Football Fandom and Authenticity: A Critical Discussion of Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Many debates within the sociology of football fandom allude to the ostensible lack of authenticity, or the idea that all forms of football fandom in the present day are merely different forms of post-fandom (Redhead, 1997; King, 1998; Crabbe et al, 2006), and are categorised as such (Giulianotti 2002, Crabbe et al, 2006). It is stated by scholars that to consider one football fan being more authentic than another is problematic. This paper will critically discuss the relevant football fandom literature indelibly linked to fan typologies and authenticity to consider the implications of football support for shaping football fans identities and what this tells us about what it really means to be an ‘authentic’ football fan, in what Bauman (2000) calls a liquid modern society underpinned by consumerism.