Critical Issues in Football: A Sociological Analysis of the Beautiful Game

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 using a different theoretical lens, drawing on the work of key thinkers from Elias and Foucault to Hall and Maffesoli. It explores issues and topics central to the study of modern football, including homophobia, feminist-informed coaching practice, the racialised experiences of black professional footballers, the concussion crisis and the role of identity in online football communities. It also looks ahead at the issues that are likely to define the research agenda in football studies in years to come.

This is fascinating reading for any student or researcher with an interest in football, the sociology of sport, social theory or social issues in wider society.

Will Roberts is Senior Lecturer in Sport Development and Coaching in Te Huataki Waiora School of Health at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Will’s research interests cohere around pedagogical and socio-cultural aspects of sport, with a focus on the instrumentalism of coaching and youth sport. He is series editor for the ’Routledge Studies in Constraints-Based Methodologies in Sport’ series and continues to work in football in a coaching and consulting role, supporting coaches, professional clubs and national organisations regarding their focus on holistic development of young people in sport. Will tweets from @w_roberts6

Stuart Whigham is Senior Lecturer in Sport, Coaching and Physical Education in the Department of Sport, Health Sciences and Social Work at Oxford Brookes University, UK. His research interests in the sociology and politics of sport focus on national identity, nationalism and sport; the politics of sport and sporting events; the politics of the Commonwealth Games; and the sociology and politics of Scottish sport. He has recently acted as Guest Editor for the Sport in Society journal for the ’Sport and Nationalism: Theoretical Perspectives’ Special Issue. Stuart tweets from @StuartWhigham

Alex Culvin works in player relations at FIFPRO and is Senior Lecturer at Leeds Beckett University, UK. Alex’s research interests lie in elite sport, business management, policy, work and gender. She has recently co-edited two books on professional women’s sport and professional women’s football respectively. Alex currently acts as Chair of the Football Collective, a global network of football scholars, as the knowledge and research exchange lead. Alex completed her PhD in 2019, in the first study to examine professional football as work for women in England. As a former professional footballer, Alex had unique access to professional footballers and maintains considerable networks within professional sport. Alex tweets from @alexculvin

Daniel Parnell is Associate Professor in Sport Business at the University of Liverpool Management School, UK. Dan’s research interests lie in business management, policy, and social and economic networks in sport. He serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Managing Sport and Leisure and is co-founder of The Football Collective, a global network of football scholars. He is also a co-editor of the Routledge book series ’Critical Research in Football’. On top of this, Dan maintains extensive links within professional sport clubs, is Head of Football Research at Dundee United Football Club and is CEO of the Association of Sporting Directors. He tweets from @parnell_daniel