Voices from the Grandstands: The Attitudes of Australian Football Fans towards the Concept of Creating, Developing and Binding Communities

This article explores the AFL’s communities from the fans’ point of view. In doing so, the notion of community is examined, as is the role Australian Football has historically had in creating, developing and binding communities. The analysis examines how Australian Football and its founding clubs were created in the image of ‘the people’ and seeks to understand how the relationship between the AFL, its clubs and the fans has changed as the competition has transformed into a business. The responses of fourteen interview participants, all of who are current or former members of the AFL or its clubs, are utilised to illuminate the fans’ point of view regarding the ‘sense of community’ they feel in relation to the AFL club they support.