More Than Nazi Skins: Studying the Intersections Between the Far Right, Racism, and Football Fandom

Since the 1970s, the far right has been a prominent feature in both academic and popular discussions of the nature of racism within British association football fandom. Whilst undeniably an important factor to consider, racialisation in supporter cultures (and indeed the ‘far right’ as a social, cultural and political entity) should be seen as significantly more multi-faceted. Whilst this topic has received a notable amount of sociological interest, far less attention has been granted from a historical perspective. As a result, this paper highlights the importance of situating the shifting relationship between the far right and football fandom within the wider context of the history of racial discourses in Britain during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In explaining how this might be achieved methodologically, the paper advocates for the value of incorporating theories and practices from the rich corpus of sociological literature on the subject into a historical research framework.