Last week Voicesinfootball took the opportunity to look at a generally unknown area of football fandom, that of the development and existance of football fan graffiti.  More specifically we looked at its development from a  perceived simple act of vandalism in and around stadia in the United Kingdom and abroad to the often majestic works of creativity that can be seen today.  In this, the second part of a three part series, we look at another aspect of football fan art, that of sticker art.

Stickering can be seen as part of street or urban art that is visable and distributed in public spaces, on the streets or on lampposts and in the case of football beside or in the locality of the stadium.   Being closely related to graffiti the term usually refers to any form of illicit art and will normally express aon them oppositon to rivals teams, rival baiting or a celebration of the home city via wording and  associated imagery.   Many stickers in Berlin appear with Haupstadt-Mafia emblazoned on them with the skyline of Berlin in the background.  Usage of iconic figures identifiable with the home city is also common place.

Like graffiti, stickering by football fans is becoming a European phenomenon and is one of the most popular areas of fan art making in the football culture world.   Developing out of the graffiti tradition of the 1980s it has now reached the mainstream thanks mainly to the accessability of self production. With the growth of everyday people of all ages having graphic design skills the ability of fans to design and implement there own ideas into artwork, without the need to externally commission images , means that stickering can change and develop without the need for massive outlay.   In Europe stickering is most popularly seen outwith the stadium in countries such as Germany and Poland.  With newer grounds in places such as the newer Bundesliga seeing the absence of the potential for wall graffiti, stickering has come about due to its less criminal motivations and ease of do-ability.

Sticker art can be called 'tagging' in which an image or message by a group of fans is publicly displayed using stickers.  Most commonly these will be placed around grounds, in motorway service stations  or in the away end on seats.   These stickers promote the fan group, comment on a policy or issue, or compromise modern stadia design via slogan or jargon.  Policing, stewarding or segregation may be criticised in its more extreme forms via use of wordage such as A.C.A.B or  the crass use  of terminology counter to modern common footballing acceptance.   The simple form of this street art allows colourfully created tags to instantly be placed anywhere accessible.  There is a much lower risk of apprehension or arrest and less damage will be inflicted to the target surface than is possible with other types of street art such as spray painted graffiti.

Many different types of stickers are used to create fan sticker art today. Inexpensively-purchased or free stickers made out of mailing labels can be produced within the home via a PC or Mac.   Sticker artists can also easily design and print thousands of stickers at low cost using a commercial printing service online or via independent freelance graphic design manufacturers.

Stickering of course has long been of great facination to football fans from the 1960s onwards chiefly through football player collections made famous through the panini brand. This fashion for packets of stickers, swapping and collecting became an object of wide interest through various eras and are nowconsidered a cultural phenomenon alongside matchday programmes or scarves.

Unlike graffiti, which often will see works created over long perods of time, sticker art more often than not appears within non-art contexts such as on lamposts or street signs.   Ideologically the reasoning behind the stickering is numerous.  There is a strong current of cultural activism and subversion but generally it is marketing of the group and its heritage that are the real motivations.  Placing a sticker on the away end at a rivals ground is seen as a success and act of achievment for the group.

More simply stickering, like the internet and homepages, is a powerful platform for reaching the public, new members and  rebelling against club security staff and stadium management. Disenfranchisement with opposing supporter groups at the club, anger over fellow fans and the club  cultural ethos in general has seen the growth of stickering.  In an age where club rules and regulations can be strict and dictorial, stickering acts as a form of fan release and alternative backlash against the enforcement of these.

Whilst practically every large city in the world and some of the larger regional towns will host some form of street art or graffiti, there are a few locations in the United Kingdom that are considered to  be forerunners of the particular mediums of football fan stickering.  Scotland has seen this trend emerge in the last five years all be it on a small scale but in England the fashion with respect to football is almost unheard of and will never occur on a massive scale.  

As mentioned Germany is a forerunner within a European context of such sticker art.  Outwith football many city locations in Germany have attracted internationally known street artists who travel to  museum locations to exhibit work.   One of the most notable locations is in Berlin where  a host of bizarre post-communist locations, cheap rent properties and ramshackle buildings have gave rise to a vibrant street art scene in areas included Mitte and Kreuzberg.  Around football stadia meanwhile the development of more modern grounds has not stopped the stickering phenomenons growth with away ends, terracing and railways stations full of stickers.  This is particularly true in Koln where the area around the stadia sees thousands of stickers on posts, street lighting and road signage.  The away end at Munich's Allianz arena also has a wide range of stickers or shapes, sizes and designs.

Next week we will look at a more accepted area of football fan art, that of flags used inside the stadium.