Speaker
Description
Like many urban centres across Europe, Liverpool was hard hit by the socio-economic realities of government austerity and the Covid-19 pandemic. To help prevent the city’s foodbanks from emptying, Fans Supporting Foodbanks was set up in 2015 to raise funds and groceries in the battle against food insecurity. Established by normally opposed fan groups in Liverpool, the concept has grown, with similar initiatives being set up across the UK and Europe with help and advice from the Liverpool original. Spanning the past 2 years across multiple sites in Liverpool, the UK and mainland Europe, this research uncovered and learnt from the origins and motivations of the movement utilizing ethnographic and participatory methods. The research contributes towards strengthening the practice of fan groups as catalysts for progressive social change in the UK and overseas. Written and presented through a critical theoretical frame, this paper presents a multidimensional image of football/soccer fan activism across Europe. The research reflects the shifting face of fan activism in response to growing rates of poverty in Europe while building theoretical knowledge on the counter-hegemonic potential of civil society activism and resistance through sport.
