https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2578-8909
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ABSTRACT
Processes of group formation and social identity are key to understanding human behaviour in social domains. In football, ‘ultras’ groups are currently considered the most visible style of fandom across the football world. By binding individuals together, these groups create new social identities that make them an ideal context for understanding how people behave within group contexts. This paper employs identity fusion theory to analyse a one-year study of the Red and Black Bloc (RBB), an ultras formation in Western Sydney, Australia. With data collected using active interviews, online surveys, participant observation in football stadiums and fans’ online forums, the paper discusses the set of circumstances that bought the RBB together as a cohesive unit. It concludes with a set of recommendations to Australian football administrators and beyond, offering a comprehensive view of fans’ tribal behaviour and how to make the most of these findings for the betterment of their emergent leagues.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge all participants of this research who collaborated with us to better understand the realities of football fandom in Western Sydney; we acknowledge also the research assistance of Clancy Black and Phillip Mar during the project data collection phase; we are thankful for the anonymous reviewers whose comments helped us to strengthen the paper’s argument.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. Knijnik, ‘Social agency and football fandom: The cultural pedagogies of the Western Sydney ultras’
2. Doidge and Lieser, ‘The importance of research on the ultras: introduction.’
3. Knijnik, ‘Imagining a multicultural community in an everyday football carnival: Chants, identity and social resistance on Western Sydney terraces.’
4. Numerato, Football Fans, Activism and Social Change.
5. Spaaij and Viñas, ‘Passion, Politics and Violence: A Socio‐Historical Analysis of Spanish Ultras.’
6. Here they refer to the 2014 Asian Champions League title won by the Wanderers the first time they played this Asian competition. It is also the only time that an Australian team has won this title to date.
7. Social media post, Red and Black Bloc.
8. Dmowski, ‘Geographical typology of European football rivalries’; Brewer & Schneider. ‘Social identity and social dilemmas: A double-edged sword.’ Perdue, Gurtman & Tyler. ‘Us and them: social categorization and the process of intergroup bias.’
9. Spaaij and Geilenkirchen, ‘Ta (l) king sides: ethical and methodological challenges in comparative fieldwork on avid football rivalries’.
10. Hay, ‘Instant Rivalry: The Melbourne Victory versus Melbourne Heart derby’.
11. ‘Forrest, Poulsen and Johnston, A “multicultural model” of the spatial assimilation of ethnic minority groups in Australia’s major immigrant-receiving cities.’
12. Collins, ‘The changing political economy of Australian immigration’.
13. Poulsen, Johnston and Forrest, ‘Is Sydney a divided city ethnically?
14. Hay, ‘“Our wicked foreign game”: why has association football (soccer) not become the main code of football in Australia?’; and Syson, The Game That Never Happened: The Vanishing History of Soccer in Australia
15. Knijnik and Spaaij, ‘No harmony: football fandom and everyday multiculturalism in Western Sydney.’
16. Hay, ‘‘Our wicked foreign game’; and Skinner, Dwight and Edwards, ‘Coming in from the margins: Ethnicity, community support and the rebranding of Australian soccer’
17. Knijnik, ‘Imagining a multicultural community in an everyday football carnival: Chants, identity and social resistance on Western Sydney terraces.’
18. Hallinan and Hughson, ‘The beautiful game in Howard’s “Brutopia”: football, ethnicity and citizenship in Australia’.
19. Doidge and Lieser, ‘The importance of research on the ultras: introduction.’
20. Words from ‘Glorious’, the RBB chant that is considered the unofficial anthem for the Wanderers.
21. Doidge and Lieser, op cit, p. 2
22. Bortolini, Newson, Natividade, Vázquez, and Gómez, ‘Identity fusion predicts endorsement of pro‐group behaviours targeting nationality, religion, or football in Brazilian samples.’
23. Newson, ‘Football, fan violence, and identity fusion.’; and Newson et al ‘ Brazil’s football warriors: Social bonding and inter-group violence’.
24. Paredes, Briñol, and Gómez, ‘Identity fusion leads to willingness to fight and die for the group: The moderating impact of being informed of the reasons behind other members’ sacrifice.’
25. Newson, Buhrmester and Whitehouse, ‘Explaining lifelong loyalty: The role of identity fusion and self-shaping group events.’
26. Halberstadt, Jackson, Bilkey, Jong, Whitehouse, McNaughton and Zollmann, ‘Incipient social groups: An analysis via in-vivo behavioral tracking.’
27. Swann, Gómez, Seyle, Morales, & Huici, ‘Identity fusion: the interplay of personal and social identities in extreme group behavior.’; and Swann, Jetten, Gómez, Whitehouse, & Bastian. ‘When group membership gets personal: A theory of identity fusion.’
28. Swann, Jetten, Gómez, Whitehouse & Bastian, ‘When group membership gets personal: A theory of identity fusion’.
29. Whitehouse, Lanman et al, ‘The Ties That Bind Us: Ritual, fusion, and identification’.
30. Whitehouse, McQuinn, Buhrmester and Swann, ‘Brothers in Arms: Libyan revolutionaries bond like family’, 17,783; and see also Whitehouse et al. ‘The evolution of extreme cooperation via shared dysphoric experiences.’ and Newson, Bortolini, Buhrmester, da Silva et al, ‘Brazil’s football warriors: Social bonding and inter-group violence.
31. Fredman, Bastian, and Swann ‘God or Country? Fusion With Judaism Predicts Desire for Retaliation Following Palestinian Stabbing Intifada.’; and Newson, Buhrmester, White, Gonsalkorale, Black, Knijnik, Wibisono, Sofianna, and Whitehouse, ‘How Perceived Threat and Group Identity Dynamics Help Shape Extreme Intergroup Violence’.
32. Buhrmester, Fraser, Lanman, Whitehouse and Swann, ‘When terror hits home: Identity fused Americans who saw Boston bombing victims as “family” provided aid.’
33. Newson, Buhrmester and Whitehouse, ‘Explaining lifelong loyalty: The role of identity fusion and self-shaping group events.’
34. Newson, Buhrmester, White, Gonsalkorale, Black, Knijnik, Wibisono, Sofianna, and Whitehouse, ‘How Perceived Threat and Group Identity Dynamics Help Shape Extreme Intergroup Violence’.
35. Whitehouse et al. ‘The evolution of extreme cooperation via shared dysphoric experiences.’
36. Kennedy, ‘A contextual analysis of Europe’s ultra football supporters movement.’
37. Doidge and Lieser, ‘The importance of research on the ultras’
38. Nuhrat, ‘Ultras in Turkey: othering, agency, and culture as a political domain’.
39. Doidge and Lieser, ‘The importance of research on the ultras’.
40. Hogg et al, ‘Uncertainty, entitavity and group identification’.
41. Swann, Gómez, Dovidio, Hart and Jetten, ‘Dying and Killing for One’s Group: Identity Fusion Moderates Responses to Intergroup Versions of the Trolley Problem’.
42. There were reports that this has happened to other fan groups in Australia in the past. See Warren and Hay, ‘“Fencing them in”: The A-League, Policing and the Dilemma of Public Order’.
43. Knijnik, ‘Social agency and football fandom: The cultural pedagogies of the Western Sydney ultras’, 950.
44. Newson, ‘Football, fan violence, and identity fusion.’
45. Gómez, Brooks, Buhrmester, Vázquez, Jetten, Swann, ‘On the nature of identity fusion: Insights into the construct and a new measure’
46. Quantitative results are reported in a sister, three-study paper: Newson, Buhrmester, White, Gonsalkorale, Black, Knijnik, Wibisono, Sofianna, and Whitehouse, ‘How Perceived Threat and Group Identity Dynamics Help Shape Extreme Intergroup Violence’ (under review).
47. Interviewees might or might not have responded to the survey.
48. Gubrium and Holstein, Handbook of interview research: Context and method.
49. Buhrmester et al, ‘When terror hits home’.
50. Hallinan, Hughson and Burke, ‘Supporting the “world game” in Australia: A case study of fandom at national and club level.’
51. Gubrium and Holstein, Handbook of interview research.
52. Ibid.,
53. de Toledo. ‘Torcer: a metafísica do homem comum’
54. Kvale and Brinkmann, Interviews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing.
55. Markham, ‘Internet research.’
56. Ethics protocol number H1045 obtained from the Human Research Ethics Committee at Western Sydney University
57. To become familiar with the demographics of other Australian football fan cohorts, please see Hay ‘Instant Rivalry’.
58. Newson, Bortolini, Buhrmester, da Silva et al, ‘Brazil’s football warriors: Social bonding and inter-group violence.’
59. Newson, Buhrmester, White, Gonsalkorale, Black, Knijnik, Wibisono, Sofianna, and Whitehouse, ‘How Perceived Threat and Group Identity Dynamics Help Shape Extreme Intergroup Violence’.
60. Newson, Buhrmester and Whitehouse, ‘Explaining lifelong loyalty: The role of identity fusion and self-shaping group events.’
61. Swann Jr. Jetten, Gómez, Whitehouse and Bastian, ‘When group membership gets personal: A theory of identity fusion’.
62. Newson, ‘Football, fan violence, and identity fusion.’
63. Research participants are here identified as P and a number in order that they were interviewed. P1 is a 28 years old man of Scottish background.
64. Newson, Bortolini, Buhrmester, da Silva et al, ‘Brazil’s football warriors: Social bonding and inter-group violence.’
65. Whitehouse, McQuinn, Buhrmester and Swann, ‘Brothers in Arms’
66. Knijnik, ‘Social agency and football fandom: The cultural pedagogies of the Western Sydney ultras.’
67. P2 is a 26 years old man of Greek background
68. P3 is a 21 years old man of British background
69. Gómez and Vázquez, ‘El poder de” sentirse uno” con un grupo: fusión de la identidad y conductas progrupales extremas.’
70. P4 is a 30 years old man of South African background
71. Gómez and Vázquez, ‘El poder de” sentirse uno” con un grupo: fusión de la identidad y conductas progrupales extremas.’
72. Poulsen, Johnston and Forrest, ‘Is Sydney a divided city ethnically?
73. Paredes, Briñol and Gómez, ‘Identity fusion leads to willingness to fight and die for the group: The moderating impact of being informed of the reasons behind other members’ sacrifice.’
74. Buhrmester et al. ‘When terror hits home: Identity fused Americans who saw Boston bombing victims as “family”’.
75. Whitehouse, McQuinn, Buhrmester and Swann, ‘Brothers in Arms’
76. The Wanderers play in the Parramatta stadium, located in the Parramatta region, the geographical entry gate for Western Sydney.
77. Whitehouse, Lanman et al, ‘The Ties That Bind Us: Ritual, fusion, and identification’, 683.
78. P5 is a 28 years old man of British background
79. Newson, Buhrmester and Whitehouse, ‘Explaining lifelong loyalty: The role of identity fusion and self-shaping group events.’
80. Lyrics of ‘Matador’ (Killer), RBB chant.
81. In inverted commas because there is no ‘East Sydney’ only ‘Sydney’ and Western Sydney.
82. Here the groups refer to the ‘East’ Sydney FC supporters; the opponent team’s name is just ‘Sydney FC’ but Wanderers fans add the ‘East’ to make a clear contrast to the ‘West’ that they are proud of.
83. Cleland, ‘Sexuality, masculinity and homophobia in association football: An empirical overview of a changing cultural context.’
84. Bortolini, Newson, Natividade, Vázquez, and Gómez, ‘Identity fusion predicts endorsement of pro‐group behaviours targeting nationality, religion, or football in Brazilian samples.’
85. Numerato, Football Fans, Activism and Social Change.
86. Kennedy and Kennedy, ‘Football Supporters and The Commercialisation of Football: Comparative Responses Across Europe.’
87. Brown, ‘“Not for sale”? The destruction and reformation of football communities in the Glazer takeover of Manchester United.’
88. Millward, The global football league: Transnational networks, social movements and sport in the new media age.
89. Whitehouse, McQuinn, Buhrmester and Swann, ‘Brothers in Arms’
90. Newson, Bortolini, Buhrmester, da Silva et al, ‘Brazil’s football warriors: Social bonding and inter-group violence’, 1.
91. Melbourne Cup is the main international annual horse race in Australia.
92. Cohen, Stanley, Folk devils and moral panics.
93. Whitehouse, Lanman et al, ‘The Ties That Bind Us: Ritual, fusion, and identification’.
94. Whitehouse, Lanman et al, ‘The Ties That Bind Us: Ritual, fusion, and identification’, 680.
95. Whitehouse, Lanman et al, ‘The Ties That Bind Us: Ritual, fusion, and identification’.
96. Facebook comment posted on a closed Wanderers’ supporters’ page
97. Whitehouse, McQuinn, Buhrmester and Swann, ‘Brothers in Arms’, 17,783.
98. ‘These colours unite us all’. RBB chant
99. Taylor and Taylor, ‘Something for the weekend, sir? Leisure, ecstasy and identity in football and contemporary religion
100. King, ‘The European ritual: Football in the new Europe.’
101. Harvey, and Piotrowska, ‘Intolerance and joy, violence and love among male football fans: towards a psychosocial explanation of “excessive” behaviours’.
102. Harvey and Piotrowska, ‘Intolerance and joy, violence and love among male football fans: towards a psychosocial explanation of ‘excessive ‘behaviours.”
103. Taylor and Taylor, ‘Something for the weekend, sir? Leisure, ecstasy and identity in football and contemporary religion.’
104. Anderson, The architecture of cognition.
105. Maffesoli, ‘The contemplation of the world: Figures of community style’
106. Taylor and Taylor, ‘Something for the weekend, sir? Leisure, ecstasy and identity in football and contemporary religion
107. Kytö, ‘‘We are the rebellious voice of the terraces; we are Çarşı’.
108. ‘We unite as one’, RBB chant.
109. ‘Our lives we give’, RBB chant.
110. Whitehouse, Lanman et al. ‘The Ties That Bind Us: Ritual, fusion, and identification’. Newson et al., ‘Explaining lifelong loyalty: The role of identity fusion and self-shaping group events.’ Whitehouse ‘Dying for the group: Towards a general theory of extreme self-sacrifice.’
111. P6 is a 26 years old woman of a South American background
112. P7 is a 31 years old man of unknown background
113. Parts of ‘Euphoria’, RBB chant.
114. Whitehouse, Lanman et al. ‘The Ties That Bind Us: Ritual, fusion, and identification’.
115. Newson, ‘Football, fan violence, and identity fusion’.
116. The Blue Mountains are a mountainous region located at the edge of Western Sydney. It borders the region with other rural areas in the NSW state.
117. Gómez, Brooks, Buhrmester, Vázquez, Jetten, Swann, ‘On the nature of identity fusion: Insights into the construct and a new measure’
118. e.g. Fredman, Bastian, and Swann ‘God or Country? Fusion With Judaism Predicts Desire for Retaliation Following Palestinian Stabbing Intifada.’; Newson, Bortolini, Buhrmester, Silva et al, ‘Brazil’s football warriors: Social bonding and inter-group violence’
119. Newson, ‘Football, fan violence, and identity fusion.’