i      

On the Terrace: Ritual Performance of Identity by the

Shamrock Rovers Football Club Ultras in Dublin
A thesis submitted by

Max Jack

In partial fulfillment of the requirements

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for the degree of

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Master of Arts

in
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Music (Ethnomusicology)
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Tufts University
19 May 2012

Advisers: David Locke and Rich Jankowsky

     
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     ii  

Abstract
This  thesis  draws  upon  the  author’s  fieldwork  conducted  in  Dublin,  Ireland,  

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focusing  on  a  particular  group  of  Shamrock  Rovers  Football  Club  supporters  called  
ultras.  The  primary  focus  of  the  SRFC  Ultras  is  to  create  an  aural  and  visual  spectacle  
through  mass  crowd  participation  in  the  hope  that  such  modes  of  expression  will  
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have  an  advantageous  effect  on  the  outcome  of  the  game  and  create  an  evocative  
response  from  individuals  watching  it.  The  Ultras’  desired  aesthetic  aims  to  
transform  spectators  into  participants  who  sing  throughout  the  match,  wave  flags,  
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light  off  marine  flares,  and  present  hand-­‐made  displays.  Such  performative  activities  
actualize  a  distinct  community  that  revolves  around  the  Shamrock  Rovers  sporting  
narrative.    Songs,  chants,  and  all  other  elements  of  “atmosphere”  are  a  
communicative  act  between  opposing  teams  based  upon  the  unfolding  match.  Such  
experiences  revolve  around  conflict,  activating  an  array  of  emotions  and  
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experiences  that  would  not  occur  in  day-­‐to-­‐day  life.  

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Table of Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….1

1 Narrativization and the Stadium Rules…………………………………………….21

2 Learning and Performing Identity………………………………………………..39

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3 Creating Conflict: The SRFC Ultras, The League of Ireland, and England………64

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4 Generating Emotion: Chants and Displays as a Collective Dialogue……………..90
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Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………122
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     1      

INTRODUCTION

On May 16, 2012, I arrived in Dublin airport from Boston to see gray skies

outside the airplane window. After a substantial wait in line, I stood before a middle-

aged customs officer who asked me what I would be doing in the Republic of Ireland.

Through the fog of my jet lag, I attempted to explain my interest in researching Irish

football supporters in the League of Ireland, the Republic of Ireland’s domestic

professional league—that I was interested in Shamrock Rovers Football Club, based in

the suburbs of Dublin, and that I was especially interested in football chants…

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Performative Spectating in Dublin
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Because of my interest in the musical (and more encompassing interest in the
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performative and expressive) aspects of sports fandom, I looked to Ireland, which has

cultivated a rich and diverse set of ritual fan practices connected to soccer. The Shamrock

Rovers Ultras’ (SRFC Ultras) style of support has many similarities to other sporting
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cultures across Europe and South America, but is unique as well. In Ireland and in

Europe, sports are often a site of active fan participation. Watching sports is a form of

entertainment for many casual observers, but it also has the potential to develop into

“more than a game,” an abstract concept rarely elucidated, perhaps because many of us

can’t quite put our fingers on its meaning. As an individual follows a particular sports

team, that team becomes a symbol, a constructed entity that represents what the supporter

makes it. Spectatorship can lead to a more proactive form of participation—singing and

dancing—the creation of a space in which emotions aren’t subdued but amplified, where

the reactions of others have the potential to affect others’ inner and outer dispositions.

     
     2  

This thesis is about the performance-oriented aspects of fandom of the SRFC Ultras in

Dublin. There are of course different ways of supporting one’s team, however, my focus

lies with the individuals who have chosen to take a physically proactive approach to

“support,” the complex effects of atmosphere on the individual, and the subsequent

reactions of what many of them would come to call their “natural” inclination to

participate through song and expressive movement.

Across Europe and South America, football matches have become a designated

location in which the everyday rules of society have the potential to change, allowing for

and even shaping various forms of expression. Despite the lack of ethnomusicological

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work on music in sport, football songs and chants are an integral aspect of supporter
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atmosphere in the creation of a collective identity and its actualization within the

matchday setting.
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…My conversation with the customs officer continued. “Apparently Shamrock

Rovers lost 3-0 in Sligo this past weekend,” he commented.

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“I saw.”

“Well,” he said, passing me back my passport. “Just make sure to stay away from

the Ultras.”

The SRFC Ultras and the Commercialization of Football

Though it is the goal of this thesis to focus on the physical attendance of football

supporters and their interaction with the unfolding game and each other, it is essential to

recognize that this is occurring amidst the mass globalization and commercialization of

football. Across the globe, fans can watch the world’s best players in the English Premier
     3  

League, all captured by multiple camera angles in high definition. This is certainly its

own kind of spectacle. Globalization has affected Ireland as well. The vast majority of

Irish football supporters follow English clubs—a virtual fact—preferring to watch games

on television, itself a powerful example of globalization and the force of the English

league. The financial might of the richest football clubs has thus created a global fan base

in which fans gather around their televisions watching the likes of Manchester United in

places all over the world, such as China, Africa, and of course, Ireland.

Carlton Brick unpacks this very process, in which, “the relative affluence of the

postwar period and the development of integrated and affordable transport networks

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facilitated greater geographical mobility and accessibility to ‘non-local’ teams” (1994,
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10). Furthermore, “The increase in television ownership and the increasing centrality of

sports coverage within broadcast schedules heightened this already manifest tendency
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away from the ‘local’”(ibid). England’s Manchester United, for example, has marketed

itself as a global brand, with an extensive retail network that extends well into Ireland
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(Brick 1994, 11).

In contrast, the League of Ireland is a minnow, capturing only a small minority of

the Irish population’s attention. Shamrock Rovers, arguably the richest and historically

the most successful club in Ireland, are made up of both professionals and semi-

professionals with part time jobs (Mac Guill 2011). In comparison, the London-based

Tottenham Hotspur pay one of their star players, Gareth Bale, more than $820,000 for

two months of work, equivalent to Shamrock Rovers’ yearly salary for the entire squad

(ibid). The English Premier League, as the pinnacle of sporting achievement, attracts fans

all across the globe, along with the majority of football enthusiasts in Ireland.
     4  

The Shamrock Rovers Ultras are to be the focal point of my research, whose goals

are centered around the creation of an off-the-field spectacle that rivals the events

transpiring on it. Such performative behaviors have garnered mixed opinions amongst the

public, who have interpreted (and often misinterpreted) the Ultras’ actions as that of a

hooligan element. Eoghan Rice, author of We are Rovers and lifelong Rovers fan, notes

the negative perception of the media and Irish society towards the community of Rovers

fans.

The thing I’ve always said about Rovers fans—it’s a very small snapshot
of society. You get the best people in the world in there and you get
people who I have no time for at all. They’ve always been there if you go

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back before my time and into the 70’s. Football violence was a very big
problem in Ireland. (Personal Interview, June 21 2012)
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The connection between hooliganism at Shamrock Rovers matches and the Ultras is a
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misperception by the Irish public, which is unsurprising considering the Irish public’s

lack of first-hand knowledge and the at times aggressive nature of football ritual amongst

Rovers supporters, which includes the Ultras. However, the public’s misconceptions of
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the purposes behind chants and displays may come from a lack of understanding that

songs for the Ultras are largely symbolic, rather than reflective of an actual violent

element. Rice clarifies the SRFC Ultras’ intentions.

The whole notion of Ultras is completely alien to people over here.

Suddenly people were looking at these guys and they have flags, they have
flares they’re letting off, they’re doing all this kind of wild stuff and it was
all about color and festivity and atmosphere. But people are naturally
scared of what they don’t understand and so people just assumed this
Ultras crowd, they’re doing something totally different—something we’ve
never seen, they must be dangerous. So people just assumed Ultras were
this group hell bent on destroying Irish society basically, whereas they
were just a bunch of lads having a bit of craic at a football game. So the
     5  

Ultras basically began to pick up all this flack. (Personal Interview, June
21 2012)

The Shamrock Rovers Ultras, who consist of around twenty members, are thus united by

the commonality of their support for Rovers and the way in which they choose to express

it. However, they also see themselves as a part of the greater Shamrock Rovers

community, which is not always the case with other football clubs’ ultras groups. The

SRFC Ultras are often the spark that ignites the singing section of their home ground,

Tallaght Stadium. Because the SRFC Ultras utilize vocal and bodily expression

influences and interacts with the broader Rovers community, it will be necessary to view

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their roles in this context in the following chapters. All followers of Shamrock Rovers

Football Club are members of just that—a club—a vast minority who support their local
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team amongst a sea of Irish football fans who follow the likes of English powerhouses

like Manchester United (Rice 2006). A term indicative of their resentment, the Rovers
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supporters refer to fans who would rather watch British football on the television as

barstoolers, which they hardly consider “real fans” at all. The general feeling that no one
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outside of Tallaght Stadium’s grounds could possibly understand them must add meaning

to their cries as they sing, “nobody likes us, we don’t care.”

The Influence of the Ultra Movement

The individuals that comprise the SRFC Ultras have developed a loyalty to their

local football clubs through continued attendance at matches, ultimately leading to a

certain style of support utilized by Ultras groups throughout the world. This style is

meant to create atmosphere at matches by waving flags, lighting flares, singing, using

expressive body movements, and making visually stunning displays. However, the Ultras
     6  

are the extreme on the spectrum of fans in how they choose to support their club. “A

football fan will go to a match, might do a bit of singing and waving flags at the start of

the match, then when that goes down, sit down and watch the match—and there’s nothing

wrong with that,” said Karl, one of the SRFC Ultras (Personal Interview, July 1 2012).

However, the SRFC Ultras’ actions are often the spark that alters the behavioral

parameters in the stadium that leads to singing and dancing amongst the broader Rovers

community. Dal Lago and De Biasi describe the role of Ultras in Italy, certainly one of

the most influential Ultra scenes in the world:

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In the environment of the stadium the cultural task of the ultras is to
conduct a spectacular display associated with the footballing spectacle, by
a lively and persistent choreography of collective support, with big
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banners and flags, firework displays, choruses and chants which,
sometimes, involve everybody in the stadium. (1994, 80)
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This description of the Italian Ultras’ performative role suits the SRFC Ultras in terms of

their style of support. In addition, Dal Lago and De Biasi describe the social parameters

surrounding Ultras.
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In Italy, the ultra style of support has never been dominated by any
particular social stratum or any specific youth style. The unifying element
for the youth of Italian curvas (stadium ends) has always been support
itself, and not social consumption, or class status, or political belief, or
musical fashion, etc. Thus, it is crucial to investigate the peculiar
autonomy of ultra rituals within the stadium. (1994, 79)

Though many Ultra groups across Europe have specific political affiliations, the SRFC

Ultras operate under the belief that their group should remain apolitical. Similar to the

Italian Ultras, the SRFC Ultras draw members from all walks of life, economic and
     7  

social, united by their belief in supporting their club, Shamrock Rovers. However, their

affiliation with Shamrock Rovers FC is purely unofficial.

If a member of an official football club can be said to be a citizen of the

football world, an ultra has to be considered as a militant…Many young
people who usually attend the match in the curva, do not have any
commitment to the ultra club in their everyday life. For them, ultras are
more or less a reference group...These young spectators are supporters
who go into the curva on Sunday…and they find a scenario and a
choreography already prepared by a few committed ultras. (1994, 79-80)

Similar to the Italian style, the SRFC Ultras are a smaller group of young men whose

goal it is to spark mass participation of the singing section through chants and flag-

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waving in Block M of Tallaght Stadium. In this sense, the SRFC Ultras are in many ways
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the figureheads and are often the leaders of the singing section. Additionally, the SRFC

Ultras’ lack of “official” connection with the Shamrock Rovers administration lends to
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the group’s credibility. They are not funded by and therefore not under the influence of

the board or directors. This makes their voice on the terrace their own.

Like any performers, Ultras can do a good job or a bad job of creating excitement.
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Thus, much like the game itself, the SRFC Ultras would often evaluate the atmosphere of

the previous game, discussing the many variables that may have affected the collective

energy of the Rovers support. The SRFC Ultras’ ideal for perfect atmosphere would be

non-stop singing from a large repertoire of songs, waving of home-made flags, standing

for 90 minutes, or even better, dancing. Though song and dance are utilized by the SRFC

Ultras, quality is not based upon standards of Western art music (e.g., intonation, etc).

Music in this context is judged based on its ability to generate various emotions and

reactions, be it laughter, feelings of camaraderie, anger, or disdain towards opposition

(even to the point of dehumanization).

     8  

Singing and chanting is also important because supporters believe they can

influence the outcome of the game. Finn describes the power of supporters’ influence on

the emotions of players and managers, while acknowledging the simple fact that its

effects on the game are unquantifiable:

Strange powers are attributed to soccer supporters. Simple observation

does show that the sports crowd is not a passive audience, but the extent of
any direct impact on the game is arguable. None the less, it is still
commonly believed that supporters are able to influence events directly.
Beliefs in the power of the crowd are expressed in various forms by
players, managers, supporters and sportswriters…
Supporters of one team can be believed to have an intimidating
effect on the opposing team. This belief is common. Crowds are ‘hostile’.

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Managers and players issue pleas for their own support to be vociferous.
(Finn 1994, 97)
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These beliefs are most certainly held by the SRFC Ultras and are one of the main reasons
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to sing. Ultras groups are serious about supporting their teams because success on the

field is symbolic—the players’ performance must live up to their expectations of what

they feel the club embodies. But this definition will vary amongst different teams. The
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team’s successes and failures are the fans’ as well. But sport is interpretive and reputation

is not always based on winning or losing. A team’s style of play, be it attacking or

defensive, or their perceived fighting spirit, can all inspire respect or disdain. An Ultra

group’s performance is a highly versatile form of collective expression, which is

inherently connected to their daily lives and experiences. Thus, the SRFC Ultras’ songs

and chants can also teach us a lot about their subculture and the environment that

surrounds them.

In some cases, Ultras groups can be a source of violence, clashing with opposition

Ultras. The Al Ahly Ultras based in Cairo are one of the most high profile and extreme
     9  

examples of supporters who use football as a springboard to send political messages,

sometimes escalating into violence. Their vocal and politically fueled chants resulted in a

stadium riot in which Egyptian security forces are rumored to have had an interest in

making an example of them ([Link], 2/1/2012). In the end, 74 supporters were killed

in the stadium. I provide this example to show the versatility of ritualized performance,

its power, and its ability to reach vast audiences. The social context surrounding any

group of Ultras and their subsequent message can vary drastically. However, the violence

associated with other Ultras around the world may well play a role in the misperception

of the SRFC Ultras within Irish society as well.

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Logistically, group chants and songs allow for the voice of a particular group to
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be heard by large audiences. Messages can be disseminated almost instantly across the

stadium, to the opposition supporters, to the coaches, to the players, and to each other.
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TV recording and broadcasting further allows supporters to be heard by an even broader

audience. Vocal supporters, including Ultras groups, have the potential to exert influence
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on large numbers of people. Essential in the goal of the Ultras’ performance is creating an

emotional response. Different groups, be it players, the opposition supporters, or Rovers

supporters, will most certainly have different reactions to what they see, hear, and even

feel. Chants and songs in the sporting context have the potential to express volatile

messages, to bring collectives even closer together, and to incite conflict amongst their

rivals and potentially the surrounding community.

     10  

Negotiating Between the Stadium Space and the “Outside World”

Football and music can ultimately provide an insightful lens in which scholars can

further learn about society and why individuals are drawn to football and atmosphere as

spectacle. Richard Giulianotti’s approach is a good place to start.

My position…is that the social aspects of football only become

meaningful when located within their historical and cultural context.
Football is neither dependent upon nor isolated from the influences of that
wider milieu; instead, a relative autonomy exists in the relationship
between the two. (Giulianotti 1999, xv)

Furthermore, I argue that crowd atmosphere and chants are the byproduct of fans’

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construction of collective identity and the ensuing conflicts with opposing groups that
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occur, all of which are inherently connected with the “real world.” The SRFC Ultras are

no exception. This will be further discussed in Chapter 1. Yet conversely, crowd

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performance in the stadium utilizes carnival and ritual characteristics to create a space

that for 90 minutes attempts to separate itself from the rules of the outside world.
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Fishwick notes that in British football, “The ninety minutes provided excitement, debate,

achievement and freedom to behave as one wanted which consequently brought a ‘new

kind of solidarity and a new kind of sociability’. The game’s spiritual qualities provided a

temporary escape from life’s realities” (Giulianotti and Armstrong 1997: 5-6). The

stadium world is itself a contradiction because it is separated from many of the rules and

obligations of reality, yet spectators incorporate that very same reality into the sporting

narrative, into their own collective identities, and into their opponents, hence the

constructed symbolic meaning behind victory and defeat.

     11  

In Tallaght Stadium, jobs or money lend no status to one’s role as a supporter.

Symbolic capital, in essence—prestige, is acquired based on the success of Shamrock

Rovers and the quality of the Ultras’ support. In this context, “Bourdieu argues that

accumulation of symbolic capital is just as ‘rational’ as the accumulation of economic

capital, particularly since capital may be freely converted from one form to another…”

(Bliege and Smith 2005: 223). The effects of crowd atmosphere are far-reaching and

diverse. It is most certainly internal and external, and I argue that an important part of the

football-spectating process is Bourdieu’s notion of the “internalisation of externality and

the externalisation of internality,” in which supporters internalize their surrounding

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experiences and ultimately express themselves based upon it (Wacquaint 2005: 316).
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Within football, music is an integral component of the process in which individuals

actualize a collective identity and often attain a profound sense of belonging. The stadium
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is thus a space in which supporters can gain access to a newfound social sphere and even

acquire status along the way—important circumstances to consider throughout this thesis.
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The Stadium as a Borderland

More than a space that bends reality and reshuffles the social structure, football

stadiums bring together differing collectives and pit them against each other. For this

reason, football inherently creates symbolic conflict between groups. The production of

atmosphere in the form of physical expression is the product of this perceived symbolic

clash. As a site of multi-group interaction, the stadium can be conceptualized as a

borderland, which Rosaldo argues “should be regarded not as analytically empty

     12  

transitional zones, but as sites of creative cultural production that require investigation”

(Rosaldo 1989, 207-208). In addition, Gupta and Ferguson write:

The term does not indicate a fixed topographical site between two other
fixed locales (nations, societies, cultures), but an interstitial zone of
displacement and deterritorialization that shapes the identity of the
hybridized subject. (Gupta and Ferguson: 1992, 18)

This broader conceptualization of the borderland as more of a zone than a line in the sand

suits the interactions of home and away supporters in the football stadium. Their

description of borderlands as deterritorialized is but the first step in a ritual process that

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reterritorializes the stadium space as a spiritual home for the SRFC Ultras and other long-

time Rovers supporters. Due to the segregation of home and away supporters (in stadia)
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in Ireland as well as the rest of Europe, interactions between the SRFC Ultras and

opposition supporters is limited to collective communication through mediums such as

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displays and songs. Communications directed at the opposition are generally

inflammatory and thus serve to further the divide between collectives rather than mix the
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two identities together. Nonetheless, I argue that the creation of an Other strongly

influences the Rovers identity and legitimizes its existence.

Furthermore, borderlands can be interpreted as “simultaneously a zone of cultural

play and experimentation as well as of domination and control” (Donnan and Wilson

1999, 39). Lavie argues that, “the borderzone is not just a dangerous space, but a festive

one, because of the creative energy liberated by the common struggle of resistance”

(Lavie 1992, 93). The stadium space is most certainly a battle for various types of capital.

Victory on the field is but one way to outdo the opposition. Creativity and cleverness are

valued in the creation of displays that often insult the opposition. Ultras groups that can
     13  

maintain an energetic atmosphere for the entire match will also earn respect from the

greater League of Ireland community as well as other Ultra groups. In this sense, the

borderland is the site of multiple contests taking place both on and off the field.

Ultimately, symbolic capital is earned in multiple ways, occurring simultaneously within

the 90-minute span of a game.

In this context, football stadia can be interpreted as cultural borderlands. Home or

away, the stadium is a site of collective struggle, a mixture of performative behaviors that

incorporate ritual and the carnivalesque. Opposition supporters interact, yet they are

perpetually segregated. This collective communication does not foster understanding, but

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rather reinforces the divide. This struggle sparks creative forms of aggression resulting in
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mass celebration, mourning, or anger, all dependent on the unfolding events on the field

and in the stands.

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Addressing the Academic Void

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This thesis attempts to fill a void in ethnomusicology in the arena of music and

sport and seeks to contribute to the growing literature on music and conflict. Amongst the

existing academic work on football, music and chants are referenced quite often, yet

perhaps due to the disciplinary focuses of most academics, the integral nature of music in

football has been left more or less untouched (with the exception of Gary Robson’s book

on ritual and habitus amongst supporters of Millwall FC in London). A good place to

start in conceptualizing music’s role in football is realizing that music does not just

“reflect” these “underlying cultural patterns and social structures. Rather, they provide

the means by which hierarchies of place are negotiated and transformed” (Stokes 1994,
     14  

4). Chants and displays are not a statement of fact. Rather, they are a commentary. They

are actions with intended effects. They are a form of shared emotional expression.

Though football in academia has found a niche in sociology and has begun to

emerge in the anthropological realm as well, it has seemingly only attracted the continued

attention of a small group of scholars, based predominantly in Europe (i.e. Giulianotti and

Armstrong 1994, 2001, Giulianotti 1999, Giulianotti, Bonney and Hepworth 1994,

Giulianotti and Williams 1994, Bromberger 1993, Robson 2000). Vidacs believes that

sport is often overlooked in academia because it is seen as “trivial” or as “just a game”

(2006, 336). Furthermore, she feels that sport can often be regarded as an “opiate,” a

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diversion from the happenings of real life (ibid). Lastly, Vidacs senses that scholars are
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dissuaded from researching sport because of a lack of “researchability” (ibid). By writing

an ethnography about football supporters firmly based in field research, I hope to further
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debunk all three of the issues highlighted by Vidacs. Fiachra, one of the leaders of the

SRFC Ultras, suggested a more useful frame of mind when approaching the football
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stadium as a borderland: “It’s not about the football, forget about the football, it’s about

everything but the football. That’s the best way to explain it and the only way to explain

it” (Personal Interview, 7/5/12).

Understanding Atmosphere and its Purposes

In this thesis I argue that the football stadium, and for our purposes, Tallaght

Stadium and its other League of Ireland counterparts, are physical spaces in which

standard societal rules change in ways that allow the creation for various modes of

collective communication and expression. Football in this context may start as “just a
     15  

game” to the outsider, but is constructed into an ongoing narrative by spectators. This

process of narrativization is a natural process of sports spectatorship. Football, for this

reason, is a platform in which collective identities are built around sports teams, where

players become beloved or hated, opposition detested, and status is acquired. The stadium

as a borderland is separate from the outside world, yet intrinsically connected.

Crowd atmosphere is a natural and creative product of the sporting narrative of

which the SRFC Ultras are a central component. As part of crowd atmosphere, vocal

expression is an integral component and it is useful to distinguish the auditory

components of the matchday experience. Collective verbal interaction can best be defined

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as either songs or chants. For the purpose of this thesis, songs are defined as anything that
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include a melody, whereas chants do not. Just like songs, chants are always participatory

and have the potential to be short and repetitive. Because continuously high levels of
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noise are the idealized aesthetic, short chants are strategically important because they are

easy to learn and even a first time attendee at a match can pick up on these almost
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instantly. Short and repetitive chants matter for their lyrical content, but arguably hold

more power through their actual delivery or performance.

The repertoire of songs on the terraces at Tallaght Stadium are also quite varied.

Some songs have a lot of words and multiple verses, which naturally take a longer time

for individuals to learn. As such, only regular supporters will tend to know them.

Contrastingly, other songs have no words at all, but instead are repeating melodies sung

in vocables such as “na na naaa” or “daa da daa.” Songs such as these are meant to be

repeated for potentially long periods of time. In addition, the Ultras always man someone

on the bass drum, which can be used to signal the beginning of specific chants or songs.
     16  

It also serves to enhance the volume and emotional resonance of the atmosphere by

adding driving rhythms that reach the farthest corners of the stadium space.

Bodily expression also accompanies vocal expression and is generally viewed as a

natural occurrence—something that the ultras did not tend to think much about. When I

asked two of the younger guys, Colm and Dan, about their physical presentations, they

didn’t have a simple answer. “It’s passion I suppose,” said Dan (Personal Interview,

6/17/12). “I couldn’t see myself singing a Rovers song with my hands in my pockets.

You just have to be standing moving.”

“It’s just a natural thing at this stage I guess,” Colm added (ibid). This physically

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“natural occurrence” consists of clapping, often with the arms extended above one’s
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head. The supporters on the terraces also dance to celebratory songs and others will wave

large flags intermittently throughout the games. Ultimately, chants, songs, and body
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movement are all important aspects of atmosphere.

By discussing these components of atmosphere, I will show that music has five
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important functions. First, chants and expressive bodily movement, only acceptable

within the realm of the stadium borderland, serve to create a spectacle rivaling the game

that is taking place on the field. Combining characteristics of ritual (Santino 2011) and

carnival into the ultra style of support, the crowd spectacle attracts new fans and alters

acceptable modes of behavior. As will be further discussed in Chapter 2, Jack Santino

argues that actions—and in the stadium context, chants and displays—can adopt elements

of both carnival and ritual. However, they can also be differentiated from each other

because “festival ends,” whereas ritual “has a direct and ongoing effect on everyday life”

(2011, 68).
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Secondly, songs, chants and displays serve as ways to change the outcome of the

game. Third, songs and displays serve to educate new supporters about the collective

identity of the club and its relationship to opposing clubs. Alternately, for seasoned

supporters, songs and chants evolve into ritual that actualizes the community and its

outgroups through dialogic conflict.

Bourdieu’s notion of habitus (to be further unpacked in Chapter 3) will play an

integral role in describing the ritual effects of crowd atmosphere amongst Shamrock

Rovers supporters, who, as coined by Bourdieu, “internalize their externality” (1977, 72)

and ultimately as experienced supporters “externalize their internality” through a learned

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repertoire of songs that can vary in meaning and emotional effect depending on the
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context in which it is sung. However, emotional expression of identity only begins to

explain the versatile role of chants in the live sporting context.

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Fourth, music becomes a versatile mode of collective communication and even

conversation that is directed not only towards players, but also towards coaches,
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opposition supporters, or within the collective. The cumulative effects of crowd

atmosphere are multidirectional and reflexive. This process of “regulated improvisation”

(Bourdieu 1977: 79) offers a broad range of expressive and communicative meaning.

Chants and songs in this context are “dialogic and situational” (Becker 2004: 73).

Collective participation in all aspects of crowd atmosphere, including flag waving,

singing, lighting flares, and making crowd displays ultimately creates different emotional

effects—and subsequently, reactions.

Fifth, body language and music can generate high energy and a multitude of

emotions, allowing supporters to engage in a shared emotional experience. Songs and

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displays often incite conflict with the opposition, regarded two-dimensionally and

unforgivingly as the enemy. Group ‘performance’ can also elevate to states of rhythmic

entrainment. As a result, spectators identify more and more with the Shamrock Rovers

community and the SRFC Ultras and their wider worldview of their place within Irish

society changes. I aim to highlight and further expound upon the functional purposes of

music throughout the following chapters of this thesis.

Chapter 1 shows that spectators inherently “narrativize” football matches, which

results in the creation of plotlines that include heroes, villains, and team rivalries. I regard

this unintentional “transformation” of what was once “only a game,” as an act of play—

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in essence, “making something that was not there before” (Schechner 1993, 28). In this
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regard, the football narrative is constructed in a way that gives meaning to the outcome of

the game and makes possible all subsequent performative acts. As such, the stadium’s
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physical qualities also promote “interaction ritual” (Collins 2004), which unites

supporters through a common focus (the game) and creates an environment where
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collective emotional expression and carnivalesque behavior are not only allowed, but are

an expectation amongst the Ultras.

Chapter 2 addresses the characteristics of ritual and carnival that are present in

stadium atmosphere and songs and begins to elucidate the varying effects of both aspects.

Songs and displays both serve to construct and express a distinct Rovers identity. In

addition, the history of Shamrock Rovers and concepts of “home” are important aspects

of the collective identity that further highlight the importance of the stadium space in

which performed ritual occurs. Aligning with Bourdieu’s notion of habitus, fans initially

internalize the surrounding environment and over time externalize the Rovers identity
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through songs, chants, and displays. Because of the construction and ritualized

maintenance of a unified Rovers identity and a common focus on the game, an imagined

community exists that unites the Ultras with the broader fan base.

Chapter 3 elucidates the Ultras’ relationships with other LOI clubs, showing that

the ritual and carnival effects in the borderland can create deep-seated loyalties to Rovers

and simultaneously powerful hatred of their opposition. Rovers’ songs work to

dehumanize their biggest rivals, Bohemians FC, who the Ultras sing about at every

match, no matter the opposition. Songs, chants, and displays in this context are tools in

which to incite conflict and enact symbolic violence. Further, I argue that the Ultras’

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performed hatred of Bohemians paradoxically makes them an integral part of the Rovers
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identity. As I consider such processes (and the excitement it can evoke), I move forward

with the understanding that there can be “positive meanings in certain types of violence,
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even when they seem to…threaten the world order as we know it” (Araujo 2010, 219).

For the Ultras, chants and their carnivalsque and ritual elements become a mode of
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resistance against certain aspects of Irish society and British cultural domination,

reinforcing their own perceptions that no one likes or understands them.

Lastly, I argue in Chapter 4 that songs and displays are versatile in

communicating intended messages from the Shamrock Rovers collective. In addition,

Thomas Turino’s contribution to semiotics, particularly his ideas regarding signs and

semiotic chaining prove useful (1999, 222). Signs—or in this case, songs, body language,

and displays—are imperative amongst the Ultras because they are “the catalyst for an

effect” (1999, 223). In essence, semiotics help us to understand how the Ultras’ physical

and vocal expression represent their internal passion and commitment, which serves to
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create energy and evoke varying emotions amongst the Rovers collective, players, and

the opposition fans. Such energy and emotion can rise to levels that can cause varying

states of rhythmic entrainment (Becker 2004). Dedication, passion, and loyalty

represented through performance of chants have evocative potential, magnified by

masses of participants. An important ingredient in the triggering of these effects is

collective repetition. Further, context is essential when considering a particular rendition

of any song, playing a large part in determining what emotions and meanings can be

derived. In particularly powerful moments of repetition, the singing section holds the

ability override emotionally negative events on the pitch, transcending the sporting

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narrative.
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The Ultras’ ability to stoke emotions through unique displays and clever messages

earns them symbolic capital (Bird and Smith 2005) and respect throughout the Irish
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footballing community and the worldwide Ultra community. The ever-evolving,

production of atmosphere is not only a way to express volatile emotions, but can also be
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interpreted as a form of behavioral rebellion and a source of empowerment for members

who may or may not possess large amounts of economic capital in the outside world.

Though status for the Ultras does not tend to extend past the wider football and Ultra

communities, the ritual effects often do. Crowd atmosphere and collective singing create

a strong sense of belonging that supporters internalize as permanent aspects of their

identities. The stronger a supporter identifies with Rovers and The Ultras, the blurrier the

lines between the stadium world and the real world become.