ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the key characteristics of European football fan cultures and discusses the changing expressive forms and prevalence of discrimination within football fan cultures. In doing so, consideration is given to the uses and meanings of language within football fan cultures. The chapter argues that football provides a distinct arena that affords a degree of “legitimacy” to some forms of abuse and discrimination yet where certain fan language and behaviors may not always necessarily be intended as racist, antisemitic, Islamophobic, homophobic, sexist, or nationalistic, though they might well have this effect. Nor might such abusive or discriminatory discourse be repeated outside the cultural context of football. Rather, they are centrally related to the expression of collective identity, footballing rivalry, and the taunting of opponents.
