ABSTRACT
Sport is a global phenomenon. It is something that permeates and influences people’s lives across the world. The English Premier League (EPL) is a case in point. Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal have over 31 million Twitter followers collectively, at the time of writing. The EPL is a multi-billion dollar business and one that is exported globally. Because football has become a global game, it is believed to have transcended sociocultural differences. For example, there were 61 different nationalities playing in the EPL at the beginning of the 2013/14 season. Despite being seen as a global (and inclusive) game, football does uphold local exclusions. British Asian football fans, the focus of this chapter, have traditionally been excluded from the so-called ‘beautiful game’.
