Where are the hooligans? Dimensions of football fandom in Poland

Introduction

A large number of articles devoted to the study of football fans, particularly in Britain (King, 1997a), have focused on the phenomenon of ‘football hooliganism’. Interpretations of the sources of this social phenomenon include works published by representatives of the Leicester School (Dunning et al., 1988), whose figurational approach associating football hooliganism with certain segments of the working class has aroused criticism (Giulianotti, 1994). Apart from studies using other theoretical models (Frosdick and Marsh, 2006; Marsh et al., 1978; Taylor, 1971), research in this field includes the application of ethnographic methods (Armstrong, 1998; Pearson, 2012). Football hooliganism has also been the subject of comparative studies discussing the phenomenon in relation to different countries (Dunning, 2000; Spaaij, 2006; Tsoukala, 2009). In addition, it found its expression in pop culture, including hooligan autobiographies (Pennant, 2003) and feature films (Green Street, Football Factory).

However, it must be remembered that hooliganism is only one aspect of fandom. Although acts of vandalism can still be encountered in the stadiums, they have certainly been marginalised as a result of changes in modern football, such as its gentrification (Jewell et al., 2014). As demonstrated in a number of studies going beyond the hooligan dimension, the culture of football supporters is more nuanced and should be approached in a number of different contexts, such as the presence of female fans (Pope, 2011), identity issues (Giulianotti, 2002), racism and homophobia (Cashmore and Cleland, 2014), commercialisation (Kennedy and Kennedy, 2012), securitisation (Giulianotti, 2011), socialisation (Dixon, 2012), or global networks (Millward, 2011). Other aspects which have come under academic scrutiny include the social and political involvement of fans (Doidge, 2015), with their behaviour analysed in the context of reflexive modernisation (Numerato, 2015) or postmodernism (King, 1997b). Polish fandom culture is also multidimensional and certainly cannot be limited to hooliganism or characterised by simplistic dichotomies, such as the one between traditional and consumer (‘new’) fans.

The present paper aims to outline and explain the social world of the most committed football supporters in Poland. It (the analysis) proceeds from the assumption that such a community is based on a particular culture established by its own discourses, constituting the habitus of individuals who generate strong social bonds and a normative structure, and is a source of social capital. Since this sub-culture can be understood as a multidimensional sphere, the article argues that ‘hard-core’ fans ¹ can no longer be adequately described in terms of the ‘hooligan’ discourse, an approach which has dominated previous Polish studies in this field (Kowalski, 2000; Piotrowski, 2002). Although hooligan behaviour has not vanished entirely (today’s ‘hooligan spaces’ are described in the final section below), it has been pushed out of the stadiums and increasingly functions in a niche outside the immediate context of football. The present article is intended as a contribution to the discussion on European football hooliganism/fandom and its transformation.

The first part of the paper presents general trends dominating in Polish academic discourse on football supporters, and is followed by a brief outline of the fandom movement in Poland since the early 1970s. The methodological section includes a description of theory triangulation applied in the study. The next parts analyse six dimensions of fandom culture in Poland as follows: the structural aspect (the frame of engagement generating social cohesion and the influence of external institutional–normative determinants), the sphere of interaction rituals (leading to the emergence of a peculiar solidarity, establishing the emotional energy of the community), the sphere of social identity (fandom identity manifesting itself in the daily life of fans; the social identity of ‘Us’), the symbolic–ideological dimension (the role of cardinal symbols in creating the community and its culture; the set of values and beliefs forming the foundation for the level of ideas), the dimension of cultural performance (the presentation of the frames of interpretation through aesthetic expression), and the sphere of social capital and social movement (the emergence and expansion of supporters’ associations and their influence on developing grassroots and charity activity among football fans in Poland).

Polish fans in society and academic discourse

Unlike in other countries, in Poland there have hardly been any recent in-depth academic studies of football fandom. One of the few monographs on the subject is Tomasz Sahaj’s Fani futbolowi. Historyczno-społeczne studium zjawiska kibicowania (2007). Written by a philosopher, the volume offers intellectual reflection from ‘the verandah’ (Giulianotti, 1995) rather than the results of empirical research. On the other hand, Fani chuligani. Rzecz o polskich kibolach (Dudała, 2004), a sociological study of Zagłębie Sosnowiec supporters by Jerzy Dudała, was published over a decade ago. Most academic contributions in the field are superficial and repeat the claims of a pathological nature of the world of football fans, their social marginalisation, deprivation and frustration stimulating their aggression (Piotrowski, 2002). Unsupported by field-study evidence, conclusions of such works are prone to unverified generalisations: ‘[f]ootball matches are thus becoming a venue of increasingly more frequent acts of aggression, committed by hooligans supporting the opposing teams’ (Jurczak, 2011: 7). However, as demonstrated below, the number of acts of aggression in the stadiums has in fact considerably diminished in recent years and fan culture has entered an era which could be referred to as ‘post-hooliganism’. The main weakness of available studies is their lack of participant observation of the community of supporters, and, not infrequently, their stereotypical and judgmental assumptions determining the attitude to the subject of study from the outset.

In fact, as demonstrated by its history, fan movement in Poland is subject to transformation and cultural modernisation and is certainly not a one-dimensional phenomenon. It dates back to the early 1970s, when fans of a number of clubs (ŁKS Łódź, Polonia Bytom, Lechia Gdańsk, Legia Warsaw) organised support for their teams. At the time, Polish stadiums were visited by clubs taking part in European Cup games (such as Feyenoord Rotterdam and Saint-Etienne) and the behaviour of their supporters provided inspiration for Polish fans. However, it was local animosities that were to function as the main factor behind the formation of ‘firms’ supporting Polish football clubs. They were first started to protect their ‘own area’ against the ‘aliens’, i.e. supporters of clubs from other cities. Animosities were further fuelled by the fact that some clubs were affiliated with official state institutions (e.g. Legia was an army club and Wisła Cracow was a club of the Citizens’ Militia (MO), the communist police). The communist authorities tried to channel the movement by setting up official fan clubs which received state sponsorship for their activity, including organisation of social events and trips to away matches. However, the real fan movement was a grass-roots initiative in opposition to the political system of the day. Towards the end of the 1970s, informal groups of football fans were active in nearly 30 clubs (Goksiński, 2014: 389).

In the 1980s, news of the activity of English ‘hooligans’ reached Poland and the level of football-related violence increased. Owing to the official ‘success propaganda’, the scale of the phenomenon was never publically acknowledged. For example, as unofficially reported, in the riots during the 1980 Polish Cup final between Legia Warsaw and Lech Poznań there was at least one death and several hundred people injured. On the other hand, the same period saw the stands become a scene of anti-communist activity. Slogans such as ‘Solidarity’ (Solidarność) and ‘Down with the commies’ (Precz z komuną) were often to be heard in Lechia Gdańsk stadium (Wąsowicz, 2006). Rioting against the authorities and fights with the police have remained a distinctive feature of Polish fans ever since.

In the early years of the post-1989 transformation, the culture of violence in Polish football stadiums developed on an unprecedented scale. The police data indicated an increasing number of hooligan incidents: 190 cases in 1991, 220 in 1992, 440 in 1993, 584 in 1994, 906 in 1995, 917 in 1996 and 1075 in 1997 (Gorący, 2009). The year 1997 marked an important turning point: in view of the situation in the stadiums (e.g. a club building was set on fire and 37 police officers were injured in the riots during a Polonia Warsaw vs Legia Warsaw match), the government decided to introduce the Mass Events Security Act (Ustawa z dnia 22 sierpnia 1997 roku o bezpieczeństwie imprez masowych).

Although the new regulations did not eradicate violence from the stadiums, acts of aggression became considerably less frequent. While 1998 saw as many as 826 incidents, the annual figures for the 2000s rarely exceeded 200, to fall to a historic minimum of 105 in 2010 (Piotrowski, 2012). In the 2013–2014 season, there was only one match in Polish Ekstraklasa (level 1) which finished before time due to a fight between the supporters of opposing teams (Legia Warsaw vs Jagiellonia Białystok, February 2014). According to the reports of the Polish Football Association (PZPN) and Ekstraklasa Ltd. (the league organiser), corroborated by the police, the most common incidents during matches involved verbal abuse and the use of pyrotechnics.

Indeed, the temporal context is crucial for a discussion of Polish fandom: the 1990s, when supporters of opposing teams fought regular battles in the stadiums (Zieliński, 1997), are long gone. Today, opposing fans have practically no chance to start a fight in the stadium, where they are seated in opposite stands; they are also closely watched by the police from the moment they gather together until they reach the stadium. However, changes in the legislation, the introduction of personalised fan cards, gates, turnstiles and CCTV surveillance did not bring an end to the rivalry between fans of different clubs. Paradoxically, eliminating criminal behaviour from the stadiums paved the way for the emergence of a new cultural enclave with no precedent in the history of Polish football.

This is why it is necessary to go beyond the concepts of ‘hooligan’ discourse which have so far dominated the study of Polish fandom. The present study aims to adopt a new approach in order to provide a broader picture and a more nuanced perspective.

Methodology and theory triangulation

The present analysis of Polish fan culture is based on long-term qualitative research, which employed a variety of methods: in-depth individual interviews as well as focus interviews with fans, participant observation (at home and away matches) and content analysis (of magazines, forums and websites). A total of 52 in-depth individual interviews were conducted with supporters of the following clubs: Lechia Gdańsk, Arka Gdynia, Polonia Warsaw, Legia Warsaw, Lech Poznań, Wisła Płock, Miedź Legnica, Chroby Głogów, Śląsk Wrocław, ŁKS Łódź, and Widzew Łódź; two focus interviews involved Śląsk Wrocław and Lech Poznań fans. The process of data collection was a long and difficult one. Indeed, owing to police infiltration and the negative picture of the fan movement in the media, its members avoid contact with ‘outsiders’, which makes finding candidates for interviews extremely difficult. A number of supporters refused to talk at all, and some of those who had agreed changed their mind. In some cases, it took a few weeks before the informants finally decided to take part.

In the case of supporters of Lechia Gdańsk, their trust gained during interviews was further strengthened as a result of the author joining their trips to away matches. Indeed, long hours spent travelling together on the same coach, standing side by side with the group members, and passing all required initiation rituals were the factors greatly improving his ‘negotiating position’. Participant observation provided an opportunity to experience the atmosphere and ‘emotional energy’ of the stands, thus enabling the author to grasp the ritual dimension of the phenomenon. Thanks to ‘total immersion’ (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2007), it was possible to reach those nuances of fandom culture which do not lend themselves to non-participant observation.

In-depth field study, informal interaction and the experience of an ‘insider’ make it possible to understand that different dimensions of fandom culture are intertwined. External determinants have an impact on internal norms affecting the cohesion of the group. Strong cohesion can maintain the solidarity between supporters and create the social identity of the fans. Identification is strengthened by the ecstatic rituals, in which symbols and ideological values play an important role. Community values facilitate the social action and legitimise the social movement. An aesthetic expression (e.g. choreographies) constitutes the performative way of communicating with others.

The present analysis of the nuances of football fandom was made possible thanks to methodological triangulations (Denzin, 2006) and, most of all, to theory triangulation, ‘defined as the use of multiple theories in the same study for the purpose of supporting or refuting findings since different theories help researchers to see the problem at hand using multiple lenses’ (Hussein, 2009: 3). The article makes use of theoretical concepts proposed by such authors as Erving Goffman, Randall Collins and Jeffrey C. Alexander; it also draws on social identity theory. The application of a single theoretical approach would not frame the multi-dimensionality of the phenomenon under scrutiny. On the other hand, diversity in this respect can identify a variety of different problems and concerns involved. Goffman’s concept of ‘impression management’ proved very useful, particularly with regard to the activity of supporting the team during the match. Indeed, his works provide an excellent analysis of how people manage their conduct in the presence of others. The application of Collins’s ‘interaction rituals’ theory to the experience of several hundred or thousand fans singing or skipping together was instrumental in explaining the phenomenon to those who had never had an opportunity to take part in fan rituals. In the case of strong collective determinants shaping the ‘I’ of the supporter, it seemed necessary to refer to the framework developed by social identity theory. While it is not the only theory describing ‘identity fusion’, it appeared to be the most adequate analytical tool for the purpose. Finally, J.C. Alexander’s concept of ‘cultural performance’ as an act through which a group’s cultural values are presented was adopted to interpret the meaning of fan choreographies and performances.

As the author is aware that Polish fandom culture is not recognisable abroad, the theoretical framework presented above provides a method of its ‘translation’ for a foreign audience. Since the theories applied in the present analysis are familiar to the international academic community, they can facilitate the explanation of the Polish context of the phenomenon under scrutiny. Polish fans use a specific language of their culture. It is the task of a researcher to describe and present it to a wider audience. While limitations of space make it impossible to provide a more extensive presentation of the sociological theories in question, the author is well aware of the risk involved in outlining them so briefly. Nevertheless, it would appear that it is a risk worth taking in order to make the local contexts more understandable to a global readership.

Structural dimension: situational factors and external determinants

To begin with, it is necessary to examine two types of mechanisms shaping fan culture: environmental determinants and internal interaction. The former involve external elements which shape its structure, i.e. the legal framework regulating the social activity of fans (Mass Events Security Act as amended in 2009 and safety regulations in the stadiums), including such measures as providing proof of identity when buying tickets (also the fan card system), a ban on pyrotechnics, and attendance banning orders. All these steps clearly indicate a change in the official policy towards football fans, particularly after Poland was selected as a co-host of Euro 2012. In addition, the police advocated the introduction of a ban on bringing in stand banners and covering faces (on the grounds that this prevents the identification of flare users), which raised considerable doubts for the Supreme Court lawyers (Sąd Najwyższy. Biuro Studiów i Analiz, 2011). It should be added that until a few years before, the use of pyrotechnics had been a common practice in Polish stadiums.

Although legal measures aim to standardise the situational resources of fandom, this is possible only to a limited extent, as human emotions and collective insubordination are unpredictable and do not lend themselves to such framing. Thus, contrary to regulations, ‘die-hard’ supporters stand rather than sit in the stadiums and, in a symbolic gesture of resistance against the rules, regularly make use of pyrotechnic devices. In this way, breaking the norms imposed from the outside proves the existence of forces which are deeply rooted in fan culture and shape the framework of fan involvement from within. For example, fan associations have their own sets of rules which specify the style of behaviour during matches and trips to away games, often including detailed stipulation of the forms of engagement (e.g. wearing club colours, a ban on contacts with the police); one of the rules of the Żyleta stand (‘the Razor’, the stand used by Legia Warsaw fans) code of conduct states: ‘It is everyone’s DUTY to cheer and chant their lungs out to support Legia Warsaw, the greatest club in the capital’ (stress original). Such principles can be interpreted as a frame of reference enforcing desired actions.

In addition, fans mention physical punishment for breaking their rules (pushing out of the stand, a punch in the face). Unspecified consequences are also quoted in the regulations of the Lechia Gdańsk fan association concerning trips to away matches: ‘It is strictly forbidden to wave the club colours out of private cars while travelling [to away matches]. Should they be lost, SEVERE consequences will follow’ (stress original). When Śląsk Wrocław fans had been robbed of their flags in Seville (2013), in consequence the Wielki Śląsk (the Great Śląsk) supporters’ association was dissolved. The course of action adopted in such cases resembles the ‘mechanical solidarity’ (Durkheim, 1997), in which there are strict laws concerning the content of ‘common consciousness’ (with the symbol and colours of the club as the cardinal symbols and its constitutive elements). Profanation of symbols is ‘a crime’ and ‘that crime consist[s] essentially in an act contrary to strong, well-defined states of the common consciousness. (…) [I]n effect all characteristics of punishment derive from the nature of crime. Thus the rules sanctioned by punishment are the expression of the most essential social similarities’ (Durkheim, 1997: 60). Defending the ‘common consciousness’ is a core element of the ‘frame of reference’ of the fans.

During the match, the so-called ‘conductor’ (gniazdowy), the person in charge of cheering, plays an important role in shaping ‘conventional situational closure’ (Goffman, 1966: 152). Responsible for ‘impression management’, he (there are no women in that role) starts the chants and is in control of the script of the fan show, which means that he has to make decisions appropriate to the situation both on the pitch and in the stands. Such synchronisation is not easy, especially considering the fact that that the ‘conductor’ stands facing the spectators. The desired sound effect and dynamics depend on group integrity (Bruhn, 2009), with the group in question being neither ‘primary’, dominated by personal relationship (see Cooley, 1909), nor a small one, characterised by a strong ‘groupthink syndrome’ (Mullen et al., 1994). Rather, the process involves channelling the action and behaviour of anything between several hundred and several thousand fans, which seems impossible to achieve without a particular integrity of the group. Consequently, the structure of ‘die-hard’ fan groups has to be punitive (‘conductors’ can point at particular individuals who do not display adequate involvement and tell them off on the microphone in front of thousands of people) and hierarchical. Theoretically, anyone can rise in the hierarchy, provided that they show devotion to the club, regularly go to away matches and work for the benefit of the group. Thus, the integrity of a large group of supporters depends both on charismatic leaders and, even more so, on its ‘common consciousness’ and the importance of group social identity to its individual members.

The ritual and interactive dimension

The command of the ‘conductor’ is not the only cohesive factor which conditions the common rhythm and emotional tension. Supporting a team during a match becomes a platform of experience characterised by a considerable integrative potential resembling an ‘interaction ritual’ (Collins, 2004). According to this approach, in situations when people are together in great numbers, they concentrate on one another and experience an intensifying sense of a common focus of attention, which results in rhythmic synchronisation – hence, the emergence of a common mood, increased group solidarity and, consequently, amplified emotional energy of individuals. One of the last steps in the ritual process is the development of a system of symbols, whose function is to manifest the new group solidarity (‘ritual outcome’).

The ritual process characterises the community of ‘hard-core’ fans, who find themselves in a situation of being close together, side by side for at least 90 minutes in a restricted space. Their physical separation and their typical activity (the only sector in the stadium where people do not sit but stand and engage in organised support) function as ‘barriers to outsiders’, another ingredient of the ritual. A repetitive intonation of chants, word for word, sound for sound, is instrumental in the establishing of a mutual focus of attention. Lechia Gdańsk supporters have perfected the act, with the entire sector repeating Lala lalalala… Gdańska Lechia! (a rhyme in Polish) to the same tune for over 10 minutes. The trance beat of a drum, a typical instrument among Polish supporters, also contributes to the process of ‘rhythmic synchronisation’ of several thousand fans. The emotions in the stadium cannot be expressed in words: ‘It is so fleeting; you can’t put it in words. You have to feel it. I could be talking about it for a long time. It’s this shiver of emotion growing with the roar in the stands. It sends shivers up and down your spine’ (Lechia Gdańsk supporter).

The common mood triggers a strong sense of group solidarity focused on one objective: supporting the beloved club. This leads to the release of emotional energy, giving a sense of power, control and euphoria. As put forward by Goffman (1961; Collins draws on Goffman’s concepts), euphoria is a combined result of the rules of a gathering and a spontaneous engagement. The state of ecstasy can be confirmed by a quote from a Lech Poznań supporter: ‘In the second half, we got higher and higher and (…) it was total madness until the end of the game’ (To My Kibice!, 2015: 7). Group emotions are saturated with symbolic elements: in ecstatic support, fans wave their scarves and flags (‘sacred objects’) and keep repeating the name of their club dozens of times (‘a mantra’). The emotions of the match become a repetitive ritual which supporters desire to follow: ‘(…) if someone’s bitten by the bug, they love what they’re doing and these matches stimulate their excitement or (…) even give them some kind of positive adrenaline, then yes, it’s something you really look forward to’ (Arka Gdynia supporter). The football season functions as a space of the ‘interaction ritual chain’ and a weekly match provides an extraordinary dose of emotions.

In the case of football supporters, their integrative, ‘extra-personal’ experience of collective euphoria can be compared to ‘liberation’. A fan describes this feeling as follows:

It makes me feel free when there are so many people. I wouldn’t stand up and start jumping at a family dinner at home because I’d look funny, to say the least. But everyone can do it in the stadium. If we really get into cheering, we start jumping; if there’s one guy who takes off his shirt, in a second it turns out that half of the crowd has done the same. It’s such an overwhelming feeling of freedom; for ninety or a hundred and twenty minutes, I’ve got my own world and I can do whatever. I’m not talking about excessive things, like flares and throwing verbal abuse, which also happens, because this is football and that’s a part of it. When we’re in the stand and we’re this one group, we all do the same and it’s an incredible feeling, it turns out I’m not an effing lunatic at all. There are a few thousand people here reacting just like me. (Lechia Gdansk supporter)

This account can also be taken as evidence for an argument that sport provides the modern individual with an opportunity to release emotions and tension (Elias and Dunning, 1986). The surge of emotions enables an escape from the mundane: ‘[i]t is through the singing of songs that the fans invent themselves as a unified body. This creation of themselves into a coherent social body, occupying a particular spatial area, is important to the possibility of imagining their activities to be liminal’ (King, 1997b: 585). While a satisfactory result on the pitch obviously stimulates increased emotional tension, it is a challenge to keep up the ritual energy regardless of the team’s performance. Such chants as ‘You lose or you win, you’re still my team’ (Czy przegrywasz, czy nie – ja i tak kocham cię) are an example of solidarity which is not conditioned by sports achievement.

‘Group solidarity’ is not confined to the stadium: ‘Symbols and rituals associated with fandom also go beyond the stadium experience, as fans draw emotional energy from these symbols while cooking, eating, drinking, and conversing in more emotionally muted settings’ (Cottingham, 2012: 181). For example, as described by a Wisła Cracow fan, such collective emotions were shared while watching three fellow fans take part in a combat sports gala:

Looking at it as a Wisła fan, I’m still in a state of euphoria. The hall was packed and there were no people there by chance. It was filled with this spirit of Power that we are. (…) There were people devoted to Wisła, to combat sports, to the lifestyle that should be close to every fan. Wisła Hall has always been my second home and yesterday this home was full of friends you’d always be happy to receive.

The community experience and repeated rituals evoke extraordinary emotions and bridge individual identity with the group, its values and norms.

Group and social identity dimension

In the context of social identity some questions could be proposed: can the fan identity be compared to the wife or husband identity, which (until recently) have been treated as a long-term project? Can ‘being a fan’ be treated as a way of life? Addressing these issues, Amir Ben Porat writes: ‘Studies on global football fan behaviour conclude that supporting a football club is a life-long project that begins at an early age and ends with the life of the fan’ (2010: 277).

A Lechia Gdańsk supporter recalls: ‘The first match I’d ever seen was in 1983; I was seven at the time. It was my uncle who took me to the stadium and it so happened that I’ve stayed ever since.’ It is almost a classic example of socialisation to the role of a supporter, involving a convergence of club tradition and individual identity. The club is an inherent part of the identity discourse of the individual. In the course of the supporter’s life, this discourse acquires a number of meanings:

A fanatic is, so to say, in inverted commas, a football supporter; he’s engaged in supporting the team in Gdańsk; he shows off, parades in his scarf and colours. When you ask him ‘Who are you?’, he’ll answer he’s a supporter or a fan of Lechia Gdańsk. As for me, I’m a ‘Lechia man’ [Lechista]. For me, Lechia is above anything. I’m a person who takes care of the image of the club in Poland, in the city, sometimes also abroad. I try to do it in a good way. (…) Someone who vandalises trams or buses – and these things still happen, very rarely though – or hassles strangers cannot call himself a Lechia man. I’m a kind of supporter who’d rather tell such a person it’s not the done thing. And I’m simply proud of it.

In such cases, we can even talk about ‘identity fusion’, which is ‘a unique form of alignment with a group, one that entails a visceral feeling of oneness with the group. This feeling of oneness is associated with increased permeability of the boundary between the personal and social self’ (Swann et al., 2012: 441).

Narratives of supporters indicate a certain model of their ‘career’ as fans (Crawford, 2003) and, more importantly, the emergence of habitus (Bourdieu, 1977) which influences their daily routine and determines the definition of everyday situations. The individual identity of supporters replicates the norms of a particular habitus generated by the social identity of the fan community. Initially, supporters follow the situation created by others (their fathers, uncles, older brothers, friends, as the socialisation of football fans in Poland is an entirely men-led process), which is how the values and norms of conduct are transmitted. Social identity results in a strong sense of solidarity, as could be seen in the reaction of fans from the whole country after an accident involving a coach transporting Lechia Gdańsk supporters (two people died and over 20 were taken to hospital). Fans of the clubs which are normally hostile to Lechia donated blood, collected money and held Holy Masses for the victims. Support actions were organised under slogans reflecting the strength of the bond of common social identity, such as ‘The death of a fan is like the death of a brother’ and ‘Scarf brothers’ (Śmierć kibica, jak śmierć brata, Bracia po szalu; a club scarf is an important symbol of fan identity).

Social identity theory (Postmes and Branscombe, 2010; Robinson, 1996; Tajfel and Turner, 1986) proves a useful analytical tool in the study of football supporters. According to this approach, behaviour generated in a group stems from a shared definition of a situation vis-a-vis group identity (Stott et al., 2001). A comparison between fandom and ‘brotherhood’ arises out of such a definition. The fact that Polish supporters can become united above divisions is also connected with their sense of being discriminated against and subjected to intolerance: ‘Nowhere in Europe are supporters treated so much like cattle, which we are not. We are people and we have the same right to freedom as the rest of the society!’ (Obecny, 2013: 35). Rather than developing a victim syndrome, however, this sense of injustice leads to the consolidation of group power: ‘supporters should be grateful to Prime Minister Tusk for his choice of their community as a scapegoat before the elections in a bid to improve his rating in the opinion polls. This proved to be an excellent opportunity for them to unite and build an actual social group with its own representatives, postulates, values and a common enemy’ (Małecki, 2014: 10).

A collective relationship to ‘out-groups’ (‘Social identities are necessarily defined in comparative terms, and so group members indulge in social comparison between their ingroup and relevant outgroups’, Reicher, 2004: 929) is one of the crucial factors shaping the social identity of Polish fandom. Shows of support performed in the stadiums include such slogans as: ‘You won’t lock up all of us’ (Wszystkich nas nie zamkniecie, Lech Poznań), ‘Some call us artists; others call us thugs’ (Przez jednych okrzyknięci artystami, przez innych nazywani bandytami, Korona Kielce), ‘Legia is power, and who are you?’ (Legia to jest potęga – a wy kim jesteście?, Legia Warsaw). The slogan which most clearly defines supporters’ identity in terms of an opposition is ‘ULTRAS – We hate everyone’ (Legia Warsaw). Here, the discourse of difference between ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ is pushed to the limit, leaving no room for any ambiguity. Another uncompromising slogan is that of Cracovia Cracow: ‘God forgives, Cracovia never does’ (Bóg wybacza, Cracovia Nigdy).

Reference to metaphorical content which is difficult to operationalise in cultural practice is proof of a search for the most powerful categories defining identity. ‘“We” must be powerful, or social identity won’t be gratifying’ (Bauman, 1999: xxxi). The ‘We-group’ becomes a significant category when it is identified with a symbolic universe: the club. This can be confirmed by such slogans as ‘Legia is Us’, ‘Lechia is Us’, ‘Cracovia is Us’ (Legia to My, Lechia to My, Cracovia to My). Other mottos include references to tradition and history: ‘We were, We are, We will be’ (Byliśmy, Jesteśmy, Będziemy, Widzew Łódź), ‘We make history’ (My tworzymy historię, Lechia Gdańsk), ‘Faith which has survived’ (Wiara, która przetrwała, Zagłębie Sosnowiec). Slogans of this kind are evidence of a search for meaning and are an expression of the ‘invention of tradition’ (Hobsbawm and Ranger, 1983). Considering that all fan cultures are ‘an amalgam of historical episodes, myths, “traditions” and plain inaccuracies’ (Nash, 2000: 468), supporters face a challenge in creating their own terms of distinction. Indeed, the social identity of Polish fandom is an amalgam composed of such elements as myths legitimising its own culture, episodes of resistance against ‘legitimising identity’ (Castells, 2009), rituals and the ideological layer.

Symbolic and ideological dimension

The culture of a given group and its collective identity are manifested in the approach of its members to their key symbols (Swidler, 1986). Polish fans build their identity narration, both individual and collective, around club symbols. The vitality of a symbol is revealed in ‘a symbolic experience’ (Stone, 2007: 10), whereby the club symbol becomes a part of identity. Celebration of club symbols takes different forms:

It’s our life; it’s not just that I put on my scarf for ninety minutes. I have my dog wear the colours; he’s got a jumper in Miedź colours. My daughters, both of them, they wear the colours all the time. Even now, I’m wearing socks in the colours. Miedź is everywhere. My mother keeps saying ‘I’m already scared what’s the next thing you’ll bring me.’ (Miedź Legnica supporter)

The idea of the symbolic universe underlies the social background, as well as the process of constituting identity and establishing close relationships. Football supporters perceive their symbols in terms of the sacred, which explains why they defend them so fiercely. In April 2013, in an incident somewhat resembling a gangster film, a group of Legia Warsaw fans seized over 50 flags and banners of Jagiellonia Białystok in a surprise raid on a warehouse where they were being prepared. An unsuccessful, nearly 200 km chase as far as Warsaw ensued. The ‘trophies’ were presented (upside down, in an act of symbolic degradation) during a match against the rivals the following year, provoking an aggressive reaction by Jagiellonia supporters.

It is a matter of dispute among the fans what circumstances make the seizure of the opponents’ flags ‘honourable’ and when it is considered ‘against the rules’. It is generally accepted that flags and scarves cannot be stolen in a burglary (e.g. from the premises), but seized in direct confrontation during the match or on the way to or from the stadium. It is a dishonourable act to steal flags from women, people with children and disabled supporters, or to do so using dangerous instruments, such as knives. ² Polish fandom culture has a set of rules which can be interpreted in terms of two types of ideological discourse.

On the one hand, it involves a set of informal general rules accepted by the fan community. Firstly, cooperation with the police is not allowed, whatever the circumstances. Secondly, people who devote themselves to the club (organise various actions, go to away matches regardless of the performance of the team or the day of the week) are held in high esteem. Thirdly, although a trip away is a kind of ‘carnival’ (see Pearson, 2013), it is increasingly more often that the consumption of alcohol is limited: ‘Only a drop of beer is allowed. (…) Some guys have got it all wrong and it is only after a few beers that they feel like cheering, so they are not really committed to supporting the team during the match’ (Lech Poznań, rules for trips to away matches). Fourthly, all inter-club rivalries are suspended during the matches of the national team. In the axiological perspective, the value which is stressed most often is ‘honour’.

The word ‘honour’ itself is a medium of the other type of discourse, connected to a growing importance of conservative and patriotic ideas in Polish stadiums. The motto ‘God, Honour, Homeland’ (Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna, introduced in the Polish Army in 1943) is to be seen in match performances, as well as on T-shirts and scarves. This ideological turn has been observed in recent years, although anti-communist traditions have been characteristic of Polish fans since at least the 1980s. The change seems to stem from the need for ideological roots, as the identity of the fan movement so far has been based only on radical oppositions (to the police, the media, politics, the ‘system’ as such). Richard Giulianotti suggests that ‘[t]he process of constructing a “meaning” or an “identity” for something is dependent upon two principles: semantics (establishing what something is in itself) and syntax (establishing what it is not)’ (1999). Having worked out the principle of ‘syntax’ by means of defining the opposition, supporters now fill the principle of ‘semantics’ with the content of right-wing attitudes.

A conservative character of Polish fandom is illustrated by the Patriotic Pilgrimage of Fans to Jasna Góra Monastery (Patriotyczna Pielgrzymka Kibiców na Jasną Górę), attended by supporters from all over the country. Inter-club animosities are suspended for the duration of the event, which includes the Holy Mass, the blessing of club scarves and lectures on patriotic issues. It is held to the motto: ‘It’s here we’ve always been free’ (Tu zawsze byliśmy wolni), which is far from accidental, as explained by the chaplain of football fans and initiator of the idea, Reverend Jarosław Wąsowicz: ‘(…) fans have found themselves among those who are discriminated against, particularly because of their loyalty to the Catholic and patriotic values’ (2014: 12). One of Śląsk Wrocław support shows featured a banner saying ‘We want patriotism at schools’ (Chcemy patriotyzmu w szkołach). For a few years now, fans have been taking part in the Independence Day march, organised on 11 November in Warsaw; they also engage in anniversary celebrations, such as those commemorating the Warsaw Uprising (1944). Stadium choreographies prepared by ultras groups often include slogans referring to the important figures and events of Polish history: ‘Tribute to those who perished in the doomed land’ (Hołd tym, co zginęli na przeklętej ziemi, Smolensk catastrophe), ‘The country that has suffered so much has risen to fight for its freedom’ (Kraj, który już tyle wycierpiał, powstał, by walczyć o wolność swą, Independence Day), ‘Eternal glory to the dead, disgrace to their murderers’ (Wieczna chwała zmarłym. Hańba ich mordercom, Doomed Soldiers, anti-communist guerrilla fighters). The following comment from a Widzew Łódź fan provides an example of combining the ‘symbolic’ (the significance of club colours) and ‘ideological’ discourse:

Wearing the colours is a sacrifice. If someone defends his scarf today, maybe he is up to defending his country. (…) I remember, I read somewhere that football fans are a group that can form a combat formation, very good material for soldiers; such soldiers that do not fight for money, but for the idea. If the country were to be occupied, we, the fans, we would make great guerrilla fighters (Czerwiński, 2012: 18).

Examples from the Balkans (Andjelić, 2014) and, recently, from Ukraine (To My Kibice Plus, 2014) indicate that readiness for military involvement is not a new phenomenon in the world of football supporters. Defending the symbols of the group certainly increases the militant mood among ‘hard-core’ fans.

Performative dimension: Culture in action

The values of the community of supporters reach public opinion thanks to stadium choreographies, which are a form of aesthetic expression, ‘a cultural performance’, i.e. ‘the social process by which actors, individually or in concert, display for others the meaning of their social situation’ (Alexander, 2006: 32). An analysis of this dimension involves both technical issues (material, paints, etc.) and, more importantly, cultural values. Cultural performance has a reflexive function, as it enables the expression of the self and cultural awareness (Schechner, 2013). Thus, performances are empirical indicators of cultural values which have so far remained in the conceptual sphere or in the sphere of awareness.

Today, when Polish fandom culture is no longer defined in terms of physical violence, hostility between different groups of fans takes the form of rivalry involving performance competition. To My Kibice (That’s us, fans) magazine holds contests for the ‘Choreography of Autumn’ and ‘Choreography of Spring’. Groups of supporters ‘reply’ to each other by means of match day shows of support and engage in a peculiar ‘dialogue’ consisting of mutual reaction to chants and verbal attacks of the opponents.

Social identity is also maintained through performances making reference to hegemony, grandeur and supremacy: ‘By God’s will Resovia rules in Rzeszów’ (Z mocy nadanej przez Boga, w Rzeszowie panuje Resovia, Resovia Rzeszów, a near rhyme in Polish), ‘Habemus Champione’ (Legia Warsaw), ‘We praise our beloved Śląsk Wrocław to the skies’ (Pod niebiosa wychwalamy nasz Śląsk Wrocław ukochany, Śląsk Wrocław, rhymes in Polish), ‘There’s one way and one God in Łódź’ (W mieście Łodzi jest jedna droga, wszyscy wierzą w jednego Boga, ŁKS Łódź, rhymes in Polish). By means of performances, supporters pledge their commitment to the spectators and to tradition (Carlson, 2004): the spectators have an opportunity to watch a show, and the performers take on ‘a duty’ to play their part; their commitment to tradition involves supporting the club, its history, colours and symbols. Thus, such performances can be treated as ‘techniques by which the individuals in some sort of collectivity develop ways of acting that will authenticate both the actors and the group simultaneously’ (Abrahams, 1986: 45).

When analysing fan performances, the key task is to capture the elements of their content representing collective self-awareness, collective ideas and identity. Stadium choreographies reflect multi-dimensional aspects of ‘resistance identity’ (Castells, 2009) of fandom culture. For example, Lech Poznań supporters presented a banner saying ‘Never give up. Never plead guilty’ (Nigdy się nie poddawaj – Nigdy się nie przyznawaj, rhymes in Polish), featuring a boxing glove. A similar spirit is visible in a Legia Warsaw slogan ‘Our stands, our rules’ (Nasze trybuny, nasze zasady), which suggests that fans are ready to abide by their own rules even if it means breaking the law (e.g. the use of pyrotechnics). Supporters also show that they are ready to take action, e.g. ‘Revolt: Revolution is coming, too much is too much, we’ll take to the streets’ (Revolt – Rewolucja jest blisko, wyjdziemy na ulice, bo przecież wszystko ma swoje granice, Korona Kielce, a rhyme in Polish). The verbal content was complemented with a visual image of a giant, masked football fan with a flare in one hand and a flag (with a football on it) in the other.

‘The spirit of resistance’ is visible in performances expressing opposition to ‘external’ factors. In 2014, Legia Warsaw fans unveiled a giant banner with the UEFA logo, featuring a pig wearing a Euro-patterned suit in the centre, and accompanied by the words ‘Because football doesn’t matter. Money does’; the words ‘football’ and ‘money’ were in Legia and Glasgow Celtic colours, respectively. This came as a reply to the UEFA decision to remove the Polish club from the Champions League (Legia had won the two-legged tie against Celtic 6–1 on aggregate, but was found to have fielded an ineligible player in one of the matches). The stadiums are also a scene of anti-police and anti-government shows, featuring such slogans as ‘ACAB’ (All Cops are Bastards, e.g. Wisła Cracow, ŁKS Łódź), ‘Football fans: a red herring for empty promises of the government’ (Niespełnione rządu obietnice. Temat zastępczy – kibice, Lech Poznań, a rhyme in Polish), ‘Donald you moron, hooligans are going to overthrow your government’ (Donald matole, twój rząd obalą kibole, stadiums all over Poland, a rhyme in Polish).

Confrontation between fans and the world of politics was the subject of a Śląsk Wrocław performance which included a giant banner featuring a boxing match scene with a knocked-out figure of a man wearing a suit and tie lying in the centre, and the winner, a football fan standing in the corner and raising his arms in a gesture of triumph with Wielki Śląsk (the Great Śląsk) inscribed on his back; the show included a motto saying ‘Fanatics don’t surrender to politics!’ (Polityka nie pokona fanatyka, a rhyme in Polish). There have also been anti-system performances, such as the one held under the slogan ‘That’s what we’re shouting: F*** the system! Nothing will destroy the fanatics!’ (Jebać System! Fanatyzmu nic nie zniszczy!, Polonia Bytom).

Although football in Poland is not as commercialised as in England and traditional supporters have not been ‘priced out’ (Giulianotti, 2011), fan performances reveal the existence of a cultural enclave trying to resist the dominating tendencies in modern football. Fandom culture is an anti-modernist phenomenon characterised by a hankering after a spontaneous ‘tribal’ spirit, which is in conflict with the neoliberal order. Such attempts to preserve the values of fandom culture require a consolidated social capital mobilising resources in a number of fields.

Civil dimension: towards a social movement?

Alain Touraine noted that ‘social action is the building of a world of cultural creations through human work; this process can only be collective’ (quoted after Pyka, 2010: xvii). His observation provides an adequate interpretation of Polish football supporters taking over and reviving football clubs. Firstly, it is a form of social action related to cultural space (the club). Secondly, it is a collective process, as supporters have been able to take the managerial responsibility only as a group bound by a community spirit.

The organisational strength of Polish football fans stems from their hermetic social identity generating strong cohesion within the group. Principles based on loyalty to fellow members and group symbols are the factors which enhance the mobilisation of the resources of group members in various situations. For example, organising a trip of a few hundred or a few thousand supporters to an away match would not be possible without the skill of activating social capital. It also has other important functions, such as making it possible to achieve aims which would be unattainable for an individual, even if equipped with the technological resources required (Coleman, 1994: 302). Social capital, fuelled by social interaction within the group, is complemented by cultural capital which manifests itself in values or other creations of the group. In the case under consideration, both forms of capital are interdependent, as social interaction results from the key cultural values (the club as an autotelic value), consolidated in the course of repeated interaction rituals.

The combination of the two capitals is instrumental in explaining why supporters decided to take over management of some clubs which had gone into severe decline as a result of disastrous management or excessive debt. The case in point involves former trophy winners in the top league or clubs representing Poland abroad, such as Hutnik Cracow, Stilon Gorzów, Szombierki Bytom, Odra Wodzisław, Lechia Gdańsk, where supporters became responsible for managing the club, raising sponsorship and making an impact in the local community. In Hutnik, decisions concerning the club involve the principles of civic participation, with all members of the association of supporters who regularly pay their membership fee acquiring the right to vote. This case provides an interesting example for the discussion of relations between social capital and the development of democratic procedures.

It is increasingly more often that fandom culture becomes institutionalised in the form of official associations, involved in organising charity actions and celebrations of important historical events. Are ‘hard-core’ fans soon going to become a social movement whose activity will go beyond football then? Some small-scale initiatives (such as helping children in foster-care institutions, organising charity collections for Poles living in the countries of the former Soviet Union, donating blood) indicate that the fan movement in Poland is increasingly breaking away from the ‘hooligan pattern’. Thus, fandom demands a new critical conceptualisation in the sociological perspective.

Alain Touraine contends that ‘(…) the object of sociological analysis can never be the movement itself: it must be the field of historical action in which the social movement is one of the actors’ (1977: 322). Thus, if fan communities resemble the early stage of a social movement, they should be analysed in a broader context. Can this culture give rise to a creative social movement? As proven by the case of the ‘Solidarity’ (Solidarność), a strike and opposition movement can evolve into a creative power legitimising a new type of activity (Ash, 2002). Although fandom culture does not aim to change the political system, it is a voice against the discourse of commercialisation; it also raises the issues concerning the essence of local identity or patriotic ideas. In this way, the post-1989 transformation in Poland enabled the emergence of a fan community which seeks autonomy to define its principles.

Conclusion: where are the hooligans?

The modernisation of Polish football has liberated the stadiums from hooligan violence. Today, the fan movement keeps evolving in a number of aspects and its ‘hooligan dimension’ has become a niche in search of new ways of expression. Currently there are two enclaves of hooligan activity: the first of them is arranged fights (ustawki) between ‘firms’, organised in secluded locations, such as forests or uninhabited areas. Since such confrontations are illegal, they involve a certain level of conspiracy, reflected in the metaphors used to describe the activity: ‘rugby without a ball’ (rugby bez piłki) or ‘a meeting on hard ground’ (spotkanie na ubitej ziemi). They are bare knuckle fights held between teams of equal sizes, according to set rules and with no third party present. The fighters are mostly fans trained in martial arts (boxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)). Such groups are still a part of fandom culture and go to away matches ready for physical confrontation, the opportunities for which, however, are increasingly rare, and take place strictly outside stadiums.

The other enclave stems from the professionalisation of the hooligan niche: members of hooligan ‘firms’ can take part in Team Fight Championship in Riga. Teams composed of five members face their opponents in a large ring, and their confrontation is supposed to resemble a street fight controlled by referees. Fan teams from Poland – Lech Poznań and Ruch Chorzów – won the first two occasions the event was staged, and the third one was attended by Arka Gdynia supporters. It remains to be seen whether this kind of rivalry is the ‘civilised’ future of football hooliganism.

Theoretically, the lowest levels of the Polish football league system (the Fourth League and below), where the police presence is much lower, offer certain opportunities for fans eager for physical confrontation with other supporters. However, the most consolidated fan groups in Poland are associated with the top leagues. It is unlikely that they would be interested in trips to small towns, where fan groups have several dozen members at the most, to revive the hooligan atmosphere of the 1990s. Rather, it seems that the future of the fan movement in Poland is going to take a different course. What is going to be increasingly more important is the ultras-style performances, the consolidation of collective correlates of social identity, promotion of conservative ideas, and social and charity activity. In this way, the marginalisation of the hooligan dimension of fandom culture, which dominated the scene until relatively recently, can result in its social development on an unprecedented scale.