Armchair football fandom: motivations and social dynamics

This study investigates the motivations driving armchair football fandom, a form of remote engagement that has often been overlooked in favour of stadium-based perspectives. Using a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews with 25 fans were conducted who primarily consume football from home. The data were analysed through grounded theory coding procedures. Findings reveal five interrelated motivations: psychological comfort, social practices, technological convenience, personal circumstances, and cultural expectations. Rather than being passive spectators, armchair fans construct meaning and identity through mediated and individualized practices that substitute physical co-presence with digital participation and domestic ritual. These insights highlight the entanglement of individual motives with broader media and cultural structures. The study contributes to football scholarship by expanding understandings of fan engagement beyond consumption and stadium attendance, offering a more nuanced account of how identity, culture, and technology shape contemporary fandom.