Consequences of Being Deeply in Love: the Fan-football Club Relationship

Abstract

The aim of this research is to explore the consequences of being in love and committed to a football (soccer) club and a team for the fans. Data was collected through 28 in-depth interviews. In the qualitative data collection for this work first we realize 97 telephone interviews and then we made 28 in-depth interviews. In this paper we present the findings of the 28 in-depth interviews concerning the consequences of being deeply in love with the football club. Respondents were between 22 and 70 years of age and engaged in a range of different jobs and functions. The interviews were recorded and transcribed and the NVIVO software was employed to help in content data analysis. The findings reveal six major themes: personal, financial, family, life planning, job and friends.