Natural Leaders of Turkish Fans: An Analysis of the Features of Leaders that Move the Masses
Atalay BaharAll parts of a football spectacle that occur synchronously with its structural and functional elements are followed with interest. At the football feast, the leaders guide the crowd of fans, and they appear in the media in the context of violent incidents and quarrels among fans. This study investigates the communicative competencies of the leaders, their leadership perspectives, and the level of effectiveness exhibited with regard to the fan base. Interviews with the leaders supporting the five Super League Football Teams based in Istanbul were used to gather information on leadership, combined with natural observations of three match commanders. The leadership of a leader has an institutional quality that society approaches only distantly in terms of the intricate relationships that stand out in the football vortex, their media presence, and the relatively negative perceptions of football fans. Fan leaders dominate over an entire fan base, regardless of different sociocultural environment, age, and educational levels. The audience at a football match, who have come together randomly, lose their conscious personalities and become fanatics who follow every instruction of the leaders. This complex situation, which showcases the high communicative abilities of the leaders, causes individuals to lose control and to be psychologically swept away, thus reacting aggressively with the collective consciousness created by the leaders. This study made determinations regarding this paradoxical situation and produced descriptive data on the effects of leaders on the mass of fans. The originality of this study is evident at this point, and its aim is to develop the relatively narrow availability of similar studies in the literature.
Türk Futbol Tribünlerinin Doğal Liderleri: Kitleleri Harekete Geçiren Tribün Liderlerinin Özellikleri Üzerine Bir İnceleme
Atalay BaharYapısal ve işlevsel öğeleriyle senkronize hareket eden futbolun, tüm faaliyetleri ilgiyle takip edilmektedir. Futbol şöleni içerisinde tribün liderleri, taraftar kitlesine öncülük etmekte, aynı zamanda şiddet olayları ve taraftar kavgalarıyla da medyada yer almaktadır. Araştırmada tribün liderlerinin; iletişimsel yetkinlikleri, liderlik perspektifleri ve taraftar kitlesi üzerindeki etkinlik düzeylerinin belirlenmesi amaçlanmaktadır. İstanbul’da bulunan beş Süper Lig Futbol Takımını destekleyen tribün liderleriyle yapılan mülakatlar ve üç müsabaka güvenlik amirinin doğal gözlemleriyle, tribün liderliği hakkında önemli çıkarımlar elde edilmiştir. Tribün liderliği olgusu; futbol girdabı içerisinde öne çıkan girift ilişkileri, medyada var oluş şekilleri ve futbolseverlerde oluşturduğu görece olumsuz algıları açısından, toplumun mesafeli olarak yaklaştığı kurumsal bir nitelik kazanmaktadır. Bununla birlikte tribün liderleri; sosyo-kültürel çevre, yaş ve eğitimsel seviye ayırt etmeksizin, tüm taraftar kitlesi üzerinde hâkimiyet sağlamaktadır. Rastlantısal olarak bir araya gelen seyirciler bilinçli kişiselliklerini kaybederek, tribün liderlerinin her talimatını yerine getiren fanatik taraftarlara dönüşmektedir. Tribün liderlerinin yüksek iletişimsel yeteneklerini gösteren bu karmaşık durum, aklıselim bireylerin kontrolünü kaybederek, tribün kitlesinin meydana getirdiği kolektif bilinçle, psikolojik olarak savrulmasına ve şiddetli tepkiler vermesine neden olmaktadır. Bu paradoksal duruma dair tespitlerin elde edildiği araştırmada, tribün liderlerinin kitle üzerindeki etkilerine yönelik betimleyici verilere ulaşılmıştır. Bu çalışmanın özgün değeri bu noktada ortaya çıkmaktadır ve çalışmanın amacı; bu sınırlı sayıdaki alanyazına katkı sağlamaktır.
Football is a complicated sport with many stakeholders, which in its totality incorporates activities on and off the field; these, in their turn, are interpreted by the various parts of society according to their individual perspectives. One remarkable role in this multidimensional sport is that played by the football club fan leadership. Fan leaders determine the general attitudes and behaviors of their mass of fans, and their organizations interact with represent the fans to management. In this study, the role of fan leaders on crowds, their relationships with club managers, their leadership perspectives, and their communicative competencies are examined.
This study analyzes and interprets two basic pieces of data. The first level regards those who support the fan leaders in the following football clubs: Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club (BJK), Fenerbahçe Sports Club (FB), Galatasaray Sports Club (GS), İstanbul Başakşehir Football Club (İBFK), and Kasımpaşa Football Club (KSK). It focuses on the ability of the fan leaders to mobilize and calm all fans, regardless of socio-cultural environment, age and educational level. Second-level data were created through natural observations of the match commanders responsible for the safety measures of the teams BJK, FB, and GS in the 2018–2019 season, including fan leaders and their functions in crowd movements.
The leaders have the ability to create or restrict chaos and improper movements by manipulating large crowds. Spectators in advanced age groups and with high educational levels are regarded as very calm; as noted by Gestalt theorists, however, they too can become part of a mass movements that they cannot even anticipate, similar to instruments that can form a harmonious piece of music under the orchestral conduction of fan leaders (Rock & Palmer, 1990, p. 84). The audience, which comes together randomly, forges a common identity, as determined by the atmosphere created by the leader, and it loses their conscious personality, fulfilling every instruction of the fan leaders (Le Bon, 2018, p. 19). This shows the high communicative abilities of the fan leaders and their ability to cause individuals to lose control and to make the collective consciousness created by the leader to become psychologically swept away and react violently.
In the event that leaders cannot obtain privileges from the club administrations, they can lead the mass of fans in ugly cheering and form fan actions. They have the power to mobilize the crowds to protest the management and to demand the withdrawal or transfer of players and coaches (Oktay, 2019). This authority encourages violent behavior, and power struggles among fan groups and fan leaders can move out of the tribune and cause various crimes (such as Amigo’s armed duel in 2017). The crimes of the leaders and sporting functions are evolving toward other areas of crime areas, also involving leaders and fans are involved.
Match commanders generally agree that fan leaders play an active role in the emergence and spread of violence due to excessive fans and violence, and these actions are unlikely to occur without their knowledge. To prevent such incidents and ensure that watching matches remains enjoyable, match commanders engage in uninterrupted communication with the fan leaders, as well as using their legal powers.
No study has yet been conducted to specifically examine fan leadership. In this study, the mass effectiveness levels of fan leaders and the impressions of the match commanders are investigated and cross-correlated. The original value of this study is found here, and it forms a contribution to this limited literature. In this respect, it is thought that this original study will enable the development of further research and practices regarding phenomena of fan leadership and mass behavior.
