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Expert follows football fans
As football fans enjoy the World Cup, one University student is studying what the sport means to South Africans.
Football in South Africa is often perceived as being racially divided. While fans at Premier Soccer League games in Johannesburg are predominantly black South Africans, many non-black fans supported Manchester United on their 2008 pre-season tour to South Africa.
PhD student Marc Fletcher has been conducting research into why South Africans support the football teams that they do.
His research has found that the situation is far more complex than it might otherwise appear. Issues like race, class, gender, ethnicity, national identity and globalisation all play a part in why South Africans support the teams they do.
In South Africa, football is far from being a simple question of black and white - there's a huge number of different dynamics that impact on why people support different clubs.
Marc Fletcher
PhD student, African Studies
Away trip
Marc spent over a year in Johannesburg, where he followed the city's football supporters' clubs. This included travelling to games with the supporters' club of the Kaizer Chiefs football team, travelling up to fifteen hours at a time in a cramped minibus taxi while fans blasted music from the speakers at ear-splitting levels.
Marc became adept at playing the vuvuzela, the noisy horn found at South African football matches, and witnessed the ingenious methods used by some fans to smuggle beer into the grounds.
Interviewing supporters and absorbing Johannesburg’s fan culture, Marc discovered a vibrant city, rather than the crime-ridden metropolis often portrayed in the media.
The World Cup is not a panacea for the social ills of the country, but it could be a valuable building block.
Marc Fletcher
PhD student, African Studies
World Cup fever
Now, as well as enjoying the World Cup, Marc is writing a blog about the tournament, and is also writing about the South African team in the Guardian newspaper's online Fan Network.
His blog recounts his experiences in Johannesburg as he meets supporters from around the world in many situations, from the England v USA game to the fan park in Soweto.
Follow Marc as he explores the city in the heart of the World Cup and uncovers many different stories at:
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This article was published on May 6, 2011