Moving with the Ball: The Migration of Professional Footballers

Description

As a universal game, association football has been particularly suited to the transfer of labour forces. It does not require the use of a specific national language, a recognized diploma or acquired qualification, and the rules are standardized across the globe. Thus the international football market could be considered an ideal example of a transnational and multicultural employment sector. Role models throughout the history of professional football have not necessarily come from the town, nation, racial group or religious denomination of the majority of supporters, as is seen in the cases of Maradona in Naples, the German Bert Trautmann after the Second World War, and more recently the Frenchman Eric Cantona in Manchester, the Cameroonese Milla in France, and the Argentinian Di Stefano in Madrid. Football provides a particularly revealing lens through which to examine changes in national styles and stereotypes as they have been (and still are) reflected in the search for identities in sporting heroes.In this book, the authors consider the movement of football labour from the late nineteenth-century to the present day within the framework of international migration as a whole. Emphasis is given to the initial role of the British in the early twentieth century and the impact of the earliest South American and Yugoslav football 'wanderers'. The position of African footballers in the postwar period and the failure of America's national league in the 1970s are also discussed, along with the international market for coaches and managers, the development of national playing styles and the immediate consequences and future implications of the Bosman ruling.

Pierre Lanfranchi De Montfort University Matthew Taylor Univerity of Portsmouth

'Professional footballers have always been on the move not only between cities but between countries. This pioneering book illuminates a neglected process and also provides a most satisfying read.' Professor Tony Mason, De Montfort University 'New books fly off the presses with amazing regularity. Rarely however does a new football book achieve as much as Moving with the Ball. It approaches football from a remarkably new perspective and, as we might expect from such serious scholars of the game, Moving with the Ball is both historically grounded and sociologically alert. It is the first real story of the players and their migrations; the men who have made the game what it is today. Written in a deft style, here is a book which will appeal to specialist and general reader alike. It is, at once, original and provocative, and will provide an opportunity for subsequent scholars and readers to re--think the history and the current role of this, the globe's dominant game.' Professor James Walvin, University of York 'Pierre Lanfranchi and Matthew Taylor provide a whole new perspective and definition for the 'World Game'. This meticulously researched book uses the movement of players as the basis for a far-reaching, provacative, and insightful social history of the world's most popular team sport. Charles P. Knorr, University of Missouri, St Louis and The Royal Historical Society. 'The book by Lanfranchi and Taylor is an important work that makes possible to get the overrall picture and understanding of the role played by football in the constitution of a global space of modernity in which migrant footballers were central actors and powerful symbols of bodily achievement and social mobility. The analysis of the interaction of local, national and global factors in history is outstanding. The same can be said about the interplay between social, political and cultural factors. The book is scholarly and detailed study with new and unexpected information on the impact of migrants in the foundation of European football and the part played in th eearly development of football in the United States. The information and life-careers of South American, Yugoslav and African players and moves is systematic , with a passion for details and anecdotes that bring flavour to the presentation of processes of migration, adaption and conflicts. Eduardo P. Archetti, University of Oslo '[The authors] have considered the movement of football from the late 19th century to the present day and placed it in the context of international migration. The various trends in football are recounted and explained.' Programme Monthly and Football Collectable 'The text is well researched and referenced and provides an insightful and interesting glimpse into the transnational and multicultural domain of sport. Highly recommended for sport studies and sport management students, upper-division undergraduate and above, and all interested in the development and future of sport.' Choice 'The publication of Moving with the Ball marks a new standard by which sports migration studies will, in future, be judged. It is, in many ways, a remarkable book, of considerable scholarship and intelligence.' Journal of European Area Studies T'he linguistic and geographical reach of the authors only adds to the sense of authority that the book carries: for its field, this is the definitive work ... This study of professional footballers offers more than the narrow area of Kenyan athletic endeavour, while opening a window on the lives of a largely forgotten and misunderstood group of workers.' Journal of Contemporary History 'This new offering from Lanfranchi and Taylor on migrant footballers across the world is to be welcomed, as and important, detailed, well-written and refreshing contributioin to knowledge on this aspect of the professional game... [The authors] are to be congratulated for an interesting, original and enjoyable discussion of a part of history that has hereto received relatively little systematic attention.' International Journal of the History of Sport '...the authors present a fascinating insight into the development of modern football... this book is a worthy contribution to our understanding of international football and the authors are to be congratulated on their attention to detail, which provides the reader with both a very informative historical text and a fascinating insight into a previously neglected area of study.' Soccar and Society