Authors

Craig Willis¹;  ¹ European Centre for Minority Issues,

Discussion

In the context of the triadic nexus of national minorities with kin states, research has predominantly focused on the political sphere and the actions of the three actors in the public sector. One realm which can be particularly salient for the minority but also the surrounding majority societies is that of professional football clubs. This is particularly the case when a club is successful in its domestic league. The goal of this paper is to identify the presence of kin-state language and culture among club and it fans, also considering political and economic links. To do so, the paper focuses on two cases: Zrinjksi Mostar and DAC 1904. Zrinjksi Mostar are a self-styled Croatian club playing in the top division of Bosnia and Herzegovina, currently reigning champions and playing in European group stage football for the first time. DAC 1904 based in the hometown of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, Dunajská Streda, finished second in the Slovak top division last season and are known for their flying of the Hungarian flag and singing of the Hungarian national anthem.
Using a qualitative approach, the paper analyses actions of the institutional level of the club as well as the bottom-up level of its fan base. In the first instance, focus lies on the ownership, playing staff and official communications (including social media), whilst the fan actions analysis looks at banners, chants and social media comments. As part of a broader a research project which is examining several clubs across Europe, the analysis in this paper will also reflective comparatively on how these two clubs compare with two other clubs involving a triadic nexus; that of IFK Mariehamn (Swedish in Finland) and FC Südtirol (German in Italy).