A ‘Third Way’ for football fandom research: Anthony Giddens and Structuration Theory

Although football fans actively discuss all of the 'big players' within their practice, the same cannot be said for sociologists of sport. Anthony Giddens is a world renowned intellectual and author of some of the most predominant sociological texts of the last millennium. He is the most frequently cited contemporary sociologist spanning all aspects of the social sciences, and yet his work is seldom referred to or used within the sociology of sport. In response to this and in reaction to calls from authors such as Williams to re-think football fandom, this article aims to explore the potential of Giddens 'Structuration Theory' (ST) for moving the sociology of sport closer towards meeting this end. It draws on in-depth qualitative interviews with thirty football fans. The findings of these and their implications are discussed in relation to the 'everyday' processes of fandom.