Beyond the Final Whistle: Football for a Better World

by Vasilis Kostakis

‘A profound reminder that football is far more than a sport; it’s a canvas for building a fairer and more compassionate world’ Kelly Davies, former Wales international football player

‘Tremendous ... an incitement to take back the game, and begin to make it beautiful again’ Martin Parker, Professor, Bristol University

Beyond the Final Whistle explores a new philosophy of football, showing how sport could lead to social change instead of propping up a hyper-consumerist society.

Vasilis Kostakis tackles the meaning of the beautiful game, exploring how it is produced and played. From the dribbles of a young Zapatista, to the many goals of Messi, he imagines what football would look like in a post-capitalist world.

How does football affect global inequality and the climate crisis? How does it teach our children empathy? What makes the game so captivating to billions of people, and how can this passion be used for liberation? With humour and insight, Beyond the Final Whistle is a love letter to football and revolution.

Vasilis Kostakis is a Professor at TalTech’s Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance in Estonia. He is also a Faculty Associate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.

Genres: Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

Published April 20, 2025

Reviews

[Josh Ua · Rating 2 out of 5]

Surprisingly little football and no mention at all of grassroots attempts to actually make a better world through football. The book is a series of short, loosely connected chapters detailing the connection between politics and sport but mostly just lumped together in a way that doesn't really show how football has the ability to bring about change.

Needs less Socrates and Chicago Bulls and more Clapton CFC and Bohemian Climate Cooperative.

[Mike Witcombe]

More of a football-flavoured guide to a particular form of socialist utopianism than a football book as such, but well worth your time. At times lyrical (almost to a fault), and always enthusiastic, Kostakis has a knack for explaining complex ideas to a lay audience. An enjoyable quick read.

[Ian Onion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kostakis references widely, from Karl Marx and William Morris to Monty Python in presenting Association Football as a catalyst for social change; inspiring new possibilities for social organisation, economic structures and community-building. Starting with Socrates, the Brazilian footballer player, and Socrates the Greek philosopher, the author takes philosophies from within and beyond the world of soccer, referencing concepts from Friedrich Nietzsche, Lakota First Nation, buddhist, Zapatista, Albert Camus, Ursula La Guinn, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Elie Wiesel, and many others.

“Beyond the Final Whistle” is a book about social change with sport as a framework for how we create a better world (or at least build a post capitalist society if we survive neoliberalism). The book is to make publicly accessible concepts from research lead by Kostakis on Cosmolocalism, which explores transitions to post capitalist futures. A short book and packed with ideas but remaining very readable. Great illustrations add to the fun.

[Kes Hawkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had high hopes for this when I saw it and scanned the intro. Didn’t live up to it.

The overarching message and some of the ideas are laudable and right, but at no point got the idea that the author *genuinely* loves or fully ‘gets’ football. To do an entire book on football and socialism and not pay any mention to the world on fan engagement and ultra culture which exists across the globe in different forms is pretty disappointing as well.

In fact, doesn’t really go into enough depth in any of the chapters to be a properly impactful read. Some well-constructed passages though.

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book so bad - theres some pockets where it discusses growth, for example, where it’s not that bad, but overall it’s incredibly superficial - it reads like a blog of the authors thoughts on various media he has consumed recently. And that’s when it’s not just outright wrong - some of what was said about Marx here was just downright confusing.

And I love what it’s trying to say - it’s definitely possible I’m just not the target audience and anyone coming to this from an academic background will just find it a bit shallow, and it could serve as an introductory left wing text for some football fans who aren’t well versed in that area?

[Lara A · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really not about football for a better world. Instead it is a rather didactic pean to collectivism. That being said, it is an easy read and a nice reminder of a different way of thinking in an increasingly polarised and individualised society.

[Edgar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a book about football per se, but a book that uses football to popularize ideas about social change—and what a masterful approach it is. In "Beyond the Final Whistle," Kostakis has crafted something truly special: a work that transforms our beloved game into a powerful lens for examining capitalism, community, and the possibility of a more just world.

The genius of this book lies in its accessibility. By starting with the universal language of football, the author makes complex ideas about economic systems, social cooperation, and political resistance not just understandable, but deeply compelling. The famous Monty Python "Philosophers' Football Match" that opens the discussion is a perfect metaphor for how the book operates: serious ideas presented with wit, creativity, and genuine affection for both the game and its potential for meaning-making.

What emerges is a profound meditation on how football reflects and can challenge the dominant capitalist paradigm. The author skillfully weaves together stories of resistance—from the Zapatistas to Aboriginal rights activists, from cooperative clubs to self-organized fan movements—showing how the beautiful game has always been a site of struggle for dignity, community, and alternative ways of organizing society.

The exploration of "the commons" as an emerging economic model is particularly brilliant. By connecting collaborative projects like Wikipedia and open-source software to football's cooperative potential, the author makes abstract economic theory tangible and inspiring. The examples of French farmers sharing agricultural designs globally, or Nepalese villages building wind turbines through international cooperation, demonstrate that another world isn't just possible; it's already emerging.

Perhaps most movingly, the book's treatment of Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy through the lens of Aboriginal footballer John Moriarty's foundation shows how football can be a tool for liberation. The vision of young people finding their voices, building confidence, and imagining broader horizons through the game is both heartwarming and politically powerful.

The author's writing is passionate without being preachy, scholarly without being dry. The blend of historical analysis, political theory, and genuine love for football creates a unique reading experience that will appeal to sports fans, social activists, and anyone interested in how culture and politics intersect.

A must-read for anyone who believes that sports can be more than entertainment—that they can be a force for genuine social change.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice idea, but the extended metaphor of football demonstrating how society could be organised more equitably doesn't really work.