An entertaining, illuminating and compelling manifesto for the modern football supporter. What does being a football fan entail? Can you be a good one or a bad one? And just how much passion, knowledge, sensitivity and schadenfreude do you need to pass as a ‘proper’ fan? Laced with sharp humour, acclaimed comedy writer and podcaster Kevin Day’s witty exploration of football fandom is part investigation, part psychology and part history. With the help of top players, legendary managers and celebrity supporters, he dissects what it is that makes a real fan. He discusses the instinct to support a club, how we pick our team – family tradition, local club, glory hunting or ‘I live in Surrey so it just had to be Man U’ – and, heart-searchingly, whether we saddle our children with the hopes, despair and occasional exhilaration that has marked our own lives. Chants, booing, shouted witticisms and sporting applause for stretchered-off opposition players are all examined, while questions asked include what name to put on your club shirt? Are half-and-half scarves really taboo? Does a match count as a suitable date (or even a half-time proposal location)? Will a tattoo of the star striker really make you a superfan? And is leaving a match before the final whistle blows ever an acceptable option? Kevin does not shy away from the serious issues either. He raises what fans can do about the brazen exploitation by the clubs they love, the spectre of hooliganism, and the racism, sexism and homophobia which are still all-too evident in the stands and terraces. Being a football fan isn’t easy. Like any religion, it has its cherished, long-established customs, outdated practices and troublesome elements. The Fooball Fan’s Handbook is your guide through this minefield: an in-depth, analytical if sketchily-drawn road map to becoming a ‘real’ fan.
