Chinese football fandom: growing with the changing Chinese society
Kaixiao Jiang

Liverpool Hope University
School of Health and Sport Sciences

Abstract

This article explores that the development of football fandom for the Chinese national team and local football clubs is strongly associated with social changes, especially those caused by the political environments. Although the performances of Chinese football teams, especially the national team, have failed to impress the world, football remains the most popular one because of millions of supporters with loyalty and passion. Most studies related to fans mainly focus on the economic and political implications of spectatorship along with the rise of China. Yet, few articles are available to answer the fundamental questions, such as ^when did these supporters come out?^ and ^what were the factors of the development of fandom?^. By going through archival records and published documents over the last decades, this article offers a comprehensive and historical analysis of the development of football fandom in the People^s Republic of China and deals with these unanswered questions. As such, this article does not intend to be the most authoritative one but is one of the rare sources to lay down the foundation for research on Chinese football fandom. Furthermore, this article also proves that studies on football fandom can be a useful window to observe Chinese society.

Keywords: Football fandom- China- history- governmental power- national identity- local identity

Topic: Sport and culture in Asian societies