participant articulates that going to the pub on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon was anything but convenient to his routine practice at this particular time, conflicting with his ontological security and practical consciousness relating to football. He reminds us that landlords had to work hard to ensure steady custom during these periods, using a blend of local marketing and personal persuasion. In other words, there was an initial interdependency between the pub, Sky Sports broadcasts and customers. The success of Sky Sports was partially dependent on the public house trade and the commercial success of pubs was enlivened through the showcasing of live football. This trend was reaffirmed by others such as Dave ⁷ who indicates, ‘because it was new to us and was not considered routine, we had to be convinced of its merits, but let’s face it, the coverage from Sky was revolutionary in comparison to the drivel on BBC and ITV’. Likewise, Matty admits:

Although Sky Sports broadcasts were appealing to participants, it should be noted that parallel imported broadcast and live internet streams are also being used in public houses to showcase local teams that may not be featuring on the broadcasting schedule for Sky Television. David and Millward (2012: 360), for instance, refer to ‘pub casts’ of Wigan Athletic matches and the lengths that publicans will go to in order to keep customers happy:

You’ve got the Wigan fans, the Man U fans and the Liverpool fans and you’ve seen what we do. Basically, if two of them are playing at the same time, we can only show one of the [parallel imported] broadcasts on at once, so we put the other one through on that screen or that screen [points to two large televisions] from the computer [an internet live stream] and we keep everyone happy. [Dave, landlord of the Royal Oak, Standish, Wigan, 2011]

The situations, expressed above, highlight the fluid nature of football culture as structuration occurs across time and space. Consequently, findings indicate that perceptions of authenticity must also be time-phased phenomena existing in the eye of the beholder at any given time (Dixon, 2013a). Moreover, and in the manner that Giddens (1984) describes, changes are implemented gradually and often without a conscious appreciation that any change has occurred at all (Dixon, 2011a, 2013b). It is only retrospectively that fans were able to evaluate those subtle modifications to practice that have transpired since the implementation of the Premier League.

The pub and the modernisation of internal space

Institutions are known to react in response to wider technological and commercial movements (Dixon, 2012) and, subsequently, this process can reveal the transcendence of cultural practice. Take, for example, one key observation made by participants relating to the (commercially laden) attractiveness of public house establishments for watching live football broadcasts. Complimentary to the need to socialise, attractiveness was often dependent on the modernisation of the internal space within the pub. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the propagation of TV screens within those establishments:

Likewise, participant Stacey (below) describes refurbishments to the pub as pivotal for the increasing popularity of this consumer pastime. In some instances, it seems as though pubs were prepared to undertake a total redesign in order to remove irregular-shaped internal walls and booths to maximise space for ‘the big screen’. All modifications were designed to enhance the viewing comfort of the customer and to adapt the internal space to suit the requirements of the consumer:

In addition to the creation of more suitable internal surroundings that are conducive to a positive consumer experience, the allure of international competition (e.g. particularly the European Championship competition ‘Euro 96’, held in England) was often quoted (i.e. by those who were old enough to attend pubs at this time) as a major turning point in the popularity of watching football in public houses. To clarify, whilst some participants had watched other football tournaments or televised cup matches in public houses prior to 1996, this tournament, according to Keith, ⁸ ‘had more appeal than any other’, given that, ‘…it was our tournament [referring to England as the host nation], and pubs had really started to make an effort to make it better for the punters’. Consequently, whilst landlords had to work hard to inspire customers to attend at irregular drinking hours, it seemed that publican effort (i.e. a seemingly new attitude towards promoting live televised football), international competition, media hype and associated patriotism were enough to evoke a desire for communal televised consumption in public houses. Indeed, participants were able to draw on vivid memories that stem from this period:

Even conceding the fact that the 1996 European Championships were broadcast on British terrestrial TV (i.e. TV licence payers had the option to watch those matches at home), a culture for watching live football collectively (i.e. away from the live venue) was beginning to develop and with this, special football moments were associated with the pub:

Here participants illustrate the growing desire to consume football communally; however, it should also be noted that some landlords had initially underestimated the commercial potential of hosting live televised football at this time. For instance, with reference to the European Championships in 1996, journalist Richard Alan reports that the pub industry had been underprepared and ultimately overwhelmed by public demand. ¹⁰ In the space between Euro ‘96’ and World Cup ‘98’, he reports that pubs underwent some major refurbishments in order to attract football fans into respective establishments. Alan refers to specific incidents where, for example, ‘pubs from the Firkin brewery had spent more than £500,000 on big viewing screens and launched a cast-conditioned beer called Firkin 98, as a reaction to the industry being under prepared for Euro 96’. Furthermore, some pubs such as the Finnesko in Norwich went to extreme lengths ‘by turfing the pub and installing stadium seating arrangements’. Such examples illustrate what Bryman (2004: 15) would describe as processes of ‘theming’, used here to provide a veneer of meaning and symbolism in order to distinguish from the ‘standard’ pub in an attempt to increase custom. Whilst not all pubs can afford to remodel to this extent, the effort spent on redesigning pubs for the practical use of sports fans appears to be a sensible investment, with some participants in this sample indicating that football is the only reason that they go to the pub:

Consequently then, the production and reproduction of football fandom practice is affected by commercial culture in the sense that routine interactions in pubs (a stable space for football fandom culture, historically speaking) has grown to incorporate the live televised experience. Thus, in a manner that Bale (1994) predicted when discussing the futurescape of sports culture, the virtual consumption of sport has grown to become a part of practice, with fans using the pub and mediated technological advancements in place of or in tandem with the traditional mode of attending the match in the live arena. It has become acceptable and desirable to consume football virtually in the pub.

Shifts in perceptions of authentic practice

Participants suggest that the demand to consume live football in the pub can be partially explained by a desire to experience the live performance in the company of peers. Indeed, David and Millward (2012: 361) add to this point to emphasise that weakened forms of social control in pubs are an attractive alternative to live match-attending experiences. Consequently, the pub, as a routine, historical space linked with football culture, has combined with technological and commercial opportunities to showcase live football and satisfy demand for control-free communal viewing. From the perspective of the football fan, Weed (2007: 404) explains that the pub is also linked to the desire to practice and then later recall the experience of spectating in a particular venue as a meaningful occasion:

Being there, it should be noted, has conventionally been associated with the experiences of those attending the stadium and, moreover, this narrative has carried with it a rich source of cultural capital for any given fan (Weed, 2008). However, evidence suggests that this trend appears to be altering within the minds of some that rarely set foot in the stadium and get their fix of live football in the pub:

In addition to providing support for those arguing that contemporary stadiums are becoming sanitised spaces (Sandvoss, 2003), the fact that Tina and her youthful peer group can place the pub above the stadium (as a naturalised site to practice football fandom) has implications for previous understandings of the concept ‘being there’. For example, the geographical position of the pub can be many miles away from the live performance, and so, for the participant (above) ‘being there’ need not necessarily entail a physical journey to the location of the live game.

Weed (2006: 407) attempts to explain similar observations by using Boden and Molotch’s (1994) theoretical apparatus ‘the compulsion of proximity’. He explains that, perhaps, physical proximity to other likeminded souls (e.g. friends and fans of the same team, rather than physical proximity to the live performance) could be equally, if not more important to football fans when searching for desirable and memorable spaces to consume live football. Hence, with a growing plethora of modes through which to consume football, the concept of being there, it seems, has evolved to mean more than simply attending the football stadium and has morphed to embrace the pub as an alternative site. In essence and over time, the service offered by the public house has evolved in line with the values of corporate TV, and in turn, this has stimulated a desire for communal viewing that has become synonymous with football culture and sociability for many groups of people. For those fans, including Bill (below) the communal experience is key to his desire for continued consumption:

As a case in point, the compelling desire to consume football at ‘The Percy’ provides an instance of routine where it was not uncommon amongst participants to favour one particular venue in which to consume live football. However, in certain instances the desire to favour a specific space can extend beyond routine and into ritual given that fans can associate elements of luck and superstition with specific venues:

Fans like Jeff, that will travel over 10 miles to watch a televised match in a specific pub, often bypassing other pubs on the way, demonstrate elements of routine behaviour that extend beyond the pragmatic. Others, like Peter (below) illustrate that once ingrained within one’s lifestyle, such routines are often maintained where possible, despite inconvenience and economic cost:

Like Peter (above), Weed (2007: 408) has also illustrated that the concept of ‘shared communal experience’ is pivotal to explaining the pub as a sport spectator venue. He makes clear that over time, certain venues have become known as ‘football pubs’ (i.e. amongst specific peer groups) and this further reinforces their unofficial credentials as sporting places. However, whilst an emotional connection between fan and pub can help to form routine bonds, it is worthy of note that those emotional connections can also alter over time. In the case of my participants this was most frequently evidenced through a change in personal circumstances and an abundance of consumer choice.

The pub and consumer choice

The public house industry is a competitive market place, partially as a result of a more liberal approach of licence justices dating back to the late 1950s and picking up momentum in the 1990s (coinciding with the initiation of the Premier League) by the relaxation of the judgement on ‘need’ in the grant of new licences (Jennings, 2007). Consequently, it is not uncommon for new establishments to be introduced to the marketplace, and this is a position that football fans can take advantage of. As such, the creation of fresh pubs and bars threatens the custom of existing establishments. They can present new alluring opportunities to consume in ways that surpass the facilities or conditions offered by competitors. The result can be, as in the case of participant Louise (below), a shift in the preferred space for live football consumption:

Here, the effect of marketing on football culture is revealed, given that the sports bar, to which Louise refers, is in fact a themed pub that provides the allusion of a more exciting and culturally appropriate venue for football fandom (Bryman, 2004; Dixon, 2013b). Thus, peer groups can be seduced by the marketing of alternative consumption spaces that offer potential conditions to become a new but regular component in the life of a football fan. Consequently, fans exercise consumer choice between a vast array and variety of public houses that compete with one another for the custom of fans:

Despite holding preference for certain establishments over others, evidence suggests that fans can be practical when choosing to watch live football in the pub. It was not unusual then, for participants in the current sample to have two or three possible choices of public house destination that were called upon to suit particular circumstances. For instance, from each pub fans were looking not only for cheap alcohol, but also for particular characteristics to optimise the atmosphere for communal viewing with ‘different’ groups of friends; a reality that has been missed by the extant literature. For instance, taking into consideration the work of Weed (2006, 2007, 2008), we could be forgiven for thinking that all pubs are loud, boisterous, testosterone-filled spaces reminiscent of old style terraces. Gibbons and Lusted (2008) provide a typical instance of this when they write about activities within a Cumbrian pub during the 2006 World Cup Finals. They recall:

Rooney was sent off. One man shouted (after punching a wall!) ‘Fuck off you Stretford ¹¹ cunt! I’ll batter ya!’

This, it must be clear, is not a typical reflection of fandom practice in all public houses across Britain. It is worth pointing out that whilst most participants enjoyed atmospheric pubs, others did not; or on occasion and when the situation dictated, they would sooner find a quiet pub to take in the match, perhaps over a Sunday roast, a singular pint or a pot of coffee:

Accordingly, the preferred space chosen to consume live football is carefully considered and ultimately dependent on the specific social company that participants hold at any given time. For instance, having a meal with a friend or family member whilst watching the game is a far different consumer experience than the stereotypical portrayal described in the extant literature. This demonstrates once more that variety and choice exist for contemporary fans, and more specifically, it reveals the adaptability of the pub to the sensibilities of different fan factions. Hence, participants like Paul (below) spoke about his current match-day pub with reference to a choice between those offering different consumer experiences:

To reiterate, both participants (above) explain that social company will dictate the desired space and location for live football and this sentiment was shared throughout this sample of fans. In this sense, fans weigh up their options as consumers and choose from the vast array of public houses that can accommodate them.

Conclusion

As football fandom cultures continue to transcend across time and space in accordance with the process of structuration, the public house has maintained its relationship with football fans. For instance, the fan has internalised the sport media revolution of the period and the pub has integrated those features seamlessly into the ambiance of the public house experience. In the same way that it had done in centuries past, the pub was quick to embrace this meaningful change in order to consolidate and further improve its relationship with football fans and, of course, to maximise commercial opportunities. For the football fan, watching the match in the pub has become a routine pastime that is complimentary to other established social–historical links (between the pub and the fan) that have been passed down in an active and reciprocal manner between generations of fans.

As well as illustrating processes of structuration, the accounts offered by participants (associated with the underlying motives for the genesis of watching live football in the pub) have challenged common assumptions from the extant literature. Where this cultural movement was previously associated with the expense of private subscription to Sky Television and rising ticket prices at the stadium, participants have suggested an alternative explanation. Participant Graham, for example, highlights that a different set of personal circumstances were endured, and he makes specific reference to the initial cool reception (to watching live football in pubs) within his peer group. He explains that gradually, and with coercion from publicans (in the form of tempting happy hour price structures for the duration of any given match), coupled with the success of the new TV format for football, the routines of many fans began to embrace the new offerings from the pub. In addition to this, international football tournaments were noted by participants as the catalyst for a desire to watch live football communally away from the stadium. Once publicans began to realise the lucrative possibilities for business generation (multiple times per week in coordination with Satellite Television schedules), internal spaces were redesigned and more large screen TVs were installed, hence adapting traditional design in order to meet the demands of contemporary living.

Thus, despite its connection with football, the pub continues to work hard to consolidate and develop this special bond. Technological advancement allows for new forms of collective gatherings that can share the live, real-time experience of professional football and, consequently, fans use the pub to add to narratives of being there. This is an important development in the evolution of football culture with new generations of fans, like Tina, growing up to practice fandom collectively away from the live venue as an authentic part of fandom culture. As such, the fluid nature of football cultures is revealed, and furthermore, findings have indicated that watching football in the pub is far from a homogenous activity. Not only do pubs compete for custom, but choice of venue, for the fan, can be based on superstition, shared company and desired ambience. Those loud boisterous spaces described in the extant literature hide the mundane reality that is practised in everyday life. Indeed, the current sample demonstrates the crucial presence of choice from a wide variety of public house venues that have something different to offer. In closing, public house venues remain sites for football fandom culture to flourish given that they are constantly reinvented to cater for the desires of the football audience. They are fluid and flexible and, consequently, as institutions they are relatively stable features of football fandom, establishing and sustaining new consumption routines via the structuration of practice.