The Fans Who Make Football: PSS Sleman

PSS Sleman has become more than just a football team. They are a symbol across Indonesia.

The club’s supporters have redefined the profile of the football fan throughout the country. In a nation where sports is considered the domain of men, what is unique about PSS Sleman is that women make up the core of the club’s most passionate supporters.

Based in the Sleman neighborhood of Yogyakarta on the Island of Java, PSS Sleman is a relatively small club playing in the premier division of Indonesian football. For a club this size, their success is astonishing. But it is the passion of the supporters – the Brigata Curva Sud (BCS) fan club – that really sets them apart from the nation’s football giants. The songs and colourful displays that emanate from BCS rival that of any club elsewhere in the world.

In the first of a six-part series exploring the stories of iconic football clubs and their fiercely dedicated fans, our film follows the Slemani ultras superfans and looks at how women have challenged cultural norms and helped change the face of football fandom in Indonesia.