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Abstract
Football stadiums are for many football fans synonymous not only with sporting affiliation but also local identity. Stadiums provide the ultimate space for creating a shared collective memory – through social encounters, negotiations as well as mutual celebrations. However, those shared narratives usually change when the club moves to a new stadium, with nostalgia overriding the objective advantages of the new venue. In this article, we seek to present a unique case of reviving collective memory regarding an old and abandoned football stadium, Za Lužánkami in Brno, which is closely tied to the history of the local club Zbrojovka. The stadium was built in the early 1950s and for some time it was the largest stadium in the former Czechoslovakia. From 2001, it was left abandoned and in ruins, located in the outer city centre of Brno. In the spring of 2015, a volunteer fan initiative took place at the stadium grounds aimed at refurbishing them and hosting an exhibition match there. Through content analysis and participant observation, we study and problematize the processes of football nostalgia as well as memory revival.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks are extended to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive insights as well as to Michal Šindelář from Brno for his help with the reconstruction works and data collection at the Za Lužánkami stadium.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 Perhaps we can go as far as to say in a Central European context. One other notable example would be the case of the Bohemians Prague 1905 Supporters’ Trust, which was opposed to a proposed relocation away from the club’s traditional venue in 2014 (Numerato, Citation2015a).
2 The report of an inquiry relating to the 1989 Hillsborough Stadium Disaster; more in King (Citation2002).
3 Examples of fan activism in connection with the privatization and commercialization of sports venues can be observed also in regard to other sports and in other geo-cultural settings (e.g. Hannigan, Citation2006).
4 The literal meaning of Za Lužánkami is ‘behind Lužánky’.
5 The first construction achievement of this cooperative was the building of an open-air ice-rink at the location in 1947.
6 The club was founded in 1913 as FC Židenice and received its name, Zbrojovka in 1947. Despite the Za Lužánkami stadium being linked mainly with the name Zbrojovka, the club has changed its name over a period of time: SK Židenice (1913–1947), Zbrojovka Brno (1951–1956), Spartak ZJŠ Brno (1956–1968), Zbrojovka Brno (1968–1992), Boby Brno (1992–2000), Stavo Artikel Brno (2000–2002), 1.FC Brno (2002–2010) and FC Zbrojovka Brno (2010)
7 The highest recorded attendance in a league match was in the 1977/1978 season against ASVS Dukla Prague (around 45,000 spectators) and in 1996/1997 against SK Slavia Prague (around 44,000 spectators). An international match against Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1979/1980 season saw an attendance of around 52,000 (FC Zbrojovka, n.d.).
8 FC Zbrojovka got its name in 1947 due to the fact that the artillery factory was its main sponsor at that time (Čapka & Zabloudil, Citation2013, 91).
9 The author comes from Slovakia, which allows her to communicate in the native language also within the Czech setting, yet is easily identifiable as having a different national background.
10 In elementary school corresponding to approx. 12 years of age.
11 According to police estimates after the match, up to 35,000 people came to the stadium area (ČTK, Citation2015).
12 It is also important to note the change in the city council after the municipal elections in 2014, which brought about a more favourable atmosphere for the whole revival initiative. This stemmed mainly from the civic group Žít Brno (Live Brno), which had the issue of the Za Lužánkami stadium in its electoral programme.
13 Since it was a public event, safety regulations were also imposed by the police.
14 http://www.stadiumbusinessawards.com/winners-focus-story-luzanky-stadium/
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Zuzana Botiková
Zuzana Botiková is a doctoral student, focusing on the topics of identity politics, nationalism and sport. Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Joštova 10, 60200 Brno, the Czech Republic; [email protected].