Football isn't all about players, tactics or even satellite telly. It's about a culture. A culture born out of the obsession, fanaticism and humour that is football fandom. The ultimate product of that culture is the Geezer. The sexist, elitist and abusive yob who, clad in his designer clothes, follows his chosen team week in, week out. Every club has them in their hundreds, but who or what are they? And just why do they do what they do?

This volume investigates the way in which football supporters around the world express themselves as followers of teams, whether they be professional, amateur or national. The diverse geographical and cultural array of contributions to this volume highlights not only the variety of how fans express themselves, but their commonalities as well. The collection brings together scholars of North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa to present a global picture of fan culture. The collection shows that while every group of fans around the world has its own characteristics, the role of a football fan is laced with commonalities, irrespective of geography or culture. This book was previously published as a special issue of Soccer and Society.

What does a football hooligan do outside football? In the case of Mark Chester, the answer was: live off his wits and burn the candle at both ends. Sex, Drugs And Football Thugs is part travelogue, part confessional, and by turns harrowing and hilarious.

This book is a fascinating journey through a series of scholarly articles. The journey begins by tracing one of the most significant stories in the popularization of Association Football. In the next leg of the journey it charts the diverse and changing face of the modern British game. It then moves on to the global spread of the game from England and its domestication and appropriation in its new homes across the planet. It also investigates the exchanges which are increasingly taking place between these new homes of football. In the concluding pieces football’s global experience is compared with the attempts at globalizing baseball and drawing out the larger patterns that inform football’s global experience. This book was published as a special issue in Soccer and Society.

Why hooliganism and racism are killing footballThe media and police claim the battle against football hooligans has been all but won. Those who study the culture of football know only too well that behind the squeaky clean corporate image being fed to the public lie some dark and unpalatable truths.Compiled by best-selling author, screenwriter and world-renowned hooliganism expert Dougie Brimson, KICKING OFF picks up the debate where BARMY ARMY left it - Euro 2000 and the horrific murders of two Leeds United fans in Turkey.In his own uncompromising style Brimson exposes the truth and paints a disturbing picture of what lies ahead for the game if the culture of hate, racism and violence remains unchecked.

Bridget Jones's Diary... for lads!For Billy Ellis, life is one series of disasters after another. His haemorrhoids have just cost him promotion, his new boss is threatening to move in next door, and on the very occasions he need a condom, he can't even buy a packet without almost getting arrested. As if that wasn't bad enough, he's suddenly woken up to the fact that he's almost thirty, still single and has the looks that give a new meaning to the word 'average'.But at the end of last year, as always, Billy read his 'Log of Life' and vowed to make things better.And this year, he succeeded. Eventually.Billy's Log reveals the frustrations of life for a single male and the never-ending battle to understand the workings of the female mind.

Modern football is an industry and capitalism is its engine. However, this book argues for a more nuanced understanding of contemporary football culture and the (self-)identity of football fans. Drawing on original ethnographic research conducted with fans at all levels, from international to lower league, the book explores the tensions between fans as consumers and ‘traditional’ football cultures, arguing that modern football fans are able to negotiate the discourses of capitalism and tradition operating upon them to enact their own power and identity within football culture. Featuring case studies of Norwich City, MK Dons and Chelsea fans, this is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in sport and society or cultural studies.