Chinese football fandom, regionalism and nationalism: an example of the attitudes of fans of Henan Jianye Football Club and Shenzhen Football Club

After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, Chinese people understand the significance of nation and prioritise the nation over their local communities. Yet conflicts among people to defend local interests keep happening everywhere, thus damaging the harmonious unification. As a part of social life, Chinese football fandom is also associated with nationalism and regionalism. Fandom express inevitably links with the conflict among local communities. In addition, fans examine which team matters to them more by evaluating their senses of national and regional belonging. Football fans’ self-identification in the international and domestic spheres is therefore a window to observe Chinese people’s attitudes towards their national and local communities. This doctoral research is an academic inquiry to explore this social fact. The theoretical framework of this thesis is drawn upon the correlated theories of the relationship between fandom, regionalism and nationalism. This study employs qualitative approaches: semi-structured interviews, focus groups and open-ended survey as investigative instruments. It selects fans of Henan Jianye Football Club and Shenzhen Football Club as cases to document and analyse the fandom for Chinese men’s national football team and local football clubs. The thesis establishes a comprehensive knowledge of how football fandom is developed in the Chinese context, whereby making itself a pioneer in interpreting Chinese football fans’ self-identification at international and domestic levels. It reveals that Chinese people’s emotional attachment to their local communities is stronger than their sense of belonging to their nation. Nevertheless, Chinese nationalism is the critical factor that prevents contradiction among people.