A People's History of Football

by Mickaël Correia

‘Correia takes us around the world to examine how soccer has produced the kind of political energy that can change minds and even topple governments’ Dave Zirin, Sports Editor, The Nation ‘An essential read for soccer fans everywhere’ Juliet Jacques, writer, filmmaker and journalist ‘A fascinating journey through the game’s history [as] a vehicle of change’ Shaka Hislop, former player, anti-racist educator and ESPN broadcaster A unique people's history of soccer, providing a global and diverse perspective on its origins to the present day Soccer is so much more than the billionaire owners and eye-watering signing fees that dominate the headlines. Look beyond the Premiership and the World Cup, the sublime brilliance of Messi and Mbappé, and you'll find a story unparalleled in the world of sport. From England, France, and Germany to Palestine, South Africa, and Brazil, A People's History of Soccer reveals how the 'beautiful game' has been a powerful instrument of emancipation for workers, feminists, anti-colonialist activists, young people, and protesters worldwide. Countering the clichés about soccer fans, Mickaël Correia dives into soccer countercultures born after the Second World War, from English hooligans to the ultras who played a central role in the 'Arab Spring.' With chapters on anti-fascism, the women's game, and the rise in community-owned clubs, Correia reminds us that soccer can be a powerful social and political force - as generous as it is subversive. Mickaël Correia is a journalist at Mediapart . He is the author of several books focusing on social and ecological struggles and working-class culture. He has written for Le Monde Diplomatique , Le Canard Enchaîné, and La Revue du Crieur . His passion for soccer began when he was 4, with kickabouts on the streets of Roubaix.

Genres: Sports, History, Nonfiction, Football, Soccer, Politics, Sociology

Paperback

Reviews

[emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘At a time when economic liberalism atomises individuals and converts our social habits into a source of profit, football is still synonymous with—a place where the ‘beautiful move’ cannot be monetised, and where for each player to flourish the team must move as one.’

The writing itself (stylistically especially) is not as ‘elegant’ as Eduardo Galeano’s writing, for example (it lacks the sublime/‘beauty’ of ‘football’ translated into text that exists in Galeano’s writings), but still seems very much like a very necessary book (written/published/read) for fans, and non-fans as well (for ‘all’). I found the book to be tremendously ‘enjoyable’ (having prior knowledge/introduction to the events mentioned in the book doesn’t actually spoil my/the reading experience at all if the writing is engaging and brilliant (which in this case, it is); if anything, it adds to the/my 'enjoyment' of the book). Fuller RTC later, maybe.

‘It is to this ‘other football’ that this book is dedicated. Contrary to some critics of the sport who bluntly describe football as a new ‘opium of the people’ and haughtily regard the millions of people who are passionate about the sport as an indistinct, alienated mass, this book argues that there is a subversive aspect to football and examines those who have made it a weapon of emancipation. Throughout its history and in every corner of the globe, football has been a crucible of resistance to the established order, whether it be that of the bosses, the colonial, dictatorial, or patriarchal order – or all of these at the same time. It has also allowed the emergence of new modes of struggling, of having fun, of communicating – in short, of existing.’

‘Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, one of the largest in London. Confronted with large strikes in the 1890s and the consolidation of the trade union movement within his company, he founded the Thames Ironworks Football Club in 1895 with the express objective of bringing workers closer to company executives. ‘Our club must bring together workers of all conditions within the same community’, he explained.5 While the team was quickly nicknamed ‘the Hammers’, in reference to the metalworkers’ hammers, the board of the club comprised gentlemen only, and in 1900 adopted the name West Ham United, becoming one of the leading clubs of the English leagues. Many other workers’ football clubs emerged under the patronage of industry leaders. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway launched its workers’ team in 1878 and was later taken on by wealthy brewer John Henry Davies to save it from bankruptcy: he renamed it Manchester United in 1902. The football team of the Royal Arsenal factory in Woolwich, south-east London, was created on the initiative of the munitions workers in 1886. Initially known as the Dial Square FC – after the workshop – the club adopted the name Arsenal in 1891.’

‘In the 1950s, while Real Madrid was associated with state power, FC Barcelona began to stand out as a tool of socio-political resistance and became not only the club of the city but of all Catalonia’, according to historian Josep—While Franco sought to use football as a tool to depoliticise the crowds and channel demands for autonomy, supporting Barça gradually became a form of popular anti-Francoism within reach of any Spaniard, regardless of their social category.’

‘—Barça is més que un club – more than a club. This mythical phrase that foregrounded the cultural power of FC Barcelona became the club motto. Barça acquired such a level of political and sporting popularity that it progressively pushed back against the limits imposed by the regime: from 1972, announcements in the stadium were made in Catalan, provoking the ire of the city governor, and the following year, the club recovered its original name: Futbol Club Barcelona – the absence of the accent on the ‘u’ marking the distinction between Spanish and Catalan.’

‘From adolescence, Pelé had led an ascetic life, abstaining from tobacco, alcohol and nightlife. His sporting rigour made him a model footballer, as humble as he was obedient, as technical as he was physical. A rare practice at the time, Pelé very early on invited an agent to negotiate his contracts and a manager to combine football and business. Pelé’s name was registered as a trademark before the footballer signed lucrative advertising contracts. While black international sports figures such as Muhammad Ali became the standard bearers of Black Power, King Pelé embodied a more consensual black consciousness, reassuring the football establishment.’

‘In Brazil, football fans rose up against the far-right partisans of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who had erected barriers blocking highways across the country in their refusal to accept Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory in the hard-fought presidential elections of 30 October 2022. The Supreme Court had sent the federal police to clear the roads. Yet some police officers were colluding with these pro-Bolsonaro demonstrations, meaning some 100 blockades remained. Where the security forces failed to break the blockades, supporters took matters into their own hands. On their way to their respective teams’ matches, ultras from SC Corinthians, Atlético Mineiro, Coritiba FC and Cruzeiro Esporte Clube tore down Bolsonarist barricades in the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná.

Showing continuity with the politically engaged history of SC Corinthians, which rebelled against the Brazilian military dictatorship in the early 1980s—More than ever, on the pitch, in the stands and in the street, an alternative history of football continues to be written.’

‘In the Cité des Musiciens in Argenteuil, a pitch named ‘San Siro’, after the mythical Milan stadium, has been a venue for Sunday football matches for over 25 years. ‘At the time, the Italian championship was one of the best in the world—The benchmark clubs were Inter and AC Milan—Beyond football, San Siro is very important to us—It’s where we meet to celebrate our dead [young people from the neighbourhood who died prematurely]. It’s where many conflicts have been resolved. It’s where we talk about the problems of the neighbourhood, and it has become a symbol of our ability to make things happen—We had written the names of our disappeared on the walls, we knew every square inch of the land. Destroying it meant destroying our history.’

‘Like the navétane championship in Senegal, or pitches in Brazilian favelas, French inner-city estates are a reservoir of elite players in the eyes of the football industry—Zinedine Zidane remains the emblematic ‘footballer from the estates’—’

‘I learned to play in the street and if you do me the honour of finding me elegant on the pitch, it’s because I had elegance on the street.’ — Johan Cruyff

‘Hitler detested football—’

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8/5 The book starts off well but plateaus towards the middle and then slightly picks up again. So many of the chapters dedicated to entire European countries could have been mixed into other chapters. However, when the book does delve into Arab, African, and Latin American regions, it’s excellent and hard to put down.

The book itself is great, but perhaps a little too long. Would have loved more on Latin America, Asia, and Africa. If you’re a fan of football looking to learn the history of the sport, this is a great place to start.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Histories of sport – ‘popular’ or academic – often tell the stories of power, of formal institutions, of sport’s elites, its stars and leaders. Quite a few of these histories may well tell oppositional or critical stories of these elites, but the focus remains on those at or near the tops of sports’ hierarchies even as they critique power. There is a smaller number of histories that explore sport through other lenses, some that focus on resistance to those in charge, to institutionalisation, to exclusion while some others deal with self-organisation and those cases where athletes and fans oppose not just the elites of sports’ organisations but where sport becomes a site of wider political resistance. Mickaël Correia do a good job at getting behind the orthodoxies of football histories to explore aspects of that resistance, self-organisation, and political struggle in and around football, taking both a long historical view and a global sweep, even as I recognise that the dominance of English language literature in global football studies and his position as a French writer results in an orientation towards those contexts and settings.

While broadly chronological the book’s sections give it a structure that means we avoid firstly any sense of whiggishness – the sense that the current form of football is an unavoidable outcome of what has gone before – and linearity in the narrative. Importantly Correia shows that football has been a contested site from the beginning, highlighting class pressures and exclusions in the game’s formulation, the struggles over professionalism and working class involvement, and the exclusion of women. From there he shifts focus to explicitly, politicised struggles against totalitarianism (Fascism in Italy, Germany, and Spain, and Stalinist orthodoxy in the USSR) and military dictatorship in Brazil as well as authoritarianism in Egypt during the ‘Arab Spring’. Woven through this is an emphasis on self-organisation and in places playing styles, as tropes that he extends into an exploration of football as an anti-colonial practice, with an emphasis on Algeria, Palestine, Brazil (again) and the Zapatistas in Mexico, and a sweeping survey across much of Africa.

The second half of the book then becomes more contemporary (and by that I mean the last 50 or so years – this history after all, contemporary takes on a different meaning in our world) with a dual focus initially on fans and fan cultures – ‘hooliganism’, including as a moral panic, the rise of the ultras in places such as Italy and Turkey, and Maradona as fan hero. This section in particular is a powerful reminder of the complexities of fandom, football, politics and identity. He then closes with an insightful discussion of cases of activism the challenges the football business and corporatisation – some well-known such as fan ownership of clubs or clubs such as Hamburg’s St Pauli, others less well known such as direct action against the hierarchical and domineering French Football Federation linked to the events of May 1968 in and around Paris and globally, French women’s struggles for participation in football, and the power of street football as an anti-corporate activity and site of struggle.

Correia’s broad sweep means that there is likely to be something new here for most readers, even the most dedicated of football aficionados. He makes good and sceptical use of scholarly and popular football writing, crafting a sharply focused argument showing ways into understanding football, and by implication other sports, as sites of political contest both in their organisation and their social significance. That makes it all the more valuable – although I would have liked a further reading list… but that might just be a sign of my academic world.

[giovi · Rating 4 out of 5]

so fascinating and such interesting diverse info but annoyingly anti-communist!

[Fred Culley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for anyone interested in football and politics.
Fascinating stories from football across the world, from early women's teams who fought against the control of men on their lives, left wing fan groups in Turkey defying Erdoğan's oppressive state to street football that has shaped Senegalese culture. Fab!

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good account of how soccer teams were used to rally people behind those who wanted to overthrow or otherwise remove from power dictatorships. The text covers a wide time frame, many different countries and continents and is a complete look at how these teams fared not only on the pitch but also for their popularity.

The text is quite dense and scholarly requiring very careful reading, but otherwise this is a fine work showing great depth in the research. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on three European dictatorships- the Nazis, Stalin and Franco.

[Miles Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, but kinda reads like a textbook.

Also I am now fully convinced that pep Guardiola is going to be the death of my enjoyment of soccer

[kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is THE book that i will never stop recommending. it made me love football and feel a good amount of hope for the future.

[Jack Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating deep dive into the history of football, and it's involvement as a conduit for social struggles throughout history

[Dina · Rating 5 out of 5]

my brand

[Ana Almeida · Rating 5 out of 5]

"women's football increasingly appeared as a vector in the crisis of gender identity and a challenge to the procreative role allocated to women"

[Derian Trahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I hold a belief, that has been debated and I understand both sides, that something isn’t history unless it’s told. If we do not have scholars who specialize in niche subjects and topics, like Correia, there are some aspects of history that will be lost in the annals of time. This book is an excellent example of to prevent this from happening.

From discussing the early history of soccer from a different voice to discussing how soccer is a vessel for legitimacy, A People’s History of Soccer codifies some of the greatest moments of soccer. Moments of soccer that occurred off the pitch. I always understood that soccer could be a mean for one to escape poverty, provide a break from the monotony of life, or provide an escape on Wednesday afternoon. However I didn’t understand just how powerful of a tool it could be in the face of oppression. How it allows people’s to mobilize, unite, and provide legitimacy for a cause or people.

The chapter that highlighted this the most for was when Correia discusses the clandestine Algerian National team. Now this saga should be turned into a movie. It shows just how powerful soccer is in providing a nation with the tools to free themselves of colonialism. Soccer is powerful, we can never forget that and I’m happy Correia did the greatest thing, he wrote it down.

[Ben Megathlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great overview of the history of soccer, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is a soccer fan. The chapters exploring supporter culture, particularly in in times of conflict or revolution, were inspiring, and I especially enjoyed the chapters on the origins of women's soccer and how the oppressed used soccer to organize in colonial north Africa.

That said, it feels less like a book than a collection of essays. While the book is broken down into thematic sections, there's not much of a narrative through line. The chapters aren't necessarily chronological, and we don't follow specific figures, teams, or organizations; each chapter is its own story that fits broadly into the theme of the section it is in. This doesn't take away from the information or stories that are told, but it does make the book feel disjointed at times. The writing can feel dry and academic as well, though I don't know if this a product of Correia's writing style or just the result of translating the book from French into English.

Ultimately, the chapters/essays are, for the most part, quite interesting. This is a great read for any soccer fan, and anyone who is interested in the intersection of sports and politics.
3.75/5

[Kaden Luther · Rating 4 out of 5]

A competent and detailed history for the football historian, A People’s History of Soccer is not only great reading for the sports fan but for any leftist in general who seeks to understand the importance of cultural institutions such as the football club to organization and achieving progress. Although I am not a huge fan of non-fiction books jumping around a lot whether geographically or chronologically, I find that the structure of this novel is relatively sound and doesn’t bother me so much, although it tends to drag either for subchapters or entire chapters at a time. On the other hand, it can also be particularly entertaining! I suppose it depends on what you’re more interested in specifically; i.e. football’s relationship with revolutionary movements such as the Spanish anti-fascist struggle or Algeria’s independence movement (like I am), football’s development alongside global capital, or fan culture and player rights history. There’s something for everybody in this case, at the very least.

[Lonnie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Football does not belong to those who profit from it, but to those who love it.”

A worthwhile read for anyone who loves the game of soccer. It does drag at times in some sections, but overall the stories shared produce a picture of the history of global soccer that is both deep and wide (despite moments of eurocentrism).

Correia covers early ball games in England and Scotland played in protest to Enclosure, the rise of teams of dock and mill workers in Northern England, the professionalization and industrialization of sport, early women’s leagues, anti and pro fascist teams and supporters during the early 20th century, Socrates and Corinthian Democracy, teams of Algerian freedom fighters, the good/bad/ugly of the working class makeup of ultras and hooligans, balaclava-adorned Zapatistas playing games in mexico, soccer in Gaza, the antifascist St. Pauli, and so much more.

[Nayzak Wali-Ali · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

This book was really difficult for me to get into initially. It read like a textbook in the first few chapters, getting into the histories of the inception of football. But once the author began to discuss Latin America, Africa, and the political/social movements associated with different clubs, it was fascinating! I felt like I was reading more about histories of social movements than just the sport. I got this book during the World Cup bc I wanted to know more about a sport that I was falling in love with. I will say this anthology of football has given me so much context that makes the sport even more interesting to me now! I usually don’t read books like this so it was a challenge but ended up enjoying. I don’t think I would casually recommend this book, but for the person who is committed to knowing more about football in a holistic and global way, pick it up!

[Will Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book charting the football which we all know but the story of which is rarely told in these days of extreme commercialization and homogenization.

This booked helped me remember why I love this game and what the soul of football really is, people playing a game together and supporting each other playing together and enjoying the communal experience together.

What i found truly inspiring were the tales of football fans defending democracy and standing up to authority. You forget how truly brilliant those movements of collective resistance are, you forget how the passion of football can be harnessed for good in this world.

[Freddie LR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Already one of my favorite books! Each chapter (and even most sub-chapters) could be expanded into their own books that I would love to read. So refreshing to read about soccer without the authors trying to be ‘apolitical’ or centrist. Love how this book bounces all around the world and puts the sport in greater historical context. It paints a nuanced picture of soccer’s expansion alongside British colonialism. Definitely need to look more into Mickaël Correia’s work. It is crazy that it took five years for this to be translated and published in English and it has only become more relevant in that time.

[Jaxson Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fascinating. It was so interesting reading about the impacts of history on soccer as well as soccers impact on history. Learning about the roots of soccer and how its culture is vastly different in each corner of the world really goes to show how soccer is sport that can unite and celebrate the uniqueness of a culture. Corriea, obviously, has deep passion and love for the sport that left me ready to go on a trip around the world to visit all the places he wrote about.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

A People's History of Soccer is a good historical read on the sport of football/soccer. It is informative and fun to read about the varied forms the game had taken to its operationalization and internationalization. 

This particular book paints the sport as a method of resistence, and the chapters are arranged primarily by countries whose people used the sport as a means of resisting oppression as they saw it. There is a lot to be desired in learning more about the history of the sport. 

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, not great, book about soccer's populist roots and current populist trends. Some sections were stronger than others. It also got repetitive after a while. Ultras fight each other, dictator lashes out, ultras join forces against regime. The modern history of English teams being taken by supporters was the best part.

[Douglass Gaking · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing volume covers football in all its forms from the streets to the stadiums and in communities on every continent. Soccer is a sport with a broad, complex history, and Correia explores concepts of class, identity, and authority while covering the fans, players, businesses, and governments who have shaped the beautiful game.

[Mark O'brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tedious but valuable look at the long, rich history of soccer. It touches on many aspects of the game and its impact on society going back to the 1300s. I prefer my history more factual, so the leftist tilt made me want to hear more from the other side. While much of the writing is ponderous, the book captures the roles of women in soccer, fan moves to take over teams, and much more.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I’m bias because I love football, but I found this book insightful. I didn’t particularly care for the early history of the sport because it’s a far-stretched, understanding the commercialization of football is important. Also, John Green supporting AFC Wimbledon adds up

[Μίλτος Τρ. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Πολύ καλογραμμένο, ένα βιβλίο που ταιριάζει στις ημέρες του Euro και παρουσιάζει τη δύναμη του ποδοσφαίρου σε όλο τον κόσμο τελείως διαφορετικά και δείχνει γιατί το ποδόσφαιρο είναι κάτι παραπάνω από ένα σπορ.

[Marykate · Rating 4 out of 5]

The politics of football are one of my favorite topics to read about. Super interesting & brought up a lot of things I was not aware about. My knowledge of footy is mostly concentrated in the Premier League/English pyramid system but this book opened my eyes to countries throughout the world.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wanted to give this 5 stars and at times it certainly is that good but is rather inconsistent towards the end.

The book is insanely interesting at first but trailed off towards the end for me. Still a must-read for anyone interested in soccer/politics.

[Oskar Groot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! Also, completely out of luck, it dovetailed very nicely with the last book I read, “If We Burn” by Vincent Bevins, as it discusses some of the same political events through a footballing lens. Would definitely recommend!

[Ernest · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting history of soccer from its early beginnings in 14th century Britain to its global expansion by the early 21st century. The cultural impact on class, race, and sex is told with detail. Also, the political and economic issues that athletes as activist impacted on the issues of global capitalism and labor/management conflicts are told. The book covers soccer's influence on nearly every area of the globe. Its deep cultural roots are why it is the most popular sport in the world.

[Emma Habel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was SO boring I can’t lie! I do think the topics overall are interesting but it is so long form here. I liked the chapters on sexism, street football, and the first bit of the dictatorship section.