Abstract
Chapter 8 critically explores some of the cultural–political fault lines that have emerged at supporter owned ‘breakaway’ club FC United of Manchester in recent years. A growing disconnect between club officials and many supporters led to a series of damaging conflicts, as well as revelations as to the parlous state of the club’s finances. It is argued that this is testament not only to the entrenchment of a culture of complacency and deference in the club’s formative years but also to defensive responses by officials that run counter to the club’s open, democratic ethos. Crucially, such conflicts cannot be dismissed as the failings of individual personalities or group characteristics, but instead are telling of wider, more general political and cultural tendencies.
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Porter, C. (2019). Where There’s Brass…. In: Supporter Ownership in English Football. Football Research in an Enlarged Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05438-0_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05438-0_8
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