Anything But United: Manchester United and the Struggle for the Soul of Football

Description

Has football lost its soul? The formation of the F.A. Premier League, the global media, and the commercialization of football enabled Manchester United to drag itself out of the crisis-rocked 1980s - a decade characterized by recession, hooliganism, and disillusionment - and safely into the twenty-first century. However, these developments came at a price - they left both the game and the club in the clutches of Big Business. Football's ills are reflected in the blatantly profit-driven, anti-traditionalist, corporate agendas of its governing elites, and as a result United's unparalleled success has provoked the rise of a phenomenon known as 'ABU' (Anyone But United). Through an in-depth investigation of the club's fan and corporate cultures, Brick unravels Manchester United's greatest paradox - that it is both revered and reviled for its economic and cultural buoyancy. Brick's book is the first in-depth look at the economic, political, media and fan narratives that have been constructed in and around United. It is essential reading for anyone who cares deeply about football, United in particular, or the future of sport more generally.

Carlton Brick is Lecturer, Department of Sociology and Politics, University of Paisely.