Football, diaspora, and Turkish Cypriot identity in London

This study aims to understand and explain the impact of football on both diaspora formation and the construction/reproduction of ethno-national identities, focusing on constructionist practices in this process. In this context, an ethnographic field study was conducted for six months in an amateur football league established by Turkish Cypriots in London, England. The theoretical framework is modelled on the concept of diaspora proposed by Roger Brubaker. The study shows that it is possible for a dispersed population to come together in diaspora through football. However, the process is not spontaneous but takes place through the active role of core members. Secondly, the paper provides evidence that football-centred practices of ethnic national identity construction are actively reproduced through "from below" dynamics, in a diaspora-specific context.