Introduction

Collectively the essays in this volume reveal the contrary and complex state of ‘the nation’s favourite game’ at the end of the twentieth century. They are not intended to provide a comprehensive review of contemporary developments, nor necessarily to outline solutions to the myriad problems and challenges that football faces as it enters its third century as a professional game. Attempting to provide a ‘doomsday book’ cataloguing the trajectory of twentieth-century football might be an interesting task – it would certainly be a demanding one – but the ambition of this volume is more modest. What we have sought to do is provide a platform for discussion of a wide range of topics relating to the game from as many different perspectives as we could elicit. Together these studies provide diverse but not exhaustive reflection on the future of football in the twenty-first century.