Interview. Sociologist at the Ecole Centrale de Lyon, Nicolas Hourcade has been studying the world of football supporters, and the “ultras” movement in particular, for several years. According to the researcher, if the health crisis keeps the public away from the stadiums longer than expected, a new sporting spectacle is likely to emerge.
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Since the resumption of the football season, the different groups of supporters offer a divided front with regard to the health situation and the obligations it imposes. Some are back at the stadium, others have not returned to the stands. How do you explain it?
The groups that refuse to return to the stadium are especially the most important numerically. We can cite the Loire Brigade in Nantes, the Bad Gones in Lyon, the various groups from Marseille, Saint-Etienne and Paris. According to them, their number was not compatible with the gauge of 5,000 or 1,000 spectators in some cases. The main exceptions are the Mastiffs Virages Est in Lille as soon as the season resumes, and the Ultra Boys 90, a little later in Strasbourg, or the Roazhon Celtic Kop in Rennes. In addition, it is especially groups in Ligue 2 (where the gauge of 5,000 has less effect) or smaller who still go to the stadium.
In addition, respect for barrier gestures does not really correspond to the modalities of supporterism in what are called active forums. The movement of “ultras” is a lot of physical proximity. We hold each other by the shoulders and we sing screaming next to the face of our neighbor. Finally, many groups got together in the spring to help the nursing staff, and are determined not to jeopardize the health situation through inappropriate behavior.
For those who do not want or cannot be at the stadium, how does the support for the club work?
Some find alternatives to encourage their team, such as the Lensois with banners and smoke when the players’ coach leaves for the match in Lille on October 18. But it is a practice that can last a few months, not years.
#LOSCRCL This fervor … 😍❤️💛🔥 #MerciSupporters #rclens https://t.co/RfSJgMghyr
Among the regulars, some will switch to a follow-up on television, but others may give up. The current situation calls into question the forms of passion for football. For the one who regularly goes to the stadium, it is a sensory and physical experience that hardly exists any more at the moment.
We have the textbook case of PSG, with supporters, especially “ultras”, excluded by the Leproux plan, which was established in 2010 after the death of a supporter. Some of them sought to return to the Parc des Princes at any cost, another returned but by changing their forms of support, some were content to follow their club on TV, and others turned away altogether. of the club.
Unlike other sports, football has done everything to get it back on track, even without supporters. What does the current situation reflect on the importance of the public in this sporting universe?
The health situation gives rise to a paradox. On the one hand, everyone deplores this football without spectators, whether it is the players for a question of support, the presidents who have a shortfall in the box office, and the televisions because the public participates in the quality. a spectacle. But, at the same time, football has become an industry that cannot afford to stop. Matches must continue, even behind closed doors if necessary, and this is done with artifacts like soundtracks or photos of supporters in the seats.
Does part of the public risk turning away from the stadium if the health crisis were to continue?
Some will find their way there because they will need their dose of football, but others will turn away from it. At the moment, it is not yet clear how audience participation will be reconfigured if the latter is to remain at bay for years. Are we going to create a giant Zoom meeting so that the supporters follow the game together in another way, as we have seen in basketball with the NBA? It’s a possibility. Part of the public will perhaps be seduced, but another will remain resistant.
If this situation does not drag on beyond this season, or even part of the next, I think the public will come back to the stadiums en masse and with even more desire. On the other hand, if it remains tense for several years, the public will stay at the door of the stadiums and a new sports spectacle will be set up, but it will be something else.
