Constructing football through magic : an ethnographic study of football supporters

This article presents an analysis of football supporters as magicians based on the theory of magic developed by Marcel Mauss. The research was conducted in co-operation with a local football club from Sweden called Malmö FF. Taking into consideration how the supporters see their position in the club and their contribution, it is possible to explain their behaviour and involvement in terms of a collective phenomenon that requires a clearly stated objective and is achieved through technical elements. The extensive usage of props, language and symbols is supposed to influence the reality according to the wishes of the user. This article follows previous research of modern phenomena in terms of magic as presented by Thomas O’Dell (O’Dell, Spas and the Cultural Economy) and Peter Pels (Pels, Magic and Modernity, 183–99). Such approach can explain how the engagement and the unique relationship are still possible in a highly commercialized and commoditized world of modern football.