As an Oldham fan, point #2 is very much not how I act. If someone starts supporting us, my first question is usually "Why would you do that to yourself?" 😂

The cult around individual players I think is bizarre. When you see comments on Instagram about Messi vs Ronaldo, or the shit Zlatan memes, from people in Bangladesh or Pakistan, I can’t help but think “what the fuck is going on”.

"You have more fun as follower, but you make more money as a leader." Creed Bratton

I live in Germany and still remember how our Religion teacher watched a documentary with us on "is football a religion", it must have been 12 years ago or something. I cant remember the exact name, but it followed some die hard borussia Dortmund fans who even had an altar where they would pray before matches. Ofc it had more of a german perspective on it and the culture around football here is a little bit diffrent, but they also came to the conclusion that football matches all the criterias we usually have for something to qualify as a religion or cult.

Any hobby that involves community and consumerism can be described as a cult, not just football. I'd suggest that this phenomena says more about the nature of society than it does the nature football

As someone who is also a fan of ice hockey after living in Canada, the fan culture with that is equally cult like but in a strangely different way. On the one side things like hooligans and fights between fans are rare, the culture is to respect the fans of the other team (like the seating is mixed between home and away fans), but on the other side multiple times fans have rioted after their team lost on a scale that I don't know has ever been seen in Europe

I feel this is also related to the weird gatekeeping about who gets to call themselves a “real fan”. I’ve grown up going to my hometown team’s matches but I could never get with the weird sense of entitlement I perceived from the grown up people around me when I was a 10 year old girl going to the stadium. The fact that people are protecting this virtuous idea of a “real fan” is a part of what the video talks about…mind you, “fan” is an abbreviation of “fanatic”, that should be your first clue right there. At the end of the day you’re consuming a product, you’re the audience. Creating mythical categories of “realness” around this fanaticism is really weird to me when at the end of the day you’re all just consuming these matches as a viewer, and the fact that you watch all of them in person on site (which is also a privilege by the way, both geographically and financially, one which most people fall into through no personal achievement of their own except for their place of birth and socioeconomic station- so your “real fan” status of having been “born into it” is completely unearned) doesn’t place you at an elevated station in a moral hierarchy. You have no more legitimate emotional investment than someone watching from overseas, because you’re just as much of a consumer, a viewer, you’re not participating on the pitch any more than anyone else, even if you’re watching in person. It’s embarrassing to me how people will elevate themselves and boast about having “inherited” fandom, joking about how their club winning is more important than their kids, and feeling entitled to their team winning, and even worse, feeling entitled to heavily criticize the players and often dehumanize them in the process, talking about trading them like commodities and in the same breath wax poetic about some purported “community” aspect to it. But then also expect these professionals to pledge allegiance to remaining in one place their whole lives just to satisfy that faux community requirement (meanwhile those players are actually complete strangers to you and owe you nothing because they’re just doing their job and are just as entitled to change clubs, develop and have different experiences in life beyond your club) I wonder what exactly you lose or how it affects your life materially when a random person in Vladivostok who’s never been to a football stadium calls themselves a “fan” of your football club. It almost seems like you feel something is being “taken” from you, which then begs the question what made you feel entitled to claim it for yourself and not certain other people in the first place. Also, if your entire identity depends on you making a product your personality that’s just basic neoliberalism, including the parasocial relationships that people have with players they will never have an irl relationship with. It’s something we make fun of in teen girls when they do it with boy bands, but grown men (for contrast because it’s still a very male-dominated sphere) doing it with athletes is somehow fully respectable

I remember sociologists making this point in the 80s as an explanation for hooliganism

Cult culture in football is crazy, you're fighting another club's fan physically and digitally over balls. Crazy.

Never stop talking about the difficult topics Alfie.

This is one I've been waiting for from you Alfie. The more bullshit I read from football fans the more I realise how important your work is to making sure the young people who could potentially fall into this cult thinking get a balanced view. Sometimes you forget when you're from a generation where the having access to the internet was for grown ups, but loads of "football twitter" is literally like 12 year olds. It's mental what garbage they're being fed

The Newcastle reactions just proves that sports washing is alive and well, and, what's worse, it's EFFECTIVE! 😢😤

There's that old Chomsky quote: "When I was in high school I asked myself at one point: "Why do I care if my high school's team wins the football game? I don't know anybody on the team, they have nothing to do with me... why am I here and applaud? It does not make any sense." But the point is, it does make sense: It's a way of building up irrational attitudes of submission to authority and group cohesion behind leadership elements. In fact it's training in irrational jingoism. That's also a feature of competitive sports.”

Benfica's stadium is commonly called "a catedral" ("the cathedral") as well, the jerseys are the "manto sagrado" ("sacred vest") and when a legendary figure at the club who has passed is referred to its commonly said hes in the "quarto anel" ("fourth ring"), Benfica's old stadium famously having three rings of stands

A great commentary. Having been a casual fan of football for the past twenty years it has always left a bad taste in my mouth the cult obsession all famous organized teams get across many sports. It plagues them all, US football, basketball, baseball and on and on. The other aspect that is just as insane now is the amount of money and adulation these talented individuals get by their obsessed fans. At what point do the global societies of the world start questioning the priorities of idolizing sport players like gods? It's bad enough that hollywood celebs have had this treatment for close to 100 years but now the sports figures at the top are just as bad. This is bad, like on a scale of biblically bad pertaining to the worshiping of false idols.

The Suárez support was so strange. Even if the word he used isn't considered a slur in Uruguay, he still mocked Evra's skin colour.

For a moment, I thought you were using a different and much stronger word

The fact a video with a clip was of “we’re just normal men” was posted on a Monday just goes to show Alfie’s genius

Btw Alfie, you should make a video about the Spanish FA. It looks like they are hiding some skeletons the way they are defending Luis Rubiales.

This video perfectly describes the 10 reasons why I am a part of the "Watch Anything Alfie Produces" cult.

Liking the (very slightly) more active editing style Alfie, keep up the great work

Really clever video idea. You've definitely proved a point. I've seen so many fans of clubs that literally act like members of a cult.

Since relinquishing my season ticket at Birmingham City after 33 years I have finally broken free. Well not quite, I’ve moved to another country and subscribed (now paying more a year than any season ticket ever cost) to everything that will give me access to any snippet of coverage (live or highlights) or information. Not so much cultish more a love affair that has now ended and turned into a more serious affliction of stalking.

Thank you for all the work that you do to make these video commentaries. You have a wonderful talent in being both informative and entertaining.

you are such a refreshing and strong voice in football discourse its good to hear principled perspectives on the state of the sport

Football fans do act like cult members, but I don’t think there is a world where you have the passion and the atmospheres, without the one-eyed bias. They go hand in hand.

Great video Alfie, absolute respect to you

In scotland we're pretty open about clubs being religions haha

The moving text! First time I've seen that! Production value is improving!! 😂 Excellent video as always.

Was baffled by the title but after watching i have to say this is one of the best videos on sports journalism i've seen.

Thank you for this footballs more and more becoming like this especially certain fanbases. Question one thing and your the enemy, blind loyalty and a you vs them mentality both within and without the fanbase.

Amazing video as always alfie!

Content awards?????? I just think this deserves a mention! There is a football content awards! I voted for this channel where I could! Well worth voting for quality. This channel is incredible. Well done.

I’m only 10 minutes into the video but the commentary on this is 10/10 and no doubt will have the right people foaming at the mouth 👌

I know you're football channel but I would love history videos with you narrating over them

Honestly, now that I'm grown up this video actually gives me a new perspective on what it was like for me to be so attached as a Manchester United fan (when I was a younger kid) and be so fixated about what their weekly results were or whether they would win the title or anything like that. Passion is good but unthinking idolisation is never worth and indeed can even be a dangerous path

I renew my petition for you to include international subtitles for your videos. I volunteer for Spanish, but just having them would be great for me and my football loving non-English speaking family.

football clubs aren’t cults. rather, football is a religion.

Babe wake up, new HITC Sevens video :D

About that at 1:30 Alfie, Milan and Inter’s shared stadium project got derailed awhile ago. They are now looking to each build their own stadiums, milan in the San Francesco area of the suburb of San Donato near linate airport, and Inter in an area known as Rozzano.

Great vid as always. Also reminded me that I used to wonder whether Suárez got pissed off with being called "Louie" all the time.

Khasoggi wasn't murdered, he tripped and repeatedly fell on his own bonesaws

I'm an USian who decided to start following EPL this winter after the World Cup, I was almost completely decided on Newcastle as my team. Then I looked up who owned them. Went with Liverpool in the end. Not that Fenway Group is a paragon of business ethics or anything, but I'm pretty sure they never julienned a journalist.

Another great video from Alfie.

You have got to cover the recent happenings with the Spanish FA. Seriously, the president of the Spanish FA fid something totally messed up.

Football fans and KPOP stans are very similar

As an Oxford fan, i have to say i strongly disgaree with the statement around 29:50. There is nothing more damaging than supporting Wycombe. /j

You are absolutely the BEST!!!!! Never miss you❤ Big hello from Sin City (Las Vegas) loads of cults here……lol

Alfie shouting out the late great Christopher Hitchens! Great job, lad!

Amnesty International are supporters of Sunderland. That genuinely made me crack up 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

😂 I'm not even 2 minutes into the video and I'm laughing because when I play FIFA and I'm a manager mode I create my team and my stadium is literally called The Kingdom. Gold seats, black interior, unique grass design, and gold chalk lines. Plus the goalie net is two-toned to match the stadium aesthetic.

It would be an interesting Venn diagram to see which fans were unhappy with Mike Ashley but are now excusing the Saudi ownership of Newcastle.

It's been a bad summer to be a football fan eh? Rubialles, Greenwood, Saudi Arabia, and the end of the women's world cup.

Good friend Alfie,three days ago,your beloved Hull City did get a draw at home by 1-1 against Bristol City to be in 8th position with seven points!!!🏋️‍♂️

Cults dont open themselves to the public. Cult likr tendencies is a good shout. No one should be so divided by a ball sport

Thanks again Alfie. An instant classic! How is it that you are the only defender of reason coming from inside of the sport? Anyhow, keep it up!

The amount of utterly insane United fans defending Greenwood fully supports the existence of this video. Good work

Love this video bro

Spat out my water during the Chelsea chant

Fantastic video alfie! When seeing a man utd badge with a four letter word beginning with cu and ending with t it was not cult that I initially saw 😂

another day, another hitc sevens banger

Outstanding mate

very well worded video - enjoyed listening

This was an amazing video essay. I haven't seen a video with such original thought in a long while. The Mason Greenwood saga soured me, and the recent Rubiales scandal has all but confirmed that I hate how protective the boys at the top are of each other. I can't believe no one made the cult connection before, but the way you presented it is amazing. It's hard for a billion or so people to stop watching football, so I'm not sure what happens from here on out, but the combination of blind faith, unlimited money and diverse geopolitical interests aren't exactly a health combination. That's for sure.

Absolutely going off here Alfie, brilliant stuff. As a cult member, sorry, season-ticket holder of the team who's won the EFL sack race this season, I'm not saying you should mention us in a video yet, but maybe if there's a plan to make a video about bonkers EFL ownership shenanigans, or the Seven Most Cursed EFL Clubs, Charlton might be on the agenda somewhere...

Good video. Certainly is cultish behaviour in football. And Alfie gets a lot of demented idiots replying to him on Twitter. It’s crazy 😄

I'm not Liverpool fan, but I speak Spanish, I also visited South America few times and because of that I believe Suarez: South American societies are very diverse (Argentina the least) and people DO call black friends "negro/negrito" and that is not consider offensive at all. This cultural aspect should have been considered, and obviously Suarez should have been let know that it's appropriate to use such a language here; plus Suarez's English is poor now and was really crap back then, so he defo thought in Spanish That's the reason (one of many) people should learn another language, so they could understand other cultures - sadly very rare quality in England

I am enjoying this video immensely, as an American who was born into a culty religion (i.e. Mormonism) in the late 1970s.

I think the stability of marriage is something that shows up in corporate too. It may be in selective, even elitist industries and positions but not being married can be a factor in how high you can climb the ladder. Which, in all honesty, I get. Dude with a family to feed will likely be more committed to structures that help him feed them. I, have no dependents and can literally leave the country tomorrow to pursue my lifelong dream of joining the circus. So making me a key decision-maker may be a risk I wouldn't take for my firm.

Amazing video. This is usually the main issue with football. The fans ...

thank you for highlighting greenwood. so so happy his career is over after what he did

This is absolutely true, I think if someone doesn't have the cult-like following of a club it's pretty unlikely to continue being a regular view. It's the same logic that leads to discussions in the USA drawing parallels between sports fans and political discussion joining same mindsets

Q. Re Alfies’ point about capitalisation of soccer - Do they still do those pre-season Squad photos ? In the 1970s the very successful clubs needed a maximum of 2 tiers of benches with the back row standing but with players now sporting No 76 on their shirts , how do they accommodate the increasing numbers of guys from whom these sides can pick in a single photograph ?

not arguing against any point you make but the stadium in Bilbao was called "LA Catedral" because it was next to the cathedral :D

Cult isn't the right word. You are free to criticise the club, you are free to stop supporting them and you aren't pressured to isolate yourself from friends and family who don't support the club. Most clubs at some point have been vocal about their disdain for owners or have booed their team off the pitch. There is definitely a lot of deluded bias out there among fans, but football clubs aren't close to being cults.

I do think that this issue is much worse in the international game though, as football in many countries is also a channel of extremely toxic nationalism. In my country (Vietnam) for example, many fans only talked about how our players get fouled or when we are on the recieveing end of some bad refereeing decision, and find all sorts of excuses whenever we get away with those things. Oh, and for some of you who might not be familiar with Vietnamese football, the referee thing is that when a ref makes a bad decision that goes against us, a bunch of Vietnamese "keyboard warriors" would attack his facebook account. This has been a serious issue for quite some time now, but the criticism over the years has never been adequate IMO.

Great video as usual. Cheers!

Slobodan Milosevic wasn’t found guilty of any war crimes despite his trial being extremely long

When the Suarez thing happened, I was a child in a mainly white small town. I trusted the club I supported. I am sorry, I was wrong.

The marriage one point when you mentioned that atleast 1 high reputation manager is encouraging it im sure is arteta. The amount of players getting married at the club at the same time is insane.

I went over to the UK last year and went to my first ever EPL match, i noticed they separate the fans in the stands by team, what if your mate goes for another team and you want to go and watch the game together? Im from Melbourne and follow the AFL where there are 9 different teams in Melbourne alone, and all of mates go for different teams but we go to the gamea together and sit together with our gear on and no one cares

Alfie, there's not a huge chance of me ever going to Hull as the city is in a different country thousands of kilometers away, but if I ever make it there, I am asking you out and I will consider it a date.

Reading Liverpool fans' reactions to last night's match I couldn't help but remember this video. UAE conspiracies in full force; the belief that everyone is against them; Jurgen Klopp being viewed not as a manager, but as a moral authority, basically a saint; one guy on Reddit tried to convince me that LFC never benefitted from a good goal being disallowed; the belief that they're the only one who can stop the evil (Man City, of course). All of that, to me, looked beyond the normal human behaviour and the amount of likes and upvotes on those posts was staggering to me.

0:56 iconic picture.

Another great video. As regards the geordie fans. No matter how bad ashley was i dont think he has links to anyone being dismembered. Yet the majority it would seem are more than happy with the present lot. Very strange outlook

I wouldn't say football is a cult unless they're some zealots performing mental gymnastics or being an apologist to certain topics or clubs. Even I'm guilty of that sometimes when I was naive but I'll give credit when due and criticize when due.

Speaking of cults, have you seen any footage from recent Taylor Swift concerts?

Thank God my team wasn't mentioned in this video I would've had to unsubscribe... Great video Alfie.

No trying to be xenophobic or racist but the appalling number of ppl who defend rapists and sex offenders from Nigeria and India is insane to me. Like tf is goin on over there??

We're just normal men had me bloody howlin Alfie you beautiful fountain of knowledge I didn't know I needed but somehow always seem to do.

In Brazil, Marcos - 2002 WC Champion GK - is called "Saint Marcos"; and Victor - 2013 Libertadores Champion - is called "Saint Victor" hahaha

I'm a fan but so much fanatic behaviour is just insane. I support my club. No matter what. But I try to not be too crazy about it.

Like the late researcher Alan Watt used to say, sports were made mainstream for the blokes, and soaps for the women by the establishment. It was social engineering to keep everyone distracted to what is really going on in the world, and it worked. As soon as most households had their first television (a lot of them were refurbished TV's from the US, shipped over by our own government), families stopped going to the park to discuss politics, family values and other important topics. It's one of many reasons why society is collapsing today.

This just felt like a huge insult to football fans in general, wow.

He asks who would take up pottery....Yet Alfie Potts 😂

The fact you got “we’re just normal men” in the video makes it the best one yet 😂

It always blows my mind that in any sport people get so attached to the point were their team loosing a match can ruin your entire weekend like pretty sure none of the players care or even know why you mad 🤷🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️

Very interesting video 👏

I can't believe our boy Alfie turned this into an entire 30 minute video😂

3:08 to 3:15, he's just described Celtic fans to a tee! 😂😂😂