Football is the most popular sport on the planet partly because it's so simple to play - but as philosopher, novelist and avid fan Stephen Mumford shows, behind the straightforward rules of the game there lurks a world of intriguing complexity.

Mumford considers the intellectual basis upon which football rests, guiding readers through a number of issues at the heart of the game. How can a team be greater than the sum of its individual players? What is the essential role of chance? Should we want to win at all costs? What does it mean to control space? And can true beauty be found in football?

Rich with colourful examples from football's past and present, Mumford's book is both a love letter to football and a reflection on its enduring capacity to enthral and excite.

About the Author

Stephen Mumford is a lifelong football fan and Sheffield United season ticket holder. He writes regularly for the sporting press and is a professor of philosophy at Durham University.

Reviews

'Stephen Mumford uses his considerable philosophical expertise to explain why football is the most popular sport in the world. His analysis will add much to his readers' enjoyment of the game.'
David Papineau, author of Knowing the Score: How Sport Teaches Us About Philosophy

'The perfect gift for soccer fans new to philosophy or philosophers new to soccer - this book is a rich, multi-layered reflection on both.'
Alan White, Williams College

'The game is one of the great survivors, a leviathan led by donkeys.'
The Times

'impressively insightful... There are an awful lot of football fans out there and there's something about the sport that connects us in enthralling ways with our deepest aesthetic, moral and existential questions. This thoroughly engaging book undoubtedly helps us to understand that something.'
Times Higher Education Supplement

"Mumford provides a scintillating read filled with thought-provoking ideas, drawing examples from past and present times. The author's skill in presenting the philosophical approach in a concise and consumable manner is crucial to making this book accessible."
Choice

Book Information
ISBN 9781509535323
Author Stephen Mumford
Format Paperback
Page Count 140
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 136g
Dimensions(mm) 188mm * 122mm * 13mm