Football Fans in Soccer as a Possibility of Leisure

A Comparative Study Between the Autobiographic Reports of Football Supporters Nick Hornby (Arsenal) and Grant Farred (Liverpool)

Abstract

This article performs a comparative study between the works Fever Pitch, by Nick Hornby, and Long Distance Love - a passion for football, by Grant Farred. The proposal is to analyze what refers to the concepts of “memory and identity” and “sports autobiography”, as well as to investigate the way in which the authors present the “act of supporting football” in their works to then fill a gap in relation to the comparative study, appropriating the differences and similarities between the narratives. For this, the methodology chosen was based on the research of autobiographical theories, in particular the autobiographical pact of Philippe Lejeune and Andrew C. Sparkes. In addition, the concepts of memory and identity adopted by Stuart Hall, Joel Candau, Michael Pollak and Maurice Halbwachs and the definitions of historiography by Alain Courbin and Matthew Taylor were used. In addition to the analytical reading of the selected books, a research was carried out on published works about the authors in books, newspapers, and periodicals. The 1970s and 1980s were selected so that it was possible to make a comparison between the works, considering that, in addition to the soccer fan and his clubistic passion, English sports literature is central. Nick, Arsenal fan. Grant, Liverpool supporter. Both present their tragedies and epiphanies, displayed in a plot in which the passion for football and, especially, for their teams, is treated as an obsession, as it promotes a junction between living and cheering, making them inseparable elements. The authors lived in different realities. Nick, white, lived in England and could follow Arsenal in the games. Grant, a black man, lived in South Africa under the Apartheid regime and rooted for Liverpool, an eminently racist team that did not accept black players. The reality of the fans / authors was portrayed in this article to show that the relationship between them is much greater than what can be read in an autobiography.