Through 1996 and 1997 bestselling author Joe McGinniss followed the Italian football season from Castel di Sangro, a small town nestled in the Abruzzi region of Italy. The motley crew that comprised the di Sangro soccer team in the early 90s masked an unparalleled prowess for playing soccer. This is the story of a team and a town with no aspirations, just a passion for the game, and how that passion allowed this team to rise to the top of the professional Italian soccer league. With the lust for life of Robert Crichton's THE SECRET OF SANTA VITTORIA and the sporting dreams of modern movie classic FIELDS OF DREAMS, THE MIRACLE OF CASTEL DI SANGRO is an ebullient story of how a two-hour game transformed a dot on the map into a place of magic, miracles and wonder.
The Queens of Europe is a series of books that tells the history of the greatest European Football Clubs. A collection of images, logos, data, uniforms, records, statistics, unobtainable photos and never written statistics will tell you the story of the greatest clubs in Europe. The history of UEFA club competitions, the champions of the continent and the finalist teams, the historical logos of the clubs, the historical kits, the appearances records and the goalscorers who made the history of the clubs, the coaches, the tactics, the palmarés and the cups won by the great teams, the individual trophies won by the players, the attendance records, the greatest victories, the historic stadiums and much more. The Part 1 will tell you the legend of Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Barcelona and Ajax. The Queens of Europe è una collana di libri che racconta la storia dei più grandi club di calcio europei. Una raccolta di immagini, loghi, dati, divise, record, statistiche, foto introvabili e statistiche mai scritte vi racconteranno la storia dei più grandi club d'Europa. La storia delle competizioni UEFA per club, i campioni del continente e le squadre finaliste, i loghi storici dei club, le divise storiche, i record di presenze e i marcatori che hanno fatto la storia dei club, gli allenatori, le tattiche, i palmarés e le coppe vinte dalle grandi squadre, i trofei individuali vinti dai giocatori, i record di spettatori, le vittorie più importanti, gli stadi storici e tanto altro. La prima parte ti racconterà la leggenda di Real Madrid, Milan, Bayern Monaco, Liverpool, Barcellona e Ajax. The Queens of Europe es una serie de libros que cuenta la historia de los grandes clubes de fútbol europeos. Una colección de imágenes, logos, datos, uniformes, récords, estadísticas, fotos inalcanzables y estadísticas nunca escritas te contarán la historia de los mejores clubes de Europa. La historia de las competiciones de clubes de la UEFA, los campeones del continente y los equipos finalistas, los logos históricos de los clubes, las equipaciones históricas, los récords de presencias y los goleadores que hicieron la historia de los clubes, los entrenadores, la táctica, el palmarés y las copas ganadas por los grandes equipos, los trofeos individuales ganados por los jugadores, los récords de asistencia, las mayores victorias, los estadios históricos y mucho más. La primera parte te contará la leyenda del Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern de Múnich, Liverpool, Barcelona y Ajax. The Queens of Europe ist eine Buchreihe, die die Geschichte der größten europäischen Fußballvereine erzählt. Eine Sammlung von Bildern, Logos, Daten, Uniformen, Aufzeichnungen, Statistiken, nicht erhältlichen Fotos und nie geschriebenen Statistiken erzählt Ihnen die Geschichte der größten Vereine Europas. Die Geschichte der UEFA-Klubwettbewerbe, die Meister des Kontinents und die Finalistenmannschaften, die historischen Logos der Vereine, die historischen Trikots, die Einsätze rekorde und die Torschützen, die die Geschichte der Vereine geschrieben haben, die Trainer, die Taktiken, die Palmarés und die Pokale der großen Mannschaften, die einzelnen Trophäen der Spieler, die Zuschauerrekorde, die größten Siege, die historischen Stadien und vieles mehr. Im ersten Teil erfahren Sie mehr über die Legenden von Real Madrid, AC Mailand, Bayern München, Liverpool, Barcelona und Ajax.
This book aims to provide an extensive overview of how football is organized and managed on a European level and in individual European countries, and to account for the evolution of the national, international and transnational management of football over the last decades.
Winner of the Daily Telegraph Football Book of the Year Ultras are often compared to punks, Hell's Angels, hooligans or the South American Barras Bravas. But in truth, they are a thoroughly Italian phenomenon... From the author of The Dark Heart of Italy, Blood on the Altar and A Place of Refuge. Italy's ultras are the most organised and violent fans in European football. Many groups have evolved into criminal gangs, involved in ticket-touting, drug-dealing and murder. A cross between the Hell's Angels and hooligans, they're often the foot-soldiers of the Mafia and have been instrumental in the rise of the far-right. But the purist ultras say that they are are insurgents fighting against a police state and modern football. Only amongst the ultras, they say, can you find belonging, community and a sacred concept of sport. They champion not just their teams, they say, but their forgotten suburbs and the dispossessed. Through the prism of the ultras, Jones crafts a compelling investigation into Italian society and its favourite sport. He writes about not just the ultras of some of Italy's biggest clubs – Juventus, Torino, Lazio, Roma and Genoa – but also about its lesser-known ones from Cosenza and Catania. He examines the sinister side of football fandom, with its violence and political extremism, but also admires the passion, wit, solidarity and style of a fascinating and contradictory subculture.
Torino are one of the world's most dramatic and interesting football clubs. Peter Bourne charts the drama and suspense of the summer of 2005 which saw the death and rebirth of the club, placing it within the context of Torino's rich and tragic history.Torino became the first team to be demoted after gaining promotion, have witnessed the death of star players and in 1949 Italy's greatest ever club side wiped out in an air tragedy. This coupled with the passion and resilience of Torino supporters, the epic and lobsided rivalry with Juventus and with the fact that until 1995, Torino had always been one of Italy's top five clubs.The fall and rise of Torino is also placed into context with the unique nature of sport in Italy, the other significant scandals which shocked and paralysed Italian football during the summer of shame and within the context of Turin, a city preparing nervously for the XX Olympic Winter Games in February 2006.
An illustrated exploration of the design, meaning and symbolism of world football club crests. Why is there a devil shown on the crest of Manchester United? Which club's crest motto is 'To Dare Is To Do'? And whose emblem depicts a bear and a strawberry tree? From the seahorses of Newcastle United to the royal crown of Real Madrid, via the riveting hammers of West Ham United, Valencia's famous bat design and German club St Pauli's unofficial skull-and-crossbones emblem, there is a story behind every crest, a tale of identity. Covering more than 200 clubs from 20 different leagues, World Football Club Crests explores the design, meaning and symbolism of the game's most famous club crests to reveal why the badges look as they do. This carefully curated collection charts the continuing evolution of the designs and describes the changing styles, varied influences and remarkable controversies that have shaped football's most iconic crests. These important symbols of football heraldry will never be viewed in the same way again.
A fascinating survey of popular culture in Europe, from Celtic punk and British TV shows to Spanish fashion and Italian sports. From One Direction and Adele to Penelope Cruz and Alexander Skarsgard, many Europeans are becoming household names in the United States. This ready-reference guide covers international pop culture spanning music, literature, movies, television and radio, the Internet, sports, video games, and fashion, from the mid-20th century through the present day. The organization of the book—with entries arranged alphabetically within thematic chapters—allows readers to quickly find the topic they are seeking. Additionally, indexing allows for cross-cultural comparisons to be made between pop culture in Europe to that of the United States. An extensive chronology and lengthy introduction provide important contextual information, such as the United States' influence on movies, music, and the Internet; the effect of censorship on Internet and social media use; and the history of pop culture over the years. Topics feature key musicians, songs, books, actors and actresses, movies and television shows, popular websites, top athletes, games, clothing fads and designers, and much more.
Football has undergone a period of transformation over the last thirty years. Despite these global processes, different national leagues have adapted in different ways. After an initial period of success directly after Italia '90, Italian football has gone through a period of sustained crisis. It has been blighted by financial mismanagement, corruption scandals and fan violence. This has impacted Italy's ability to compete on a global stage. Football Italia accounts for the development of Italian football in relation to the wider global transformations impacting football and addresses the reasons for Serie A's initial success and current malaise. Theoretically, this book locates Italian football within the wider power network of the state and how this has impacted political engagement. After an historical overview of the Italian political economy, Football Italia highlights how football is part of the wider political network. Football clubs are owned by powerful businessmen (and they are all men) who are also politicians. This centralisation of power within a small hegemonic group inhibits change. Within this broader structure, wider corruption scandals continue; from regular match-fixing scandals to doping. Meanwhile, stadiums are crumbling and police over-aggressive. It is within this context that we must place the fans. Both the ultras and supporters who attend official supporters' clubs are disaffected and without the power to change the status quo. Consequently, Italian football has been in decline throughout the 21st century.
A deep dive into Italy's storied league. "An excellent book . . . Anyone with an interest in football beyond the playing pitch will find it fascinating.” —Game of the People In the 1980s and 1990s, Serie A was known as "Il campionato più bello del mondo"—the most beautiful championship in the world—and had the highest match attendances in Europe. The stadiums were not only full of people, but full of color, flags, songs and rituals. Italy hosted World Cup 1990 and the stadia and stars on show in Serie A became iconic. Across the ten year period from 1989 to 1999 a remarkable 10 different Serie A clubs occupied nearly half the places in the finals of the Champions League and Europa Cup. They were dominant. But then in the 2000s they began to fall behind and despite the Azzurri winning the World Cup in 2006 and Inter Milan winning the Champions League in 2010, Italian football was on a downwards trajectory that saw the national team fail to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, their first absence from the tournament since 1958. What happened and why? In this extraordinary book, Steven G. Mandis investigates. Given unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Italian clubs and key decision makers and players, Mandis is the first outside researcher to rigorously analyze both the on-the-pitch and business aspects of a club and league. What he learns is completely unexpected and challenges popular explanation and conventional wisdom.
This book explores and critically assesses the challenges and experiences of LGBTQ people within sport in Europe. It presents cutting-edge research data and insights from across the continent, with a focus on sport policy, sport systems, and issues around anti-discrimination and inclusion. The book introduces the theoretical and methodological foundations of research into LGBTQ people in sport and then presents in-depth comparative surveys of systems and experiences in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the UK, and Spain. A final section considers the effectiveness of policy in this area and motives for participation, and looks ahead at future directions in research, policy, and practice. Tracing the frontiers of our understanding of the experiences of LGBTQ people in contemporary Europe, this is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the sociology of sport, sport policy, LGBTQI studies, gender and sexuality studies, or cultural studies. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.
