Football's role in helping to build a more united Europe over the last century has been explored in a new book edited and co-written by experts from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU).
Building Europe With the Ball is a series of essays written by a number of academics, including Professor Matt Taylor, of DMU's International Centre for Sports History and Culture.
It looks at the development of football across the continent in the 20th century and how important the spread of the sport's popularity was to creating a European identity.
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The book's publication comes at a timely moment, with Britain voting to leave the European Union and this summer's playout of the Euro 2016 championship.
Prof. Taylor said his chapter looked at how football became involved in the very idea of what Europe means.
He said: "I wanted to look at how the game developed in Europe and how the British behaved in response to that.
"Britain had developed this sport and took it out to the world, as it were. But then, in the early twentieth century, after doing so, they weren't really interested in playing outside of Britain.
"There was a sense of arrogance, I suppose; that they were the masters and Europeans were the pupils."
Prof Taylor looks at how while this attitude was maintained at an institutional level, through the Football Association and the Football League, there was a real interest from club teams in playing abroad.
He said: “There were networks being formed throughout the twentieth century, of journalists and smaller clubs. From the 1930s to the 1950s, amateur and professional teams frequently toured the continent and ‘Europe’ became a major part of English football culture.”
He looks at how the those former attitudes changed over time, to the respect and admiration British football now has for European sides, leagues and clubs at all levels - shown most clearly in how Leicester City's induction to the Champions League for next season was regarded with at least as much admiration as their league win.
The book is the sixth in an ongoing series looking at sports, history and culture, co-edited by Prof. Taylor and Professor Richard Holt, of the ICSHC.
This volume, published by Peter Lang, has been edited by three scholars, including DMU Honorary Visiting Research Fellow Dr Gregory Quin.
Posted on Friday 8 July 2016