The Association Game: A History of British Football - Paperback

by Matthew Taylor (Author)

The story of football's journey from public school diversion to mass media entertainment is a remarkable one. The Association Game traces the history of football from the creation of the first clubs and associations in the nineteenth century to its current position at the centre of British popular culture.

Has the so-called 'people's game' been transformed into a vehicle of global commercial interests? Have its star performers lost touch with their roots? Has football reinforced or challenged national identities in Britain? This book seeks answers to these and other questions by combining the most recent academic and popular writing on football. It covers a range of topics, including the role of supporters and the nature of 'fandom'; the business of football; relations with the media; and the development of playing styles, tactics and rules.

The Association Game is the first book to discuss football's development in England, Scotland, Walesand Northern Ireland and its relationship with Europe and the wider world. It is also the first to consider grassroots and amateur football alongside the professional game. It is a highly original and thorough examination of the history of the world's most popular game in the nations of its birth.

Back Jacket

The Association Game

Matthew Taylor

The book is excellent, the best in the field...an impressive piece of scholarship that provides a thorough synthesis of all significant writing on the history of British football by historians, geographers, political scientists and sociologists.Wray Vamplew, Professor of Sports History and Director of Research in Sports Studies, University of Stirling.

Beginning with football's humble beginnings as a public-school diversion to the multi-million pound industry that it is today, The Association Game tells the remarkable story of Britain's biggest, most popular national pastime. In tracing the history of the game from the first clubs and associations to its current position at the centre of British culture, Matthew Taylor seeks answers to the most important questions in football today:

• Has the so-called 'people's game' been transformed into a vehicle of global commercial interests?

• Have its star performers lost touch with their roots?

• Has football reinforced or challenged national identities in Britain?

• Is British football in terminal decline?

Combining the most recent popular and academic writing on football, this highly informative read also includes in-depth investigations into the nature of 'fandom', the development of playing styles, the business of football itself, and of course the development of tactics and 'rules of the game'. Taylor addresses the great controversies of the game, debating such topics as the status and earning of professional players and the phenomenon of hooliganism.

The Association Game is the first book to discuss football's development in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as its relationship with Europe and the wider world. Nobody who is serious about football should be without this book.

Matthew Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Portsmouth. His previous books include: Moving with the Ball: The Migration of Professional Footballers (with Pierre Lanfranchi, 2001) and The Leaguers: The Making of Professional Football in England 1900-1939 (2005).

Author Biography

Matthew Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Portsmouth. His previous books include: Moving with the Ball: The Migration of Professional Footballers (with Pierre Lanfranchi, 2001) and The Leaguers: The Making of Professional Football in England 1900-1939 (2005).