A million miles away from the rich uplands of the Premier League lies the Poundland world of non-league football. A far grittier version of the beautiful game, it's a glorious ragbag of former EFL clubs on the down, impoverished minnows and ambitious outfits on the make, played by a mix of full-time, part-time and amateur performers. This is the inside story of life in the lower reaches of English football, seen through the eyes of a player with over a decade's experience in the Conference and National Leagues. Footballer X lifts the lid on never-before-told stories of dust-ups, bust-ups, backhanders and betting scandals, the players lucky enough to get contracts and the rest who live precariously from game to game. It's a story of constant financial struggle, big sacrifices and small victories for owners, fans and players alike. Our footballer is still playing, so the cloak of anonymity allows him to give us a true picture of what life is really like playing as a non-league footballer today.

From the post room to the board room, everyone thinks they can be the manager. But how do you manage outrageous talent? What do you do to inspire loyalty from your players? How do you turn around a team in crisis? What's the best way to build long-term success? How can you lead calmly under pressure? The issues are the same whether you're managing a Premier League football team or a FTSE 100 company. Here, for the first time, some 30 of the biggest names in football management reveal just what it takes. With their every act, remark, and success or failure under constant scrutiny from the media and the fans, these managers need to be the most adroit of leaders. In The Manager they explain their methods, offer lessons they've learned along the way, and describe the decisions they make and the leadership they provide. Each chapter tackles a key leadership issue for managers in any walk of life and, in their own words, shows how the experts deal with the challenges they face in an abnormally high-pressure environment. Offering valuable lessons for business leaders and fascinating behind-the-scenes insights for football fans, The Manager is an honest, accessible and unprecedented look at the day-to-day work of these high-profile characters and the world of top-level football management. Featuring: Roy Hodgson, Carlo Ancelotti, Arsene Wenger, Sam Allardyce, Roberto Mancini, Jose Mourinho, Brendan Rodgers, Harry Redknapp, Sir Alex Ferguson, Walter Smith, Mick McCarthy, Gerard Houllier, Tony Pulis, Martin O'Neill, Neil Warnock, Howard Wilkinson, Kevin Keegan, Dario Gradi, Andre Villas-Boas, David Moyes, Alex McLeish, Hope Powell, Martin Jol, Glenn Hoddle, Chris Hughton, David Platt, Paul Ince, and George Graham.

'MASTERFUL' Time Out 'REVELATORY' Scotland on Sunday 'GLORIOUSLY READABLE' Metro 'FASCINATING' Independent 'EXCELLENT' Telegraph 'ABSORBING' Guardian Winner of the British Sports Book Awards Football Book of the Year The fifteenth anniversary edition, fully revised and updated, of Jonathan Wilson's modern classic. In the modern classic, Jonathan Wilson pulls apart the finer details of the world's game, tracing the global history of tactics, from modern pioneers right back to the beginning, when chaos reigned. Along the way, he looks at the lives of great players and thinkers who shaped the sport, and probes why the English, in particular, have proved themselves unwilling to grapple with the abstract. Fully revised and updated, this fifteenth-anniversary edition analyses the evolution of modern international football, including the 2022 World Cup, charting the influence of the great Spanish, German and Portuguese tacticians of the last decade, whilst pondering the effects of footballs increased globalisation and commercialisation.

Blood on the Crossbar: The Dictatorship's World Cup is the story of the most controversial football World Cup of all time. When Argentina both hosted and won the World Cup in 1978, just two years after the coup d'etat that ousted Isabel Peron, it was against the backdrop of a brutal military dictatorship in the country. Under the leadership of General Jorge Videla, up to 30,000 citizens, categorised as subversives, 'disappeared'. Dogged by allegations of bribery, coercion and an historic failed drugs test, this is the story of Argentina's maiden World Cup triumph and the controversy that simmered behind it. This isn't exclusively a tale of footballers and generals, and the risks they took to succeed. It's a story of the people: Argentinean exiles, Parisian students, brave journalists, the marching mothers of Plaza de Mayo and their missing children - and Dutch stand-up comedians who led international boycotts from thousands of miles away.

Association football is now the global sport, consumed in various ways by millions of people across the world. Throughout its history, football has been a catalyst as much for social cohesion, unity, excitement and integration as it can be for division, exclusion and discrimination. A Sociology of Football in a Global Context examines the historical, political, economic, social and cultural complexities of the game across Europe, Africa, Asia and North and South America. It analyses the key developments and sociological debates within football through a topic-based approach that concentrates on the history of football and its global diffusion; the role of violence; the global governance of the game by FIFA; race, racism and whiteness; gender and homophobia; the changing nature of fans; the media and football's financial revolution; the transformation of players into global celebrities; and the growth of football leagues across the world. Using a range of examples from all over the world, each chapter highlights the different social and cultural changes football has seen, most notably since the 1990s, when its relationship with the mass media and other transnational networks became more important and financially lucrative.

Football brings joy to people across the world, and it evokes memories and nostalgia about past glories and events. When a football club folds, these memories and nostalgic moments are often all that is left. Forgotten Football Clubs uncovers the stories of clubs that have vanished, revealing their history, their successes and their ultimate failures. Some of the clubs were founded in the 19th century and lived for more than 100 years, while others only lasted a few years, but each one has an interesting backstory. Author Philip O'Rourke interviewed fans and experts from the teams' respective countries to find out why they disappeared and how it happened. Along the way, he analyses their results, what honours they won and casts a spotlight on their key players, managers and any controversies. The book unearths a diverse range of tales, transporting us from Asia to South America and from Europe to Africa. With such an eclectic mix, these are stories for football fans young and old.

Scotland's Swedish Adventure is the definitive story of Scotland's journey into their first ever European Championship finals, in Sweden. Having qualified for five consecutive World Cup finals between 1974 and 1990, it was surprising the Scots hadn't yet reached the Euro finals given the array of talent at their disposal. Andy Roxburgh would soon change that, and after being drawn into the ultimate 'group of death' that included the reigning European and world champions, his side repeatedly put on brave performances against superior opposition to make the nation proud. Scotland's Swedish Adventure explores the story behind their road to qualification, with exclusive insight from some of the men who made this adventure happen, including Roxburgh himself, players, journalists and fans. That Scotland qualified for an eight-team tournament, and finished fifth in the overall standings, is an achievement that doesn't get the recognition and respect it deserves. This 30th anniversary tribute remedies that.

Seventy-four years is a long time to wait. A whole generation of supporters has come and gone since Brentford were last in the top division of English football. Now, under the astute management of Thomas Frank, the Bees are back in the big time. The 2021/22 season has seen the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United visit the Community Stadium, the dreams of years past now a reality. A lifetime of gazing up the football ladder and wondering what it would be like to be in the top tier has become a reality. So how would their trip into the unknown go? Would the Premier League turn out to be the land of milk and honey or would the dreams turn to nightmares? Follow their progress in this season-long diary of the highs and lows of the biggest season in the history of Brentford Football Club. Only one thing is certain - whatever the season would bring for the Bees, the players, staff, supporters and everyone connected with Brentford Football Club would be buzzing!

This book presents a synthesis of the work on early football undertaken by the authors over the past two decades. It explores aspects of a figurational approach to sociology to examine the early development of football rules in the middle part of the nineteenth century. The book tests Dunning's status rivalry hypothesis to contest Harvey's view of football's development which stresses an influential sub-culture outside the public schools. Status Rivalry re-states the primacy of these latter institutions in the growth of football and without it the sport's story would remain skewed and unbalanced for future generations.

Israeli Football: Culture, Politics, and Identity focuses on the diverse aspects of the evolution of Israeli football and the social effects of these on-going processes. In the span of nine decades, Israeli football has become a faithful representation of society and its key developments. The organizational structure of the teams and their ethnic composition, fans' chants and behaviors in the stands, gender-related issues, media involvement, and other issues have reflected important societal trends and transformations. Examples of such trends include a shift from political to private ownership of football teams, a shift from Ashkenazi to Sephardi dominance, increasing diversification of the national team - from exclusive Jewish presence to a significant presence of Arab players, including a non-Jewish captain of the national team, a shift from local-based to global-based fandom. These changes, reflecting major milestones in the evolution of Israeli football, did not occur in a vacuum but rather were integrally related to broader local and global trends. These effects may even have had a reciprocal nature, where developments in the sport sphere also affected the public sphere and prepared the ground for social change. The chapters in this book were first published as a special issue of the journal Israel Affairs.

It is beyond dispute that physical activity is good for us, but what are the benefits, challenges and impacts of sport on health? This is the first book to focus on football in the context of health from individual, public and population-level perspectives. Football as Medicine examines the effects of football training on the three main types of fitness (cardiovascular, metabolic and musculoskeletal) and on specific target populations (for example, children, type 2 diabetes patients, cancer patients, people with mental health conditions, the socially deprived and older people). It discusses the significance of football for public health and assesses the efficacy of football interventions by clubs and community sport development programs. With its multi-disciplinary approach, this is a valuable resource for students, researchers and practitioners working in physical activity and health, public health, health promotion and medicine, as well as football and sport business management, sport and exercise science, and the sociology of sport.

This work is packed with drills and tips for training and game days. It describes the fun and easy way to master the art of football coaching. Volunteering as a youth football coach can be a great experience, both for you and your squad. But what if you've never coached before, or want to improve? Don't worry This friendly guide explains football rules, shows you how to approach coaching, and gives you practical pointers on improving team skills and encouraging good sportsmanship. It helps you: understand football rules; develop a coaching philosophy; teach football fundamentals; run great training sessions; lead your team during a game; and, communicate effectively with parents.

For a long time, various different lobbying sectors have claimed that the use of video technology is an effective aid in decision-making. Now the IFAB has taken a historic step in the approval of experiments on the use of video to provide support to football refereeing. The Use of Video Technologies in Refereeing Football and Other Sports analyses the capacity of audio-visual technology from different perspectives to help understand the best implementation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system in football and, more generally, in other sports. This book addresses in-depth interdisciplinary viewpoints on the need and the opportunity of the implementation procedures regarding how to use it, considering that it could lead to very important changes. The book goes on to examine various approaches to the most interesting topics for players, amateurs, coaches, referees and referees coaches. Offering viewpoints from both academics and professionals, this new volume addresses the VAR issue in a multidisciplinary way, analysing the implications of video replay application in football from the perspective of players, coaches, television professionals, referees, amateurs, sports lawyers, media and educators.

Cocker Hoop is the authorised biography of football coaching great Les Cocker. A tenacious and resilient forward, Cocker played for two clubs: Stockport County (196 games, 48 goals) and Accrington Stanley (130 games, 50 goals) before retiring in 1958 to move into coaching. As one of the first recipients of full coaching badges at England's Lilleshall, he established himself as a supreme trainer and coach for Leeds United, and helped build a famous footballing dynasty alongside Don Revie. His rising reputation attracted the FA's attention, and Cocker helped the England team achieve their pinnacle success in 1966. Filled with interviews, anecdotes and revelations from throughout Cocker's career, Cocker Hoop brings us a personal portrait of the great man, and is co-written by his son Dave Cocker and sportswriter and novelist Robert Endeacott.

The major strength is looking at football from a different angle with a broader perspective than standard approaches focusing on relatively simple tools for application The volume is a new approach to look to shift football theory away from solely performance analysis The first book of its kind to examine football psychology through the lens of Analytical psychology

Don Howe is one of English football's great coaches, with an unrivalled record at international and club level. As right-hand man to three England managers, he helped his country to the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96 semi-finals. He helped to steer them through the 1982 World Cup unbeaten and to the quarter-finals four years later. Howe masterminded the 1970/71 double at Arsenal, where two spells as coach also brought European and further FA Cup glory. He was also an integral part of one of the greatest Wembley upsets when he helped Wimbledon's 'Crazy Gang' to victory over the mighty Liverpool in 1988. As a player at West Bromwich Albion, Howe won 24 international caps, but as a manager he failed to achieve the success he craved. Yet over a three-decade period, he won acclaim from many of England's finest players as a genius of the coaching profession. Through interviews with players, colleagues, friends and family, this book examines the triumphs and challenges of Don Howe's career and assesses his contribution to English football.

This book presents a cross-disciplinary examination of the lived experiences of girls and women football players using theoretical insights from sports studies, psychology, sociology and gender studies. It examines the concept of 'the football self' - your own, personal football identity that encapsulates the importance of football to our everyday lives - and what that can tell us about the complex relationships between sport, family, gender and identity. The book draws on in-depth ethnographic research involving players and family members, and offers important new insights into the everyday experiences of those girls and women who play. It breaks new ground in focusing on the significant relationships between player and family with a particular focus on parenting through football. The book brings to the fore key debates around gender identity, barriers to participation, cultural gaps and discrimination. The author also brings a personal perspective to bear, drawing on experience gained over 20 years as a player, adding an extra critical layer to her important empirical research. This is essential reading for all researchers and students with an interest in football, sport studies or issues around gender, inclusion or the family in sport, and fascinating reading for anybody generally curious about football.

While football does not generate discriminatory behaviour, it often replicates the very same social issues that concern any given society. Evidently, football has witnessed an alarming increase in the number of disturbing incidents on the grounds of racism, ethnocentrism, sectarianism, homophobia, and sexism. Given the variety of forms that discrimination can take, it is imperative that football addresses with effect all such anti-social phenomena in order to continue to promote notions pertaining to social inclusion, equality, and cultural diversity - all central to the game's philosophy and overall popularity. Assessing the nature and causes of discrimination in football is key to identifying the much-needed remedies, but also because discrimination poses a serious challenge to long-established practices deeply rooted in democracy. Discrimination in Football provides a comprehensive and in-depth investigation into these key issues affecting football today. This new book will appeal to academics and students with an interest in social science, law, sport, and humanities as well as football fans and professionals in the football industry.

Football fans love nothing more than to read about their favourite teams. Although this books is aimed at young teenagers they will delight all ages with their mixture of funny and enlightening stories and will give hours of pleasure discovering quirky facts about your favourite team. Each title is also augmented with a selection of sketches by the young sketch artist Becky Welton that depict some of the stories within.

Every football training session and match should begin with a warm-up in order to improve performance and reduce the risk of injuries. Warm-up in Football provides scientific evidence for the effect of warming up and describes how performance is closely related to muscle temperature. Furthermore, the book explains how the right warm-up prior to a match and at halftime improves the outcome in football. This book provides a basic understanding of the value of warming up and presents a significant number of warm-up programs that can be used whether you are training professional, amateur or youth players. The warm-up programs and exercises are tailored to different training and match situations both on and off the pitch. Highlights from the book include: * New, inspiring and effective ways of warm-up for training. * Warm-up programs before matches. * Warm-up programs to improve performance at the start of the second half. Warm-up in Football is critical reading for all who have an interest in the coaching and physiology of football.

This book presents a series of fascinating case studies that show how the lives and bodies of clubs, players and fans around the world are enmeshed with politics. It draws on original research in countries including England, Scotland, Ireland, Poland, Mexico, Algeria and Argentina and includes both historical and contemporary perspectives. It explores some of the most important themes in the study of sport, including sectarianism, migration, fan activism and national identity, and shows how football continues to be tied to political events, symbols and movements. This is fascinating reading for any student or researcher working in sport studies, political science, sociology or contemporary history.

Soccer, the most popular mass spectator sport in the world, has long been a site which articulates the complexities and diversities of the everyday life of the nation. The imaging and prioritization of the game as a 'national' or an 'international' event in public opinion and the media also play a critical role in transforming the soccer culture of a nation. In this context, the FIFA World Cup remains the grand spectacle for asserting the identity of the nation. This book intends to offer eclectic perspectives and discourses on the FIFA World Cup, and to throw light on the changing dimensions of football and sports culture in terms of identity, race, ethnicity, gender, fandom, governance, and so on. On the one hand, it focuses on the significance of the FIFA World Cup for nations in terms of hosting, performance, playing style, and identity formation. On the other, it looks beyond the World Cup to highlight the growing importance of a host of perspectives in sport in general and football in particular with reference to art, fandom, gender, media, and governance. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Sport in Society.

Everybody Round My House for a Parmo! is the story of the most successful era in Middlesbrough FC's history, as told by those who experienced it. From Marinelli to Mendieta and Vidmar to Viduka, this 'small town in Europe' went from relegation fodder to cup-winners on the cusp of European glory in the space of just three short seasons, between 2003 and 2006. But while results on the pitch were memorable, they mean nothing without the backstory of how such heights were reached. Told with the help of players, club staff and local media at the heart of the journey, this is the inside story of how Steve McClaren transformed the Teessiders' fortunes while encountering more than a few hiccups along the way - including a failed drug test and even a manager getting hit by an angry fan's season ticket! It's one of modern football's greatest fairy tales, but even the greatest successes come with their fair share of struggles.

Football is ubiquitous and a permanent fixture of modern life. More than a sport, it frequently manifests in broader popular culture. This book examines the significance of football for, and in, popular culture across a wide range of forms, including music, film, and social media. Football and Popular Culture plots a new path in Football Studies, drawing on original research in countries including England, Brazil, Germany, Canada, and Yugoslavia. The book includes both historical and contemporary perspectives, exploring some of the most important themes in the study of sport and culture, including identity, nationalism, fandom, and protest. It presents diverse case studies ranging from sonic violence among Brazilian torcidas organizadas to fanled commemoration of the Munich air disaster, which together help us to better understand the intersection of sport, society, and popular culture. This is fascinating reading for any student or researcher working in sport studies, cultural studies, media studies, sociology, or contemporary history.

By the early months of 2012, it was clear that the appointment of Andre Villas-Boas as head coach at Chelsea wasn't delivering the required success. Instead, the club was spiralling towards its worst season of the Roman Abramovich era. On 4 March, Villas-Boas was dismissed, with his former assistant Roberto Di Matteo made interim head coach until the end of the season. Struggling in the league and with their place in the Champions League in peril, it was an appointment designed to make the best of things until a permanent replacement could be sought in the summer. Instead, under Di Matteo's guidance, Chelsea embarked on a run of performances that not only led to an FA Cup triumph, but resurrected their European hopes with improbable victories over Napoli, Benfica and Guardiola's all-conquering Barcelona before, against all odds, winning the Champions League by defeating Bayern Munich in their own stadium. This is the story of a triumph that came out of the blue.