Ararat-73 and Caucasus derbies: football, nationalism and inter-ethnic relations in Soviet periphery

This article analyzes football spectators in the Soviet Union’s national periphery, focusing on FC Ararat Yerevan’s supporters during their 1973 ‘Golden Double’ triumph. Ararat fandom transcended Yerevan to encompass all of Soviet Armenia and diaspora communities, uniting diverse social strata from workers to the head of the Armenian church. Nationwide celebrations featured massive airport crowds, folk feasts, and rituals lionizing the players. Applying Giulianotti’s spectator typology, the paper views these fans as predominantly ‘hot’ traditional supporters while examining differences across the Soviet social hierarchy. The study highlights complex South Caucasus regional rivalries: a friendly derby with Dinamo Tbilisi contrasted with a tense Ararat-Neftchi Baku rivalry, foreshadowing the later Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. Ultimately, Ararat-73 embodied football’s subversive potential in the non-Russian periphery, fostering national community amid Soviet control and creating a powerful, enduring post-Soviet legacy.