How post, radio, television and social media transformed who we support and why
Football fandom has always been about connection. For generations, supporting a football club was primarily a local experience. Before television, radio coverage, the internet and social media, your football world was largely shaped by geography, family and community. You supported the team that represented your town, the club your parents took you to watch, or the side whose ground you could reach on a Saturday afternoon. Stories and examples from three generations of my own family from the North-West of England provides some illustrative examples of the evolution of over 70 years of fandom.
First generation – local support and the power of post
In the 1950s and 1960s, football was generally something you experienced physically or through the local newspaper. You stood on terraces with people from your neighbourhood, discussed the previous weekend’s game in the pub, and waited for newspaper reports or radio broadcasts to hear about clubs beyond your immediate area. The idea of having an emotional connection to a club hundreds or thousands of miles away was unusual.
Yet even in this era, small cracks appeared in the idea that fandom was purely local.
my Dad was a Blackburn Rovers supporter. Like many football fans of his generation, his primary allegiance was naturally linked to his hometown club. If Rovers played away, he used to send a stamped addressed enveloper for them to send him the programme for the game. He also wrote to Rangers and Celtic for any programme and Celtic sent one, but Rangers sent a few and also a signed team sheet. Living in Lancashire, with no regular television access to Scottish football and little opportunity to follow teams outside England, that postal interaction created a new connection. He always liked Rangers for that, not because he had grown up in the area or attended games there, but because this post entered his home and built a relationship between supporter and club.
This was in many ways, an early form of remote fandom before digital existed. It created belonging, identity and a sense of participation. It allowed a supporter to feel connected to a club that they had never visited.
Second generation – Television expands the football imagination
Television dramatically accelerated this process. Football broadcasting was already developing in the 1960s, with the first live Football League match broadcast in 1960, but the arrival of regular football highlights through programmes such as the BBC’s Match of the Day in 1964 changed the relationship between fans and clubs.
Suddenly, supporters could regularly see teams, players and stadiums beyond their local area. Football was no longer simply something that happened in your town; it became something that entered your living room.
This created opportunities for new forms of attachment. A young supporter could admire a player, a style of football or a club without ever having attended a match. The foundations of modern global fandom were beginning to emerge.
The same pattern continued with the growth of satellite television in the 1980s and 1990s. Italian football became particularly influential. After a successful semi final for the England team in the 1990 World Cup (Italia 90), several high-profile England players moved to Serie A including Paul Gascoigne, David Platt and later Paul Ince. At the same time, Channel 4’s coverage of Italian football, presented by James Richardson from the cafés of Italy, introduced millions of British viewers to Serie A culture, clubs and players. Italia 90 really had a big impact on getting me interested in football. The televised games, Nessun Dorma theme tune with Italian opera legend Pavarotti and the immense drama and affiliation felt with those England players that really went on a journey that a nation travelled with them on through each game.
Gary Lineker, who scored four of England’s goals in Italy, said:
“It was a seminal moment almost, in terms of football in this country. Lots of different kinds of people got interested in football, all different classes of people, I think it had a significant effect on the growth of football.”
For many fans of my generation, this was a first experience of genuinely international club football. The attraction was not based on geography or family connection, but on exposure. I owned Italian football shirts in the 1990s because of the players, the drama and the identity that surrounded Italian clubs and the players journeys there.
TV had created a new type of supporter: someone whose football identity could be shaped by stories, personalities and images rather than simply location.
3rd generation – Social media creates the global football community & strengthens player allegiance
The arrival of the internet, smartphones and particularly social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, transformed football fandom again. The previous barriers to following distant clubs disappeared.
Before the 2026 World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico, football had largely passed by my 16 year son and 20 year old daughter, but the algorithms of TikTok brought it to their smartphones in a way they could understand and resonate with. Short video’s and meme’s of players such as top strikers Haaland and Mbappe. Short funny videos, remixed and repackaged by fans filled their timelines and that created an interest in that player and their respective nation and it’s fortunes on the pitch.
Through social media, supporters in Asia, Africa, North America or anywhere else could now see into the lives and interact with clubs, players and fellow fans. They could watch highlights, meme’s discuss matches, buy merchandise and feel part of a global community.
My own PhD research, published in 2018, explored this changing nature of football fandom through the lens of social capital. One of the fascinating examples came from interviews with supporters around the world who followed Salford City Football Club on social media.
At the time, Salford were a non-league club undergoing rapid transformation through their association with Manchester United’s Class of 92. Many international supporters had developed an attachment to Salford because of their existing connection with Manchester United, family members’ love of United, or their interest in the former players involved with the club.
These fans were not traditional supporters in the geographic sense. Many had never attended a match at Moor Lane. Instead, they followed the club through YouTube videos, Twitter (before it was X) updates and online communities. Digital platforms allowed them to participate in a football community despite physical distance and local connection.
The relationship between club and supporter had become less about where you lived and more about the networks, stories and identities you connected with.
The rise of the player as the global brand
One of the biggest changes in modern football fandom is the growing importance of individual players. Historically, supporters might follow a club for generations, while players moved between teams. Today, some fans follow the player first and the club second.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s record breaking return to Manchester United in 2021 provided a powerful example. Ronaldo’s transfer generated extraordinary online engagement, with his announcement becoming one of the most liked social media posts ever at the time. Manchester United gained around one million Instagram followers within two hours of announcing his return, while Ronaldo’s global following dwarfed many established football brands.
His previous move from Real Madrid to Juventus also demonstrated how player movements can influence digital fandom, with Real Madrid reportedly losing over a million social media followers following his departure.
This represents a significant shift. Fans can now move between football identities depending on where their favourite players go. A supporter may follow Barcelona because of Messi, Juventus because of Ronaldo, or a club because of a single emerging star. The emotional connection is increasingly attached not only to institutions but to personalities.
The future of football fandom
Today, football fandom exists across multiple layers. Many supporters still maintain deep local connections with their hometown clubs, built through family, tradition and community. However, these local identities now sit alongside global digital relationships.
A supporter can attend matches at their local ground on Saturday, watch European football on streaming platforms, follow players on Instagram, debate tactics on X, and maintain friendships with fans thousands of miles away.
The future of fandom is likely to become even more personalised. Younger generations may not simply ask, “Which club do you support?” They may ask, “Which players, communities and stories do you resonate with?”
Football has moved from being a local experience shared by communities to a global network of relationships. From my Dad’s Rangers newsletter in the 1960s to global Salford supporters following a non-league club through YouTube and Twitter, the technology has changed dramatically — but the fundamental human desire remains the same: to belong to something bigger than yourself.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the digital transformation of fandom – drop me a line.
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