The results come with a call for more effective, more inclusive, and more democratic governance of football to preserve and strenghten these effects that are threatened by the growing exclusivity and stratification of European football

The book substantiates and expands our previous work, and shows how constructions of European identity, communities of solidarity and cooperation, and ultimately stronger social cohesion can emerge in football fan culture.

In this book we explored one big question: Can football fandom help build social cohesion and European identity? Through media analysis, a representative survey, and interviews with experts from the field, we analysed how football connects people across borders.

We identify five central dimensions of social, community, and identity dynamics in Europeanised football. Based on this, we find six clusters of fans that present distinct types of fans. This shows that the Europeanisation of football has transformed the lived reality of fans across the continent.

2) Football belongs to the fans, but they are largely excluded from any decision-making. We call for:
✔️ Institutionalised fan consultation with clubs & associations
✔️ Legal and regulatory reforms to mandate fan representation in decision-making structure
✔️ Funding for fan engagement projects

1) Football connects people across borders, but fan communities still face repression and lack of representation. We propose:
✔️ Expanding socio-pedagogical fan work across Europe
✔️ Establishing formal networks for European fan initiatives
✔️ Increasing financial & institutional support

Finally, we found that fandom creates habitual European experiences, strengthening a sense of European belonging. Fans exhibit stronger identifications, preferences for further integration, and more positive views of EU membership than non-fans.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Who is seen as part of Europe? Our study finds that football fans define Europe's boundaries more inclusively than non-fans, more readily including countries at the periphery of Europe into their understanding of Europe.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Does football media create a European public sphere? This paper finds that football coverage from Germany, Norway, Poland, and Spain strongly converges across borders, which - while fostering shared identity - also leaves parts of Europe on the sidelines.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Our conceptual paper explores how football fandom fosters European identity and strengthens social ties across borders. It suggests that football-based interactions promote cohesion and make Europe more connected “from below”.
hrcak.srce.hr/ojs/index.ph...

If you're interested in research at the intersection of political science, European studies, and sports sociology, this is the place for you - we’ll be sharing our research findings, publications, and project updates right here.

The FANZinE (2021-2024) project studied how football fosters shared European identity and social cohesion in Europe. We showed how football can strengthen social bonds and unity in Europe “from below.”
🔗 fanzine-research.github.io

EUFoot (2018–2021) examined how football contributes to the Europeanisation of fan identities, exploring whether it creates shared identifications beyond national borders.
🔗 eufoot.github.io