Overview

'A tour-de-force that touches on how soccer is always mixed up with politics in every corner of the globe' Mehreen Khan, The Times and co-host of the 'Humans & Heroes' soccer podcast 'Brings us closer to the overlooked aspects of soccer, the social and political ones, which truly imbue clubs with soul' Carles Viñas, author of St. Pauli: Another Soccer is Possible Think you know everything about soccer? Which soccer match triggered a war? How did 'the beautiful game' push back against the tyranny of dictatorship, and usher another into power? Kicking Off Around the World includes 55 incredible stories in which soccer clubs have been a mirror to—and a maker of—world history and politics. Full of anecdotes, surprising facts and illustrations, Ramon Usall mixes the grassroots with the greatest of all time; the unknown and the unforgettable. He looks at the women’s game, soccer during the war in Ukraine, and stories of clubs from Britain to the US, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, from soccer under the Nazis to the communists and everyone in between.  

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9780745350424

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Reviews

'A tour de force that touches on how football is always mixed up with politics in every corner of the globe' -- Mehreen Khan, The Times and co-host of the Humans & Heroes football podcast 'Usall brings us closer, through these 55 stories, to that often overlooked and underestimated aspect of football, the most social, political, and advocacy-driven one, which truly imbues clubs with soul and keeps them rooted in their respective communities' -- Carles Viñas, author of 'St. Pauli: Another Football is Possible' 'An absolute must for anybody interested in the history of football clubs. Kicking Off Around the World not only provides riveting stories, it also reveals surprises about the politics of football that will keep you engaged throughout the whole book.' -- Stephen Ortega, Global Sports Initiative, Harvard University 'Engaging …  a deliberate riposte to the notion that sport and politics shouldn’t mix' -- <i>TLS</i>

'A tour de force that touches on how football is always mixed up with politics in every corner of the globe' -- Mehreen Khan, The Times and co-host of the Humans & Heroes football podcast 'Usall brings us closer, through these 55 stories, to that often overlooked and underestimated aspect of football, the most social, political, and advocacy-driven one, which truly imbues clubs with soul and keeps them rooted in their respective communities' -- Carles Viñas, author of 'St. Pauli: Another Football is Possible' 'An absolute must for anybody interested in the history of football clubs. Kicking Off Around the World not only provides riveting stories, it also reveals surprises about the politics of football that will keep you engaged throughout the whole book.' -- Stephen Ortega, Global Sports Initiative, Harvard University

Author Information

Ramon Usall is a writer, academic and political activist. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Lleida, and regularly writes in different media on the relationship between sport, history, society and politics. He is the author of Futbol per la llibertat, which won the Josep Vallverdú Essay Prize. Luke Stobart is an academic and writer, as well as a translator and interpreter. He is a lecturer in Spanish history and politics at King's College, London, and economic history at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He is currently writing a book on contemporary left-wing politics and movements in the Spanish state.

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