Borderland Sports and Identifications in Habsburg and Transitional Fiume/Rijeka

The aim of this paper is to discuss the role of team sports in the linguistic, political, and territorial divides of the Central European and Mediterranean port city of Fiume/Rijeka in the 20th century politica transitions it experienced from Austro-Hungary to Italy and to Yugoslavia. During all these transitions, the city and its environs went through various processes of cultural homogenisation, albeit always maintaining some component of ethnic diversity, especially in its urban structure. My intention is to see how this complex reality interplayed with team sports, and how it was reflected in the existence, image, activity, and development of local clubs. By doing so, I wish to contribute to the discussion on the role of sport as a social phenomenon and nationalising force in multi-ethnic societies and to the debate on the cultural dynamics of multi-lingual European cities and territories.