Although the bad days are incredibly hard to take at the time, the pain of them dies through time; we surely can't be alone in looking back and smiling at some of them. As a club firmly established in what the legendary Bob Crampsey described as the 'middle order' of Scottish football, it's unlikely the Pars will ever win the league or get very far in Europe. We might as well embrace what we have for what it is, and celebrate that ridiculous collection of memories our love of football has given us. Many people who don't like football sneer at those of us who do - let them sneer. Standing in an enclosure at Elgin, under a rickety corrugated iron roof while the rain hammers down on a grim November Scottish Cup Saturday with the side from the higher division away from home - if someone doesn't understand why that can be the most romantic thing in the world, they probably aren't worth listening to.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Football has undergone a period of transformation over the last thirty years. Despite these global processes, different national leagues have adapted in different ways. After an initial period of success directly after Italia '90, Italian football has gone through a period of sustained crisis. It has been blighted by financial mismanagement, corruption scandals and fan violence. This has impacted Italy's ability to compete on a global stage. Football Italia accounts for the development of Italian football in relation to the wider global transformations impacting football and addresses the reasons for Serie A's initial success and current malaise. Theoretically, this book locates Italian football within the wider power network of the state and how this has impacted political engagement. After an historical overview of the Italian political economy, Football Italia highlights how football is part of the wider political network. Football clubs are owned by powerful businessmen (and they are all men) who are also politicians. This centralisation of power within a small hegemonic group inhibits change. Within this broader structure, wider corruption scandals continue; from regular match-fixing scandals to doping. Meanwhile, stadiums are crumbling and police over-aggressive. It is within this context that we must place the fans. Both the ultras and supporters who attend official supporters' clubs are disaffected and without the power to change the status quo. Consequently, Italian football has been in decline throughout the 21st century.

'I loved every page, and ended up admiring David Kynaston, our greatest social historian, even more than I already did' Nick Hornby Brimming with wisdom and humour, David Kynaston's diaries written over one football season offer up his most personal take on social history to date. David Kynaston was seven and a half years old when he attended his first Aldershot match in the early months of 1959. So began a deep attachment to the game and a lifelong loyalty to an obscure, small-town football club. Though as he sits down to write his diaries almost sixty years on, he reflects that life might have been simpler if his father had never taken him to that first match at the Rec... Shots in the Dark is the diary David Kynaston kept in the football season of 2016/17, detailing the ups and downs of the 'Shots' in the year that saw a divisive referendum in the UK and the impending ascension of Donald Trump. Here Kynaston presents a social history of modern Britain with a difference - all through the prism of the beautiful game. A testament to the ways in which fandom gives solidity and security to our lives, particularly in these bewildering and rapidly changing times, Shots in the Dark gets to the heart of what it means to be a devoted follower of a sports team. This is a diary of the macro and the micro, as questions of loyalty, of identity, of liberalism and of nationalism all rub uncomfortably up against each other during nine charged months. ____________________ 'A master socioeconomic craftsman' Guardian '[A] delightful book ... This is a book about football but, like all the best books, it is about a thousand other things as well ... This thrilling, intimate, sometimes poignant, often wonderfully funny book shows the workings in real time of a deeply civilised, humane and tolerant mind in an age when those virtues are in short supply. Here is a man with whom you would want to go to a match, and even share a beer afterwards. David Kynaston is one of the good guys, and this is one of the very good books' Daily Mail 'A charming diary ... He's the sort of fan I want to sit next to: partisan yet civil, eyes on the match but aware there are bigger things to worry about' Financial Times

This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of the different environmental strategies adopted in the football world to foster sustainability. The authors lay out useful insights, both for scholars and practitioners, to improve good governance in football organisations by empowering environmental organisational and operational actions. As well as examining practical methods of implementing green initiatives, the book discusses their added value from different perspectives including football fans, football managers and policymakers. By identifying the most important green actions for the dissemination of environmentally friendly behaviours at both individual and organisational levels, the book demonstrates how football organisations can use operational and organisational methods to develop an environmental sustainability strategy. The book contributes to developing the role of the football world by covering different facets of sustainability such as the circular economy, climate change, green marketing, fans engagement and more. It will be a valuable resource for scholars and students of environmental management, sustainable business and corporate social responsibility, as well as professionals working in the football industry.

The "Premiership in Focus" celebrates 15 years that have changed the face of football. When "Football Focus" began life on BBC1 in 1968 as "Football Preview", football in England was about old wooden terraces, grounds that were ankle deep in mud or covered in snow and a Bovril at half time. In 1992 came the Premier League and the sport changed forever. The Premier League was established as one of the most exciting, cosmopolitan and widely watched national sporting leagues in the world and fans are now able to watch hundreds of Premiership matches live as football has seemingly taken over much of national life. Why has this happened? How has it affected the clubs, fans, players and managers? How long can it be sustained? This book aims to examine these questions as well as celebrate 15 amazing years of football. It will look back at the great moments, outstanding matches, stunning goals, incredible saves, controversial decisions and the sheer excitement that has been the Premiership.

Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Football Book of the Year 2022 'A forensic insight into how our football academies operate. Every angle covered by a splendid author' - Daniel Taylor, The Athletic With unparalleled behind-the-scenes access to academies at all levels of English football, The Dream Factory: Inside the Make-or-Break World of Football's Academies is a journey deep into the heart of youth football, revealing in gripping detail how home-grown Premier League stars such as Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold are created, and at what cost. The Dream Factory introduces a rich array of characters - players, coaches, directors - behind talent production lines at several Premier League clubs, including Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City, zooming in on the stories of Alexander-Arnold's unique development, how Rashford's sense of social responsibility was nurtured, and how Phil Foden has become a beacon to City's young hopefuls.

'Folklore and Fables' is a collection of articles on his beloved Blades, by Sheffield United supporters' liaison officer, club historian and 'encyclopedia of Blades knowledge', John Garrett. A lifelong Blade, whose grandfather first watched the Blades in 1892, John has worked at Bramall Lane for over two decades and began writing his popular, and award-winning, 'Folklore and Fables' feature for United's matchday programme almost 10 years ago. This book is a compilation of his best work, giving his inimitable take on life at Bramall Lane - featuring his family history, music, holidays abroad, club legends and, rather occasionally, football...

Scratch Off 92 Football Grounds Print is the perfect gift for football lovers. Visit the football grounds, scratch off the map. The Scratch Off 92 Football Grounds Print is part of our Collect and Scratch collection and shows all 92 Football Stadiums required to complete the stadium hopping challenge. Scratch off the stadiums you have visited. Once scratched you can look at the stadiums you are yet to visit, and book your trip! Each Stadium is located by a football icon and you can scratch off the label and football kit, revealing the team colours.

As football clubs have become luxury investments, their decisions increasingly mirror those of any other business organisation. Football supporters have been encouraged to express their club loyalty by thinking business - acting as consumers and generating money deemed necessary for their clubs to compete at the highest levels. In critical studies, supporters have been portrayed as passive or reluctant consumers who, imprisoned by enduring club loyalties, embody a fatalistic attitude to their own exploitation. As this book aims to show, however, such expressions of loyalty are far from hegemonic and often interface haphazardly with traditional ideas about what constitutes the loyal fan . While there is little doubt that professional football is experiencing commodification, the reality is that football clubs are not simply businesses, nor can they ever aspire to be organisations driven solely by expanding or protecting economic value. Rather, clubs hover uncertainly between being businesses and community assets."

Football Supporters and the Commercialisation of Football" explores the implications of this uncertainty for understanding supporter resistance to, and compromise with, commodification. Every club and its supporters exist in their own unique national and local contexts. In this respect, this book offers a Euro-wide comparison of supporter reactions to commercialisation and provides unique insight into how football supporters actively mediate regional, local and national contexts, as they intersect with the universalistic presumptions of commerce.

This book was previously published as a special issue of "Soccer and Society."

Now in a fully revised and updated fourth edition, Science and Soccer is still the most comprehensive and accessible introduction to the physiology, biomechanics and psychology behind the world's most popular sport. Offering important guidance on how science translates into practice, the book examines every key facet of the sport, with a particular focus on the development of expert performers. The topics covered include: • anatomy, physiology, psychology; sociology and biomechanics; • principles of training; • nutrition; • physical and mental preparation; • playing surfaces and equipment; injury • decision-making and skill acquisition; • coaching and coach education; • performance analysis; • talent identification and youth development. Science and Soccer: Developing Elite Performers is a unique resource for students and academics working in sports science. It is essential reading for all professional support staff working in the game, including coaches at all levels, physiotherapists, conditioning specialists, performance analysts, club doctors and sport psychologists.

LONGLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2022 'Anyone wanting an example of never being beaten should look at the incredible Francis Benali.' - Alan Shearer 'Honest, revealing story of a strong man who pushed his body to its limits and beyond on and off the pitch. Incredible read.' - Henry Winter, The Times 'The iron man with a will of steel and a heart of gold. Truly fran-tastic!' - Jeff Stelling, Soccer Saturday ------- Francis Benali is a Southampton Football Club legend and a celebrated charity endurance athlete, and he's ready to tell his story. Francis 'Franny' Benali played football for 20 years for Southampton FC in nearly 400 games, almost his entire career. His utter dedication to the club caused him to be a hero to Saints fans around the world. Written with the acclaimed Daily Mail sportswriter Matt Barlow, this book details Benali's humble beginnings and has countless tales involving players, managers, and matches detailing Benali's illustrious football career. But his story is much more than that. The intense commitment he had as a player found a new outlet in the world of endurance sport. Through Ironman triathlons and marathons, he has raised more than GBP1 million for Cancer Research UK. Benali's story shows us what can be achieved through dedication and commitment on and off the pitch. Through football and charity, he has made a positive difference in countless people's lives. His is truly an inspirational story.

First published in 1988, this book contains edited and revised papers presented at the first World Congress of Science and Football. Held under the auspices of the International Council of Sport, Science, and Physical Education, the Congress was a unique gathering of international scientists researching into football and practitioners professionally involved in the many football codes. American football, soccer, rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules, Gaelic football and national variations of these games are all covered in depth, in both amateur and professional systems. Nutrition, biomechanics, equipment, physiology, sociology, psychology, coaching, management, training, tactics, strategy are among the main subject areas the contributors cover. With over 22 countries represented and with players, managers and coaches involved as well as academics the book represents a truly international, comprehensive and practical picture of contemporary football.

This book examines the complex ways in which girls and women experience football cultures in Britain. It extends current debate surrounding women and football (namely, how gender has functioned to shape women 's experiences of playing the game), by focusing on organisational, administrative and coaching practices, alongside the particular issues surrounding sexuality, ethnicity and disability (not only gender).

The book analyses football and gender to reveal the subtle forms of discrimination that persist. It is important to highlight the many challenges and transformations made by girls and women but more importantly to consider the ways power continues to operate to devalue and undermine girls and women involved in the game. The UK-based authors make use of their recent research findings to offer critical debate on girls and women 's current experiences of British football cultures. Overall the book reveals the present day complexities of marginalisation and exclusion.

This book was published as a special issue of Sport and Society.

Over the past decade, European football has seen tremendous changes impacting upon its international framework as well as local traditions and national institutions. Processes of Europeanization in the fields of economy and politics provided the background for transformations of the production and consumption of football on a transnational scale. In the course of such rearrangements, football tournaments like the UEFA Championship or the European Champions League turned into mega-events and media spectacles attracting ever-growing audiences. The experience of participating in these events offers some of the very few occasions for the display and embodiment of identities within a European context. This volume takes the 2008 EUROs hosted by Austria and Switzerland as a case study to analyze the political and cultural significance of the tournament from a multidisciplinary angle. What are the special features and spatial arrangements of a UEFAesque Europe, in comparison to alternative possibilities of a Europe? Situating the sport tournament between interpretations of collective European ritual and European spectacle, the key research question will ask what kind of Europe was represented in the cultural, political and economic manifestations of the 2008 EUROs. This book was published as a special issue of Soccer and Society.

It is a fact that disproportionately few black football players have ever been employed as managers or coaches, despite their prominent presence on the field. How big a role does racism play in contributing to this depressing statistic? 'Play the White Man' is the metaphor King uses to explain how race, racism and inequality operate. He looks at the pressures placed on black players to adopt a culture dominated by white men in sport - in other words, 'to act white' in order to be accepted. He focuses on how racism functions when black players make the transition from the playing field to coaching, management and administration, and are forced to perform within the standards and systems set by white men who have historically held these positions. King provides provocative insights into the world of white-dominated British sport and raises controversial questions that are important for anyone interested in the game.

The commercialization of sport since the 1990s has had a number of consequences. The market forces that have defined commercialization, notably pay-per-view television, whilst initially welcomed as important new sources of revenue, have also had the unanticipated consequences of de-stabilizing many sporting competitions and institutions, undermining the financial future of clubs in their traditional role as key social and cultural institutions. This has been manifested in the paradox of chronic financial loss-making amongst professional sports' clubs in an era of exponential revenue growth, a trend exemplified by the experience of Italy's Series A and the English Premier League - both cases examined in detail in this book. But, at the same time, some traditional sporting organizations have sought with some success, to chart a middle way, retaining traditional sporting movement objectives whilst also embracing a form of commercialism. The Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland, the supporter-owned FC Barcelona football club, and New Zealand rugby union, offer illustrative examples of such strategies examined in detail. This book explores the background to this clash of commercial and traditional sporting objectives, and debates the consequences for wider sports governance. This book was published as a special issue of Soccer and Society.

Foreword by Brendan Rodgers, Leicester City FC manager. Nutrition plays a crucial role in the match performance and recovery of the athlete. To apply the principles of sports nutrition in football, this book provides nutrition basics as well as insight into the physiological demands of the game itself by looking into what elite players eat and drink. Appropriate food choices and timing are also important for a player to perform hard, avoid illness, and recuperate from injury. This book uses the UEFA 2020 Expert Group Consensus Review on Nutrition in Elite Football to give evidence-based guidelines for optimizing football performance through appropriate nutrition and the latest comprehensive information on nutrition guidelines for professional players-also relevant to the amateur player. Included are the specific needs of female players and match officials and relevant issues such as eating during travel and food hygiene. Finally, the book provides some example meal plans and snacks for training, match, and recovery days. Meal recipes are provided by elite performance chefs, Rachel Muse and Bruno Cirillo, who regularly prepare meals for elite players. The science behind sports nutrition is evolving fast. Knowing what the top professional players are eating and drinking can help amateur players improve their own performance, recovery, and health.

An illustrated exploration of the design, meaning and symbolism of world football club crests.

Why is there a devil shown on the crest of Manchester United? Which club's crest motto is 'To Dare Is To Do'? And whose emblem depicts a bear and a strawberry tree?

From the seahorses of Newcastle United to the royal crown of Real Madrid, via the riveting hammers of West Ham United, Valencia's famous bat design and German club St Pauli's unofficial skull-and-crossbones emblem, there is a story behind every crest, a tale of identity.

Covering more than 200 clubs from 20 different leagues, World Football Club Crests explores the design, meaning and symbolism of the game's most famous club crests to reveal why the badges look as they do.

This carefully curated collection charts the continuing evolution of the designs and describes the changing styles, varied influences and remarkable controversies that have shaped football's most iconic crests. These important symbols of football heraldry will never be viewed in the same way again.

Now in paperback, this is a superbly presented collection of photographs of Manchester United from its early days until 1992, newly selected from over 10,000 images in the Daily Mirror's archive. These evocative pictures, many previously unpublished, bring to life the important events in United's history: the triumphs of the first trophies, the tragedy of the Munich disaster, the successes that followed. There are glorious images of United icons such as Edwardian superstar Billy Meredith, Sir Matt Busby and his first captain, Johnny Carey, lost 'Babes' Duncan Edwards and Tommy Taylor, and the stars of United's first European Cup-winning side -George Best, Denis Law, Bobby Charlton, Paddy Crerand and Nobby Stiles.

Endorsed by the club, written by Eagles aficionado Neil McSteen, and with a foreword by club legend Geoff Thomas, Crystal Palace On This Day chronicles, in diary form, the major events in the club's history: such as the heady days of the epic FA Cup run in 1990, masterminded by Steve Coppell and spearheaded by Ian Wright and Mark Bright; or the dramas of various promotions to the top flight of English football. With individual entries for every day, and multiple listings for more historic and busier days, the book is a dip-in, dip-out offering and includes all the club's big matches, promotions, cup runs, significant events, and sensational signings. Packed with Palace history, it is a must for all Selhurst Park goers.

The most up-to-date and in-depth book on the business of professional team sports Pro team sports are the biggest and most important sector of international sport business Strong focus on applied analysis and performance measurement, invaluable real-world skills Covers sports, teams and leagues all over the world from the EPL to the NFL Addresses key themes from ownership and competitive balance to media revenue and the role of agents