The stadium as a memory site : football and the politics of memories and space in post-colonial Port Said

Abstract

Stadiums are critical urban arenas where history, memory, and identity are continuously reshaped. This case study, based on ethnographic and archival research, moves beyond traditional frameworks of football and identity by analysing the stadium as a memory site and how collective memories of war commemorations reproduced the stadium’s social space. The stadium’s space also served as a medium for creating new memories between a father and his son and for sharing collective memories that consolidate the sense of belonging to Port Said. By conceptualizing the stadium as both lieu and milieu de mémoire, it highlights how memory is actively constructed and spatially embedded. It examines how cheering practices and rituals are entangled within the city’s post-colonial legacy and its broadly socio-political dynamics. Furthermore, it demonstrates how, during the displacement period after the 1967 War or following the stadium’s demolition, supporters recalled and reactivated the stadium memories to restore endangered senses of belonging.