Identidad regional y fútbol: Los aficionados al Santos Laguna

Regional identity exists when at least a significant portion of the inhabitants of a region has succeeded the incorporation to its cultural system, of the symbols, values and deepest aspirations of their region. In the case of the Comarca Lagunera, a symbol of identity is actually the soccer team Santos Laguna. This paper presents the results of a research developed around the football team of Santos Laguna, which analyzes the representations, practices and forms of social organization of their fans, in line with the overall objective of the project " Identities, practices and representations of football fans in Mexico: a multiregional analysis�. In terms of methodology, it is a qualitative study which includes the application of various techniques. In the results shown in this paper, only the findings of interviews with different groups of fans are presented. Nowadays, football has become a sports show. At the level of significance goes beyond sporting competition to become a media of construction and expression of collective identities. Soccer games are a space where rituals take place, which express codes, values and attitudes of those who participate in them. It should be thought not only as a sport, but also as a multiregional meanings producer field. Emerged in 1983 as a team from the Second Division B, and participating in the First Division since 1988, Santos Laguna has managed to locate itself as one of the most important teams in northern Mexico, along with the Rayados and Tigres of Monterrey city. While consolidating as a team, around Santos has grown an important group of fans, which is relevant to study because supporting a particular team represents a "sociocultural mark."