An investigation of the role and position of female supporters in Polish football fandom culture

Payam Ansari & Gary Sinclair
DCU Business School, Dublin City University, Ireland

While women have always been a central part of football fandom culture, the majority of publications and books about the subject tend to focus on male fans. This marginalisation of women supporters is typical in the media as well. While the number of publications about female fans has been growing in recent years (see e.g., Pope, 2017; Toffoletti, 2017), there remains a significant gap in academic and non-academic literature, leaving various questions unanswered; these questions include, for example, how female fans are being integrated into football fandom culture and how the increasing number of female fans is impacting the male-dominated football fandom communities. In their book Female Fans, Gender Relations and Football Fandom: Challenging the Brotherhood Culture, Dominik Antonowicz, Honorata Jakubowska, and Radoslaw Kossakowski explore these issues in depth. The main aim of the authors was to investigate the role and position of female supporters in the football fandom culture in Poland. The book, which is the results of a research project funded by the National Science Centre in Poland, was published in 2021 by Routledge, and consists of four parts and 13 chapters.

The first part of the book discusses female football fandom, including its history, the relationship between male and female fans, and the influence of social identity on women’s personal experiences as fans. The authors mention various examples from the literature of women participating and consuming football in the 19th and early 20th century, in the UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, and more recently in the 21st century in Denmark and Turkey. The authors also discuss the theoretical concepts used in their analysis, including hegemonic masculinity, homosocial bonding, brotherhood, and performative sport fandom. In fact, one of the strengths of this research lies in the utilisation of these theories that allow the authors to demonstrate the creation and dominance of norms and values within men’s football fandom, by male supporters. This is an important phenomenon that warrants further study in women’s football, as it could aid in comprehending the origins of norms and values within women’s sports as well.

What we can conclude from these chapters is that the passion for men’s football in Poland is not the preserve of men, and women supporters attend football games with similar frequency to male supporters.

In the second part of the book, the authors provide the readers with a wider understanding of the socio-political context in Poland and how it relates to the topic at hand, which is explored in chapters 3-5. Chapter 3 is dedicated to the history of football fandom in Poland, which is predominantly male. The authors explain how football fandom in Poland emerged as a result of a combination of the authoritarian state’s policies and the influence of English football culture. Chapter 4 deals with socio-cultural changes that have influenced the status of women and gender relations in Poland, and covers topics such as women’s status during the communist era, their social roles after 1989, and gender discourse in contemporary Poland. Chapter 5 provides a detailed explanation of the authors’ methodological approach to their empirical investigation. They explain how they employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, and explain why they focused on three metropolitan clubs: Legia Warszawa, Lechia Gdańsk, and Lech Poznań.

The third part of the book discusses the challenges that female football fans have faced in being accepted into the football fandom culture and breaking the homosocial barriers that have made it difficult for them to do so. The aim of this section, which includes 6 chapters, is to address key issues related to female fandom, starting with how women perform their roles as both women and fans in football stadiums. Chapter 6 examines the process of how women are socialised into the fandom culture. The research shows that there are four main circumstances under which women attend football matches, with three of them closely related to family roles such as being a daughter, girlfriend or mother. The fourth circumstance is linked to professional environments; women can also enter football through their work peers, as football has become a popular form of entertainment. The authors explain that socialisation into football fandom occurs mainly through male brokers, who are usually family members or close male friends who introduce them to the football culture and provide ‘cultural tickets’.

Moreover, the authors explore female fans at football matches and examine women’s attendance at home and away matches (Chapter 7) and explain the main reasons for their attendance (Chapter 8). What we can conclude from these chapters is that the passion for men’s football in Poland is not the preserve of men, and women supporters attend football games with similar frequency to male supporters. The study provides empirical evidence that female fans develop a strong passion for their clubs. They are emotionally invested and demonstrate a willingness to endure a lot of suffering just to support their beloved club. However, as the authors themselves put it, the findings may not reflect the entire fandom spectrum, as the data collection was online and the survey advertised through the clubs’ social media accounts.

In Chapters 9 and 10, the discussion centres on how women express their fandom as fans and customers during and after matches. According to the survey, female fans are highly engaged during matches, providing active support for their teams on the field. Finally, in Chapter 11, the authors reflect on the perception of football stands as a space for women. The authors examine whether female fans consider stands to be appropriate spaces for women. The majority of the female fans surveyed strongly or somewhat agree that stands are suitable for women. However, the participants mentioned specific rules that apply in that section of the stadium. According to interviews with female fans, they are treated as guests with great hospitality and care. However, by assigning women the social role of guests, the masculine character of the fandom culture becomes  reinforced. An interesting addition to this line of research would be to explore the perspective of female supporters who choose not to attend the stadium due to the prevailing culture. This would provide valuable insights into the experiences of female fans of men’s football, and would help the clubs to develop a more nuanced understanding of female fans..

The final part of the book includes two chapters that focus on the perception of female fans in the football culture of Poland (Chapter 12), and how male fans perceive the presence of women in the stands (Chapter 13). The authors use in-depth interviews and an examination of merchandise offered in official club shops to investigate how female fans are recognised by clubs’ managers and football authorities. The authors’ conclusion is that clubs do not have any policies towards female fans and do not recognise them as a business or social opportunity; the authors, however, suggest that they are becoming ‘consumer fans’.

All in all, what Antonowicz and colleagues depict in this book affirms that in Poland, there are no differences between female and male fans in terms of their identification with the men’s game. The other important pillar of the book is that female fans are a diverse group and express their fandom in various ways, but this diversity does not diminish the authenticity of their fandom. This is an important theoretical contribution to fandom literature, which potentially could be a practical contribution as well.

The book is an interesting read and highly recommended for scholars and students of diverse disciplines, such as sport management, sociology of sport, and gender studies. Although the study was conducted in Poland, some of the findings may well have a broader relevance. Undoubtedly, this book is a valuable resource not only for academics but also for football and club authorities, as well as national-level decision-makers who are keen on understanding the evolution of female football fandom and its impact on the male fandom community. It is crucial for decision-makers at all levels, to acknowledge the different motivations, expectations, and behaviours of female fans to increase and enhance their engagement with the game.

Copyright © Payam Ansari & Gary Sinclair 2023

References

Pope, S. (2017). The Feminization of Sports Fandom: A Sociological Study. New York: Routledge.

Toffoletti, K. (2017). Women Sport Fans: Identification, Participation, Representation. New York: Routledge.