How to lose a fan in 100 years
⚠️ Spoiler: They can't. Football fandom makes no sense, and that’s exactly why it’s powerful.
Previously on The Good Football:
Can football teams gain the world without losing their soul?
Why I’m sick of seeing people make the business case for women’s football - by Hayley | Director @ HTVB
Being a football fan is so weird.
There’s this sport, and then there’s a club, which is really a company (that treats you badly most of the time). But to you, it’s much more than that. You spend your money on it, because yes, you do want another overpriced jersey that looks just slightly different from the ones you already have. Or another jacket, vintage shirt, scarf, or really anything they slap your team’s colours and logo on.
Then there are 11 guys (and, if you’re lucky, women) on the pitch, one dude on the sidelines yelling at them, and a bunch more on the bench. These individuals hold the power to make you extremely happy or incredibly enraged. But it isn’t really about them either, because these guys eventually leave. So do the president, the board, the sponsors, and everyone else behind the scenes. But we stay.
Because what we feel is directed at something bigger. This institution, this essence, this abstract thing that somehow remains, no matter how much changes or goes downhill around it. And we can feel more or less proud of or enthusiastic about our team depending on what happens on the pitch, but the connection, the sentiment we have about it, doesn’t depend on that.
In fact, the other day I bought a necklace and earring set with tiny football players in red and black kits. It’s so ridiculous, and it makes me laugh just thinking about it, but I love it. I also recently asked my dad to stop by the “Furacão Store” back in my homeland, and get me last year’s gorgeous goalie jersey, even though last year was one to forget.
We’ve talked about this before. In 2024, my team got relegated, ended Fernandinho’s contract (along with a few other beloved players) in the worst way possible, and shut down the women’s team to “cut costs”, which the players found out via WhatsApp. All of this in our centenary year.
If there’s a playbook for doing the opposite of the good football, you could say Athletico followed it religiously last season.
Yet here I am. Still caring, still spending money, still hoping, still getting angry.
My guess is right now you’re either judging me, perhaps even considering unsubscribing, or nodding your head because you are no stranger to this feeling.
You see, the whole premise of this newsletter and the vision that inspires my work is that generating a positive impact drives brand value, strengthens fan connection, and wins new audiences—among other benefits to people, the world, and the business.
In Athletico’s defense, especially those who I know are trying to build the good football in there, I’ll say there have been good campaigns and initiatives here and there, including a recent one against racism. But, expectations aside, it has been a weird time to love this freaking team so much.
But I’m not going anywhere, despite all the things I wish they did differently. Because being a football fan is weird. It’s irrational, infuriating, impossible to explain, but also completely understandable. If I love this thing enough to stick with it through thick and thin, of course I’m not going to walk away just because my team isn’t as committed to the good football as I wish it were.
But here’s the thing: the argument for impact in football isn’t about keeping people like me around. Clubs don’t need to fight for our loyalty. They already have it, no matter how much they take us for granted. The real opportunity, the real power, lies in expanding their world.
When a football club leverages its unique mix of characteristics—its community, its identity, its influence, its story—to generate a positive impact, it breaks barriers of many sorts. It becomes an aspirational brand, even for those who weren’t born fans or don’t have any obvious connection to the club. Instead of just relying on tradition and inherited fandom, it actively creates new fans (and business opportunities!) by standing for something beyond itself.
Don’t get me wrong; it still affects the long-established fans. We are out here just waiting for our team to give us even more reason to love it or to give us fuel to justify our irrational passion.
A world without the good football is just smaller. And it would be even smaller if it wasn’t for the fire that the fans keep burning.
This irrational, dedicated devotion we carry as fans, this stubborn hope in our team and all that it could still be, hints at the power that lies within the game. The power that makes it capable of being more than football and having a lasting impact and legacy.
If it wasn’t for what the passion for my team allowed me to experience, I wouldn’t know the deeper dimensions of this power and possibility it holds. I wouldn’t know I wanted to pursue a career dedicated to that. I probably wouldn’t be writing this newsletter today, making you read a few hundred words about this team from the south of Brazil.
As of yesterday, March 26th, the dreadful year is behind us. Athletico Paranaense turned 101 and, as a fan, I can’t help but hope that this will be a better year for my team. I especially hope that its world becomes a tad bigger with wins both on and off the pitch.
I hope my pride in being a fan keeps up with the sentiment I have for it.
THE GOOD LINKS
✅ This lesson from the pandemic (I’m trying to share slide #8 with you, but I don’t think Instagram is helping me do that).
🤤 This gift given to us by Kappa.
💙 This Brazilian football team I recently discovered. I think I need to buy their jersey.
✊🏿 This great read by Subomi.
✨ This masterpiece.
COMPLETELY OFFSIDE
Links that are not football-related but still worth sharing.
🎧 Did you know Ben Stiller and Adam Scott have a podcast about Severance? Me neither! After I caught up with the last episodes, I am now going back and listening to every single one of them, lol. Also, this video about Severance branding is 💯.
😲 There’s a reason why everyone’s talking about the Netflix show Adolescence, and I can’t recommend it enough.
Football fandom makes perfect sense when you remember that it isn’t you who chose to follow a club, but that the Football Club chose you…
I'm the guitly one!