Abstract
The aim of this case study is to analyse supporters’ engagement in club governance on the example of the Czech Supporters’ Trust Družstvo fanoušků Bohemians (DFB). The DFB was founded in March 2005 and saved the club from bankruptcy after several periods of financial mismanagement. Since then, the DFB’s representatives have been involved in numerous legal disputes over the club’s traditional identity and in opposition to the proposed relocation away from the traditional Ďolíček stadium. Focusing on different levels of Bohemians supporters’ involvement, the following questions are addressed: What is the role of the DFB in relation to club governance? What is the impact of these activities on club governance? The data that underpin the analysis are drawn from a variety of primary and secondary sources available online and offline. First, semi-structured interviews with supporters and Bohemians club officials have been carried out. Second, non-participant observations during social gatherings, municipal council meetings, club events and football matches have been carried out. Third, the research is further informed by a documentary analysis of newspaper articles, e-zines, blogs, Internet discussions and websites. The paper is part of the wider FP7 EC project ‘Football fandom, reflexivity and social change (FANSREF)’.
There were 7,500 people at the opening game of the Third League against Slavia Prague B-team. Although we lost 1–0, no one left [the stadium] at the end of the game. Everyone was standing and chanting ‘long lives Bohemka’. Thinking about these moments, I am still getting goose bumps. A lot of us had tears in their eyes. A half year before, no one would have believed that something like this could ever happen.
[From an interview with a DFB founding member, 15 April 2014]
In this chapter DFB stands for Družstvo fanoušků Bohemians, the Czech name of the supporters’ trust of Bohemians Prague 1905.
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Notes
- 1.
This chapter presents research undertaken as part of the project ‘Football fandom, reflexivity and social change’ (FANSREF). The project was funded by the EC Marie Curie Fellowship, FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF. The author thanks the interviewees for their time and availability. A previous version of this chapter was published in Polish in MAetS: Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica. Numerato, D. (2015) Pomiędzy polityką a obywatelskim zaangażowaniem. Studium przypadku kibicowskiego trustu Bohemians Prague 1905. MAetS: Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica, 16 (4): 93–99. It is reproduced here with the permission of the publishers.
- 2.
The members also count a Czech football club, FK SIAD Most, and the fan club of one of the rivals from Prague, Fanclub Viktoria Žižkov. The DFB was joined by members from Germany, United Kingdom, the United States, Denmark, and Austria (Virtuální Ďolíček 2014).
- 3.
The existence of three Bohemians was quite symptomatic for the era of financial and legal uncertainty in the post-Communist Czech Republic that also involved football governance (Duke 2011).
- 4.
The club AFK Vršovice was renamed Bohemians after the tour in Australia in 1927. Before its return to Czechoslovakia, the club representatives were awarded two live kangaroos and the picture of kangaroo since then appears in the logo of our club. Also, since then the club kept the nameBohemians that was firstly used for the purpose of the Australian tour instead of its official name AFK Vršovice; the team actually represented the Czech football. For the sake of completeness it should be added that AFK Vršovice was not the original name of the club either that was in use since 1905. The original name of the club was SK Kotva Vršovice (Pivoda 2007).
- 5.
The FK Bohemians Prague owner Karel Kapr explained his decision in the following way: ‘After 23 years in the Czech football, I have lost the motivation to operate in the environment where the rules are not followed. […] FAČR does not follow the rules, the social climate in our football is bad and undignified.’ (Bohemiansfc.cz. n.d.)
- 6.
This amount roughly represents the annual budget of Bohemians Prague 1905.
- 7.
Hundreds of supporters refused to attend home games at the stadium of the historical rival. However, this radical standpoint was not shared across the overall supporter base and some supporters did not perceive Ďolíček to be the only and unique possible home ground for the Bohemians club. Some observers hyperbolically suggested that the decision to play in Eden in the 2009/2010 season putthe knife into the Bohemians unity’ (Bofor.cz 2014a).
- 8.
The name of the political movement can be literary translated ‘The Ten for the Home Team’. This name actually comprises a dual meaning. The term Desítka, meaning ten, is used in a Czech football colloquial language to denote a penalty kick. In this regard, ten means a penalty kick for the home team. The number ten in this case is also related to the specific area of Prague Prague 10 where the Bohemians Prague stadium is situated and where the political movement stepped into the municipal politics.
- 9.
The aim of the tour was to remember and revive the significant milestone of the club history dated back to 1927, when the team named AFK Vršovice was on tour in Australia.
- 10.
The club was inspired by the Bohemians Prague 1905 case and fans involvement after it went bankrupt.
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Numerato, D. (2017). Between Civic Engagement and Politics: A Case Study of Bohemians Prague 1905 Supporters’ Trust. In: García, B., Zheng, J. (eds) Football and Supporter Activism in Europe. Football Research in an Enlarged Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48734-2_11
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