The Making of "Jew Clubs"
Performing Jewishness and Antisemitism in European Football and Fan Cultures

Pavel Brunssen (Author)

9780253073389

Paperback / softback, published 2 September 2025

480 pages, 52 b&w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.666 kg

"A masterful comparative study that shows that sports is crucial to fully understand the modern Jewish experience and the history of antisemitism." - Prof. Dr. Michael Brenner

"Brunssen's well-researched and theoretically astute book shows how this strange contemporary phenomenon reveals essential insights into the ongoing European effort to come to terms with a difficult past. A fascinating discussion of the role of the 'Jew' in the European imagination and a valuable contribution to the study of the politics of memory." - Maurice Samuels

"A pioneering study of the intersection between memory cultures and collective identities in post-1945 European football. A fascinating exploration of the performance of Judaism in the virtually Jewish stadium and of representations of Judaism in the absence of Jews." - Raanan Rein

"In this fascinating study, Brunssen tackles an intriguing phenomenon: many major European soccer clubs are viewed as Jewish, with fans who celebrate that label and fans of competing teams who insult these "Jewish clubs" with antisemitic epithets. Brunssen offers a bold and nuanced interpretation of this singular case of transnational, popular philosemitism." - Ari Joskowicz

"Brunssen's work is 480 pages long, and the stories of the four clubs are comprehensively presented. But it goes far beyond that." - Moritz Ettlinger, Derstandard

Why do non-Jewish football fans chant "Yid Army" or wave "Super Jews" banners - especially in support of clubs that are not Jewish? The Making of "Jew Clubs" explores how four major European football clubs - FC Bayern Munich, FK Austria Vienna, Ajax Amsterdam, and Tottenham Hotspur - came to be seen as "Jew Clubs," even though they have never officially identified as Jewish.

In this transnational study, Pavel Brunssen traces how both Jewish and non-Jewish actors perform Jewishness, antisemitism, and philosemitism within European football cultures over the 20th and 21st centuries. Drawing on a wide array of primary sources—from fan chants and matchday rituals to media portrayals and club histories—the book reveals how football stadiums have become unexpected stages for negotiating memory, identity, and historical trauma.

Offering a new approach to Holocaust memory, sports history, and Jewish studies, The Making of "Jew Clubs" shows how football cultures reflect and reshape Europe's conflicted relationship with its Jewish past.

Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. FC Bayern Munich: The "Jew Club" as Memory Culture
2. FK Austria Vienna: The "Jew Club" as Cultural Code
3. Ajax Amsterdam: The "Jew Club" as Fan Performance
4. Tottenham Hotspur: Problematizing the "Jew Club"
Conclusion
Afterword: The "Jew Clubs" after October 7
Appendix: Archives, Monuments, and Museums
Notes
Bibliography
Index