"We are all Hersh": Grief, solidarity, and identity in a football fan community

This study examines how a sports fan community reconfigured its identity in response to collective trauma. Focusing on Hapoel Jerusalem fan community, and Brigade Malcha (in Hebrew"בריגדה מלחה”) the organized supporters of Hapoel Jerusalem Football Club, the research investigates the transformation triggered by the kidnapping and murder of fan Hersh Goldberg-Polin during the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks. Drawing on brand community theory and cultural trauma scholarship, the study asks how grief functions not only as a disruption but as a generative axis of moral and symbolic realignment. Using a qualitative case study approach, the research analyzes visual and textual materials including social media posts, protest artifacts, tifos, and fan apparel-produced between October 2023 and April 2025. The findings reveal four thematic stages: from emotional belonging and moral abstention, through ritual innovation and transnational solidarity, to legacy inscription. These show how grief reshaped fan rituals, redefined loyalty, and embedded mourning into the collective memory and visual identity of the club. The study contributes to sport sociology by extending theories of brand community and affective publics. It introduces the concept of a grief-oriented identity collective and highlights how supporter groups may act as moral publics, capable of symbolically processing trauma and generating civic meaning through sport.