Football clubs across the world continue to embody many of the collective symbols, identifications and processes of connectivity which have long been associated with the notion of 'community'. In recent years, however, the very term 'community' has become the focus of renewed interest within popular discourse and amongst academics, politicians and policy makers. It has become something of a 'buzz' word, wheeled out as both a lament to more certain times and as an appeal to a better future: a term imbued with all the richness associated with human interaction. 'Community' has also been employed increasingly within football, for instrumental reasons concerned with policy and stadium redevelopment, and in broader rhetoric about clubs, their localities and fans. This book brings together a range of key debates around contemporary understandings of 'community' in world football. Split into four sections, it considers political and theoretical debates around football and its connection with community; different national and ethnic football communities; instrumental uses of football to bridge gaps within and between groups; future directions in the football and community debate. This book was published as a special issue of Soccer & Society.

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.

The Sunshine Kids is no ordinary autobiography. Twins Fabio and Rafael Da Silva have seen it all in football - from the favelas of Brazil to the height of the European game with Manchester United. Their performances and contribution to one of the most glittering periods in the club's history cemented their place in the heart of every United fan. Theirs is an incredible journey and story - and, with Wayne Barton ('The pre-eminent writer on Manchester United' - Martin Edwards) the pair tell all. The sheer personality pours from the pages as Rafael's energy shines through in tales of fierce rivalries with Liverpool and Manchester City, and Fabio reveals his battle with anxiety as he sought to establish himself at Old Trafford. From the experience of joining the best team in Europe, to the human aspect and difficulty that comes with it, their familial relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson and their careers since leaving United - you'll discover just why the twins have been adored wherever their football careers have taken them.

All Crazee Now is the story of English football and its footballers in the 1970s, a decade that saw the start of the move from the 'old-fashioned' game towards the modern Premier League era; a transition that accelerated throughout the decade. Much of what we recognise in today's game is rooted in the seventies - including diverse ethnicity and multi-nationalism in club teams; the rise of commercialism; the cult of the manager; the end of the player-next-door; and the demand for victory ahead of individualism. The beginning of the decade remains the period in English football that supporters felt more connected than anytime previous or since. By the time the Thatcherite 1980s were dawning, the way had been paved for a rapid evolution towards 21st-century football. More than just a chronicle of trophy winners, star players and personalities, it offers a study of the tactical, philosophical, social, cultural, economic and political landscape that shaped football throughout a turbulent period for a nation and its favourite sport.

Spanish soccer is on top of the world, at international and club level, with the best teams and a seemingly endless supply of exciting and stylish players. While the Spanish economy struggles, its soccer flourishes, deeply embedded throughout Spanish social and cultural life. But the relationship between soccer, culture and national identity in Spain is complex. This fascinating, in-depth study shines new light on Spanish soccer by examining the role this sport plays in Basque identity, consolidated in Athletic Club of Bilbao, the century-old soccer club located in the birthplace of Basque nationalism. Athletic Bilbao has a unique player recruitment policy, allowing only Basque-born players or those developed at the youth academies of Basque clubs to play for the team, a policy that rejects the internationalism of contemporary globalised soccer. Despite this, the club has never been relegated from the top division of Spanish football. A particularly tight bond exists between fans, their club and the players, with Athletic representing a beacon of Basque national identity. This book is an ethnography of a soccer culture where origins, nationalism, gender relations, power and passion, lifecycle events and death rituals gain new meanings as they become, below and beyond the playing field, a matter of creative contention and communal affirmation. Based on unique, in-depth ethnographic research, this book investigates how a soccer club and soccer fandom affect the life of a community, interweaving empirical research material with key contemporary themes in the social sciences, and placing the study in the wider context of Spanish political and sporting cultures. Filling a key gap in the literature on contemporary Spain, and on wider soccer cultures, this book is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in sport, anthropology, sociology, political science, or cultural and gender studies.

A collection of short biographies of the great Sunderland players named as Player of the Year who helped to define the club's image and set the standard to its future stars.

The identification and development of talented young players has become a central concern of football clubs at all levels of the professional game, as well as for national and international governing bodies. This is the first book to offer a comprehensive survey and assessment of youth development programmes in football around the world, to highlight best practice, and to offer clear recommendations for improvement. The book draws on original, in-depth research at eight elite professional football clubs, including Barcelona, Ajax and Bayern Munich, as well as the French national football academy at Clairefontaine. It adopts a multi-disciplinary approach, including psychology, coaching and management studies, and covers every key topic from organisational structures, talent recruitment and performance analysis to player education and welfare. Written by two authors with extensive experience in English professional football, including five Premiership clubs, this book is important reading for any student, researcher, coach, administrator or academy director with an interest in football, youth sport, sports development, sports coaching or sport management.

The identification and development of talented young players has become a central concern of football clubs at all levels of the professional game, as well as for national and international governing bodies. This is the first book to offer a comprehensive survey and assessment of youth development programmes in football around the world, to highlight best practice, and to offer clear recommendations for improvement. The book draws on original, in-depth research at eight elite professional football clubs, including Barcelona, Ajax and Bayern Munich, as well as the French national football academy at Clairefontaine. It adopts a multi-disciplinary approach, including psychology, coaching and management studies, and covers every key topic from organisational structures, talent recruitment and performance analysis to player education and welfare. Written by two authors with extensive experience in English professional football, including five Premiership clubs, this book is important reading for any student, researcher, coach, administrator or academy director with an interest in football, youth sport, sports development, sports coaching or sport management.

Delves into the history of Reading FC - one of the oldest clubs in the Football League. This title focuses on the various quirky tales and incidents that have befallen the club throughout the years. It features various weird and obscure sports staged by the club, the numerous (world) records set by Reading and some very strange pitch invaders.

'My identity is built on conflicts, and I'm proud of who I am ... I can walk through the rest of my life with something to say.' Nedum Onuoha was not a typical footballer. A young black Mancunian picked by the Manchester City Academy aged ten, he was determined to continue his education despite the lure of a career under the floodlights. Fiercely intelligent on and off the pitch, Onuoha developed into a talented defender and played his part in City's meteoric rise. He was at the Etihad Stadium when they won their first Premier League title - as an opposition player for QPR, having left the Blues just four months earlier. In this characteristically forthright book, Onuoha reveals what goes on behind the scenes at top-tier clubs. Stuffed with insights into household names like Stuart Pearce, Sven-Goeran Eriksson, Roberto Mancini and Harry Redknapp, this is football and its most famous figures as you've never seen them before. Kicking Back is also the story of one man's search for identity: as a footballer, as a black man in England and as an outsider in the US during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. What is it like to receive horrific racist abuse while doing your job? And how has football utterly failed the black community? Onuoha provides a damning assessment of the sport's authorities, finally claiming his voice as he dives deep into a life spent on the pitch.