Abstract
This article is based on my personal memories of the West
Perth Football Club (WPFC) unofficial cheer squad, which operated
in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) competition from
1984–86. The article details ‘traditional’, ‘hot’ support for WPFC among
teenaged supporters from working-and middle-class backgrounds. This
is consistent with the concept of fluid post-modern ‘neo-tribes’ where
affiliations are very loose and people can easily adjust their degree of
commitment to a and/or leave the group when their personal priorities
change. Once people joined this group they generally did not adjust their
degree of commitment downwards, until the group itself broke up.
Perth Football Club (WPFC) unofficial cheer squad, which operated
in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) competition from
1984–86. The article details ‘traditional’, ‘hot’ support for WPFC among
teenaged supporters from working-and middle-class backgrounds. This
is consistent with the concept of fluid post-modern ‘neo-tribes’ where
affiliations are very loose and people can easily adjust their degree of
commitment to a and/or leave the group when their personal priorities
change. Once people joined this group they generally did not adjust their
degree of commitment downwards, until the group itself broke up.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 17 |
| Pages (from-to) | 49-65 |
| Journal | Sporting Traditions |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- Australian Rules football
- Western Australian football
- West Perth Football Club
- soccer hooliganism
- Marxism