More Than A Shirt: How Football Shirts Explain Global Politics, Finance and Power

by Joey D'Urso

Football is the world's most popular sport, and the shirts worn by teams and their supporters are its greatest means of cultural expression. Every year clubs launch new kits with increasingly extravagant marketing campaigns and convoluted explanations of how their designs reflect their history and local community. But football shirts are much more than just a symbol of which club we support. A seemingly innocuous combination of colours, sponsor logos and materials can all reflect the social values, financial struggles and political ideologies of the day, as geopolitical issues increasingly seep into every aspect of the game. Investigative journalist Joey D'Urso has travelled across the globe, combining on-the-ground reporting with unparalleled analysis to collate a list of the twenty-two football shirts that best explain the modern world. 

Genres: Football, Sports, Nonfiction, Politics, Soccer, Audiobook, Fashion

355 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 19, 2025

Reviews

[Sara F · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book wasn't what I expected. It's more into politics and how front of the shirt sponsors are sometimes used for unethical purposes. It is quite interesting in parts and I was quite intrigued and was going to give the book 4 stars...however, come page 309, it is very clear the Xenophobia and disregard and callous indifference to the life of non-whites.The wording is deliberately loaded, using asymmetrical language to shape the reader’s perception of MiddleEasterns. He describes Palestinians as violent and terrorists. He went into a gruling detailed description of the horrendous October 7th attack on "civilians" and mentioned sexual torture. While describing Israel's killings as " victories over its Arab neighbors" and " bombing Gaza". Completely dehumanizing the Palestinian population. Keep in mind this book mentioned Newcastle winning the Carbao Cup in March 2025. So, at the time this book was written Israel's war was identified as a genocide and they brutaly murdered thousands of children and hundreds of the writer's fellow jouralists. D' Urso's complete disregard for these lives made me question the validity of everything else he wrote in the book. It may not be based on facts, but on D'Urso's xenophobia, apathy and dehumanization of people of Asian decent.

[Colm Hawkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Link between issue and shirt not always entirely convincing but on the whole it's well-crafted and a novel way of examining football's relationship with these issues

[Matty Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading - well researched book understanding the cultural and historical trends that influence shirt sponsorship with different examples.

Easy to read for a heavy topic and lots of interesting nuggets. Especially liked how global it was as it’s always boring to hear about the same 10 teams.

[Greg McEnaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really clever way of conveying both (now seemingly) obvious and obscure links between the ever colliding, grubby worlds of sports, money and politics that I'd never really made myself. Also provided inspiration for some off the beaten track grounds to visit. Today I feel informed.

[Santiago Melo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imprescindible, es una maravilla

[Kris Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last chapter of this book is about crypto currency, and the idea of football players who sold fans an "empty bill of sale," promising one thing and delivering....nothing. I won't say this book is "nothing," but it is definitely different from what I expected.
I ordered this book after a Tiktok by D'Urso showed up on my feed telling the story of why Croatia wears a red and white checkered shirt. It was fascinating - and opened a door I'd never really considered: Why do football kits look the way they do? I fell down the rabbit hole, watched several of D'Urso's TikToks, and fell for the advertisement inherent within and bought the book. I EXPECTED a historical exploration of different teams (national teams and club teams, I'm not picky) and how the designs developed. Instead I got 11 chapters about sponsors. Good sponsors, bad sponsors -- sponsors. Instead of really digging into the KITS themselves, the book is about the sponsors on (or in some cases - Barcelona - NO sponsor) and D'Urso's personal views on those sponsors.
D'Urso is a writer for The Athletic, (A fact he mentions no less than 100 times... "In an article for The Athletic I wrote...." or "A colleague of mine at The Athletic"... one could say this makes the book itself something of a football kit sponsored by The Athletic.) and to be honest, he should probably stick to journalistic writing. His writing at book level is weak, repetitive, and uninspired. It's all to clear that the heart of this book is a series of articles he had previously written that someone said "why don't you tweak those and make them a book?" The answer is - he's not good at tweaking.
In an editorial piece it's OK (in fact expected) to have personal views heavily intermingled with the topic. It's much less comfortable when a supposedly educational book about football gear is intermingled with repeated references to "my team" and "my home team." In addition, it's painfully clear which teams D'Urso PERSONALLY dislikes (at times he literally makes denegrating comments) and which teams he feels are far below the "acceptable" level of the upper Premiere League. His comments about CONCACAF teams carry a tone that is dismissive and condescending - he seems surprised that fans outside of the UK have actual passion about football.
And don't get me started on his treatment of women in sport. I'll just share a quote....After explaining that the only reason he'd gone to a women's game was a last minute decision because a friend who was a fan of Arsenal offered him a ticket to the Arsenal women's game. In describing the "completely full" stadium, D'Urso comments the "women and girls" in attendance made "...the crowd noises notably higher in pitch compared to what I was used to hearing in male-dominated stadiums." Seriously? As a "reputable journalist" your first comment about a women's game is that the fans are "high pitched?" This kind of thoughtless and oblivious comment is present throughout the book - jarring moments that serve as reminders that the writer is NOT an expert of any kind, just "some guy" who loves football and decided to write a book.

So why 3 stars? Because with that caveat -- that this is a book about the impact of sponsorship on global football (a highly relevant topic given the current FIFA fiasco) written by someone with low level expertise in the topic, it's not awful. The chapters are very unbalanced - some chapters, like the one on Chinese gambling impacts, are clearly areas D'Urso has researched more thoroughly and are interesting. Other chapters (like the women's game, or the final chapter on cryptocurrency which turns into a personal rant against crypto and NFTs) are weak additions made to try to reach his "22 shirts, enough for 11 players on two opposing teams."

Recommend it? No. Resent the time I spent reading it? Eh - I was on a plane for about half of it, so not really. This is somewhere between a 2.5 and a 3 depending on how badly my team played in their last game.

[Matilda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Football is not my thing, but I was still completely absorbed by this book. It's filled with fascinating snippets of history and geopolitics, interwoven with vivid travel writing and great journalism. The author's passion for the subject makes it hard not to be compelled by his arguments about the game's ubiquity and impact. I may never love football - but this book did give me a newfound respect for it, and how it both shapes and reflects the world.

[Andy Whitaker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Found it difficult to engage in this book which moved constantly between politics, culture and global football

Would have been more interested in one which had a more localised focus - eg the “20 sponsors” of Aston Villa - their links to local community if any - the ambitions of the sponsor - their success or otherwise.

So - great idea for a book but to me missed target big time- shame.

[Aaron Champagne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to read a soccer book before I started watching the World Cup, and this did not disappoint. In the vein of Franklin Foer's "How Soccer Explains the World", D'Urso shows the connections between the world at large (Oil money, organized crime, politics... ) and the "beautiful game".

[Robert Forster · Rating 4 out of 5]

An awful lot crammed in covering many subjects, mostly not about football despite the 'football shirt' pinning the book together. A really interesting read which highlights how politics, money, religion and sport go hand in hand the world over.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the perfect book to read during the World Cup this year. I learned so much. This book definitely made me look at some of my soccer jerseys I own quite differently.

[Sam Cornall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well researched. Brilliant way to make geopolitics more interesting. The perfect book for a football neek 👍🏽

[Brian G Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about modern soccer/football. You already knew some of the advertisements were more than just that and this explains it all in detail.

[Mise Enda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right up my street now, to be fair.

[Mansi V · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars*

Some very interesting parts, and I feel like I did learn a lot (not that I can remember it that much!). In general, I liked the variety of themes and clubs explored, and also the overall structure of the book.

I can't say anything about the writing particularly stood out to me, and sometimes the book did veer a bit more towards history lesson, losing the focus at times, which whilst it is understandable in terms of building the overall picture, I did sometimes find these parts a bit boring.

What mostly bought it down for me was the xenophobia and thinly veiled zionism. Whilst I liked the inclusion of Women's football, it did at times feel a bit like an afterthought, especially when he referred to as who I'm assuming was meant to be Alex Morgan as Chloe Morgan?

[Ricardo Dias · Rating 3 out of 5]

how could such a rigorous footballing journalist affirm that Étoile Sportive du Sahel are the most decorated club in Tunisia? that was a really awkward mistake, easily spotted by any football fan with reasonable knowledge about African football

[Chris Cullinane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings on this book. Some chapters were more interesting and informative than others, namely those on Saudi Arabia, women's football and crypto, which were good. The whole football shirt framing is at times tenuous, with long, meandering sections that don't mention shirts at all (but I get that they serve merely as an introduction to the wider issue - there's only so much one can actually say on shirts themselves).

I expected this book by a seemingly fairly high profile journalist to be somewhat more well written than it is. The style isn't particularly catching and there are one or two extremely glaring mistakes. I also feel the author is overly gushy about the United States (ew) and is too critical of Hamas without being as harsh on the exponentially worse Israel - always a red flag. I know it's a journalist's job to be objective, but the whole thing screams of fence-sitting centrism, aside from the cypto chapter which is seemingly his area of expertise.

All of this sounds quite scathing, although on the whole I did enjoy it and I learned a decent amount. A lack of rigor on the author's part just annoyed me sometimes.

[Joe Suffield · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a cynic, i read the opening chapter of this and immediately decided to dislike the author. The reason, he lived down the road from me, went to a similar school to me, was a similar age to me but went to Oxford. Obviously he was given something I never had. As I reflected on this as the book progressed I realised this was just me being a pretentious arsehole. This did mean I was able to enjoy the book considerably more. While the themes within it are big and grandiose, they are definitely palatable and compresses difficult complicated subjects into easy to relate stories. The link with football was often tenuous and the desire to have 2 shirts per chapter felt laborious and often shoehorned in. Also, every other sentence was “I wrote about this in the athletic…” or words to that effect. But on the whole, an enjoyable read and would recommend to a football fan.

[Derek Nudd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, interesting look at the worlds of politics, crime, commerce, bigotry, migration and conflict through football (soccer if you're American or Australian) sponsorship. A very few editing whoopsies don't detract from the achievement. A sports writer with a wider interest might have brought in Formula One sponsorship, which started about five years earlier and introduced such innovations as Colin Chapman renaming his team (twice) so he could repaint his cars in the sponsor's colours. Still, an entertaining read - this from someone who doesn't follow footy.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. It cleverly combines football, politics, and culture, using shirts as a way to look at what’s happening beyond the pitch. It shows how the game connects to the wider world.

Well-written and clearly thoroughly researched. It's a smart take on the game. Very enjoyable and thought-provoking.









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[Alex Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly topical book well researched and written

[Matt Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting, thought provoking book that is incredibly well-researched. It is amazing how much a simple football shirt can tell us about so many different issues in the world.

[Max Cleworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book, really well written and researched, absolutely sped through it

[Scott Christie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfocused, shallow analysis, dull delivery.

[Joe O'Donnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the biggest regrets of my life is selling my 1991 Sampdoria home jersey to a mate for a fiver (original copies of this shirt now go for over €200 on ebay). But football jerseys have a worth far beyond how much they retail for or the cloth they are cut from. Club football shirts have huge socio-political significance. They can be highly effective “means of cultural expression” and these seemingly innocuous jerseys can “reflect the social values, financial struggles, and political ideologies of the day”. At least these are the arguments put forward by the football and data writer Joey D’Urso in his entertaining, wide-ranging “More Than A Shirt”.

“More than a Shirt” might be considered a companion piece to Miguel Delaney’s recent “States of Play” in that both titles cover the terrain of sportswashing and football’s entanglement with geopolitical forces. Where D’Urso parts company with Delaney is his use of football shirts “as a tool to explain the world around us”. Having crossed five continents as part of his research, D’Urso presents 22 jerseys that – he believes – illustrate the conflicting identities and culture wars of our times, and the economic and political forces reshaping our world.

And the examples that D’Urso outlines are extensive and intriguing. He starts with Schalke’s shirt sponsorship with Gazprom as a representation of Germany’s disastrous energy dependence on Putin’s Russia. He details the far from obvious instances of Envigado FC of Colombia (whose shirt bares the face of Pablo Escobar, the notorious international drug carter leader) and FC Goa of India, the latter being an example of football is increasingly being corrupted by online gambling.

D’Urso investigates Barcelona’s shirt ‘sponsorship’ with the Qatar Foundation, and how the once-venerated Barca jersey, “rather than being a vessel for the interests of Catalan identity … became a vessel for the interests of Qatar, funded by its enormous gas reserves”. Similarly, he explores Newcastle United’s green-and-white away kit – which conveniently happen to be the colours of the Saudi Arabian flag – and how that proud working-class institution from the north-east of England “is now a tool in projecting Saudi power”. Novelly, D’Urso also uses the case of a jersey that wasn’t commercially available – Mary Earps’s England goalkeeper jersey – to consider the strength of the women’s game and how the controversy over Earps’s kit “symbolises the fight for women’s football kit to be taken seriously”.

“More Than A Shirt” is remarkably eye opening on the extent of the rogues’ gallery – from autocratic petro-chemical states, the legal and illegal gambling sectors, drug dealers, and crypto-bullshitters – seeking to bleed football dry for their own nefarious ends. Occasionally, one or two of D’Urso’s arguments doesn’t connect (his attempt to link the French National shirt to France’s post-colonial challenges appears tenuous), but he is clear-sighted on explaining concepts like ‘white-labelling’ in an accessible way. That he largely succeeds in his mission of showing how football can help us “better understand the world around us beyond football” is a credit to his astuteness as a political and economic analyst, but also down to the fact that he is a football fan who understands the joy and beauty of the game in its purest form.

One caveat: if Joey D’Urso wanted an example of how football shirts could be a force for good, he need only have cited my own beloved Bohemian F.C. of Dublin, who have given over their own jerseys for causes ranging from refugee rights, trade unionism, and Palestine solidarity. If D’Urso is planning a second edition or sequel, he might consider including ‘The Bohs’. Or, indeed, that 1991 Sampdoria home jersey.

[Suhas Das · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, I want to start this review by saying that even though this is D'Urso's debut novel, his ability to tell stories in a way that's engaging makes me excited to read his future works. This novel had a series of 12 chapters, where each chapter bar one was a real life story of D'Urso traveling and attending soccer (sorry, I'm American) games around the world in the ultras section. The way he describes the scenes, moods of the supporters, and testimonials make us feel like we are the ones screaming at the top of our lungs in Medellin, Houston, and Gelsenkirchen.

Second, I am always someone who has believed that sports and politics are two sides of the same coin: Both are aspects of human culture because both are a form of identity and expression. It's hard to describe the feeling of attaching oneself to the outcomes and actions of a sports team to non-sports fans, but to me and billions around the world, it's always been more than just "games". This is why I love how D'Urso treats soccer teams as an aspect of culture rather than a corporate entity and treats each jersey as a canvas of stories from the socioeconomic, historical, and political contexts of the region and people that each kit represents. Each chapter is full of information that makes you not only learn about a team, but also the struggles and plight of social movements such as the women's movement and the Palestinian fight for liberation and how soccer and sport continues to have a profound impact in them.

Third, D'Urso challenges us at the beginning of the novel to investigate our local team's kit, and the stories behind them and how they were built by the people of the city they represent. I've lived in Atlanta for two years now for graduate school, and I have always felt like an outsider here, expect for when I'm in the Benz at an Atlanta United game (somewhere I wish D'Urso had visited in his US chapter as the fan culture in Atlanta is the most unique in MLS). The Atlanta United shirt has five stripes that signify the 5 pillars of virtue that the city of Atlanta was built on and that the city's many civil rights leaders such as Dr. King championed in the fight against segregation. The colors of the kit and design also highlight Atlanta's history as a railroad hub, something that is further emphasized of our goal siren being a train horn. Finally, just as D'Urso would sit in ultras sections to learn about the fan and city culture, I got the chance to sit in the ultras section, where I learned that the signature songs that AU sings for all 90 minutes are not just in English, but are also in Spanish to include and pay homage to the large hispanic population in the city that has played a huge part in its history. Prior to reading this novel, I only ever saw the Atlanta United shirt as a shirt, especially because sports in America are so corporatized compared to the rest of the world (also something D'Urso does a good job tackling). However, after reading this novel, I see the AU shirt as a mosaic of Atlanta's history and outlook into the future as one of the fastest growing communities in the world.

If there's one thing to take away from the review. This isn't just a sports book, nor is it just a political book. It's both. It's an interesting novel about history, politics, culture, and expression through sport.

[Jack Mckeever · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joey D'urso's exploration of how football shirt front for geopolitical movements and historic events with global impact isn't exhaustive, but it still feels immensely eye-opening for the most part.

From the influence and murkiness surrounding Russian gas contracts and Germany in Serbia, or exposing the malignant forces behind illegal gambling and cryptocurrency ventures in the Far East and Turkey, he accessibly and astutely highlights the stories football shirts tell.

Some of the tales, like the devastating impact of the collapsed Cryptodragons currency on the lives of working people in Turkey, resonate on a personal, emotional level. In the same chapter, his coverage of just how instrumental banks and financial institutions can be in dictating the fiscal development of some teams on the world stage, including the Australian women's national team.

Some of them, like the story of how Atletico National printed shirts with the outline of Pablo Escobar's face on them, prove just how far-reaching football can be when reflecting politics and community development.

Perhaps most intriguing of all, in current climes, is the story of Palestino FC, the Chilean side founded by Palestinian migrants who were banned and fined by their nation's FA for displaying the outline of Mandatory Palestine on a 2014 shirt.

D'urso is mostly gripping, engaging and grounded in his analysis. He doesn't offer much in the way of strident opinion, choosing instead to focus on the facts and shadowy intrigue behind them.

One minor point of irritation is that D'urso seemingly often assumes that nobody knows anything about his talking points. This is understandable in the case of something like The Troubles, for example; it's likely that many readers outside the UK or US will be unfamiliar with the conflict's extent. It's less feasible, however, when he actually takes the time to explain online/mobile banking.

Overall a really enjoyable read for anybody interested in politics, football or history.

[Mehedi Sujan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twenty-two football shirts that explain the world, geopolitics and the biggest stories of our time. Football is the world's most popular sport, and the shirts worn by teams and their supporters are its greatest means of cultural expression. Every year clubs launch new kits with increasingly extravagant marketing campaigns and convoluted explanations of how their designs reflect their history and local community. But football shirts are much more than just a symbol of which club we support. A seemingly innocuous combination of colours, sponsor logos and materials can all reflect the social values, financial struggles and political ideologies of the day, as geopolitical issues increasingly seep into every aspect of the game.
Investigative journalist Joey D'Urso has travelled across the globe, combining on-the-ground reporting with unparalleled analysis to collate a list of the twenty-two football shirts that best explain the modern world.  More Than A Shirt will take fans on a journey from Birmingham to Belgrade and on to Medellin and Mumbai, outlining how we can see the war in Ukraine in the shirt of Schalke in Germany or China's foreign policy in West Bromwich Albion's; how the shirts of state-owned clubs are used for sportswashing; and why the French national kit embodies worldwide migration patterns.
A compelling and eye-opening exploration, More Than A Shirt is essential reading for any football fan and will change the way you think about the beautiful game's most universal symbol.

[Udhriti · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of mixed feelings. This book talks about a lot of things like immigration, gambling, conflict, women’s rights, identity, geopolitics and the rise of crypto through football shirts. But with little success at times. D’Urso brings a very Western perspective into the nuances that are embedded within these seemingly broad topics. In some parts he does drive the point home. No doubt the book is informative and well researched. However in my personal opinion such a task requires an ethnographic understanding of football culture rather than journalistic story telling. Such a journalistic approach makes the book crowded. Each chapter could be a book informs itself. This is book isn’t bad but it is lacking in ways that I don’t think the author is capable of resolving.
Also very little in the book actually relates back to football shirts. Sometimes you feel that D’Urso wrote a few chapters around football shirts and then later went back to make the connection to football shirts throughout the book when the title was finalized. It feels a little sloppy for that reason.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, I thought this was about why stripes and not solid colors, and why blue and not orange. Gladly it wasn't about that.

This is more like a view of the world through the lens of football teams across the world. I'm not a football fan and don't follow absolutely any league in the world, but I do religiously have followed every World Cup since 1994. So I had little to no idea about any of the clubs depicted on this book, but hell, is a good modern history lesson. And it's just that I was never a fan of this ad-ridden billboard shirts since never. I remember ruining a Manchester United shirt I had brought from England that I just hated the giant cell phone provider logo in the front, so of course I thought I should just use a heat gun to remove it. Heat and polyester are not friends, I learned that day.

But it's really interesting to follow the different aspects that go in the business of the ad real state that a shirt offers. Questionable betting (or crypto schemes) websites, politics or war influence, women's football, to many other issues.