Pogrješno je razmišljanje da je nogomet samo tjelesno kretanje, grubo natjeravanje suparnika, jer je on često više od igre. Nogomet je suvremeni socijalni fenomen i stanje u nogometu često je pokazatelj stanja u društvu i politici. Na hrvatskim i općenito južnoslavenskim prostorima nogomet je od samoga početka bio najpopularniji sport i privlačio je najveći broj gledatelja te izazivao veliko zanimanje javnosti. Nogomet nikada nije samo nogomet, uvijek je politiziran i kroz njega se zrcale odnosi u društvu uopće te je na neki način rendgen svega onoga što se u društvu događa. U članku je prikazano kako je nogomet u Kraljevini SHS-u/Jugoslaviji i u socijalističkoj Jugoslaviji bio sredstvo za izražavanje hrvatskoga etničkoga i nacionalnoga identiteta uslijed političkih sporova i podjela.; It is a mistake to think that football is just a physical movement, a rough coercion of an opponent, because it is often more than a game. Football is a contemporary social phenomenon, and the state of football is often an indicator of the state of society and politics. In the Croatian and generally South Slavic areas, football was the most popular sport from the very beginning, and it attracted the largest number of spectators and aroused great public interest. Football is never just football, it is always politicized and it reflects relations in society in general, and in a way it is an X-ray of everything that is going on in society. The article shows how football in the Kingdom of Serbs Croats and Slovenes / Yugoslavia and in socialist Yugoslavia was a means of expressing Croatian ethnical and national identity due to political disputes and divisions.