The Soccer Tribe

by Desmond Morris

A coffeetable book around the sport of soccer and the world cup.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Soccer, Anthropology, Football

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Desmond John Morris (24 January 1928 - 19 April 2026) was an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology.
He is known for his 1967 book The Naked Ape, and for his television programmes such as Zoo Time.

After the death of his wife in 2018 he lived with his son and family in Ireland.[ Morris died in Naas, County Kildare, on 19 April 2026, at the age of 98.

abridged from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Owlseyes]

I just want to understand the Ronaldo mess case.
Will he get back to Vegas...for a police interrogation?

[Ted Feder · Rating 5 out of 5]

In times of World Cup, an anthropological analysis of soccert - we are all members of a tribe.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the most interesting books on footy I've come across. It was published in 1981 and is a kind of anthropological study of Football fans as a "tribe." Yes, that's dated for sure. The book includes some great photographs and some interesting histories/discussion of club badges. This seems hard to track down (I found it at the library) but it is very cool and well worth your time!

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a scientific study of the game of football where the game is compared to a tribe. Most of the examples are from the English football leagues. The book has plenty of pictures to illustrate authors various arguments. I think the analogy with a tribe sticks very well as by the end of the book I was convinced beyond all doubts. Why no other game has been able to grab the imagination like football had always been one of the many mysteries of my life. Relatively simple rules, team bonding, flow of the game, and arenas are some of the main reasons why football is a clear leader over many other team sports.

The book gets rather tedious though because of repetition, and too much detail for someone like me who has some knowledge but no great love of soccer.

[adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I would really enjoy this book. The content was interesting but not what I had in mind. It read more like a history of football & it’s rules. Some interesting info and some funny pictures.

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

An anthropologist takes a look at the worldwide phenomenon of football (soccer). So, very worth reading.

[Yacoob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vlastně jsem od toho čekal trochu něco jiného, ale přesto jsem nebyl zklamaný. Jedna hvězdička dolů za to, že chybí zdroje pro nejrůznější tvrzení, a hlavně kvůli tomu, že jsou rozostřené švy mezi prvním vydáním v sedmdesátých letech a aktualizací v roce 2016. U některých pasáží tak není jasné, zdali ještě platí, nebo se přeci jen za těch 40+ let fotbal posunul někam jinam. Asi by to chtělo z tohoto pohledu některé kapitoly komplet přepsat, ale chápu, že na to Morris už neměl sílu. I tak je to ale zajímavé čtení.