Celtic Football Club, Irish Ethnicity, and Scottish Society

Abstract

First paragraph: John Hoberman observes in Sport and Ideology (1984) that "sport has no intrinsic value structure, but it is a ready and flexible vehicle through which ideological associations can be reinforced," and Eric Hobsbawm asserts that "the identity of a nation of millions seems more real as a team of eleven named people." Implicit in these comments is the belief that sport has the capacity to embody and express identity and community-in its national, cultural, ethnic, religious, social, political, and even economic dimensions-in a way that few other social manifestations can match. Celtic Football Club in Scotland, a professional soccer team based in Glasgow, offers a vivid case study of these observations and assertions, including aspects of the nature of community and supporter associations involved in Scottish football. For countless supporters, Celtic is far more than "merely" a football club.