Supporting the Fans: Learning-disability, Football Fandom and Social Exclusion

In Britain, within the contemporary drive of using sport to tackle the isolation of socially excluded groups, association football (football) fandom has been implicated in many policy documents as a possible site for learning-disabled people to become more socially included. However, whilst there is some evidence of the benefits of playing football for learning-disabled people, there is little evidence to support these claims. Drawing on empirical data from learning-disabled people about their experiences of football fandom and from relevant authorities responsible for facilitating the fandom of learning-disabled people, this thesis provides a critical analysis of the opportunities to tackle social exclusion that football fandom provides learning-disabled people. This includes examining the experience of football fandom for the learning-disabled people involved, any opportunities for social inclusion football fandom provides, and the response of relevant football authorities to learning-disabled fans. The thesis concludes that whilst football fandom offers social benefits to learning-disabled people in terms of opportunities for social interaction, a sense of belonging and a shared social identity that go some way towards tackling their social exclusion, football fandom is unlikely to result in the 'social inclusion' characterised by Government.