This article reviews the use of minute’s silences and applause at football (soccer) games in the United Kingdom, considering why acts of remembrance take place and for whom. Examining the variation in commemoration, the article explores the extent to which these acts serve as liminal events to reinforce or diminish football fans’ sense of (“fictive”) kinship and cohesion. Uncertainty about how to conduct them, and their purpose, is complicated by the way in which they are now used for a wide variety of people, regardless of their affiliation to a club, alongside their organization and spontaneity.
