You’ll never walk alone: Liverpool Football Club as an imagined fan community online
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The following qualitative study examines geographically displaced and local fans of one of England’s most famous football teams, Liverpool Football Club (LFC). Specifically, the research explores the extent that international LFC fans within a discussion-based online forum resemble Anderson’s (1991) construction of an “imagined community”, with displaced fans using computer-mediated technologies to construct their own self-reflected fan identity and position themselves within the larger grouping. By understanding how international fans construct communities without being directly linked to localized cultures, this research seeks to shed light on the way in which individuals attempt to compensate for a lack of lived experience through a collection of virtual knowledge, as well illuminating the limits of the virtual environment in creating a sense of authenticity and group cohesion.