Football fans as place ambassadors: analysing the interactions between Girona FC and its fan clubs after its purchase by city football group (CFG)

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyse the relationship between 'place identity' and the configuration of the identity of Girona FC fans, a franchise of the City Football Group (CFG), which is the main entertainment football holding according to Forbes list. The authors sent a questionnaire to all of the 24 supporters' clubs of Girona FC in order to analyse how they value the influence of a global holding on a historic Catalan club (founded in 1930) and to understand the main factors that create engagement between the supporters' clubs and the organization. Additionally, two in-depth interviews were conducted with the Director of Communication and Chief Communication Officer of CFG. This research concludes that third-party endorsement of CFG by the Girona FC local public is not robust due to the specific characteristics related to the regional identity of a historic professional Spanish football club.