This article presents the results of a study on the historical development of nationalist discourse in Polish football stands. Its main objectives are: (a) to reveal the processes shaping the ultras’ nationalist discourse; and (b) to explain how it has been institutionalised and reproduced. Drawing on the post-foundational discourse analysis, the study conceptualises nationalist discourse as a set of structurally arranged practices of articulation which create a meaning of nation. In order to reconstruct the development of ultras’ nationalist discourse the study uses content analysis of nation-related ultras’ displays from 2002 to 2018 recaptured from the TMK (To My Kibice, We, the fans) fanzine created by supporters and dedicated to football fan culture in Poland. The analysis identifies a sequence of four different forms of ultras’ nationalist discourse in the period under consideration and shows that they have been shaped by a contingency logic; that is, by rules stemming from the existing practices of articulation, rather than by the logic of ideological cohesion.
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