ABSTRACT
The basis of this chapter is a survey carried out with football fans during the first three months following the emergence of COVID-19 in the UK when professional sport, along with many other privileges, was suddenly unavailable. The questionnaire focused on fans' views of what football, and more importantly the club they support, meant to them and took advantage of the enforced period of reflection to explore their perspectives about football as part of everyday life when it was unexpectedly removed. Responses from fans indicate an ambivalence about how important their fandom is, particularly in light of the circumstances many people were facing as a consequence of the pandemic. Nonetheless, they also reveal how significant their leisure pursuit is through its social and psychological benefits. Drawing on Tony Blackshaw's theory of ‘devotional leisure’, it is proposed that football fandom in the UK is an untapped resource in terms of solidarity and support for the more instrumental forms of community engagement provided by football clubs and their community trusts.
