Against Modern Football: Understanding Clubs Founded and Operated by Supporters (Critical Research in Football)

This is the first book to offer in-depth analysis of the "Against Modern Football" movement through the comparison of two AMF clubs. The movement has emerged in opposition to the rampant commercialisation of football and the lack of supporters’ influence over the governance of the clubs they support.

Drawing on long-term ethnographic research, the book examines the foundation, organisation and governance of new clubs set up by supporters as part of the AMF movement. Centred on detailed case studies of two clubs in particular―HFC Falke in Germany, founded in 2014, and Varteks Varaždin in Croatia, founded in 2011―the book explores supporter cultures and identity and considers the social processes at work in the foundation of new football clubs. By examining the unique local and national contexts in which HFC Falke and Varteks Varaždin have emerged, as well the broader international context that encompasses well-known AMF clubs such as FC United of Manchester, the book makes an important contribution to our understanding of supporters, their activism, the significance of football clubs, and social movements more broadly.

This book is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in football, the sociology of sport, sport management, the politics of sport, social movements, subcultures, or ethnography.

Benjamin Perasović is Scientific Adviser at the Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar in Zagreb, Croatia and Professor at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. His research interests include youth subcultures, sociology of sport, social movements, ethnography, and qualitative research methods. He is a member of the Croatian Sociological Association, the European Sociological Association, and the European Association for Sociology of Sport.

Christian Brandt is Postdoc at the Bayreuth Centre of Sport Science at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. His research interests include football supporters, sports governance, and amateur football. He is member of the German Society of Sport Science and International Sociology of Sport Association.

Marko Mustapić is Scientific Adviser at the Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar in Zagreb, Croatia and Associate Professor at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. His research interests include youth, sport, and cultural memory. He is currently the President of the Croatian Sociological Association and member of the European Sociological Association and the European Association for Sociology of Sport.