This research delves into the intersection of sports fandom and political activism through the lens of Panathinaikos’ supporters, particularly Gate 13. It investigates how the club’s fan base engages in political expression, solidarity actions, and even political mobilization, against the backdrop of Greece’s socio-political upheavals. The study reveals the formation of a political party, PANKI, by the fans, highlighting their proactive stance on national issues. By combining ethnographic methods and thematic analysis, it uncovers the politicization of fan identities amidst economic and political crises, showcasing the unique role sports fandom can play in broader social and political discourse.

The Swedish sport of bandy has been declared dead for a hundred years. Still, the sport survives as an ancient Swedish treasure. Neither the modernity of ice hockey, nor floorball, nor climate change has managed to knock it out. The exoticism of bandy is similar to that of the sour herring. Bandy started in the country’s most exclusive milieus – among the aristocracy and university elites – but today represents sparsely populated working-class areas. The Swedish Championship final, played since 1907, has retained its magic as Sweden’s oldest major annual sporting event. The supporter culture around the final has a long history. Not even football has been able to show as large a number of traveling supporters to a match. Nostalgia has long been the hallmark of the sport. Women’s bandy has an equally long and exciting history. During the 2000s, the sport of bandy was substantially modernized. In a short time, it left its dependence on nature and moved into indoor halls, arenas that guaranteed a good ice surface. Fans, however, did not quite accept the changes out of a sense of nostalgia. This study focuses on the sport of bandy and its complex relationship to modernity, the natural environment, nationalism, and nostalgia.

This chapter will give insight into the Nordic football fandom culture describing supporter culture in all five Nordic countries, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Finland. Focusing on history, identities, policies, and politics the authors discuss if a specific “Nordic supporter culture” exists and if there are significant perspectives in this culture compared to other football fandom cultures. Sweden has the most devoted fans when it comes to club football in the Nordic countries and Denmark and Iceland when we talk about fans supporting the national teams. Scandinavia of today has a strong supporter culture and good attendances at football matches. While following the development patterns seen in many European countries, football fans in Scandinavia have developed region-specific modes of creative engagement with the game. Supporters not only encourage their clubs, they also provide a modern commentary and criticism of social and economic changes within the globalized football world. The evolution of football fans, exemplified by the Scandinavian context and taking neighboring countries into consideration, is paired with socio-temporal national realities and European developments. Thus, the activities on Scandinavian football arenas result in producing identities and histories relevant in the Nordic context.

The text deals with the history of Swedish football's most classic club rivalries. These are the rivalries in Gothenburg (between IFK Göteborg, Örgryte IS and GAIS), Stockholm (AIK, Djurgårdens IF, Hammarby IF), and in the county of Scania (Malmö FF, Helsingborgs IF, Landskrona BoIS). The rivalries in Gothenburg have revolved around social class and political preferences, while those in Stockholm have focused on geography. The Scanian ones have been based on traditional rivalries between nearby cities within a distinct region. During the 2000s, a strong supporter culture has worked glocally to preserve a relatively non-commercial football culture, while rivalries at the same time have become fiercer. The heightened passion around the matches has in turn led to strengthened networks around the clubs, including better press coverage, increased sponsoring and the construction of better stadiums. The analysis summarises a qualitatively based research project on the relationship between club football and local identity in 11 different cities during the period 1950 up to the beginning of the 2000s.

This essay addresses the rise and fall of the Swedish women's club Umea IK. The question is how a team from a city almost devoid of any football culture suddenly could become one of the most successful clubs in the world during the early 2000s? The theoretical basis consists of the concepts of local identity, glocalization and Manuel Castell's analysis of the network society. The source material is a study of Umea's largest daily newspaper and eleven interviews. Umea IK worked energetically to create a strong local network for a women's club (consisting of good contacts with the municipality, high income from sponsors, good media coverage and high attendances). The university city of Umea was dynamic and progressive, with a strong middle-class character. The population could identify with the team. However, the city's volatility meant that the team did not get long-lasting significance in terms of the city's identity.

In 1920, the year ice hockey was introduced to Sweden in connection with the Olympic Games in Antwerp, the traditional British bandy was already a well established team sport on ice in the country. In the early 1900s it had become popular among the upper classes, both men and women, since its deep connection with nature applied to the time’s sense of nostalgia. The Swedish male bandy cup final, which was first played in 1907, is still the country’s oldest large-scale annual sports event. In the press, comparisons were constantly made between the two sports and bandy and ice hockey were seen as contrasts. This resulted in bandy being regarded as truly Swedish and part of the native culture. Concurrently, the sport spread to the working people in Sweden’s rural manufacturing towns while the capital Stockholm established itself as the centre for ice hockey. Elaborating on Allen Guttmann’s theories on modernization, ice hockey’s higher degree of modernity is presented. Adjusting to the modern world was a struggle for bandy and therefore followers of ice hockey predicted its early demise. Still it survived, however surrounded by an even stronger atmosphere of nature-centred nostalgia. The increasingly Americanized sport of ice hockey, on the other hand, became the main player in the growing commercialization of Swedish sport.