Towards a concept of the ordinary football supporter. National team fan as an example

Research on football supporters usually focuses on the unique and unusual aspects of fandom. A significant amount of research has examined topics such as violence, racism and nationalism. Others focus on specific groups of supporters, such as ultras or hooligans. The theme of the ordinary supporters is under-researched. The objective of this paper is to introduce and explore the concept of ordinary supporters. The article examines supporters who are neither ultras nor hooligans. The analysis encompasses five dimensions of supporter behaviour: the temporal aspect of support; involvement in cheering and choreographies; consumerism; political attitudes; and attitudes towards stadium violence, yielding a set of key characteristics of ordinary supporters. The Polish national team’s supporters serve as a pertinent example of this phenomenon. The text’s conclusion proposes a conceptualization of an ‘ordinary supporter’, which delineates their fundamental characteristics.