Football fans find identity in crisis

In British football, meanwhile, it is identity that may be suffering an identity crisis, writes Larry Ryan

The recurring nightmare of a football fan played out for real in Bucharest last December.

Supporters of former European champions Steaua looked up at a scoreboard which read ‘Gazde’ or ‘hosts’. On the pitch, their team wore their away strip because they no longer held the rights to their colours. Club badges were taped over. The stadium announcer referred, only, to the “champions of Romania”.