Critical Research in Football
About the Book Series
The Critical Research in Football book series was launched in 2017 to showcase the inter- and multi-disciplinary breadth of debate relating to 'football'. The series defines 'football' as broader than association football, with research on rugby, Gaelic and gridiron codes also featured. Including monographs, edited collections, short books and textbooks, books in the series are written and/or edited by leading experts in the field whilst consciously also affording space to emerging voices in the area, and are designed to appeal to students, postgraduate students and scholars who are interested in the range of disciplines in which critical research in football connects. The series is published in association with the Football Collective, www.footballcollective.org.uk.
Football, Community and Social Responsibility: Everton’s ‘Blue Family’ and Sport at the Service of Humanity
1st Edition
By Chris Stone
April 23, 2025
This book shines a light on the value and effectiveness of football clubs’ community engagement work, the cultural value of sport and the position sport plays within people’s daily lives. The book considers the deep historical roots that many football clubs have as charitable institutions within ...
LGBT Football Fans: Authenticity, Belonging and Visibility
1st Edition
By Rory Magrath
April 14, 2025
While recent years have seen the emergence of a significant body of research on LGBT inclusion in sport, little is known about LGBT fans. This book provides the first in-depth examination of LGBT football fans’ experiences and sense of place in the contemporary English game. Drawing on almost 100 ...
Antisemitism in Football: International Perspectives
1st Edition
Edited
By Emma Poulton
March 14, 2025
This book investigates the nature and prevalence of expressions of antisemitism within the context of football in Europe and beyond, as well as attempts to challenge and combat this problematic phenomenon. Drawing on empirical research, the book presents a series of case studies of countries in ...
Media, Communication and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup
1st Edition
Edited
By Molly Yanity, Danielle Sarver Coombs
February 27, 2025
This book takes a close look at the themes of media and communication in the context of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, one of the most attended women’s sporting events in history. Featuring the work of leading researchers from around the world, the book examines how the tournament was ...
Football Clubs and the Global Transfer Market
1st Edition
By Thijs A. Velema
February 06, 2025
This is the first book to examine labour markets in professional football from the perspective of football clubs rather than players. Drawing on data from the eight biggest European football leagues – the hub of the global player transfer market – the book explores how and why clubs scout the ...
The Politics of Football
1st Edition
By Christos Kassimeris
December 18, 2024
This book examines the deep connections between football and politics and explains what those relationships can tell us about sport and wider society. With the game occupying a preeminent place on the world sporting stage, this book argues that the political significance of football has never been ...
The Safe Standing Movement in Football: Fan Networks, Tactics, and Mobilisations
1st Edition
By Mark Turner
December 18, 2024
This book tells the important story of the 30-year social movement against all-seated stadia in football in England and Wales that developed in the wake of the Hillsborough stadium disaster and the wider European and international significance of that movement. Examining the fan networks, relations...
Football in the Nordic Countries: Practices, Equality and Influence
1st Edition
Edited
By Mihaly Szerovay, Arto Nevala, Hannu Itkonen
November 28, 2024
This book explores football culture, organisation and development in the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway. These countries represent an important case study in sport culture, policy and management, being shaped by unique traditions in their civil society and in ...
Football Fandom, Sexualities and Activism: A Cultural Relational Sociology
1st Edition
By Peter Millward
October 09, 2024
This is the first book to examine the growing movement of organised networks of LGBT+ football supporters, exploring activists’ biographies and the meanings they ascribe to participation in identity politics-centred social movements. The book draws upon in-depth original research into the Pride in ...
Critical Issues in Football: A Sociological Analysis of the Beautiful Game
1st Edition
Edited
By Will Roberts, Stuart Whigham, Alex Culvin, Daniel Parnell
August 26, 2024
Showcasing some of the most important current research in football studies, this book demonstrates the value of social theory and sociology in helping us to better understand the world’s favourite sport. This book sheds critical new light on key issues in contemporary football, with each chapter ...
The UEFA European Football Championships: Politics, Media Spectacle and Social Change
1st Edition
By Jan Andre Lee Ludvigsen, Renan Petersen-Wagner
August 26, 2024
This book explores social and political issues and trends emerging around the UEFA European Football Championships. It presents a contemporary sociology of the European Championships which, despite its significance as a mega-event, has been largely overshadowed by the Olympics and the FIFA World ...
Football and Risk: Trends and Perspectives
1st Edition
By Jan Andre Lee Ludvigsen
January 29, 2024
This is the first book to look closely at the concept of ‘risk’ in elite and professional football from a social scientific perspective. Drawing on the wider sociological, criminological and management literature on risk, it shows how football helps us to understand global risk more generally in ...