capital, trust, norms, networks, reciprocity, mutual support,
supporter identity, cohesion, and material and symbolic solidarity
practices (Barreto & Gómez 2025; Páramo, 2008).
Complementarily, participant, and non-participant observation was
conducted in different spaces of interaction typical of the supporters'
group, such as organizational meetings, travel to matches,
community activities, or moments of football-related ritual.
Observation contributed to recording non-verbal dynamics and
bodily practices that interviews might not capture completely, such
as gestures of care, spontaneously assumed roles, forms of group
organization, and micro-interactions that reveal patterns of
solidarity and cohesion (Van Dijk, 2015). The observations were
recorded in a detailed field diary, which included descriptions,
relevant dialogues, and initial analytical interpretations, allowing for
the construction of rich and contextualized material that
complements the interview corpus (Camacho et al., 2023).
Likewise, a documentary analysis of materials produced by the
supporters' group itself was conducted, such as social media
publications, communiqués, internal regulations, songs, chants, and
graphic pieces. These documents helped identify collective
discourses on solidarity, unity, loyalty, reciprocity, and belonging, as
well as an understand how mutual support practices are legitimized
and transmitted within the supporters' culture. The triangulation of
interviews, observations and documentary sources strengthened the
analytical rigor of the study by contrasting participants' accounts,
observed practices and the symbolic representations communicated
by the supporters' group (Gómez, 2024c; Castro et al., 2017).
The analysis of the information involved a thematic coding process
that combined predefined categories, such as social capital, trust,
networks, mutual support, norms, reciprocity, and solidarity
economy, with emergent categories that arose directly from the data
and reflected the language, experiences, and interpretations of the
supporters. The first step involved the complete transcription of the
interviews and the systematization of the field diaries and
documents. Subsequently, successive readings were conducted to
identify recurrent themes and patterns of meaning (Devi Prasad,