Portoan Ultra Group Members’ Social Representation of Lisbon and Sport Lisboa and Benfica and Its Influence on the Discourses and Practices of the Portoan Ultra Groups and Their Members

The following text relates to a more recent approach to the problem of hooliganism and the Ultra Movement. It does not focus on a broad theory aimed to explain these two phenomena, but rather concentrates on the use of concepts that are relevant for a multifaceted understanding of them. Therefore, this text is the result of an investigation carried out on the four Ultra groups who support clubs in Oporto.

It aims to demonstrate how the social representation of Lisbon as the capital of Portugal and one of its clubs, Sport Lisboa and Benfica, influences not only the discourse used by the members of the four Portoan Ultra groups and the allusive clothing that they wear, but also the practices of their own groups inside and outside football stadiums. Included in these practices are the choreographies and banners that the Ultra groups display, as well as the chants they sing.

The research also showed that the social representation mentioned above legitimizes a strong rivalry towards with Sport Lisboa and Benfica and has the capacity to suspend conflicts between the Portoan Ultra groups and unite them in collective action, sometimes violent, against the Ultra groups and members of this club.