Gender Perspective to Assessing Football Fandom Participation, Team Identification and Socialization Factors among Undergraduate Students of Universities in Enugu State

Abstract

This study examined football fandom participation, team identification and socialisation factors among undergraduate students of two universities in Enugu State. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional survey of 600 students selected through simple random sampling technique in multi-stages. Three objectives and three hypotheses guided the study. Sports Fandom Questionnaire, Sport Spectator Identification Scale and a structured questionnaire were used for data collection. Data analyses were performed with IBM-SPSS application, version 23, using frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation statistics. Chi square and independent sample t-test were used to test the hypotheses. The study found that many of the respondents were fans of football clubs mostly in favour of the European league. A greater proportion of females (61.5%) than males (59.8%) identified as football fans. However, male fans showed higher levels of fandom participation, but did not differ much in the level team identification than female fans. Club performance, and personal admiration of players were the major factors motivating students to become football fans. Football fandom therefore is a popular culture and an integral part of young people’s lives. It is considered an important leisure activity, plays a crucial role in the attainment of social identity and offers strong basis for digital connection with peers around the world.