Involuntary loneliness is a widespread social phenomenon which not only impacts the mental well being, it may also be displayed in a physical manner. The aim of this study was to interpret and develop an understanding of whether, and if so how, football supporters in Sweden experience that an active supportership can reduce the feeling of involuntary loneliness, as well as how a supportership could contribute to fellowship and collective identity. We gathered the experiences of football supporters through qualitative interviews with a total of eight supporters. We got in contact with supporters through representatives of the supporter associations of two teams in the Swedish first division, “Allsvenskan”. To meet the requirements for participation in the study the interviewees had to be above the age of 18 as well as be considered an “active supporter”. We found that experienced benefits of supportership included the sense of community among like minded which resulted in an “us against them” mindset. However, that could also result in exclusion for those not part of the community and therefore be counterproductive. We also found that different experiences of freedom were experienced, where some were positive feelings of freedom, undemanding and escape from everyday life and some could be considered negative as power relations between supporters, the right to interpretive priority as well as feelings of demands. Finally, we found a correlation between alcohol consumption and attending football matches. This presents a potential legitimization of alcohol consumption around football events.

Title: “We are everywhere” – an analysis of the discourse surrounding AIK football club on social media   The purpose of this study is to discern what the discourse surrounding Swedish football club Allmänna Idrottsklubben (AIK) and its fans look like on the social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This is done by examining every post by AIK on these platforms and the fan response to each post. The opportunities for clubs such as AIK to communicate directly with its fans has increased greatly with the invention of social media, and this breakthrough in communication has also had the added effect of allowing fans to much easier voice their own opinions. Thus, we are presented with an area of communication that represents an interesting object of study.   The method used is based partly on Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffes theory on discourse analysis and partly on Roland Barthes theory on myths. Both theories offers some tools for analysis and when combined provides the opportunity for in-depth study. The results show that the discourse is largely centred around nodal points such as “Love”, and “the Club Emblem”. Through these AIK communicate the importance of itself to its fans and gives them a reason to “be a part of something greater”. Some of the myths found such as the “Family myth” or the “Hero myth” adds to this notion. However, the supporters don’t always agree with AIK which is why another major theme in the discourse was their “Criticism”. The supporters could also be found arguing among themselves about what being an AIK-fan meant which exposed the “True-fan myth”. Through all of this the study found sign of an underlying importance of active participation within the fandom, which enhanced the experience of being a supporter.   Key words: AIK, discourse analysis, fandom, supporter, myth, nodal point, communication, football