Been a while - #phdlife and all that ....
Anyways, has been a bit quiet on the research front (hint hint if there is anyone still listening) so I have more tidbits to thank those who have already been involved and to pique the interest of those who might want to be.
- Football seems to be a guy thing. At a very fundamental level. What has become very clear is the rather obvious lack of women who like football. Now I didn't come into this thinking that I was going to speak to many women, I am a realist, but where are all the female fans at? As a women-who-likes-football I am a bit perplexed as New Zealand appears to have a very thriving culture of women playing football but this does not appear to be reflected in a female fan base.
- While on the subject of 'guy things' mateship is very important. Football is not football without mates to watch World Cups, FA Cups and Champions League matches with. This seems to vary though with some fans only watching specific games that have been deemed to be important with mates. While for others they only watch games with groups of friends. What is also very interesting is that in New Zealand there don't appear to be large concentrations of fans of the same teams. So in a high school or workplace there is likely to be fans of a number of teams and this means that the ability to be the butt of jokes and be teased about your team is a key element of being a 'good' mate.
- I really do want to get feedback on this - what makes a fan??? Everyone seems to have a different idea about who the 'plastic' fans are and who are 'real' fans. Does buying merchandise make you a real fan or just a consumer? Does a giant tattoo help? Do you have to have seen your team play in the flesh? How do you show that you are a 'true fan'? This may be the beginning of an existential crisis............
