This book constitutes the first full volume dedicated to an academic analysis of British football as depicted on film. From early single-camera silents to its current multi-screen mediations, the repeated treatment of football in British cinema points to the game’s importance not only in the everyday rhythms of national life but also, and especially, its immutable place in the British imaginary landscape. Through close textual analysis together with production and reception histories, this book explores the ways in which professional footballers, amateur players and supporters (the devoted and the demonized) have been represented on the British screen. As well as addressing the joys and sorrows the game necessarily engenders, British football is shown to function as an accessible structure to explore wider issues such as class, race, gender and even the whole notion of ‘Britishness’.

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.

Focusing on a number of contemporary research themes and placing them within the context of palpable changes that have occurred within football in recent years, this timely collection brings together essays about football, crime and fan behaviour from leading experts in the fields of criminology, law, sociology, psychology and cultural studies.

The Rough Guide to Cult Football is the ultimate companion to the beautiful game. The only football book of its kind, it goes beyond the usual back page material to uncover the most amazing stories and unlikeliest personalities on Planet Football. It reveals the stories behind the mavericks and cult figures that make up the real heroes of the game - from cultured midfielders to jailbirds, drinkers to hard men, local legends to international wanderers. The Rough Guide to Cult Football looks at everything from special clubs - like the New York Cosmos and Berwick Rangers - to managers and football rivalries - from 'El Clásico' to the Faroe Islands derby, via an unusual roll-call of talent that stretches from Ferenc Puskas to Stan Bowles, Eric Cantona to Jose Chilavert and Garrincha to Perry Groves. It also recalls extraordinary games, from 'The Battle of Highbury' to underdog fixtures where the likes of Northern Ireland, Wimbledon and Dynamo Kiev overcame the might of Spain, Liverpool and the Nazis. Post-match analyses of football culture, ephemera, science and some strange statistics, complete this ultimate fiesta of football fun.

This book examines the complex ways in which girls and women experience football cultures in Britain. It extends current debate surrounding women and football (namely, how gender has functioned to shape women’s experiences of playing the game), by focusing on organisational, administrative and coaching practices, alongside the particular issues surrounding sexuality, ethnicity and disability (not only gender). The book analyses football and gender to reveal the subtle forms of discrimination that persist. It is important to highlight the many challenges and transformations made by girls and women but more importantly to consider the ways power continues to operate to devalue and undermine girls and women involved in the game. The UK-based authors make use of their recent research findings to offer critical debate on girls’ and women’s current experiences of British football cultures. Overall the book reveals the present day complexities of marginalisation and exclusion. This book was published as a special issue of Sport and Society.

Football has traditionally been an institution hostile toward sexual minorities. Boys and men in the sport have deployed high levels of homophobia for multiple reasons. However, the ground-breaking research within this book shows that intolerant attitudes toward gay men are increasingly being challenged. Based on unprecedented access to Premier League academies, Inclusive Masculinities in Contemporary Football: Men in the Beautiful Game explores these changing attitudes toward homophobia in football today. Revealing a range of masculine identities never before empirically measured at this level of football, this book discusses the implications for the complex and enclosed structures of professional sport, and extends our understanding of contemporary masculinity. It also offers fresh insights to the importance of "banter" in the development of relationships and identities. This culture of banter often plays a paradoxical role, both facilitating and disrupting friendships formed between male footballers. As the first title in the Routledge Critical Studies of Men and Masculinities Series, this book is fascinating reading for all students and scholars interested in football and the study of gender, sexuality and the sociology of sport.

Ken Loach's 1969 drama Kes, considered one of the finest examples of British social realism, tells the story of Billy, a working class boy who finds escape and meaning when he takes a fledgling kestrel from its nest. David Forrest's study of the film examines the genesis of the original novel, Barry Hines' A Kestrel for a Knave (1968), the eventual collaboration that brought it to the screen, and the film's funding and production processes. He provides an in depth analysis of key scenes and draws on archival sources to shed new light on the film's most celebrated moments. He goes on to consider the film's lasting legacy, having influenced films like Ratcatcher (1999) and This is England (2006), both in terms of its contribution to film history and as a document of political and cultural value. He makes a case for the film's renewed relevance in our present era of systemic economic (and regional) inequality, alienated labour, increasingly narrow educational systems, toxic masculinity, and ecological crisis. Kes endures, he argues, because it points towards the possibility for emancipation and fulfilment through a more responsive and nurturing approach to education, a more delicate and symbiotic relationship with landscape and the non-human, and an emotional articulacy and sensitivity shorn of the rigid expectations of gender.

CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title 2017 A History of the British Isles is a balanced and integrated political, social, cultural and religious history of the British Isles in all its complexity, exploring the constantly evolving dialogue and relationship between the past and the present. A wide range of topics and questions are addressed for each period and territory discussed, including England's Wars of the Roses of the 15th century and their influence on court politics during the 16th century; Ireland's Rebellion of 1798, the Potato Famine of the 1840s and the Easter Rising of 1916; the two World Wars and the Great Depression; British cultural and social change during the 1960s; and the history and future of the British Isles in the present day. Kenneth Campbell integrates the histories of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales by exploring common themes and drawing on comparative examples, while also demonstrating how those histories are different, making this a genuinely integrated text. Campbell's approach allows readers to appreciate the history of the British Isles not just for its own sake, but for the purposes of understanding our current political divisions, our world and ourselves.

Whether you want to impress friends and colleagues with new-found football wisdom, brush up on details you're unsure about (the offside rule, anyone?) or improve your practical skills, this is the book for you! Covering all the basics of the game, rules and tactics, as well as giving an in-depth history of the sport and how it has evolved to the present day, this indispensable guide will get you up to speed on the most popular game in the world in no time. With dream team formations, tips on football betting and supporting, essential coverage on the World Cup, and stats on current teams, players and managers both at home and abroad, football expert and Guardian journalist Scott Murray keeps it fun, fresh and knowledgeable to get you through the major tournaments and beyond. Football For Dummies includes: PART 1: KICK OFF Chapter 1: The bare essentials Chapter 2: A rich history Chapter 3: Get your boots on - the gear you need PART 2: PLAYING THE GAME Chapter 4: Laying down the laws Chapter 5: Positions and tactics Chapter 6: Honing your skills Chapter 7: Talented training Chapter 8: Coaching, managing and leadership Chapter 9: Putting it all into practice PART 3: THE WORLD OF FOOTBALL Chapter 11: The World Cup Chapter 12: The international scene Chapter 13: The British club scene Chapter 14: Taking on the world Chapter 15: Women's football PART 4: FANS ENCLOSURE Chapter 16: Going to the match Chapter 17: Read all about it... Chapter 18: Compulsive viewing: Football on TV (and film, and DVD...) Chapter 19: Joining in (sort of...) PART 5: THE PART OF TENS Chapter 20: Great players Chapter 21: Great managers Chapter 22: Great matches Chapter 23: Bad behaviour PART 6: APPENDICES Appendix 1: Appendix A: Honour Boards Appendix 2: Glossary Appendix 3: Key Football Organisations

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.