‘It’s a magical weed’: an exploration of drug-themed chants in Greek football fandom

Abstract

This article explores the phenomenon of drug-themed chanting among Greek Ultras. We reviewed 440 chants from 11 Greek football clubs to examine the role of these chants, discussing critically the reasons that led to their genesis and their reproduction. We found multiple references to substances which are used in the lyrics either as analogies, or referring to drug use, or to a ‘state of mind’. The overall low degree of drug normalization in Greece, lead the Ultras to seek spaces and time where they can freely talk about drugs without the fear of social or legal control. In addition, drug-themed chanting is a part of a self-identification process through which Greek Ultras seek recognition by the audience in or outside the stadium. That recognition can be used as a process of distinction and differentiation, and also function as a symbolic opposition ‘against modern football’.

Keywords:

• Greek Ultras
• drug-themed chants
• football
• identity
• chants

Introduction

Football is a microcosm of human society, full of complexities and contestations. Despite the hyper-commodification of the game (Alvito 2007; Madeiro 2007) and its global pervasiveness, both in commercial and political terms (Giulianotti and Robertson 2009), various organized football communities across the world imbue their social practices with symbolic creativity, which goes against the commercialized logic of modern football (Free and Hughson 2006; Zaimakis 2013). In this light, football stadia can be seen as socially meaningful spaces where wider political and cultural confrontations within a society in constant change can be better contextualized. In this article, we engage with the world of football as a relatively autonomous socio-cultural setting, whereby the stadium represents the symbolic centre with its own dynamics, allowing fans to constantly (re-)define and reinforce their collective identities (Hadas 2000), through a vast array of communal rituals.

Over the last few decades, researchers have extensively explored different aspects of football fandom and culture, showing that one of the primary motivations for attending a football match is to experience and take an active role in the creation of a carnivalesque environment (Armstrong and Young 1999; Clark 2006; Finn and Giulianotti 2013; Tamir 2021). Eduardo Galeano (1997) portrays football stadia as places where ‘banners wave and the air resounds with noisemakers, fireworks and drums; it rains streamers and confetti. [During a football game] the city disappears, its routine forgotten’. Chants, choreographies, and pyro shows are only some of the expressive and creative forms available to fans, contributing significantly to the liminal performance that makes football a unique socio-cultural spectacle that holds the potential to break down the banalities and some of the norms that characterise everyday life and urban cultures.

In light of these considerations, this article focuses on the Greek Ultras scene and explores the role of drug-themed chants in the construction of Ultras’ identities. Despite the large body of work addressing football chants, the scientific literature has not explored yet chants that include references to legal and/or illegal substances, such as alcohol and drugs. To date, the cultural aspect of chanting about drugs in football games has not been addressed yet. In our knowledge, in a vast array of European countries, drug-themed chants are rare or even absent from fans’ repertoire. In this light, there are some examples from The Netherlands (e.g. ‘Hash, coke and pills’ from Twente FC), or the UK, which reflect some of the cultural elements of British humour (e.g. ‘There’s only one Carlton Palmer and he smokes marijuana’ by Stockport City; and ‘Jamie Vardy’s having a party, bring your vodka and your Charlie’ by Leicester). However, through our empirical observation, we believe that drug-themed chanting by Greek Ultras is – if not a particularity – definitely a phenomenon that requires further research attention. In doing so, this article contributes to recent studies on football chanting (Ricatti 2016; Schoonderwoerd 2011; Tamir 2021). In addition, it expands the discussion about football communities in Greece (Zaimakis 2018, 2022). We suggest that drug-themed chants, seen as an expression of a football identity, are grounded within a broader social, subcultural and political context of prohibitions that surrounds also football communities.

The role of chants in the construction of football identities

Chanting is considered one of the most important cultural practices in football and it has been one of the main topics in the study of football culture (Poulton 2007). Crowley (2013) states that Ultras at the stands, not only belong to a community that occupies a specific social space in the stadia, but also they perform communal acts of identity, through various performative rituals such as chanting. Similarly, Nash (2000) argues that football communities revolve around a constructed set of symbols, lifeworld experiences, myths and modes of interaction, creating a sense of collective conscience: ‘songs for many fans serve to create collectivity and express a unity of purpose’ (Nash 2000, 468–9). Accordingly, chants comprise an inseparable element of both the practice of football culture and the performance of football identities (Armstrong and Young 1999; Collinson 2009; Ricatti 2016).

Chants have a broad range of applications and styles based on differing cultural traditions (Schoonderwoerd 2011). These symbolic rituals albeit diverse can be seen as proactive and reactive modes of collective communication, reflecting the collective memory and shared values of a football community, thus functioning as a source of identification (Margalit 2008; Mason 2000) that cements the supporters of the same football club together (Clark 2006; Jack 2013; Kytö 2011; Waysdorf 2015). Nevertheless, chants may also mark different degrees of distinction among Ultras and other fans of the same football club (Kossakowski 2017; Ricatti 2016), whilst contributing to the creation of symbolic boundaries with the other (e.g. rival Ultras, police, football authorities) (Winands, Grau, and Zick 2019). Chants that often sound abusive, insulting, and offensive or inflammatory to lay audiences are actually functional in reinforcing their sense of belonging and group identity, producing an explicit esoteric commonality (Crowley 2013). In this sense, Ultras attempt to control the impressions others form of them (Leary and Kowalski 1990), to build reputation (Ricatti 2016) and seek to be recognized by a broader audience as having some kind of identity via the expression of certain ‘signals’ that belong to that identity (Emler 1990). Some chants are partly a product of social processes of impression management, reputation, and differentiation, in an overlapping effort to gain recognition from others and reinforce self-identification. In what follows, we look at chants as linguistic and collective performances of football identities. We mainly focus on issues of identity such as processes of self-­identification and impression management among Greek Ultras, touching upon drugs normalization. The latter, is not used as a theory to explain the phenomenon of drug-themed chants, rather as a conceptual framework: a barometer to discuss the degree of sociocultural accommodation of drugs (see Parker 2005) in Greek society, allowing us to portray the specific context, setting the ground where the discussion about identity and drug-themed chanting is placed upon.

Processes of drugs normalization in Greek football communities

Greek professional football is characterized by long standing corruption. Discussing the fluid and liquid identities of Greek football fandom, Zaimakis (2018) argues that this reality is related to a wider structural process coined as the ‘footballization of Greek politics.’ Over the last decades, Greek football has become a highly contested field of encompassing violent rivalries among Ultras, which, arguably, expresses broader social conflicts. Traditionally, Greek Ultras perceive themselves as agents of a counter-culture of resistance to the system of corrupted football governance, the repressive state, police, media, football authorities, and the heightened commercialization of modern football (Zaimakis 2013). In their stands, Greek Ultras sing a vast array of chants. The majority of them convey metaphorical meanings, symbolism, sarcasm, humour and transgression and are used as a means by Ultras to celebrate their passion towards the favourite club, transcending and ritualizing their special bonding (Zaimakis 2018). However, the use and role of drug-themed chants in Greek stadia has not received any academic attention yet.

In football studies and, particularly, in those that address hooligans’ behaviour and violence, substance use among football communities constitutes an over-researched topic (Armstrong 1998; Ayres and Treadwell 2012; Chester 2004; Farrington 2006; Frosdick and Marsh 2005; Hopkins and Treadwell 2014; Yuldashevna 2021). Substance use is often portrayed as a demonized, subcultural and deviant behaviour, not very different from the view that society has held about drugs and drug users for decades. However, legal and socio-cultural changes occurred since the mid-1990s and onwards (Skliamis 2022). These have been described as a process of drugs normalization (Parker, Aldridge, and Measham 1998, Parker, Williams, and Aldridge 2002), suggesting that recreational drug use has progressively been de-stigmatized and it is increasingly accepted, socially and culturally, in wider segments of society, especially among non-drug using population (Parker, Aldridge, and Measham 1998). The process of drug normalization is characterised by five key dimensions: (1) increased availability and accessibility; (2) increased drug trying rates; (3) higher rates of recent and regular drug use; (4) the social accommodation of ‘sensible’ recreational drug use; and (5) the cultural accommodation (Parker, Williams, and Aldridge 2002). In an attempt to place the discussion of drug-themed chants in the context of drugs normalization in Greece, it could be suggested that drug use has become more socially and culturally accommodated in the wider society (Parker, Williams, and Aldridge 2002; Parker 2005). However, that would be a simplistic interpretation of reality, as it neglects the differentiated aspects of normalization, such as the importance and complexity of different social-cultural and/or legal contexts (Asbridge et al. 2016; Hathaway et al. 2016; Pennay and Measham 2016; Skliamis 2022).

Evaluating drug normalization theory against empirical data concerning Greek society, the process is far from being embodied in Greece. Notwithstanding the EU Strategy slips away from a strictly law enforcement, drug use and possession of drugs for personal use remains illegal in Greece and can be punished by up to 5 months imprisonment, while penalty does not vary by drug (EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) 2022a; Skliamis and Korf 2019). Focusing on the five key dimension of drugs normalization, regarding ‘availability and accessibility’, Greece is among the countries with the least easy accessibility in EU (European Schools Project for Alcohol and Other Drugs [ESPAD Group] 2019; Eurobarometer 2014). However, when looking into ‘cannabis trying rates’, data reveals that the Greek young population reports two times lower rates than the EU average (ESPAD 2019). Regarding ‘recent and regular drug use’, the lifetime use, and the last year use of drugs such as cannabis, MDMA, and cocaine in Greece is much below the EU average rates (EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) 2022b). Furthermore, in a recent wastewater analysis, Greece was below the EU average in use rates of cannabis, cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines, and methamphetamines (EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) 2022c). Examining the ‘social and cultural accommodation’, the mainstream Greek media has not changed its view on the recreational drug use, not even towards cannabis, keeping on expressing negative opinions on the matter. Crucially enough, there has never been an official debate in the Greek parliament about decriminalization of drug use, not even cannabis use. Even in parliamentary debates about national drug policy and even medical cannabis, a clear line had been drawn making clear that recreational cannabis use is an anathema (Vouliwatch 2018). It is evident that Greece is a country where a liberal drug policy or liberal drug law is lacking both in books (de jure) or in action (de facto). Rather, Greece belongs to the punitive edge of drug policies in Europe, and is characterized by a low degree of drugs normalization (Skliamis 2022). In a socio-political milieu where drug use is illegal, drug users are treated as criminals, and drugs are not normalized, we wonder: why Greek Ultras include references about drugs in their singing repertoire in football stadia?

Unlike other studies in this area, this article does not seek to add to the vast array of literature underpinning and explaining substance use in football cultures. Instead, it aims to examine the purpose of drug-themed chants on the stands. In doing so, we systematically review Greek football chants to examine the role of these chants in relation to the construction of Greek Ultras identity, and critically assess the reasons that led to their genesis and their reproduction.

Methodology

In order to contribute to the aforementioned gap and portray the cultural world of Ultras communities in Greece, we conducted a thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2006) of football chants, retrieved from YouTube searches. In total, we gathered 440 football chants. Besides the profound limitations, which come with this type of netnographic research, YouTube is extensively used by Greek Ultras to upload their audial and visual performances, not only within the stadium, but also in away games. In these regards, YouTube offered a wide range of data and was considered as an effective way to construct a primary database to start mapping an uncharted area of research, such as drug-themed chanting.

The data in this study are words and clauses taken from the chant lyrics. In order to have a variety in our sample we chose 11 Greek football clubs. We included all the so called big Greek clubs on the basis of points, titles, participations in the 1^st division of the Greek professional football (1959–2021), and participations in European competitions. We also included smaller clubs which are traditionally considered important in Greek football and their Ultras are also well-known in Greek fandom reality (Table 1).

Table 1. Football clubs: Criteria of selection (data from 1959–1960 to 2020–2021).

Clubs	City	Championships	Cups	1^st Division	Matches	Points	Europe
Olympiacos	Piraeus	46	20	62	1980	4151	68
Panathinaikos	Athens	20	15	62	1980	3846	58
ΑΕΚ	Athens	12	10	60	1912	3596	48
PAOK	Thessaloniki	3	8	62	1980	3377	47
ARIS	Thessaloniki	0	1	56	1792	2628	20
Panionios	Athens-South (Nea Smirni)	0	2	59	1873	2487	9
Iraklis	Thessaloniki	0	1	53	1686	2401	9
OFI	Heraklion Crete	0	1	43	1377	1674	6
AEL	Larissa	1	2	31	1057	992	6
Atromitos	Athens-West (Peristeri)	0	0	20	811	631	7
PAS Giannina	Giannina	0	0	25	711	797	1

In order to capture a wider geographical spread in our sample, we included not only football clubs from Athens Metropolitan Area (Greater Athens and Piraeus) and Thessaloniki (the second largest city in Greece), but also clubs from three large provincial cities (Heraklion, Larisa, and Giannina) (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Football Clubs Map. Source: Author.

We excluded a variety of chants against football players and club administrations, clapping chants, club anthems, and the so called ‘anti-chants’ (chants that turn against another club and/or rival Ultras). The first part of the analysis focuses on identifying references to legal and illicit substances in each chant. The second part, analyses further the role of references to substances in Greek Ultras’ repertoire.

Results

In the total sample, we found 196 references to legal and illicit substances (see Table 2). These chants range from 8 references in Atromitos and 9 in Olympiacos to 40 in Iraklis. An interesting finding is that in the chants of Olympiacos – the most successful club in the last two decades – the references to substances are quite rare. Also, another striking finding is that in the chants of Iraklis the references to substances are twice as many compared to the teams with the second most references to substances, e.g. Aris and OFI.

Table 2. Legal and illicit substances by club.

Clubs	Alcohol	Cannabis	Heroin	Cocaine	LSD	Pills	‘Drugs’	Others	Total
Olympiacos	0	4	0	0	1	2	1	1	9
Panathinaikos	2	8	1	0	1	3	4	0	19
AEK	1	5	1	2	1	1	3	3	17
PAOK	1	8	3	1	0	0	4	2	19
Aris	6	7	0	0	0	0	8	0	21
Panionios	0	8	3	0	0	1	3	3	18
Iraklis	6	13	1	2	1	3	10	4	40
OFI	4	8	2	1	1	2	3	0	21
AEL	2	6	0	0	0	1	1	0	10
Atromitos	0	5	0	0	0	1	1	1	8
PAS	3	5	1	0	0	1	6	0	16
TOTAL	25	77	12	6	5	15	44	14	198

In particular, we traced references to both legal and illegal substances, such as alcohol (n = 25), cannabis (n = 77), heroin (n = 12), cocaine (n = 6), LSD (n = 5) and various types of pills (n = 15). Other references include medicines, prescribed drugs, and shisha. These were all merged into a new category ‘others’ (n = 14). It is worth to note that the word ‘ναρκωτικά’ (drugs) (n = 44) appears quite frequently in chants.

Alcohol

Alcohol was the only legal substance -under the Greek law- that was found in the analysis. References varied from beers to local alcoholic beverages, and broad references such as ‘αλκοόλ’ (alcohol) or ‘ξύδια’ (booze). References also included words or phrases that refer to the action of drinking or getting drunk. The findings revealed that alcohol is referred less often in chants from clubs from Athens Metropolitan Area, compared to clubs from the Thessaloniki and the countryside. Many studies have investigated football fans’ identity, behaviour and alcohol use (see Armstrong and Hognestad 2006; Ayres and Treadwell 2012; Ostrowsky 2018). For some football supporters, the close ties between football alcohol consumption, social relations, interactions and identity-making are particularly important (Crawford 2004; Purves et al. 2022). Indeed, alcohol consumption has long been associated with instilling a sense of belonging and with establishing shared group values (Armstrong and Hognestad 2006), particularly with strengthening and reaffirming relations between Ultras (Guțu 2017). As also previous studies confirm, drinking operates as a mechanism to maintain group boundaries, but also is considered to affirm masculinity and male togetherness (Hunt and Laidler 2001; Lindsay 2012). Similarly, in our analysis, these elements are reflected in one of the OFI Ultras’ chants, who describes their alcohol consumption habit of drinking ‘ρακί’ (raki), a locally produced beverage:

[…]Μια ζωή στις εκδρομές και στα ασπρόμαυρα, με πουτάνες με ρακιές και με χασίς […]

[…] My whole life on away trips, in colours black and white, with whores, raki, and hashish […]

Alcohol consumption is also related to violent and aggressive behaviour in football cultures and especially among Ultras groups (Exum 2006; Ostrowsky 2018). Such is the case, for instance, when AEL Ultras sing:

[…] Κατεβάζουμε μπουκάλες, ξαναρχόμαστε κουφάλες, σαν το ‘88

Και ποτέ να μην ξεχνάτε, μάθατε να κολυμπάτε στον Πηνειό […]¹

[…] We hit the bottles, we come back again, like ‘88

Do not forget, that you learned how to swim in Pinios² […]

In a similar vein, Panathinaikos Ultras emphasize the match day experience and describe the elements that construct an ideal match day; they sing:

[…] Μα εμένα η ζωή μου είναι η Κυριακή, μπύρες, μπάχαλα, και μια καλή εκδρομή […]

[…] But for me, Sunday is my life, with beers, fights and a good away trip […]

Alcohol is not only related to aggression, but it is also used – as the most normalized substance – in chants to point out the recreational use of alcohol within Ultras communities, which is related to intense feelings of excitement and pleasure-seeking practices on the stands by Ultras. Aris Ultras and Iraklis Ultras refer to that dimension respectively:

[…] κιτρινέ θεέ μου πίνω και για ‘σένα τραγουδώ […]

[…] my yellow god I drink and I sing for you […]

[…] και πίναμε και πίναμε, σταματημό δεν είχαμε, και όλο τραγουδούσαμε […]

[…] and we were drinking non stop and we were singing all the time […]

Cannabis

Cannabis was the most common substance in our analysis scoring 77 times in 440 chants, at least once in every club, ranging from 4 in Olympiacos to 13 in Iraklis. This is hardly surprising, if we consider that cannabis, although is illegal, is the most widely used illicit drug in Greece (EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) 2022b). Crucially enough, cannabis was never referred as such. In the twentieth century, cannabis evolved into one of the most strictly controlled psychoactive substances, fuelling a social process of labelling cannabis users as deviants, with users experiencing social exclusion and stigmatization (Skliamis 2022). Due to the illegal status, the criminalization, and the stigmatization around the drug, slang terms and street names were developed so users could talk about cannabis without facing any legal or social control. As of today, cannabis is known by a huge number of nicknames, street names, and slang term, which also appear in the chants. These include ‘χόρτο’ [weed], ‘φούντα’ [pot], ‘γάρο’ [joint], ‘βοτάνι’ [grass, green], while hashish was often referred as such or as ‘μαύρο’ [black, meaning hashish]. For example, Panathinaikos Ultras sing about herbal cannabis referring as ‘χόρτο’ [weed]; Olympiacos Ultras use the slang term ‘ρο’ [J] referring to a joint; and Panionios Ultras talk about ‘μαύρο’ [hash]:

[…] Είναι ένα χόρτο μαγικό, δώσ’τε μου λίγο για να πιω […]

[…] It’s a magical weed, give me some to smoke […]

[…] με τον Ολυμπιακό, και στη υγειά του θα το πιω το πιο μεγάλο ρο […]

[…] I will smoke the biggest joint to Olympiacos health […]

[…]Δώστε μου μαύρο για να πιώ[…]

[…]Give me hash to smoke[…]

Heroin

In our analysis, we identified 12 references to heroin, but not in every football club. While cannabis is the most widely used drug, heroin is on the other edge of the spectrum (EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) 2022b). In our analysis, that drug sometimes was referred as ‘heroin’. For example, Panionios Ultras sing a story about cops raiding in their house and seize their drugs:

[…] Μπήκαν οι μπάτσοι μεσ’το σπίτι κ’ κατασχέσαν τα εξής 10 γρ. ηρωίνης κ’ 1.5 κιλό χασίς[…]

[…] The cops raided in my house and seized the following: 10 gr of heroin & 1.5 kg of hash[…]

In other cases, the most common street name of heroin was used, ‘πρέζα’ [smack, junk], which has a connotation to injection. For example, Iraklis Ultras sing:

[…] Κι ύστερα πέρασε ο καιρός και το ‘ρίξα στην πρέζα […]

[…] But then the time passed by and I started using junk […]

Cocaine

We identified only 6 references to cocaine, with most of the clubs making no reference to that drug. If it is true that football mirrors wider society in terms of social issues or drug use (Newson 2021), following the example of cannabis, and bearing in mind that it is the second most commonly used illicit substance and the most commonly used illicit stimulant drug (EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) 2022b), cocaine would have appeared in chants more often. While studies have shown that cocaine use among fans might enhance the match day experience (Treadwell and Ayres 2014), other studies have shown that those who use cocaine are most likely to be aggressive toward rivals, with this association to be stronger among fans who are highly bonded to their clubs (Newson 2021). PAOK Ultras sing the following chant to indicate the delusion and hallucination that are some of the most common effects of cocaine use:

[…] PAOK με κόκα σε βλέπω σαν την Μπόκα […]

[…] PAOK with coca, you look like Boca³ […]

Panathinaikos Ultras sing about combining cocaine with heroin, and destroying the stadium:

[…] Φέρτε μας κόκα, φέρτε μας πρέζα, να καταστρέψουμε ξανά την Καλογρέζα […]

[…] Give us coca, give us junk, to destroy again Kalogreza⁴ […]

LSD

In the analysis, we identified 5 references to LSD (including one about blotter/paper square). LSD is a semi-synthetic hallucinogen, which became popular between the 1960s to 1980s, associated with the counterculture movement of hippies (Pennay and Moore 2010).

Yet nowadays LSD use is less common (EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) 2022d), and remains limited to a few habitual users (Stogner 2015). Panathinaikos Ultras sing:

[…] Σαν LSD, για σένα ΠΑΟ μαστουρώνει όλη η γη […]

[…] like LSD, for you Panathinaikos, the whole world gets high […]

Pills

In our analysis, pills do not refer necessarily to ecstasy pills but also prescription pills, such as sedatives, opioid-based pills, and antipsychotics, e.g. ‘bubble’ (slang idiom of drug users for the ‘vulbegal’), ‘stedon’, or hipnosedon (all are benzodiazepines derivatives). Nowadays, the growing use the nonmedical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD), known as ‘pill-popping culture’ is becoming more common worldwide (Bawin et al. 2021). In our analysis, we found that Atromitos Ultras sing about Hipnosedon, while AEL Ultras sing that they have lost their minds because pills (antipsychotics) are sold out in the pharmacies:

[…]Και όταν οι μπάτσοι μπήκανε, έφαγα τη καβάτζα, 10 κουμπιά υπνοσεντόν και 12 τσιγάρα […]

[…]When the cops raided in my house, I ate my stuff, 10 pills Hipnosedon, and 12 joints […]

[…] Παράνοια και χάος στο μυαλό, τελειώσαν τα κουμπιά στα φαρμακεία […]

[…] Paranoia and chaos in my head, the pills are sold out in the pharmacies […]

Others

We also found references to medicines and prescribed drugs which are often mentioned as ‘syrups.’ By referring to syrups, there is a three-fold interpretation of what Ultras mean. They can refer to methadone which is the main opioid in the Greek system of detoxification; they can mean codeine-containing medical products, such as antitussive syrups; and last other syrups (e.g. Robitussin or Peregon). In Greece, as in other countries (e.g. Italy), it was quite common, especially in the 90s, that heroin users were trying to have access to these prescribed drugs or non-prescribed medical products from the pharmacies. As reported by a Greek study conducted in the mid-90s, zipeprol (non-opiate agent), for example, was a commonly abused drug among individuals with drug addiction problems, because of its euphoric effects; it was also used as a substitute when heroin was unavailable (Athanaselis et al. 1996). For example, PAOK Ultras sing:

[…] Παοκάρα σαγαπώ, γιατί είσαι στην Ευρώπη το καλύτερο σιρόπι […]

[…] PAOK I love you because you are the best syrup in Europe […]

Panionios Ultras sing about how the use of these syrups’ help them to engage in violent acts against their rivals:

[…] Ζάκτους ντόβες⁵ πίνουμε κόκκαλο να γίνουμε

Να μην ξενερώσουμε, ξύλο να σας δώσουμε να σας μαχαιρώσουμε […]

[…] We use Jactuss⁶ and Dovavixin⁷ to get wasted

Not to come down, to beat you and to stab you […]

Furthermore, in some chants, we found references to ‘ναργιλέ’ (narghile, also known as hookah or shisha) (n = 2). Studies have shown that narghile’s users, besides tobacco, often use also herbal cannabis or hash (Brockman et al. 2012; Sutfin et al. 2014). Panionios Ultras and Iraklis Ultras euphorically chant:

[…] Σε πίνω ναργιλέ και τραγουδώ για σένανε […]

[…] I smoke you in a narghile and I sing for you […]

[…] Να ‘χαμέ έναν ναργιλέ, φύσα, ρούφα, τραβατόνα, να τα βλέπαμε όλα μπλέ […]

[…] We wish we could have a narghile, to blow it and suck it hard, in order to see everything blue […]

Drugs

The word ‘ναρκωτικά’ (drugs) recurred very often in the sample. All clubs have at least one reference. Interestingly, the findings indicated that ‘drugs’ is found more often in clubs from Thessaloniki than in clubs from Athens. The word ‘ναρκωτικά’ is literally translated to ‘narcotics’. However, in the Greek language the word ‘ναρκωτικά’ is used to describe all illicit drugs, without making distinctions between types of drugs. For example, AEK ultras chorus:

[…] Ναρκωτικά, γυναίκες και λεφτά, τι να σου πουν εσένα όλα αυτά […]

[…] Drugs, women, and money, nothing is compared to you […]

In a similar vein, PAOK Ultras chant:

[…] ΠΑΟΚ εκδρομές ναρκωτικά, έτσι μάθαμε από παιδιά […]

[…] PAOK trips and drugs, that’s how we learned as kids […]

State of mind, substance use, analogies

From further analysis three main themes emerged: (1) state of mind; (2) substance use; and (3) analogies. The first ‘state of mind’ relates to the condition that comes with substance use or abuse, and includes physical and psychological effects. In the analysis, we identified words or phrases referring to being high, wasted, stoned, drunk, overdosed, etc. The second theme, ‘substance use’, refers to the literal use of legal and illicit substances. The third category, ‘analogies’, includes metaphors and similes, where a club or the emotions about the club are likened to a substance or the effects of a substance, respectively.

State of mind

Most of the references to ‘state of mind’ indicate the physical and mental condition, which supposedly arise after smoking cannabis or drinking alcohol. Regarding cannabis, the word ‘μαστουρωμένος’ (stoned, high) was quite common. For example, PAOK Ultras sing:

[…] Μαστουρωμένος ήρθα για να πάρω το διπλό […]

[…] I came here and I am stoned to get the away win […]

Similar words also indicated the negative effects that are caused by heavy drug use, abuse, polydrug use or overdose. For example: ‘έχω κάψει’, ‘κομμάτια’ (wasted), ‘το μυαλό μου μαρμελάδα’ (my head is messed up), ‘θολούρα στο κεφάλι’ (blur in the head). When it comes to alcohol words such as ‘χάλια’ (smashed), ‘λιώμα’ (dead drunk), ‘πιωμένος’ (drunk, pissed), ‘ζαλισμένος’ (dizzy), ‘λάσπη’ and ‘ζάντα’ (hammered), were used to emphasize the negative effects that are caused by extensive and heavy alcohol consumption. However, in some cases, those words could also refer to polydrug use as well, which is not surprising as alcohol is very often part of it (EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) 2021). For example, the Ultras of Aris stress not only their long-standing intimacy with their club but also their long-standing relationship with alcohol abuse, and they chorus:

[…] Για σένα γίνομαι λιώμα από παιδί μικρό, βλέπω το κίτρινο χρώμα Άρη παρανοώ […]

[…] Since I was a little kid, I have been getting smashed for you, I see the yellow colour, Aris, I am getting paranoid […]

In a similar vein, AEL Ultras praise their alcohol intoxication and their relationship of dependence with their club:

[…] Είμαι πιωμένος, είμαι ζαλισμένος, μαζί σου Αελάρα, για πάντα κολλημένος […]

[…] I'm pissed, I'm dizzy, AEL I am stuck with you forever […]

Substance use

The word that is most frequently used to indicate the consumption of substances was the verb ‘μαστουρώνω’, which indicates action of using cannabis and can be translated as ‘I bake’, ‘I get blazed’, ‘I get high’, or ‘I get stoned’. Touching upon identity issues, Panionios Ultras sing about smoking hash and reminiscing Smyrna (today İzmir), the birthplace of Panionios:

[…] Κλείνω τα μάτια και ότι και αν γίνει, πίνω το μαύρο και ονειρεύομαι τη Σμύρνη […]

[…] I close my eyes and whatever happens, I smoke hashish and I dream of Smyrna […]

In a similar vein, OFI Ultras talk about euphoria associated with cannabis use, and they stress that they consume cannabis, get high and sing for their team:

[…] Θα μαστουρώνω και θα το λέω ΟΦΗ ολε ΟΦΗ ολε ολεο […]

[…] I will keep baking, and I will keep saying, OFI ole OFI ole oleo […]

Furthermore, we identified different references to polydrug use meaning the consecutive or simultaneous use of more than one drug, and it encompasses the use of both illicit drugs and legal substances. The last decade, most drug users will occasionally use more than one substance and polydrug use is a common way to use substances (EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) 2021; Smith et al. 2011), which has also increased due to the increased drug availability and the normalization of drug use (Ives and Ghelani 2006). In our analysis, a very common reference of polydrug use was the combination of alcohol and cannabis. For example, PAS Ultras sing:

[…] Σκάσαμε γάρα ήπιαμε ξύδια μαζί σου Αγιαξ στα καλύτερα ταξίδια […]

[…] We blazed joints, we drunk booze, together with you Ajax⁸ in the best trips […]

Analogies

The analogies that we identified show how Ultras often think that their club is like a drug or as strong as a drug, or metaphors about their club being as strong as a drug. Drug-themed chants constitute an embodied performance of excitement on the stands, which is compared to a psychedelic trip (Knijnik and Newson 2021). Fans use a variety of meaningful words with specific semantic content to stress the euphoric effects of the special bond of loyalty and devotion to the idea of their favourite club. These analogies to drugs addiction and potency, represent their deep affinity and attachment to their club. For example, Panathinaikos Ultras use a simile to show that they love their club in the same way that an addict loves heroin:

[…] Πανάθα μου σε αγαπώ, σαν ηρωίνη, σα σκληρό ναρκωτικό […]

[…] Panathinaikos I love you, like heroin, like a hard drug […]

Iraklis Ultras connect the strong effects of cocaine with the strong feelings that they have for their club:

[…] Είσαι εσύ Ηρακλή ναρκωτικό απ’ την κόκα το πιο δυνατό […]

[…] Iraklis you are a drug, harder than coca […]

In a similar vein, Panionios Ultras use a simile to show that their attachment to their club is similar to drug addiction:

[…]Σαν ναρκωτικό, θέλω να ξεμπλέξω από σένα δεν μπορώ[…]

[…]Like a drug, I want to escape from you but I cannot[…]

The use of analogies in the process of chants construction is a common practice among Ultras. The distinction between literal and metaphorical meanings within various categories such as drug-themed chants is thought-provoking. This stands not only from a linguistic perspective, but also from the perspective of a self-identification process. The latter encompasses literal and metaphorical meanings as a communication medium for groups to negotiate their collective identities.

Discussion

As shown in the previous section, Greek Ultras include all kinds of legal and illicit substances in their repertoire, ranging from legal to illicit substances, from soft to hard drugs, from very popular to less popular, from very addictive to less addictive. In this section, we discuss further the reasons why Greek Ultras sing about substances in football stadia, explaining the phenomenon of drug-themed chants in Greece.

A refuge in a drugs non-normalized context

Although cannabis and other drugs are far from normalized in Greece, the findings show that drugs are frequently central to chants in Greek football stadia. In some cases, drug-themed chants constitute an embodied performance of excitement on the stands, through which the affection about the club is compared to the euphoria that recreational drug use causes. In other cases, the Greek stadium is experienced as a liminal refuge. Because of the low degree of normalization in the wider Greek context, where open references to drug use are discouraged by the fear of social and legal control, the football stadium offers a space and time, where an undisturbed and unhindered communication about drugs can be developed and even embodied. In this sense, the stadium´s social space that accommodates behaviours that are considered deviant and are condemned by the wider Greek society.

This research endeavour synthesizes aspects of Ultras cultural world. In addition to drug-themed chants which reflect an excitement similar to drug effects, in the sample, we also found references related to abuse, problematic use, and addictive behaviour. This challenges the normalization thesis to the ground, as it has been associated with the sensible and moderate recreational drug use (Parker, Williams, and Aldridge 2002). In some of the chants, drug use is connected also with aggression and violence, shifting the focus far from the context of drug normalization. In addition, the use of street names and slang terms might figure as Ultras’ attempt, in some cases, to keep the image of drugs – as they are reflected in the chants – in the realm of a subculture, away from a socially mainstream framework that the normalization theory seems to suggest.

Greek Ultras and self-identification processes: the construction of deviant identities

In the football context, chants are largely responsible for the development and performance of Ultras’ identity. Like other chants in the overall repertoire of football chants, drug-themed chants are used to build bridges of interaction and forms of social cohesion within the group; as such they contribute to intra-group identity. As mentioned before, symbols play an important role in identity formation (Kossakowski 2017). In the same way fans build their identity around club symbols, drug-themed chants are used to create a sense of collective conscience and thus becomes an aspect of their identity. Similar to the excessive rudeness that exemplify the intensity of identification in football stands (Crowley 2013), references to drugs, essentially, constitute an ongoing performance of self-identification. Therefore, drug-themed chants are partly a product of social processes of impression management, reputation, and differentiation, in an effort of recognition by others and self-identification. In other words, Ultras seek to be recognized as having some kind of identity via the expression of certain ‘signals’ that make that identity, in this case drugs, recognizable and unique.

In study by Radmann (2015), the chant ‘Everyone hates us – everyone hates us, we don’t give a shit as long as they fear us’ was analysed as an effort of impression management that promotes the dissociation from the rest of society. Similarly, we could argue that drug-themed chants are intentionally used as an attempt to create and maintain a specific deviant image among Ultras, as well as the public. These references can be seen as a dialectical process that associates the stereotypical negative images about drugs in Greece with Ultras. Accordingly, chanting about drugs can be discussed as performance of deviance that contributes to the formation and maintenance of a desired marginal identity by Greek Ultras. Essentially, Ultras capitalize a drug-related stigma to portray themselves as antagonist to and distinct from others.

Furthermore, the references to drugs belong to the constitutive boundaries of Greek Ultras’ identity and are used in an effort for recognition in and outside the stadium. Performances of deviance are thus used to set internal boundaries in the stadium and raise imaginary fences at the stands to distinct Ultras from other fans. The spatial separation of Ultras in a different section already functions as ‘a physical barrier to outsiders’ (Kossakowski 2017). Bearing in mind that Ultras place themselves in certain areas of the stadium that let them exude their ‘true’ fandom through chants (Davis 2015), we argue that drug-themed chants may also serve this role in defining these boundaries within the same stadium. The comparison between their ingroup and relevant outgroups is one of the essential factors in shaping the identity of Ultras (Kossakowski 2017; Jack 2013; Reicher 2004).

It seems that in the Greek Ultras’ scene and culture, the more deviant and marginal the better. Indeed, drug-themed chanting can be seen as a continuous effort of a social process of self-identification, a kind of a contest to prove who is the most marginal in the country. All these possible interpretations ultimately refer to distinctions, boundaries and oppositions, creating an ‘us vs. them’ mentality (Winands, Grau, and Zick 2019; Woodward 2006). From that angle, drug-themed chants are an expression of differentiation, used as a mechanism to enhance this distinction.

Drug-themed chants against modern football

Football, as a contested political and ideological terrain, offers possibilities for collective action and resistance to hegemonic discourses (Zaimakis 2018). As it happens in other social spaces, football microcosms are also associated with resistance practices, when it comes to the changes taking place in the game, as well as, in the wider society. In such a context, the identity of Ultras has been developed also on the basis of radical oppositions to the broader ‘system’ (Antonowicz, Kossakowski, and Szlendak 2016; Kossakowski 2017; Merkel 2012). In recent years, a movement of opposition has been developed against modern football and its by-products: unbridled commercialization, law enforcement and repression practices – in or outside the stadium – and severe penalties from football authorities. This has been very recently seen by the world-wide Ultras coordination efforts to oppose and protest against the World Cup in Qatar (e.g. BoycottQatar2022, 2022). Following this spirit, Ultras in Greece attempt to resist the neoliberal football order and protest against the consumerist culture of modern football (Zaimakis 2022). Similar to other Ultras performances of protest (e.g. choreographies, banners) that reflect multi-dimensional aspects of ‘resistance identity’ of fandom culture (Kossakowski 2017; Perasović and Mustapić 2018), chants could serve the same purpose. As other performative discourses (e.g. political oriented chants), which attempt to undermine existing arrangements in modern football (see Zaimakis 2022), drug-themed chants may contribute to that purpose. In this light, drug-themed chants can be also interpretated as a symbolic move of opposition and resistance to football’s commercialization. In cases that drug use is promoted as a deviant behaviour this opposes the ‘sanitised’, ‘peaceful’ and ‘healthy’ image that the football authorities want to promote. In such cases, drug-themed chants can be seen as a linguistic instrument of symbolic resistance ‘against modern football’, and also a disruption to modern football´s commercialized atmosphere.

Moreover, Ultras may refer to drugs in an effort to look associated with an illegal or ‘outlaw’ behaviour, which would symbolise disobedience to the law and law enforcement. Especially in the case of Greece, this could be related to the attitude of enmity against the police and the authorities that Ultras have traditionally shown. An enhanced impression of the outlaw could enhance their ‘anti-police’ identity of the Greek ultras (Zaimakis 2013, 2018).

In conclusion, this article provided a new outlook on how notions of Ultras identity are expressed through drug-themed chants, and raised awareness regarding this unexplored topic. In doing so, it highlighted a peculiar socio-political framework of prohibitions and resistances, alongside contributing to the understanding of drug-themed chants in Greece: a specific phenomenon in relation to wider socio-cultural processes. Further studies could enhance the discussion in relation to other research fields such as social drug research and addictions. Bearing in mind that in the total sample, there is a variety of references to drugs and drug use, one might ask how these are related to and even embodied in football cultures in Greece? What are the dynamics and processes that take place within Ultras groups to deal with the phenomenon of drug use? In these regards, further analysis of the vernacular everyday practices that take place within Ultras groups’ microcosms would lead to a more systematic examination of the phenomenon.

Notwithstanding some evident differences between the football clubs, the aim of this paper was not to compare them, but to focus more on the broad picture of this category of chants. Accordingly, we systematically reviewed a variety of Greek football chants to evaluate whether drug-themed chants appear in a wide range of Greek football clubs. We then examined the function of these chants, discussing critically the reasons that led to their genesis and their reproduction. The overall low degree of drugs normalization in Greece, may lead Ultras groups to seek multiple spaces and times, where they can freely talk about drugs and drug use in an unhindered and undisturbed way. The complex microcosm of football stadium with its carnivalesque characteristics creates an ideal social space with its own limits and informal rules, which tacitly tolerates and accommodates deviant behaviours, norms and expressions that are condemned in Greek society and its everyday life. In some cases, drug-themed chants constitute an embodied performance of excitement on the stands, through which the affection about the club is compared to the euphoria that recreational drug use causes. In other cases, where drugs are presented in a deviant and a non-normalized way, drug-themed chanting might be assessed as a part of an impression management and reputation management process used by Ultras to self-identify themselves as deviant and also, of seeking such a recognition by a broader audience inside the stadia (i.e. other fans) or outside (i.e. other Ultras or society). That recognition can be used as a process of distinction and differentiation in the context of ‘us vs. them’. Finally, in a culturally and socially meaningful, yet highly contested space such as football stadia, drug-themed chants may also function as a symbolic opposition against modern football and authorities.

This article paves the way for future interdisciplinary studies in research communities, while it also builds an academic bridge between social football studies and social drug research. Arguably, a more in-depth qualitative endeavour into the complex socio-cultural world of Greek Ultras, would provide a more holistic picture into the meanings that fans attach to their performative rituals. Furthermore, this would allow us to reflect upon place-based particularities, local and cultural differences and other issues of identity, for example, socio-cultural differences between Athens, Thessaloniki, and countryside. Last, future research will aim to reveal how Ultras negotiate their symbolic and cultural capital, in an effort to understand the complexity of football communities and the meanings that surround them.

Acknowledgements

We thank the reviewers for their feedback and their fruitful comments. We also thank our colleagues Dr. Letizia Bonanno, Dr. Wim Zimmermann, Professor Dirk J. Korf, Dr. Kostas Bischiniotis, Giorgos Aslanidis, and Iason Kontaxis for their comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. Last, we would like to thank the participants of the 33rd Conference of European Society for Social Drug Research (ESSD) for providing constructive comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We provide Greek (native) and English language quotes to allow for greater transparency of findings, and to reflect adequately the cultural elements in the chants.

2 To ‘learn to someone how to swim’ has been used to mock rivals and it can have a double meaning. First, it means that someone threw a rival in the sea, or river, or lake (in this case, Pinios is a river in Larisa). Second, it means, that a rival had to swim to escape the beating.

3 ‘Boca’ is referred to Club Atlético Boca Juniors, an Argentine football club headquartered in Buenos Aires. In Greek football fandom, Boca Juniors has been beautified and admired not only because of the national and international achievements, but also due to the atmosphere that Boca fans create in the stadium.

4 The Olympic Stadium of Athens which -in the last three decades- has been used by all the three big football clubs of Attica (i.e. Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, AEK) is located in the area of Kalogreza. In Greek football fandom, references to ‘Kalogreza’ are exclusively associated to that football stadium.

5 Greek street name -used by heroin addicts- for Dovavixin.

6 Jactuss (zipeprol): Is an antitussive that has anaesthetic properties.

7 Dovavixin (zipeprol): Is a widely abused antitussive with hallucinogenic effects which is known to produce an opioid-like euphoria.

8 Ajax is the nickname of PAS. Also, it can be found as ‘Ajax of Epirus’.