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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.

37 Series Titles


Sport Mega-Events, Security and COVID-19 Securing the Football World

Sport Mega-Events, Security and COVID-19: Securing the Football World

1st Edition

By Jan Andre Lee Ludvigsen
January 29, 2024

This book examines contemporary issues of security at sports mega-events (SMEs). It focuses on the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 2020) - subsequently postponed to 2021 - the third biggest SME in the global sporting calendar and a unique multi-city, multi-country event that ...

Football and Discrimination Antisemitism and Beyond

Football and Discrimination: Antisemitism and Beyond

1st Edition

Edited By Pavel Brunssen, Stefanie Schüler-Springorum
January 09, 2023

This book takes a close look at discrimination in football in order to illuminate our understanding of the interaction between sport and wider society, politics and culture, particularly in terms of the (re)production of identity. It presents insightful and diverse international case ...

Football and Popular Culture Singing Out from the Stands

Football and Popular Culture: Singing Out from the Stands

1st Edition

Edited By Stephen R. Millar, Martin J. Power, Paul Widdop, Daniel Parnell, James Carr
January 09, 2023

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 ...

Football, Family, Gender and Identity The Football Self

Football, Family, Gender and Identity: The Football Self

1st Edition

By Hanya Pielichaty
January 09, 2023

This book presents a cross-disciplinary examination of the lived experiences of girls and women football players using theoretical insights from sports studies, psychology, sociology and gender studies. It examines the concept of ‘the football self’ – your own, personal football identity that ...

Football, Politics and Identity

Football, Politics and Identity

1st Edition

Edited By James Carr, Daniel Parnell, Paul Widdop, Martin J. Power, Stephen R. Millar
January 09, 2023

This book presents a series of fascinating case studies that show how the lives and bodies of clubs, players and fans around the world are enmeshed with politics.   It draws on original research in countries including England, Scotland, Ireland, Poland, Mexico, Algeria and Argentina and ...

Russia and the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Russia and the 2018 FIFA World Cup

1st Edition

Edited By Richard Arnold
January 09, 2023

Despite many negative expectations of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Russia delivered one of the best World Cups in living memory. This book brings together leading scholars working in Russian studies, sociology and political science to analyse the 2018 World Cup and assess its significance for sport, ...

Diego Maradona A Socio-Cultural Study

Diego Maradona: A Socio-Cultural Study

1st Edition

Edited By Pablo Brescia, Mariano Paz
December 01, 2022

This is the first book in English to closely examine the life of Diego Maradona from socio-cultural perspectives, exploring how his status as an icon, a popular sporting hero, and a political figurehead has been culturally constructed, reproduced, and manipulated. The volume looks at ...

The Development of Women's Soccer Legacies, Participation, and Popularity in Germany

The Development of Women's Soccer: Legacies, Participation, and Popularity in Germany

1st Edition

By Henk Meier
December 13, 2021

While women’s soccer has risen in popularity around the world, research reveals persistent gender discrimination and marginalization of girls and women in the sport. Applying policy feedback theory and econometric analysis, this volume explores the lasting impact of different regimes of gender ...

African Footballers in Europe Migration, Community, and Give Back Behaviours

African Footballers in Europe: Migration, Community, and Give Back Behaviours

1st Edition

By Ernest Yeboah Acheampong, Malek Bouhaouala, Michel Raspaud
September 30, 2021

African Footballers in Europe traces the social and economic evolution of African football and examines the strategies and resources that players mobilise in their migrations, with a particular focus on ‘Give Back Behaviours’ (how players contribute to their countries or communities of origin). It ...

Football as Medicine Prescribing Football for Global Health Promotion

Football as Medicine: Prescribing Football for Global Health Promotion

1st Edition

Edited By Peter Krustrup, Daniel Parnell
September 30, 2021

It is beyond dispute that physical activity is good for us, but what are the benefits, challenges and impacts of sport on health? This is the first book to focus on football in the context of health from individual, public and population-level perspectives. Football as Medicine examines the effects...

Football in Fiction A History

Football in Fiction: A History

1st Edition

By Lee McGowan
September 30, 2021

Football in Fiction represents the most comprehensive historical mapping and analysis of novels related to association football (soccer). It offers a theoretically informed field guide, a scholarly cartography of football fiction’s uncertain – and until now – only partially explored ...

Football Fandom, Protest and Democracy Supporter Activism in Turkey

Football Fandom, Protest and Democracy: Supporter Activism in Turkey

1st Edition

By Dağhan Irak
December 18, 2020

Football Fandom, Protest and Democracy offers an in-depth and inside approach to the socio-political history of football in Turkey, where fandom is often revered as part of the national identity, presenting the historical context for football events in the country.Based on original research, the ...

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