semmelweis university - Faculty of Physical Education and Sport ...

Svetlana Averina
Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport and Tourism, Moscow, Russia
Supervisor: Dr. Irina Bykhovskaya,
Trends of the Ultras Subculture Advancement in the Russian Reality
During the last decades some new sport functions were being actualized which are connected
with transforming the sport into a kind of show services. And accordingly its inalienable
component appears to be the fan movement with its certain definite subculture, which
provides functioning of a ―performance for crowd‖ phenomenon.
In the modern globalizing social environment it is the football that has become the playsymbol,
means of the whole world communication. The football fan-movement is one among
the most numerous subcultures.
The fan subculture nucleus so called the ―ultras culture‖ is also taking an active position,
including the system of spiritual and behavioural practices, which allow to display love to the
sport, to their favourite team by means of various actions, primarily of a positive nature.
As the Russian researchers consider formation and development of the fan-movement in
general, the football one in particular, in the USSR and then in Russia has become a cultural
performance. This subculture, being founded in the West, was copied, adopted to the Russian
reality and is successfully setting. But Russian fan-movement staff differs from the Western
one in principle. The middle age of Russian fans is 15-25, while in the West the fanmovement
invites people of 26-40.
Analysis of the Russian ultras fan-activity has demonstrated that ultras of ―Zenit‖ football
team (―Nevskiy Front‖) as well as ―Spartak‖ football team (―Fratria‖) are taking up the
leading positions; the others are trying to follow them.
We have conducted the pilot investigation among the supporters of ―Spartak‖ and
―Locomotive‖ football teams to find out empirically what definite fan-activity is conducted by
the ultras themselves and what they borrow from their West European colleagues. The
investigation was in the form of interrogation of fans by the questionnaire; 110 persons were
questioned.
Foundation of the subculture ideology was realized rather early. The ultras are keeping the
subculture traditions with piety. Practically 100 % of them are members of fan-clubs and
support only at the stadium. 100 % of the respondents visit all home matches of the favourite
teams, 90 % among them visit guest matches along Russia and 60 % visit guest matches along
all the Western Europe.
The fans use the following technologies to support their team: before-match module show;
before-match performance: small balls, various flags, banners, stretches, sound support,
pyrotechnics, fire-show, etc.
The following answers were got at the question, concerning the content of the support
technologies, which the Russian supporters would like to borrow from the West European
fans: large-scale shows; designing paintings by cardboards boxes and small balls; illumination
of banners, paper streamer and ribbons like in Argentine; beautiful singing of the whole
stadium, but not only of the fan tribune, etc.
Summing up we can state that the ultras movement is developing and becoming strong in
Russia day by day. According to the analysts, studying this problem, Russia will catch up and
will outrun the Western Europe in performance technologies and designing of tribunes. There
are plans to boast and teach the West by our results in future.
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