‘Arsenal/Diósgyőr Till I Die’
A Comparison of English and Hungarian Football Fan Culture Based
on
Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch and Anthropological Fieldwork
Németh Máté
Subjects of the analysis
• Comparison of the football fan culture of England and
Hungary in general, and the features of the supporters of
Arsenal FC and Diósgyőri VTK based on Fever Pitch written
by Nick Hornby and on own fieldwork done with fan groups
of DVTK
• The examination of the identifying practices and culturespecific characteristics of the two groups
• Analysis of the effect of hooligans and ultras on the
atmosphere surrounding football matches
Similarities between the two clubs
• Social features of the district of Highbury and region of Miskolc
• History and present form of the football teams
• Social features and enthusiasm of
the supporters
• Status inside their own country
Methods of the research
• qualitative and quantitative academic research tehniques:
- Participant observation, structured and semi-structured
interviews with supporters
Social movements:
• „ultra” groups
• ‚hooligan’ groups
 England is the home of this subcultural movement
• The two movements cannot be separated in the case of
Hungarian football supporters
General features of Arsenal and English
supporters between 1968 and 1992
• football hooliganism is
extremely popular
• they usually form groups and these
are called firms
• chant fan songs and show
their scarves as an identifying practice
• they prefer punk music and wear leather
jackets
General features of DVTK and
Hungarian supporters
• hooligan and ultra groups are not separated but clashes
are not so common
• creating flags and hangings, planning choreographies are
really popular
• fan groups usually call themselves brigades
• fan groups organize the jitter, supporters from other
sectors follow them
Spatial situation inside
the stadiums
Arsenal
North Bank:
covered terrace, no seats
East Stand:
no seats
mainly younger supporters, more
dangerous
Clock End:
usually away fans, who had frequently
been attacked by fans from East Stand
West Stand:
not seated
Spatial situation inside
the stadiums
DVTK
A-J: ‘Sunny Side’
The most socially heterogeneous
sector
Tribune: elder season-ticket
holders
X,Y,Z stands: Y used to be the sector
of fan groups
U, V, W stands: sector of children
and senior citizens
N, O, P stands: sectors of away
teams
K, L, M: former ‘Bosch sector’
I, J, J1: new ‘Bosch sector’
Football hooliganism
Golden years in England: 1970s and 1980s
Major catastrophes related to English fans:
– Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium in 1985
– Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, Great Britain in 1989
Hungarian football hooliganism:
– Biggest clashes from the early 1990s to 2004,2005
Famous attacks of Diósgyőr fans:
– FTC, 2011
– Újpest, 2012
Against modern football
• supporters think football has been commercialized and has lost its
traditions
• the purpose of the safety measurements is just about making this game
more profitable
• they think associations and authorities are against football supporters
Thank You for Your
Attention!