For the first time, Real Madrid galáctico and Croatian legend Luka Modric tells the story of his journey from a childhood in his war-torn homeland to becoming a serial UEFA Champions League winner and one of the most celebrated footballers in the world.

Regarded as one of the great midfield players of the last 20 years, Luka reveals the difficulties of growing up during the Croatian War of Independence and his beginnings as a footballer. The FIFA World Cup finalist sets the record straight regarding key moments at Dinamo Zagreb, Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid; he gives us intimate insights into his treasured home life; and he brings us his personal account of his career peak - Croatia's dramatic path to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final.

What were his thoughts during decisive matches? What was his relationship with key players and coaches? What is the inner determination that keeps him on the pitch? What does it take to become the best footballer in the world?

Luka was consistently underestimated in his early career, but through grit and determination he has defied the expectations of everyone who doubted him, and reached the ultimate heights of world football. This is Luka Modric in his own words.

The 2010 South African World Cup launched African football onto the global stage and its footballers are increasingly present at the best clubs in the world, yet it is rare to find compelling scholarship on the subject of African football. This book brings some of the top scholars on African football together to produce a collection that covers the diverse regions of the continent and diverse football topics. Focussing on aspects of identity, it spans issues of race, radicalization and self-identification, exploring the imagined continuation of war in support of a Nigerian club, the use of songs in support of a club and an ethnic community, and the effects of transnational broadcasting on supporter identification with football in Africa. This collection provides a valuable contribution to debates about African sport and identity and also contains an interview with one of Africa's first migrant footballers, Paul Bonga Bonga.

Sport, and in particular the sporting environment, has undergone significant changes in recent decades. The social significance and commercialization of sport; the use of new technologies and organizational structures; and the involvement of various stakeholders matter more today than ever before. This book addresses the key influence of stakeholders in particular on the activities of sports organizations, taking into account certain territorial differences around the world, but also within Europe. The authors explain the key characteristics of the management of sports organizations as opposed to other organizations. These include the strategic management and setting of long-term goals such as sporting success, sustainable funding, youth training, and community building. The authors present a strategic model for these goals and stakeholders in the context of sport, together with research-based case studies in which the critical factors in the strategic management of successful and unsuccessful sports organizations are identified.

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.

This book takes a closer look at the societal functions of sports clubs by using the broad range of empirical data of a comparative study. There is a limited amount of up-to-date knowledge on the functions of sports clubs and their potential to promote public health, social cohesion and democratic participation through volunteering and thus contribute to public welfare in European societies. Most of the existing studies are country-specific and therefore do not allow for making comparisons from a cross-national perspective. In light of this, the project 'Social Inclusion and Volunteering in Sports Clubs in Europe' (SIVSCE) collected, analysed and discussed comparable data and knowledge across ten European countries and disseminated this knowledge to politicians, sports professionals and sports volunteers in Europe. The SIVSCE project contains comparative data of clubs as well as of members in selected sports clubs. In each country chapter, the comparative data from the SIVSCE project is put together in a coherent way. Particularly, the data of the member survey give in-depth information about the fulfillment of the different functions of sports clubs (e.g. extension of democratic participation, social integration). Providing in-depth data related to policy issues, structure and management of clubs and individual member surveys, this book will be useful for students particularly those in sports management programmes as well as researchers and practitioners in social science and economics.

This is a collection of short biographies on the great Sunderland players named as Player of the Year who helped to define the club's image and set the standard for its future stars. It is a must-have for any true fan interested in the history of their beloved club. Each chapter is illustrated and gives season by season stats and total appearances. The list of names featured in the book will bring back many great memories. As well as focusing on the individual, the chapters seek to tell the story of the season - be it one of delight or disaster - in an attempt to put the Player of the Year's contribution into context. Most of the Players of the Year have been tracked down and interviewed specifically for this book. Where individuals were impossible to locate then their contemporaries have remembered them or I have researched their thoughts of the time from programme interviews that they did with me. What was consistent in the recollections of all the players spoken to was how much being Player of the Year meant to them. Once the boots are hung up for the final time, regardless of whether the player has a cupboard full of medals and caps or none, if they have been Player of the Year it shows how much the fans have appreciated their efforts. Enjoy the memories.

From 1904 to 2020, Griffin Park was the iconic, idiosyncratic, and much-loved home of Brentford FC. For 116 years, and deriving its name from the symbol of a brewery that owned the orchard before the stadium, Griffin Park witnessed highs and lows and much in-between, hosting over 2,800 football matches and numerous other occasions. One of a kind, it was the only English football stadium that had a pub on each corner. In this fascinating book, lifelong Bees fan Jonathan Burchill draws from contemporaneous resources to present a unique history of Brentford through season-by-season reviews of the events at Griffin Park. Recounting stories and statistics from both on and off the pitch - from fires to fax machines, from abandoned redevelopment plans to multiple missed penalties - Jonathan weaves an extended, fascinating insight not just into this remarkable West London football club but into the social history affecting those connected with it for over a century. As the Bees settle into their new home at Brentford Community Stadium in the Premier League, A Pub On Each Corner provides a comprehensive and insightful account into their time at Griffin Park, and is a must-read for any Brentford fan, old or new!

The 1939 Arsenal side is firing on all cylinders and celebrating a string of victories. They appear unstoppable, but the Trojans - a side of amateurs who are on a winning streak of their own - may be about to silence the Gunners. Moments into the second half the whistle blows, but not for a goal or penalty. One of the Trojans has collapsed on the pitch. By the end of the day, he is dead. Gribble's unique mystery, featuring the actual Arsenal squad of 1939, sends Inspector Anthony Slade into the world of professional football to investigate a case of deadly foul play on and off the pitch.

The Rangers Story celebrates the rich history of Rangers FC, one of the oldest and most successful football clubs in the world. This is the story of a special city, the story of the birth of football and of a club that is revered by fans throughout the world. It is a story of humble beginnings in 19th-century Glasgow that charts the development of the 'Association game' in Scotland. Drawing on 36 years of research, the author tells of the triumphs - a record number of Scottish championships and victory in Europe - but also of the disasters, like the 1902 and 1971 Ibrox tragedies, each reverberating throughout the UK. The book explores the importance of men such as Struth, Souness, Smith and Gerrard, who with determination and ambition built this great club and its traditions. Then there were the great players such as Baxter, Gascoigne, and Laudrup. It is no wonder Rangers has followers worldwide, each carrying the emotional attachment of their fathers and grandfathers before them. To them the club is everything - the beginning and the end.

Football is the most popular sport on earth, and a near-universal means of expressing collective identification. This book investigates the uses made of football to create, shape and foster national identities in Spain since the beginning of the twentieth century. Its focus is on the manner in which football reporting has been utilized to cultivate Spanish, Catalan and Basque national myths and stereotypes in different historical circumstances. Football and National Identities in Spain shows the changing and artificial nature of myths and exposes the often dark vested interests behind the propagation of national narratives through soccer. This book analyses Spanish, British, French, German and Italian media to tell the fascinating story of how the Spanish national team went from perennial underachiever to one of the most lauded in the history of the game and the profound implications this transformation had for the national and international image of Spain.

'It's a funny old game.' - JIMMY GREAVES From golden balls to golden balls-ups, this kit bag of double entendres, outrageous quips and quotes is guaranteed to tickle your funny bone. A must for all Man Utd fans. 'SIMPLY RED captures many of the laughs associated with Manchester United.' - KEN DOHERTY 'A must-read not just for United fans, but for every football fan out there!' - SIMON DELANEY

After 71 years at their dilapidated Layer Road Ground, Colchester United are set to move to a brand new 10,000-seater, expandable to 18,000, stadium for the 2008 season. "The Who's Who of Colchester United" celebrates the players who played first-team football during the Layer Road years. Every player has their appearance and goal statistics listed, along with a career history and many previously unseen photographs. From the 1930s goalkeeper Ronnie Dunn, who 'bugled' his teammates onto the pitch with 'The Post-Horn Gallop', to surprise wartime guest internationals and products of the present day youth scheme who have progressed to the Premiership, they are all included."The Who's Who of Colchester United" is a must for all U's fans and is a valuable resource for football followers and statisticians alike.It details every player to appear for the team during the Layer Road years. It is officially backed by Colchester United Football Club. It includes features and reviews in the local press; as well as strong support from Colchester United FC.

Relive the best stories of Chiefs football--newly updated through the 2019- 2020 season! Beginning with their founding as the Dallas Texans of the American Football League in 1960, the Kansas City Chiefs have been one of professional football's most storied franchises. In Tales from the Kansas City Chiefs Sideline, veteran sportswriter Bob Gretz brings the team's rich history to life. Gretz begins with the Chiefs' visionary, 27-year-old owner Lamar Hunt, who founded not only a team but an entire league. After the Texans won the AFL championship in 1962, Hunt moved the team out of his hometown to Kansas City. Two Super Bowl appearances as the representative of the AFL culminated in a Chiefs' championship in 1970, despite being a double-digit underdog to the Minnesota Vikings. It would be the final game featuring an AFL team, as the Chiefs and nine other teams merged with the NFL. Gretz covers the battles leading up to the merger along with the high and low points in team history--the lean years (1972-88); the "Carl and Marty" era, when the team made the play-offs in six consecutive seasons; the "Joe and Marcus" show of 1993; the dismal 2008 season; and the team's 2013 renewal under Andy Reid and John Dorsey. Tales from the Kansas City Chiefs Sideline is a must-have for any Chiefs fan!

This book examines the evolution of motor sport from its creation in central Europe, throughout the rest of the continent and elsewhere, including in both North and South America.

It was published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

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.

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.

How much do you really know about the club you love? You can find out by exploring the 1,000 questions set out in 100 categories that make up this Liverpool quiz book. It s not often that books on football make reference to the Beatles, Napoleon, Roald Dahl, Moby Dick, 'The Big Bang Theory', Pete Townshend, Dylan Thomas and The Band, but this one does! Try these for size: add one letter to a Liverpool and England international from the 1960s and produce another Liverpool and England international from this century. Which Liverpool manager shares his name with a five-time Open golf champion? The first names of three 21st-century Liverpool players have won The Derby in 1972, the King George at Ascot in 2011 and the St. Leger in 2001, who are the three players? You will struggle to find anything as comprehensive as this eclectic collection. It s a must for Liverpool fans of all ages and you might not see anything quite like it again.

The Detroit Tigers have been marked neither by dynasties nor doldrums. The Tigers captured just four World Series championships since becoming a charter member of the junior circuit in 1901. They compiled a record barely above .500 during that 120-year span. They have suffered through seasons of failure so pronounced that they have gone down as some of the worst in the annals of baseball. But their periodic years of greatness have proven so memorable that they have remained in the hearts and minds of Tigers fans forever. They have provided a sense of pride and optimism to even the most fervent and critical followers during the most woeful periods. This book covers the entirety of Tigers history and even delves into the birth of professional baseball in Detroit in the National League to its continuation in the Western League, which morphed into the American League. This book details the Tigers' greatest and most interesting teams, players, moments, and eras.

Huddersfield Town Miscellany collects together all the vital information you never knew you needed to know about the Terriers. In these pages you will find irresistible anecdotes and the most mindblowing stats and facts. Heard the one about the striker who scored 223 goals in 268 appearances for the club? How about the centre-forward who netted 289 goals in just 40 games before joining Town? Do you know what has been the longest journey (by road) any Huddersfield Town team has had to make to play a Football League fixture? When Town were unbeaten at home in the FA Cup for 19 years? Or which Town player had a record 32 letters in his name? All these stories and hundreds more appear in a brilliantly researched collection of trivia - essential for any fan who holds the riches of blue-and-white history close to their heart.

Known simply as "America's Team," the Dallas Cowboys are one of football's most storied franchises and always begin each season with a legitimate chance to add another Super Bowl title to their existing five. Author and Cowboys employee Nick Eatman, through interviews with current and past players, provides fans with a one-of-a-kind, insider's look into the great moments and the lowlights throughout the team's history. Readers will hear from players, coaches, and management as they discuss their moments of greatness as well as their defeats, making "If These Walls Could Talk: Dallas Cowboys" a keepsake no fan will want to miss.

Manchester City On This Day revisits all the most magical and memorable moments from the club's rollercoaster past, mixing in a maelstrom of quirky anecdotes and legendary characters to produce an irresistibly dippable diary of Blues history - with an entry for every day of the year. From the club's Victorian roots as a church side right up to the Etihad era, City fans have witnessed Edwardian scandal, league and cup triumphs and embarrassments, hard-fought derbies and unforgettable European nights - all featured here. Timeless greats such as Francis Lee and Georgi Kinkladze, Colin Bell, Frank Swift and Billy Meredith all loom larger than life. Revisit 11th May 1968, when City clinched the league title with a 4-3 win at Newcastle. 7th November 1987, when the Blues hit double figures beating Huddersfield Town 10-1 at Maine Road. And 5th May 1956, when Bert Trautmann broke his neck in the Cup Final.

Liverpool's magnificent number 7s is 112 pages full of everything a football fan could ever want to know about the most iconic players to have not only worn the Number 7 shirt, but to have played at one of the most iconic clubs in the world. Packed with features, including a detailed account of their time at the club. Also included are in-depth statistics, facts, trivia, most memorable games, and an unmatched historical account of the famous Number 7s to have elevated the club.