"In this playful, witty and highly original look at English soccer, David Winner, author of the acclaimed Brilliant Orange, journeys to the heart of an essential English pastime and sheds new light on the true nature of a rapidly changing game that was never really meant to be beautiful. With the same insightful eye he brought to his bestselling study of Dutch soccer, Winner shows how Victorian sexual anxiety underlies England's many World Cup failures....

"You play soccer. You watch soccer. You live soccer You breathe soccer. But do you think about soccer? Soccer is the world's most popular sport, inspiring the absolute devotion of countless fans around the globe. But what is it about soccer that makes it so compelling to watch, discuss, and think about? Is it what it says about class, race, or gender? Is it our national, regional, or tribal identities? Simon Critchley thinks it's all of these and...

While rival drug cartels warred in the streets, the Columbian national soccer team took a rapid rise to glory, with Andres Escobar its inspirational captain. Meanwhile the infamous drug baron, Pablo Escobar, pioneered "Narco-soccer". After a mistake by Andres led to a loss at the 1994 World Cup, less than ten days later he was gunned down outside a bar, a tragedy documented in this thriller about the intersection of crime and sport.

Foreword by Arsene Wenger, Introduction by David BeckhamSoccer writer and bestselling author of My Side, Tom Watt, talked to the world's top soccer players about growing up and falling in love with the game: Argentina's Lionel Messi and Brazil's Gilberto Silva; England's David James and Scotland's Craig Gordon; Italy's Fabio Cannavaro, Spain's Iker Casillas, and France's Franck Ribéry; South Africa's Benni McCarthy and Nigeria's Nwankwo Kanu; USA's...

Recounts the 2008 Homeless World Cup, in which homeless persons from around the world compete in a soccer tournament, and relates the Canadian team players' disappointments, joys, and triumphs.

A Commonwealth Writers' Best First Book Award winner, Donna Daley-Clarke's transfixing yet often hilarious novel vividly entwines the street-smart stories of one black family facing racism and loss in 1970s London. With his father in jail, his mother passed on, and his comic book idols outgrown, lazy-eyed teenager Geoffhurst must find a new hero to inspire him.

"In this witty and rebellious history of world soccer, award-winning writer Eduardo Galeano searches for the styles of play, players, and goals that express the unique personality of certain times and places. In Soccer in Sun and Shadow, Galeano takes us to ancient China, where engravings from the Ming period show a ball that could have been designed by Adidas to Victorian England, where gentlemen codified the rules that we still play by today and...

"You've probably heard of Real Madrid; after all, it is the most successful sports team on the planet. The soccer (or football, globally) club has more trophies than any other sports team, including 11 UEFA Champions League trophies. Real Madrid has over 80 million Facebook fans, and over 1.4 million people visited the Real Madrid Museum in 2014 alone. However, the story behind the triumph goes beyond the players and coaches. Generally unnoticed,...