Product Description

European football is growing to gargantuan proportions. Thanks to the expansion of the Champions' League, the best club sides appear on television almost every week. The European Championships grow bigger and more lucrative with every tournament. Yet what lies beyond the faux-classical strains of the Champions League theme music? Is modern European football just big business. or is the game a vehicle for passion, spirit and national identity? In an attempt to find out, Charlie Connelly embarks upon a European journey in search of the soul of the European game. From Spain's Primera Liga to the Faroe Islands' Second Division, this book examines the game at all levels in some of Europe's most diverse nations and puts the game in its political and social context. In Bosnia, Charlie Connelly finds football succeeding where politics has failed in uniting ethnic rivals. In Spain, he visits the top flight club that represents a fiercely independent people, and in Italy, he visits Turin, a city united in grief 50 years to the day after Europe's greatest club side was killed in a plane crash. In France, he watches the Third Division team that want to take up residence in the Stade de France and become a major force in Europe play in front of 500 diehards. A journey to Northern Ireland reveals a struggling side forced to play every match across an international border. And in Vienna, Connelly goes in search of the legacy of an Austrian football legend who came to a mysterious end after standing up to the Nazis. His journey of over 20,000 miles ends at the northernmost football club in the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #471345 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

Customer Reviews

Outstanding and perceptive
This is the book the game in Europe has been waiting for. Charlie Connelly has penned the best book about football since Simon Kuper's 'Football Against The Enemy' six years ago.

Concentrating on the lesser-known countries like the Faroe Islands as well as the better-known ones, Connelly goes beyond the clubs and national teams to discover where they fit in their countries and what they mean to people.

The chapter on Sindelar the Austrian player is possibly the best piece of football writing ever whilst the chapter onm the Superga disaster gives a much better idea of that tragic event than the whole book that recently came out about it.

Helped by Sarah Williams's magnificent photography this book is essential reading for anyone who cares about the game and wants to find out more about Europe. Thgere are tales here that everyone should know and it is beautifully written if badly edited in places.

Spirit High Passion Pure
Excellent book. Worth the money. Charlie really captures the feeling of Europe, from the outer reaches of the of Atlantic islands to the War torn parts of Western Europe. From great names to less well known 'stars'.

This book is a great read and I can only say that Charlie is a great writer.

An Intelligent Read
This is the type of football book I really enjoy. Intelligent and well written and with a focus on some of the countries that don't get the press attention they deserve. There are some great stories and lots of historical background to the teams and players. Well recommended.