Loyal to what? FC United's ‘shaping walk’ through football's ‘muck of ages’

Abstract

This paper considers the cultural politics surrounding the formation and development of FC United of Manchester. Established in 2005 by boycotting Manchester United fans following their failed attempt to prevent Malcolm Glazer's takeover, FC United was envisaged as a radical, do-it-yourself version of the football club they wanted Manchester United to be. Driven by an idea that football and its clubs should be run in the interests of community stakeholders rather than financial investors, the supporters rejected what they saw as the more compliant and commodified relationship now demanded by attendance at or consumption of top-level English football. The paper examines how traditional notions of authenticity are articulated and understood by supporters who either embrace or reject the notion of a DIY football club. Political as well as cultural capital is at stake, disrupting traditional values of loyalty. The ambivalence experienced by increasing numbers of contemporary fans means that continuity and change seem never far apart, with football supporter culture facilitating, often simultaneously, both a yearning for what might be along with a fear for what might be lost.

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