We Are One! Or Are We?

Abstract

While football is considered a prominent arena for the manifestation of nationality, it is usually done so at the national level. Moreover, patriotic sentiments are usually expressed during international matches, mainly the World Cup and Continental championships, such as the Euro, and other international competitions. In some cases, this becomes a new arena for national feuds that can escalate to a full-scale war; see the case of Egypt and Algeria double header in the qualification for the World Cup in 2009 (see Bertoli, 2014). However, at the local club level, it seems that other aspects are cultivated by the fans; local patriotism is one, and in some rare cases we might witness a nationalist identity that diverges from the dominant national scheme of the State at local club level. These instances are infrequent; however, they do exist. For example, we can turn to the Catalan identity manifested in FC Barcelona, and Basque-based club Athletic Bilbao. Both clubs represent a national identity that is not consistent with the dominant Spanish national identity. Yet both clubs play in the Spanish league and represent Spain in European competitions and its players play for the national team. However, these examples are rare cases. When it comes to local clubs, most of the clubs and their fans cultivate local identity centered on the team, the city or some other local context (Ben-Porat, 2003).