In this edited volume, an international team of authors examines the development of football during the Second World War in a dozen European states. The volume concludes with essays on the representation of the topic in the arts and the media.

When most people think about the Netherlands, images of tulips and peaceful pot smoking residents spring to mind. Bring up soccer, and most will think of Johan Cruyuff, the Dutch player thought to rival Pele in preternatural skill, and Ajax, one of the most influential soccer clubs in the world whose academy system for young athletes has been replicated around the globe (and most notably by Barcelona and the 2010 world champions, Spain). But as international bestselling author Simon Kuper writes in Ajax, The Dutch, The War: Soccer in Europe During the Second World War, the story of soccer in Holland cannot be understood without investigating what really occurred in this country during WWII. For decades, the Dutch have enjoyed the reputation of having a "good war." The myth is even resonant in Israel where Ajax is celebrated. The fact is, the Jews suffered shocking persecution at the hands of Dutch collaborators. Holland had the second largest Nazi movement in Europe outside Germany, and in no other country except Poland was so high a percentage of Jews deported. Kuper challenges Holland's historical amnesia and uses soccer -- particularly the experience of Ajax, a club long supported by Amsterdam's Jews -- as a window on wartime Holland and Europe. Through interviews with Resistance fighters, survivors, wartime soccer players and more, Kuper uncovers this history that has been ignored, and also finds out why the Holocaust had a profound effect on soccer in the country. Ajax produced Cruyuff but was also built by members of the Dutch resistance and Holocaust survivors. It became a surrogate family for many who survived the war and its method for producing unparalleled talent became the envy of clubs around the world. In this passionate, haunting and moving work of forensic reporting, Kuper tells the breathtaking story of how Dutch Jews survived the unspeakable and came to play a strong role in the rise of the most exciting and revolutionary style of soccer -- "Total Football" -- the world had ever seen.

European Football in Black and White offers an engaging interpretation of a disturbing phenomenon in Europe's favorite sport: football violence fueled by racism. While many fans across Europe have used football to further destructive ethnocentric agendas, there are also pan-European initiatives in the football stadium to combat the almost endemic problem. Christos Kassimeris analyzes political ideologies that have influenced football supporters, drawing attention to the increasing politicization of football and the footballization of politics. He also considers the contributions of nationalism, social class, and media coverage before assessing attempts by various groups, from the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network to the European Union, to rectify the problem. Ultimately, he concludes that football needs to be dissociated from both racism and politics for the sport to flourish. Unlike more traditional attempts to explain football violence and racism, this book seeks to establish a Europe-wide as well as a national explanatory framework for racism from a political perspective. This study will draw the interest not only of scholars across the humanities and social sciences, but also of ordinary football supporters. Book jacket.

This volume draws together scholarship across a number of disciplines – history, sociology, media and cultural studies, political science, Slavonic Studies – to examine the significance of the sport of football within Southeastern Europe, with an especial focus on countries of the former Yugoslavia. The volume is timely as there is growing recognition inside and beyond the academy that football is a key cultural site in which the tensions within the region have and continue to be reflected. Important issues such as resurgent nationalism, ethno/religious identity construction, and collective masculine identity are played out in relation to the sport of football. The papers within the volume explore these and other themes in detailed case studies that will be of interest to academics and policy makers concerned with wanting to know more about how football should be considered within agendas focused on reconciliation and a socially inclusive future. This book was published as a special issue of Sport in Society.

‘The Europe of football’ is one of the aspects of the history of European integration that has generated the smallest amount of academic research. However, the successive invention of sporting traditions with a European calling since the Belle Epoque, followed by the creation of various European cups during the interwar constitute at the same time an original form of ‘Europe-building’ and a lasting contribution to the creation of a European space and spirit. The target of the authors in this book is to look back on the genesis of European competitions that leads to the creation of the European cups now organised by UEFA. It also seeks to show how football has made possible the setting up of a partially transnational space through sports journalism. Lastly, through the study of the mobility and connections of football’s actors, the different chapters will also try to identify the various phases of football’s Europeanisation process on the old continent. It will lay strong emphasis on the anthropological, cultural, economic, political and social aspects of this history, notably the production of body techniques, representations, emblematic figures, consumption habits and their role in the larger context of international relations. This book was previously published as a special issue of Sport in History.

Sport and the Home Front contributes in significant and original ways to our understanding of the social and cultural history of the Second World War. It explores the complex and contested treatment of sport in government policy, media representations and the everyday lives of wartime citizens. Acknowledged as a core component of British culture, sport was also frequently criticised, marginalised and downplayed, existing in a constant state of tension between notions of normality and exceptionality, routine and disruption, the everyday and the extraordinary. The author argues that sport played an important, yet hitherto neglected, role in maintaining the morale of the British people and providing a reassuring sense of familiarity at a time of mass anxiety and threat. Through the conflict, sport became increasingly regarded as characteristic of Britishness; a symbol of the ‘ordinary’ everyday lives in defence of which the war was being fought. Utilised to support the welfare of war workers, the entertainment of service personnel at home and abroad and the character formation of schoolchildren and young citizens, sport permeated wartime culture, contributing to new ways in which the British imagined the past, present and future. Using a wide range of personal and public records – from diary writing and club minute books to government archives – this book breaks new ground in both the history of the British home front and the history of sport.

The definitive book about soccer, from the author of The Games: A Global History of the Olympics. There may be no cultural practice more global than soccer. Rites of birth and marriage are infinitely diverse, but the rules of soccer are universal. No world religion can match its geographical scope. The single greatest simultaneous human collective experience is the World Cup final. In this extraordinary tour de force, David Goldblatt tells the full story of soccer's rise from chaotic folk ritual to the world's most popular sport-now poised to fully establish itself in the USA. Already celebrated internationally, The Ball Is Round illuminates soccer's role in the political and social histories of modern societies, but never loses sight of the beauty, joy, and excitement of the game itself.

More than any other sport, professional football contributed fighting men to the battles of World War II, and the 22 or so players or former players that lost their lives are among the riveting stories told in this tribute to football's war heroes that spans many decades and military conflicts. The National Football League counts three Congressional Medal of Honor recipients among its honors, along with numerous Silver Stars, Distinguished Flying Crosses, and Purple Hearts. When Football Went to War offers a ground-breaking look at football—college and professional football alike—and many of the wartime heroes who came off the field of play to fight for their country. Detailed biographies of those who gave their lives are supplemented by many other stories of wartime heroism, from World War I through to Pat Tillman's tragic death in the Global War on Terrorism. Football has become the most popular sport in America and this heartfelt book honors the many sacrifices of NFL athletes over the years in service of their country.

During World War I, American army camps, navy stations and marine barracks formed football's first true all-star teams, competing against each other and top colleges while raising millions of dollars for the war effort. More than fifty college football hall-of-famers, dozens of future generals, and two Medal of Honor winners would play for, coach, or promote military teams during the war, including Dwight Eisenhower, Walter Camp, and George Halas. In War Football: World War I and the Birth of the NFL, Chris Serb recounts a fascinating chapter of military and sports history. He details three of the best but long-forgotten seasons of American football, when college amateurs mixed with blue-collar pros on the field of play. These games showed investors a lucrative market for teams of post-collegiate stars and made players realize that their football careers didn’t have to end after college. Soon the barriers to professionalism began to fall, and within two years of the Armistice the National Football League was born. War Football explores for the first time this lost chapter of sports history and makes a direct connection between World War I and the founding of the NFL. Seven future Hall-of-Famers led the charge of more than 200 military veterans who played in, coached for, and shaped the character of the young league. Football fans, sports historians, and military historians alike will find this book a fascinating read.

The Queens of Europe is a series of books that tells the history of the greatest European Football Clubs. A collection of images, logos, data, uniforms, records, statistics, unobtainable photos and never written statistics will tell you the story of the greatest clubs in Europe. The history of UEFA club competitions, the champions of the continent and the finalist teams, the historical logos of the clubs, the historical kits, the appearances records and the goalscorers who made the history of the clubs, the coaches, the tactics, the palmarés and the cups won by the great teams, the individual trophies won by the players, the attendance records, the greatest victories, the historic stadiums and much more. The Part 1 will tell you the legend of Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Barcelona and Ajax. The Queens of Europe è una collana di libri che racconta la storia dei più grandi club di calcio europei. Una raccolta di immagini, loghi, dati, divise, record, statistiche, foto introvabili e statistiche mai scritte vi racconteranno la storia dei più grandi club d'Europa. La storia delle competizioni UEFA per club, i campioni del continente e le squadre finaliste, i loghi storici dei club, le divise storiche, i record di presenze e i marcatori che hanno fatto la storia dei club, gli allenatori, le tattiche, i palmarés e le coppe vinte dalle grandi squadre, i trofei individuali vinti dai giocatori, i record di spettatori, le vittorie più importanti, gli stadi storici e tanto altro. La prima parte ti racconterà la leggenda di Real Madrid, Milan, Bayern Monaco, Liverpool, Barcellona e Ajax. The Queens of Europe es una serie de libros que cuenta la historia de los grandes clubes de fútbol europeos. Una colección de imágenes, logos, datos, uniformes, récords, estadísticas, fotos inalcanzables y estadísticas nunca escritas te contarán la historia de los mejores clubes de Europa. La historia de las competiciones de clubes de la UEFA, los campeones del continente y los equipos finalistas, los logos históricos de los clubes, las equipaciones históricas, los récords de presencias y los goleadores que hicieron la historia de los clubes, los entrenadores, la táctica, el palmarés y las copas ganadas por los grandes equipos, los trofeos individuales ganados por los jugadores, los récords de asistencia, las mayores victorias, los estadios históricos y mucho más. La primera parte te contará la leyenda del Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern de Múnich, Liverpool, Barcelona y Ajax. The Queens of Europe ist eine Buchreihe, die die Geschichte der größten europäischen Fußballvereine erzählt. Eine Sammlung von Bildern, Logos, Daten, Uniformen, Aufzeichnungen, Statistiken, nicht erhältlichen Fotos und nie geschriebenen Statistiken erzählt Ihnen die Geschichte der größten Vereine Europas. Die Geschichte der UEFA-Klubwettbewerbe, die Meister des Kontinents und die Finalistenmannschaften, die historischen Logos der Vereine, die historischen Trikots, die Einsätze rekorde und die Torschützen, die die Geschichte der Vereine geschrieben haben, die Trainer, die Taktiken, die Palmarés und die Pokale der großen Mannschaften, die einzelnen Trophäen der Spieler, die Zuschauerrekorde, die größten Siege, die historischen Stadien und vieles mehr. Im ersten Teil erfahren Sie mehr über die Legenden von Real Madrid, AC Mailand, Bayern München, Liverpool, Barcelona und Ajax.