Polish ultras in the post-socialist transformation

The interdependence between a football club and its ultra-fandom in relation to “Modern” football: a case study of Legia Warsaw

“…Taking into account the sociological portrait of the supporters' community, contrary to Western European countries, ultra-fandom in Poland represents a right or far-right wing ideology (Gońda, 2013;Kossakowski et al, 2017). Moreover, many researchers admit that the specific nature of ultra-fandom in Poland cannot be presented without a reference to Polish history (Antonowicz and Grodecki, 2016;Antonowicz et al, 2015;Kossakowski and Besta, 2018;Kossakowski et al, 2017) when numerous political system transformations and decades under foreign partition developed nationalism, patriotic and Roman Catholic symbolism (Kossakowski, 2017) which has a strong influence on ultra-fandoms' nature in Poland.…”

“…In 1795, attacked by Russia, Austria and Prussia, Poland disappeared from the political map for 123 years, while during the Second World War, Polish Underground State went through a heroic and tragic struggle against Soviet and German occupation. Polish Ultras' specific nature is also affected by the communist form of the government from 1952 to 1989 (Antonowicz et al, 2015;Antonowicz & Grodecki 2016;Kossakowski et al, 2011;Kossakowski et al, 2017;Kossakowski & Besta, 2018;Kossakowski, 2017). The Polish ultra-fandom community can sometimes represent a patriotic, historical and anti-Communist nature with elements of Catholicism.…”

“…The Polish ultra-fandom community can sometimes represent a patriotic, historical and anti-Communist nature with elements of Catholicism. Moreover, it is sometimes characterised by sharing ultra-conservative values with the core pillars of brotherhood, honour and pride (Kossakowski and Besta, 2018;Kossakowski et al 2017.…”

The Independence Day as a nationalist ritual: Framework of the March of Independence in Poland

“…They moved the values that were part of their ‘stadium setting’ to the streets. These values included: (1) the patriotic cult of the nation understood as an ethnic community, (2) fear of the stranger, (3) Catholic symbolism, (4) symbols connected with the so-called Cursed Soldiers, (5) anti-leftist attitudes (in the sense of opposition to the leftist intellectuals and their liberal morality), (6) anti-feminism, (7) homophobia, and (8) the cult of machoism (Kossakowski et al, 2018: 855).…”

Female Spectatorship and Unsportsmanlike Conduct at Football Stadiums: Case Study from the Czech Republic

“…Some authors identify three major groups: football spectators, football fans, and football hooligans (Mareš et al, 2004). However, a more frequently used form of categorization distinguishes fans from supporters/ultras (Antonowicz et al, 2020;Doidge & Lieser, 2018;Hodges, 2016;Kossakowski et al, 2018;Scholz, 2016;Yusoff, 2016). Football offers a show full of physical clashes of opponents with distinctive features of aggression and primarily attacking the audience's emotions (Slepička, 1990).…”