This timely and interesting sociology of LGBT+ football supporters is required reading for students and scholars of sport

Mads Skauge
Nord University, Bodø, Norway

There are several works written on the topics of football fandom, sexuality and activism, but seldom – or perhaps never – are the three topics addressed together and intertwined. In fact, in his preface, Peter Millward states that,

this is the first book to examine the growing movement of organised networks of LGBT+ football supporters /…/ the first book to apply a cultural-relational sociological framework to the study of football fans and supporters’ groups, marking an important theoretical step forward that opens up new perspectives in the sociology of sport, the sociology of collective action and social movements, and the sociology of gender and sexuality in the twenty-first-century world.

This is promising, although somewhat overwhelming. This claim can be broken down into several elements. The football culture, and the fan culture in particular, is said to be historically embedded in orthodox masculinity. As a result, almost no male footballers have ‘come out’. Against this backdrop, the approach of the Arsenal fan group Gay Gooners seems fruitful (quoted in the vignette of the book): Rather than asking when a male player is going to come out, a more relevant question could be when a fan group is going to come out. The latter has happened in significant numbers in recent years.

A swell of ambition tends to be followed by a swell of data, and this book is no exception. Its empirical grounding is no less than 55 narrative interviews with participants associated with the Pride in Football (PiF) network, supplemented by transcribed podcast episodes with PiF members, 62 interviews undertaken by others on similarly positioned LGBT+ football fans in the movement, 85 blog and fanzine pieces written by network members, six years of fieldwork, and social network analysis set around hashtags on Twitter (X) and media articles. This resulted in 259 LGBT+ football fans being included in the research project, directly or indirectly.

Several of the informants note that they are not trying to take on the role of ‘homophobia police’, punishing and criminalising anyone who makes a homophobic or otherwise offensive statement.

There is nothing wrong with such a volume of data from such a volume of sources. However, one could argue that if all these data are needed to answer the research question, then the research question is too ambitious for a single book. And it is unclear what the overarching research question is, except for the aim of “examining the growing movement of organised networks of LGBT+ football supporters, exploring activists’ biographies and the meanings they ascribe to participation in an identity politics-centred social movement” (in the preface).

LGBT+ networks are on the rise both in numbers and in visibility, both in society and in sport. As the understanding of growing social phenomena, such as the LGBT+ fan network, is at the heart of sociology, it is about time that sociological research digs into this topic. Millward lists four reasons why researching LGBT+ football fan networks is important for twenty-first-century sociology: 1) No survey data exist to show the prevalence of LGBT+ football fans, and such populations are likely significant in size, even if they have not always been visible; 2) Sociology can hardly understand the prejudice and discrimination of vulnerable groups without including the experiences of these groups in the analysis; 3) To investigate LGBT+ fan groups is not limited to investigating their consumption in a limited social field such as football – it is to investigate social life, meaning-making, belonging and identity; 4) For the participants themselves, and thus for the sociologists analysing them, PiF is a social movement, probably the fastest growing fan movement in the world.

All these reasons seem valid – but that does not necessarily mean that one should aim for digging into all of them in the same research project. The book would probably have benefited from a somewhat narrower focus, for instance how LGBT+ members participate in fan culture, that is, what characterises the subculture within the broader football culture and in what way they adapt the traditional white, hypermasculine working-class codes of conduct to fit in as ‘one of the lads’, or if they try to ‘queer’ the culture – and the barriers they encounter in this process. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 partly address these questions.

It is shown that PiF members prioritise positive aspects of the social climate of football culture (for example, inclusiveness) over the negative ones (for example discrimination and feelings of insecurity at matches due to the lack of a critical, visible mass of like-minded people), and that according to their experience, the football culture has become more inclusive in recent years. Not surprisingly, the most intimidating comments arose in the football discourse, more specifically on social media, often from anonymous profiles.

When it comes to homophobia in the stands, an important point is made that most homophobic language in the football context is homophobic in substance, but not always in intent: As many homophobic slurs are associated with words defining weakness, softness and feebleness, such discriminatory language has unfortunately been embedded in part of the football discourse, often without many of those using such words reflecting on their discriminatory nature or intending harm. Several of the informants note that they are not trying to take on the role of ‘homophobia police’, punishing and criminalising anyone who makes a homophobic or otherwise offensive statement, but rather to educate people so that more people become aware of possibly discriminatory behavior and often unconscious ignorance, so that more people can feel welcome and accepted within the field of football. LGBT+ football fans are not seeking to ‘make football gay’, but to tackle abuse and exclusion.

What strikes me as most interesting in Millward’s work are two contributions. First, the part where he tries to theoretically shed light on such empirical insights. In Chapter 5, he unpacks pride in football as a relational social movement organisation (SMO): “An SMO – as PiF’s organisation – can be a visible tip of an iceberg under which ‘submerged networks’ of actors collaborate to feed into it” (p. 132). PiF fulfils the sociological characteristics of SMOs; it emerges from a social movement, it aims for social change via social action, it mobilises resources, human capital and attention, and it operates within an existing societal system (it is not a spontaneous rebellion). I understand SMOs as ‘organisational engines’. Millward maps how these engines are connected, as revealed in a sociogram of Twitter hashtags (p. 116–117), and how conventions (defined as agreed ways of doing things) such as the #PrideinFootball conference, facilitate prompt decision-making and ease efficient coordination.

Second, in Chapters 7 and 8, the concept of visibility is discussed. The starting point is elegant: A lack of LGBT+ football fan groups could imply that there is limited visible presence (and recognition) of the communities in football, which in turn could imply that homophobia in football is a ‘victimless crime’. Therefore, the visibility of PiF is key for social change. Millward points out that visibility in this context is both cause and effect of social change, as visibility is productive and self-reinforcing. Visibility may be reached through, for example, social media posts or material artefacts such as flags, banners, scarves, pin badges and artwork, or through pride events and annual gatherings such as Rainbow Laces displays in stadiums. This is important because LGBT+ football fans find such visibility validating their identity, and it also reduces feelings of isolation and social stigma.

Altogether, this is a timely and interesting read for everyone interested in football fandom, sexuality and/or activism, whether within academia, sports bureaucracies, media, organisations working for equality and social change, etc. If the book is taken as an introduction to this field of research – as a starting point for empirical insights and for suggested ideas for theoretical frameworks – I find the book even more interesting.

Throughout large parts, the manuscript refers to theoretical classics such as Crossley, Maffesoli, Castells, Bourdieu, Collins and Durkheim. I would for example suggest that the combination of the last three would make up a promising analytical framework for the study of distinctive rituals and symbols as channels for field-specific collective effervescence, and the way in which such rituals and symbols are embedded and negotiated within SMOs such as PiF and among LGBT+ football fans.

However, if taken as an independent contribution to a detailed sociological understanding of LGBT+ football fans, the book’s broad focus – including, among other things, the LGBT+ communities’ experiences of following football, the historical emergence of the supporters’ network, the SMO perspective, the analysis of pride events, etc. – may come at the expense of analytical depth.

This does not prevent Millward’s effort from being required reading for anyone seeking insight into LGBT+ football fan networks as a sociological phenomenon. In particular, students and scholars in disciplines such as sports science, sociology and gender studies can use this book as a starting point for further exploration of LGBT+ networks and PiF-like SMOs, especially – but not exclusively – in football. Moreover, anyone interested in fandom and supporter culture would benefit from engaging with this topic.

Copyright © Mads Skauge 2026