Without the proper all-around skills, no soccer player can reach his or her potential, and without skilled players, no team can play on the championship level. Players and coaches, then, need more than just a routine collection of offensive drills to be successful. In addition to goal scoring, players need instruction in ball or field control, perhaps the most important skill that needs to be mastered. This handbook is designed to help the soccer coach, amateur or expert, to instruct players in, first, the most elementary skills, building up to the drills for sophisticated "plays" common in higher levels of game play. This book illustrates the exact method for teaching each individual skill, showing correct body positions and the various progressive stages of each drill.

The game of football has undergone massive changes in the past few decades. The creation of the F.A. Premier League, the influx of television revenue, the commercialization of the game, and the growth in the numbers of foreign players have all left their mark. One area that has attracted increasing interest in the media and amongst the pages of football magazines is the issue of race and racism in football. But until now, the complexities of the situation have often been neglected in the midst of moral activism. Why has football become such an important arena for the expression of racist and xenophobic attitudes? How are racial and ethnic identities constructed and re-constructed in everyday social interactions and ritual gatherings? This highly readable and accessible book provides the first systematic and empirically grounded account of the role of race, nation and identity within contemporary football cultures. Focused around the four clubs on which the authors did their research, the book shows how different clubs understand and experience race in different ways. Looking at football at a national level, the authors trace the history of racism and its impact on the contemporary game. The emphasis throughout is on the changing role of racial and ethnic identity in football over the years. This book draws on research conducted at the height of campaigning activity within the game, as well as on contemporary scholarship about racism and sport. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in football, sport, race and ethnic studies.

Football has emerged as an important symbolic field through which various social, cultural, political, economic, and historical dimensions and antagonisms are negotiated. This volume covers a variety of themes illuminating the multiple ways that football impacts on people's everyday lives. Using anthropological research methods and data collected from ethnographic fieldwork, the contributors scrutinize not only the social fields of football fans and the specific socio-cultural contexts in which they are embedded, but also other actors beyond the pitch, and the possibilities for both agency and subversion. Taking into account processes of Europeanization, globalization, commercialization and migration, the collection offers fresh insights into fan identity formations and practices and highlights the importance of anthropology's self-reflexive and actor-centred perspective.

In the past few decades, Spanish football has undergone a significant transformation, both on and off the pitch. Llopis-Goig analyses these trends, questioning the role of football in contemporary Spanish society and examining the historical reasons for its social hegemony.

Focusing on a number of contemporary research themes and placing them within the context of palpable changes that have occurred within football in recent years, this timely collection brings together essays about football, crime and fan behaviour from leading experts in the fields of criminology, law, sociology, psychology and cultural studies.

This book explores how recent football fiction has negotiated the decisive political developments in English football after the 1989/90 publication of the 'Taylor Report'. A direct response to the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster and growing concerns of hooliganism, the 'Taylor Report' suggested a number of measures for stricter regulation of fan crowds. In consequence, stadiums in the top divisions were turned into all-seated venues and were put under CCTV surveillance. The implementation of these measures reduced violent incidents drastically, but it also led to an unparalleled increase in ticket prices, which in turn significantly altered the demographics of the crowd. This development, which also enabled football's entry into other mainstream cultural forms, changed the game decisively. Piskurek traces patterns across prose and film to detect how these fictions have responded to the changed circumstances of post-Taylor football. Lending a cultural lens to these political changes, this book is pioneering in its analysis of football fiction as a whole, offering a fresh perspective to a range of scholars and students interested in cultural studies, sociology, leisure and politics.

This book demonstrates that the European Union (EU) can curtail the autonomy of FIFA and UEFA by building upon insights from the principal-agent model. The author argues that EU institutional features complicate control, but do not render the EU powerless, and that FIFA and UEFA can deploy a variety of strategies to mitigate control.

No one likes us, we don't care' is the anthem of the most notorious fans in British football. But little is known about the actual people who generated and continue to maintain this most infamous of working-class subcultures. In addition to the voices of the fans themselves, this book provides a rich and original account of the historical background, social sources, expressive culture and ritual practices of Millwallism, a far more complex, meaningful and anthropologically compelling phenomenon than the media stereotypes suggest. The author argues that Millwall functions in the popular consciousness as a powerful symbol: specific understandings of 'football hooliganism', working-class masculinity, and violent 'neo-fascism' are triggered by its use in the media and in everyday social interaction. There are, it follows, few social groups as heavily mythologized as Millwall fans. Further, the generation and maintenance of this myth has significance far beyond the club itself, and is rooted in the meanings attached to working-class identities and modernity, masculinity and the body. This book will be essential reading for anyone interested in Millwall, the issues of 'football hooliganism' or working-class masculinity, sociology, anthropology, or sports studies.Shortlisted for the Philip Abrams Memorial Book Prize 2001

The greatest football tournament on earth will take place in Africa for the first time next year, with the World Cup kicking off in Johannesburg on June 11. A GAME APART tries to explain just how miraculous that simple fact is. Based largely on what I witnessed myself as a student, footballer and sports journalist, this is an honest - but fictional - account of what it was like to play football in South Africa before democracy came rolling in with Nelson Mandela in 1993. There was trouble on the pitch, trouble on the streets, trouble on the beaches. Apartheid and trouble went hand in hand. A lot of the publicity surrounding the upcoming World Cup has been negative, with the focus on crime and corruption. My perception is very different. I believe the country has changed massively for the better in 16 short years. I've waited all that time to let my memories loose, and the World Cup seems an appropriate time to write a novel that, I hope, will help people to remember exactly what the Rainbow Nation has been through. This novel will annoy some, please others. All I ask is that the reader recognizes this is how a young Englishman might have viewed the South Africa I grew up in. A strange but beautiful country riven by cruelty and mistrust and headed for a bloody revolution... until the release of Mandela in 1990. For those who visit the country, for those who view it on a television screen, for those who read about it in the newspapers, I hope to offer some perspective. Apartheid should never be forgotten. Otherwise somebody will repeat the process. And that must never be allowed to happen.

The Number 1 football series - over 1 million copies sold! Jordan Pickford is the hero goalkeeper whose super-save won England their first ever World Cup penalty shootout, and whose will to win inspired England to battle all the way to the semi-finals. This is the story of how a young boy with a big dream became Everton's number-one keeper and England's star player at the 2018 World Cup. Ultimate Football Heroes is a series of biographies telling the life-stories of the biggest and best footballers in the world and their incredible journeys from childhood fan to super-star professional player. Written in fast-paced, action-packed style these books are perfect for all the family to collect and share.

Leeds United's Elland Road home is full of intrigue, character and formidable acoustics, yet it started life as a barren and featureless patch of land surrounded by coalfields. The Only Place For Us is the fascinating history of the stadium and its changing local environment, revealing the background stories behind Elland Road's most famous features and characters, and the astonishing events it has witnessed. Along the way there have been fires and gypsy curses mixed with cherished memories including the diamond floodlights, the West Stand facade and escapee pantomime horses. Using forensic research, insiders' insights, archive photographs and fans' memories, Jon Howe retraces a historical journey full of tragedy, nostalgia and improbable innovation, to show how Elland Road became one of Europe's most feared football grounds. Through triumph and adversity, neglect and redevelopment, Elland Road has emerged as a prominent, modern stadium that's still alive with history. This is its unique story.

France's performance in the 2002 World Cup brought back painful memories of a time when France was a weak contender in world and European football -- a time when national or club teams rarely won, and the French were renowned for having little interest in the game. Today, football plays a unique role in French society. French players and coaches are highly sought after abroad and the national team has chalked up significant recent victories, including a World Cup and European Championship. This book is the first in English to examine the extraordinary cultural, economic, and political history behind French football's development throughout the twentieth century and up to the present day. It focuses on the past twenty years and concludes with a discussion of the fallout from the World Cup 2002.Imported from Britain by the middle classes in the late nineteenth century, football entered French national consciousness between the wars. As with everywhere else in Europe, the game helped to unite communities and forge new social identities. Although the State has generously supported youth coaching, the evolution of the professional sport has been slow due to tight community control, high taxes and lack of income from paying spectators. In a bid to compete successfully in Europe, the owners of France's big city clubs are seeking to commercialize the game, despite the resistance of central and local authorities.Hare traces the gradual evolution of traditional French football values and explores the impact of new and controversial business practices. Have French football's influential club chairmen sold out to business values and television? Why has the national team been so successful when clubteams have not? How are top clubs being re-branded to catch a national and international audience of consumers? What role does the modern supporter play, and what are the links between businessmen, politics and the commercialization of the sport? What is peculiarly French about French football, and what does football tell us about France? Hare also pays specific attention to issues relating to race and racism. He looks at racist attitudes among fans, and considers how the multi-cultural and multi-racial population of France is reflected in the national football team. This book not only provides a fascinating cultural history of French football, but also an engrossing account of how national identity and community values are being transformed and reshaped in the global marketplace.

The quickest entry-point into most local cultures anywhere on earth is to be found in talking football. Historically, football is one of the great cultural institutions, and, like education and the mass media, has played a key role in shaping and cementing senses of national identity throughout the world. However, the nature of intra-nation hostility, which may be based in football or which may use the game as an arena for antagonisms, has yet to be analyzed. Football today is more global than ever before. Teams, clubs and regions increasingly establish cultural identities through rivalries and opposition. Such rivalries invariably have deep historical antecedents enforced by prejudice, myth or religious conflicts, economic inequalities, or, perhaps most profound, class and ethnic divisions.
Issues of disorder and violence are routine by-products of the game the world over, and aggression, or the threat of it, characterizes many matches both minor and major. In short, football at all levels can become a site for symbolizing and expressing a variety of tensions. This timely volume fills a gap in the current literature on sport as the most extensive and incisive collection yet published on issues relating to football around the world. It uncovers and investigates the conflicts apparent in football rivalry by gathering together a series of in-depth case studies that span the football world.

The issue of ownership within Scottish football is a rapdily changing landscape. Through a series of adventures, Paul Goodwin has found himself to be Scotland’s expert in buying and running football clubs. Filled with interesting stories, knowledge and insight this book is easily accesible to football fans and, indeed, future club owners. From exploring the history of club ownership, to the worldwide examples with examples from South America, Sweden and more, and an insight into the future of the Scottish football landscape this is a must read for not only Scottish fans but of fans of the game worldwide.

Soccer is the world's most popular sport and one of the globe's best known cultural practices. The pinnacle of the sport worldwide is the FIFA World Cup, a competition held every four years, which crowns one nation as the world champion in front of huge global television audiences: over half of the planet's population watched the 2010 FIFA World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands. From the humble origins of modern soccer in Great Britain in the 19th century, world soccer has become today a vast, commercialized global industry, with huge salaries paid to the biggest stars due to the massive amounts of revenue generated through the sale of television rights, ticket sales, and sponsorship income. The Historical Dictionary of Soccer presents a comprehensive history of the game through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, numerous appendixes that list everything from the FIFA World Player of the Year to FIFA World Cup Winners and Runners-Up to the UEFA Champions League Winners and Runners-Up, and over 400 cross-referenced dictionary entries on places, teams, terminology, and people, including Garrincha, Pele, Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, and Lionel Messi. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about soccer."

July 1966: The dreams of an Iranian political correspondent are shattered to pieces when he is informed that instead of flying to Saigon, he will have to travel to London to report on the World Cup. To him, this is an insignificant matter at a time when the world is silently burning in the flames of wars and in the coldness of the Cold War. However, to his surprise, he finds football to be a new global language. World Cup 1966, in particular, appears to be reuniting people all over the globe. In the middle of the world's unrest, World Cup 1966 is a moment of fresh air. From the early elimination of the two time champions, Brazil and Italy, to the phenomenal appearance of North Korea; from the brave Portuguese men who gave their all to stay longer in the competition to the proud Germans who made every effort to repair the broken image of their nation; from the tears of Black Pearl to the nine goals of Black Panther; and from England's disappointing draw in the opening match to their glorious victory in the Final; the story brings back all the ups and downs of World Cup 1966, set against a stark backdrop of world events that defined that tumultuous time period.

" Coach Dorrance] knows what it takes to win, and that is very rare. He makes another kind of investment in his players beyond just training: he cares about them as people. He knows what motivates certain types of players and ties it all in to team chemistry and camaraderie."

"-Mia Hamm, retired American professional soccer player and first woman inducted into the World Football Hall of Fame (2013). She trained under Anson Dorrance (1989-1993), helping the Tar Heels win four NCAA championships."

"Anson has an excellent understanding of athletes, and his theories on player development are very astute. He has had a truly remarkable career. He would be a great coach in any sport."

"-Dean Smith, retired University of North Carolina men's basketball coach (1961-1997)."Coaching legend" Smith trained several NBA players including Michael Jordan and is a Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinee (1983)."

Do you have what it takes to train champions?

"In Training Soccer Champions," leading NCAA coach Anson Dorrance shares the secrets to creating and maintaining a winning team. Dorrance explains his philosophies, provides practical lessons, and reflects on his experience, offering the invaluable perspective of one of the world's outstanding coaches.

"Training Soccer Champions" digs deep into the psychology of the female athlete and conveys the principles of coaching to benefit average and high-performing teams alike. Field strategy, motivational techniques, team dynamics, and much more are discussed in this must-have guide to coaching. With countless championship titles and numerous awards, Anson Dorrance knows what it takes to win, and now you can too.

Managing the Football World Cup explores areas often overlooked by project management and business studies researchers. Therefore considering the global impact of the Football World Cup it is time for a detailed examination of the planning, organization, management, implementation and related commercial features of this mega-sport event.

West Ham United, the object of an irrational affection that has dominated the life of journalist and writer Brian Williams, has moved from its old home to what was the Olympic Stadium in Stratford. It is not a move he welcomed. It's not just the football itself. The supporters have left behind all the match day rituals that go with the game. A pint in the Denmark Arms, a hot dog in Priory Road, an occasional trip to the wonderful Newham Bookshop. East Ham is a residential area, with all the amenities that go with it. The same cannot be said of the Olympic Park, which surrounds the new stadium. No pubs, no chippies - and certainly no mobile phone shops like the one in the Barking Road Brian regularly walked past that proudly announced it also sold baby chickens. All of this has been replaced by a soulless stadium and corporate catering, with not a baby chicken to be had for love or money. Williams charts the most momentous change in his club's history by comparing the last season at his beloved Boleyn Ground with the first at West Ham's new home. In doing so he delivers a passionate lament for a time when football was the people's game, not a cynical exercise in developing a customer base or building a marketable brand. A crie de coer that will ring true not just for battle scarred Hammers, but with fans of all clubs, great and small.