This study examines the aggressive commodification and corporatisation
strategies experienced by a Macedonian-based club in the north-western suburbs
of Melbourne. The administrative acquisition of the club by a quasi-corporate
consortium colloquially referred to as the ‘Silver Lining’ emphasized an abated
model of its cultural heritage in favour of a newly fashioned corporate identity.
Further evidence obtained via fieldwork observations and interviews documents
the evolution of the power relationship between the club’s supporters and its
administrators over a five-year period. We draw on Bhabha’s construct of cultural
identity and internal differentiation to analyse the expressive forms of social
resistance appropriated by football (soccer) spectators/supporters as agency
toward preservation of a particular socio-cultural identity.