Association Football did no less than reshape British and indeed global society in its fast development as an organised sport over the course of the second half of the nineteenth century and leading up to the First World War. In this newly released edition of Tony Mason's essential account of the game's rise, issues such as the amateur professional divide, social class and mass spectatorship are seen as fundamental to the development of what is now a multi-trillion dollar industry. Dilwyn Porter supplements this classic text with a brand-new introduction.

'One day you'll write a book about this club. Or, more to the point, about me. So you may as well know what I'm thinking and save it up for later when it won't do any harm to anyone.' Brian Clough's twenty years as Nottingham Forest manager were an unpredictable mixture of success, failure, fall-outs and alcoholism. Duncan Hamilton, initiated as a young journalist into the Brian Clough empire, was there to see it all. In this strikingly intimate biography - William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2007 - Hamilton paints a vivid portrait of one of football's greatest managers: from Nottingham Forest's double European Cup triumph to the torturous breakdown of relations at the club and Clough's descent into alcoholism. Sad, joyous and personal, Hamilton's account of life with Brian Clough is a touching tribute to a brilliant man.

Most sociological work on football fandom has focused on the experience of men, and it usually talks about alcohol, fighting and general hooliganism. This book shows that there are some unique facets of female experience and fascinating negotiations of identity within the male-dominated world of men's professional football.

Step back in time to the thrilling year of 1912, where rugby forged its indomitable spirit, and a legendary team emerged to win all five of the international matches they played. "The Forgotten Springboks" takes you on a voyage with this iconic South African national rugby team, as they embark on an extraordinary tour of England, France, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Led by Billy Millar, the tour captain, the Springboks embarked on a quest that would forever change the course of rugby's narrative. As they set foot on foreign soil, they were met with a mix of curiosity and skepticism, but these determined men were ready to showcase the strength of their spirit and the finesse of their game. Yet this remained unrecorded, until now.

The book delves into the heart-stopping moments on the field, where every try, every scrum, and every tackle took the spectators' breath away. With unparalleled unity and skill, the Springboks defeated their opponents, carving a path of triumph wherever they went. Each match was a test of their mettle, and each victory became a testament to their unwavering determination.

Beyond the rugby pitches, the book offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of these remarkable individuals who went on to become soldiers, farmers, miners, and doctors who faced major adversity.

Most sports fans know that Ted Williams ended his major league career with style, swatting a home run in his final at bat. But what about Babe Ruth? Ty Cobb? Joe DiMaggio? Willie Mays? How did some of baseball's greatest players bow out of The Game? Last Time Out answers that question as it examines how the greatest players in baseball history left the game they once ruled. The stories of these men and how they finished their careers, never collected anywhere before now, show another side of the men whose achievements on the field made them legends. After hours and hours of research, through biographies, microfilm, magazines, and memories, award-winning sportswriter John Nogowski culled the stories of the final games of 25 of The Game's greatest athletes-Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Dizzy Dean, Satchel Paige, Carlton Fisk, Bob Feller, Joe Morgan, and Carl Yastrzemski are among those featured. This impressive work recounts the circumstances surrounding these final games and puts you in a box seat to witness and sense the moment as these glorious careers ceased, most often with little fanfare. Whether it be Shoeless Joe Jackson, Lou Gehrig, Pete Rose, or Cal Ripken, Jr., Last Time Out beautifully captures in words and photographs the essence of these players' last time in uniform and celebrates the magic of the game these famed players mastered and loved.

This book combines pieces of work on Europe and Latin America, the two continents where football arouses the most ardent passions among its spectators. Curiously, an undertaking to compare on a large scale the forms extreme fandom takes in these two geographical areas is still lacking. A situational analysis of the scientific literature devoted to the subject over the last two or three decades represents a step in this direction, making a scattered store of knowledge accessible. It thus answers a need to clarify regional differences in identities and in the practices of supporters.

Showcasing some of the most important current research in football studies, this book demonstrates the value of social theory and sociology in helping us to better understand the world's favourite sport. This book sheds critical new light on key issues in contemporary football, with each chapter using a different theoretical lens, drawing on the work of key thinkers from Elias and Foucault to Hall and Maffesoli. It explores issues and topics central to the study of modern football, including homophobia, feminist-informed coaching practice, the racialised experiences of black professional footballers, the concussion crisis and the role of identity in online football communities. It also looks ahead at the issues that are likely to define the research agenda in football studies in years to come. This is fascinating reading for any student or researcher with an interest in football, the sociology of sport, social theory or social issues in wider society.

England, summer 1975. The Australian cricket team, visiting for an Ashes series, fields players who will become legends of the game: Ian Chappell, Rodney Marsh, Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson. But cricket is about to undergo a revolution, and the Establishment about to get hit for six. This book is the story of World Series Cricket and the Australian media mogul Kerry Packer.

Major sporting events hosted by Germany have historically been highly charged and culturally significant occasions. 2006 sees the Football World Cup return to Germany, where much has changed since the previous Finals there in 1974. This collection, edited by an internationally regarded sports sociologist and German Studies scholar, examines the history and significance of football in German culture and society. Includes discussion of: The cultural history of football since its popular German origins during WWI The effects of Unification, European integration and immigration in contemporary Germany The German football economy Women in German football and society Germany's role in the politics of global sports institutions Media coverage and perceptions of German identity and Germany's relationship with traditional 'enemies' Media representations of football and changing fan cultures Pyta Wolfram University of Stuttgart, Germany Pfister Gertrud University of Copenhagen, Denmark Merkel Udo University of Brighton, UK Gebauer Gunter Free University, Berlin, Germany Br

It is not easy. Having a dream, having talent and being faced with a world that wants you to have neither – it is not easy.

This is not an easy story. This is a book about difficult odds, about cruelty, about broken families and addiction. This is also a story about hope. This is a tale of bravery and the undefeatability of the spirit of South African women. This is a story about football, but it is a story about so much more. This is a tale about the fearless women who carry the sport on their back, told through the eyes of the best player on the African continent.

This is the story of a little girl who rose out of the tough streets of Mohlakeng and went on to become a champion of the world.

Lost Histories of Indian Cricket studies the personalities and controversies that have shaped Indian cricket over the years and brings to life the intensity surrounding India's national game.
It may be true that that cricket today arouses more passions in India than in any other cricket playing country in the world. Yet, when it comes to writing on the history of the game, Indians have been reticent and much of the past has been obscured and lost. Majumdar here recovers this history and restores it to its rightful place in India's rich sporting heritage.

The Little Book of Man City is bursting with wit and wisdom of the great characters associated with the club. From managers, such as Malcolm Allison, Kevin Keegan, Roberto Mancini and Pep Guardiola, via garrulous fans such as Radio 1's Mark and Lard and the Gallagher brothers to voluble players such as Francis Lee, Dennis Tueart, Rodney Marsh, Kun Aguero and Vincent Kompany, here are more than 165 funny and biting quotes for the avid fan of 'the only club in Manchester'. As their chaplain once said, 'Imagine where City would be if I hadn't been praying for them all these years'.

This is the ultimate guide for any football fan who wants to know everything about the "beautiful game" - from World Cup winners to football skills and techniques. Whether you are a keen player, a lifelong supporter, or an armchair football manager, this book illustrates every aspect of the most popular sport in the world. The Football Book reveals the story behind the game - from the history of the sport to the results of the Qatar 2022 Men's World Cup, and the build-up to the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Bold step-by-step artworks and jargon-free text profile the roles of players, equipment, team formations, strategies, and individual skills, while maps, quotes, and statistics give you all of the key facts on national teams, famous club sides, and iconic players, as well as the greatest competitions around the world.

As France's oldest team sport, rugby football has throughout its 125-year history reflected major changes in French society. This book analyzes for the first time the complex variety of motives that have led the French to adopt and remake this rather unlikely British sport in their own image. A major site for the construction of masculine, class-based regional and national identities, France's tradition of 'Champagne rugby' continues to be as subject to dramatic upheavals as the society that produced it. The game's precocious professionalism and endemic violence have not infrequently caused the French to be cast as international pariahs. Such isolation, exacerbated by internal politics, has led the French not only to encourage the extension of the sport beyond its British imperial base (into Italy and Romania, for instance), but also to engage in some uncomfortable tactical alliances, most obviously with apartheid South Africa.Taking his analysis both on and off the field, the author tackles these issues and much more: the relationship of sport and the state (including particularly the Vichy period and the period under de Gaulle); professionalization; the persistence of colonial and postcolonial structures (including the role of ethnic minorities); and gender issues - especially masculine identities. At the same time he links the evolution of the sport to the broader context of French socio-economic, political and cultural history.This book will be essential reading for anyone interested in the cultural analysis of sport or French popular culture.

If there is anything close to a universal game, it is association football, also known as soccer, football, fussball, fútbol, fitba, and futebol. The game has now moved from the physical to the digital - EA’s football simulation series FIFA - with profound impacts on the multibillion sports and digital game industries, their cultures and players. Throughout its development history, EA’s FIFA has managed to adapt to and adopt almost all video game industry trends, becoming an assemblage of game types and technologies that is in itself a multi-faceted probe of the medium’s culture, history, and technology. EA Sports FIFA: Feeling the Game is the first scholarly book to address the importance of EA’s FIFA. From looking at the cultures of fandom to analyzing the technical elements of the sports simulation, and covering the complicated relations that EA’s FIFA has with gender, embodiment, and masculinity, this collection provides a comprehensive understanding of a video game series that is changing the way the most popular sport in the world is experienced. In doing so, the book serves as a reference text for scholars in many disciplines, including game studies, sociology of sports, history of games, and sports research.

Test your football knowledge with over 300 funny and fascinating questions about the beautiful game. How much do you know about football - and the world? Test yourself and your friends with over 300 brain-busting questions from Football School. Discover questions on star strikers, crafty coaches, momentous matches and much, much more. Packed with hilarious cartoons and fascinating trivia, this spin-off from the bestselling series is the perfect way for fans to learn more about the beautiful game.

Learn the value of football to American society No sport reflects the American value system like football. Visitors to the United States need only watch a game or two to learn all they need to know about the American way of life and the beliefs, attitudes, and concerns of American society. Football and American Identity examines the social conditions and cultural implications found in the football subculture, represented by core values such as competition, conflict, diversity, power, economic success, fair play, liberty, and patriotism. This unique book goes beyond the standard fare on football strategy and history, or the biographies of famous players and coaches, to analyze the reasons why the game is the essence of the American spirit. Author Gerhard Falk, Professor of Sociology at the State University College of New York at Buffalo, examines football as a game, as a business, and as a reflection of the diversity in American life. Football and American Identity also addresses the relationship between football and the media, with much of the game's income generated by advertising and endorsements, and examines the presence of crime in football culture. The book discusses the development of the gameand those involved in itat the Pop Warner, college, and professional levels, examining the social origin of players, coaches, cheerleaders, and owners. In addition, Football and American Identity analyzes the game's fans and their devotion to their teams, examines why Pennsylvania is considered the mother of American football, and looks at the National Football League and its commissioners. Football and American Identity examines: how individualism and achievement can lead to mythological status why a person's occupation is the most important indicator of prestige in the United States what the consequences are of earning more in a year than most Americans make in a lifetime why equality is vital to the ethnic make-up of American football teams why teamwork is important-in football and in industry how freedom is essential for taking the risks necessary for success and much more! Football and American Identity is an inside look at football as an American cultural phenomenon. Devoted and casual fans of the game, as well as academics working in sociology, will find this unique book interesting, entertaining, and thought-provoking.

Learn the value of football to American society No sport reflects the American value system like football. Visitors to the United States need only watch a game or two to learn all they need to know about the American way of life and the beliefs, attitudes, and concerns of American society. Football and American Identity examines the social conditions and cultural implications found in the football subculture, represented by core values such as competition, conflict, diversity, power, economic success, fair play, liberty, and patriotism. This unique book goes beyond the standard fare on football strategy and history, or the biographies of famous players and coaches, to analyze the reasons why the game is the essence of the American spirit. Author Gerhard Falk, Professor of Sociology at the State University College of New York at Buffalo, examines football as a game, as a business, and as a reflection of the diversity in American life. Football and American Identity also addresses the relationship between football and the media, with much of the game's income generated by advertising and endorsements, and examines the presence of crime in football culture. The book discusses the development of the gameand those involved in itat the Pop Warner, college, and professional levels, examining the social origin of players, coaches, cheerleaders, and owners. In addition, Football and American Identity analyzes the game's fans and their devotion to their teams, examines why Pennsylvania is considered the mother of American football, and looks at the National Football League and its commissioners. Football and American Identity examines: how individualism and achievement can lead to mythological status why a person's occupation is the most important indicator of prestige in the United States what the consequences are of earning more in a year than most Americans make in a lifetime why equality is vital to the ethnic make-up of American football teams why teamwork is important-in football and in industry how freedom is essential for taking the risks necessary for success and much more! Football and American Identity is an inside look at football as an American cultural phenomenon. Devoted and casual fans of the game, as well as academics working in sociology, will find this unique book interesting, entertaining, and thought-provoking.

Four years after the crowning glory of 1966 and a decade after the abolition of the maximum wage, a brash new era dawned in English football. As the 1970s took hold, a new generation of larger-than-life footballers and managers came to dominate the sport, appearing on television sets in vivid technicolour for the first time. Set against a backdrop of three-day weeks, strikes, political unrest, freezing winters and glam rock, Get It On tells the intriguing inside story of how commercialism, innovation, racism and hooliganism rocked the national game in the 1970s. Charting the emergence of Brian Clough, Bob Paisley and Kevin Keegan, and the fall of George Best, Alf Ramsey and Don Revie, this fascinating footballing fiesta traces the highs and lows of an evolutionary and revolutionary era for the beautiful game. 'You always know you're going to get a fascinating read from Spurling. But this is his most vivid book yet - sheer joy! For us old geezers, it's like being miraculously transported back to the 1970s. And, for younger readers, I can promise you quite an education.' - Patrick Barclay

This is the first book to introduce key themes in the study of women's rugby from multi-disciplinary perspectives, including history, sociology, gender studies, sport development and sport science. Featuring contributions from leading researchers and former international players from across Canada, England, France, New Zealand and the USA, the book opens with a global history of women's rugby, locating the game in the wider context of the development of women's sport and exploring important social issues such as race, gender and violence. The book then looks at training and performance analysis at pitch level, helping the reader get a sense of the game from the ground up, before focusing on women's rugby through the eyes of others (such as rugby coaches), women's experiences of rugby's culture and promotional culture. This is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in women's sport, rugby, sport and social issues, sport development, or sport history.