Fotbollen gav mig elva nya bästa vänner - En studie på fotbollsspelars relation till fotboll och deras nationella identitet

Sammanfattning: Our aim was to undertake a qualitative study of how a team of football players from foreign backgrounds viewed and described their own team’s identity. Furthermore we wanted to examine how they would, generally, define their national identity. The subjects of our study were seven male football players aged between 19 and 29 years old who resided in the south of Sweden. The results of our study indicated that, for our subjects, national identity was not exclusive and, indeed, they tended to identify themselves as both Swedish and the nationality of the country from where they originated. Nor, we found, was a diverse range of nationalities within a team a barrier to forming bonds of fellowship. We observed, conversely, that an eclectic mix of nationalities actually enhanced the feeling of comradeship between the players and, thus, also improved the team's performance on the pitch.