A group of several members of the Association, led by Arne Niemann, Borja García and Wyn Grant as co-editors, have published a collective volume on the transformation of football in the continent. After four years of hard work, the book has finally been published by Manchester University Press and is now on sale. This book is trully a collective effort, where academics from 10 different European conutries reflect on the transformation of football at national level. The work in underpinned by a theoretical framework based on the concept of Europeanisation, but authors were given enough freedom to use the framework without constraining their research. As a result, the book presents extremely interesting findings. The common claim that ‘Bosman destroyed football’, quite often heard within football forums, is deconstructed in this book. Whilst it is undeniable that the Bosman ruling has produced a heavy system transformation in Europe, the authors have identified a more diverse range of sources of transformation, many of which are actually not related to EU decisions. The role of of globalisation as a motor of change is present in many cases, and the role of UEFA is also extremely powerful to explain the new face of the game in the continent. For those interested, an extract of the book contents can be downloaded clicking here.
The book is available to purchase through outlets such as Amazon UK, Amazon (US), MUP/Blackwells or Abebooks (UK).
The book opens with three chapters that set the context for the country analysis. In this first part the editors review the theoretical framework, Richard Parrish evaluates decisions of the EU, Council of Europe and CAS with an impact on football and, finally, Jonathan Hill presents a view on the europeanisation of UEFA itself. The second part of the book undertakes detailed analysis of the new reality of football in ten different countries: England, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland. Case study selection has tried to include a variety of factors, from the size of the national leagues, to geographical balance, regulatory tradition or length of EU membership. For the sake of analysis, there is also a non-EU Member State. The book has been well receive within the EU studies academic community. Christoper Hill, Professor of International Relations at Cambridge University commented on the publication: ‘Football is both a major business and an emotional spectacle which holds millions enthralled. As such it deserves serious analysis from people who are both experts and love the game. This book meets that need, and should be required reading for all those concerned with the phenomenon which is modern professional football’.
This project on the Europeanisation of football has its origins in 2007, when academics gathered in Montreal for the EUSA conference, which included a panel on the new reality of football. To some extent, this project was also conceived as a way to confirm or refute the very tipical claim that accuses the EU to have transformed football in the continent upside down. As it happens, the academics have found many forces of transformation which have contributed to the new face of football. Among the findings of the book, perhaps one of the most interesting is the clear identification of a sense of decline amongst many countries, including some of the largest footballing nations in the continent such as France or Italy. In the cases explored, many of the stakeholders consider that only rich football markets such as England or Spain have the possibility to succeed in moder European football.
The book contributes to the research of football, but it makes also an important contribution to the literature on Europeanisation. David Allen, Professor of International and European Politics at Loughborough University, affirmed on the academic qualities of the book: ‘The contributors to this excellent volume are united by their considerable knowledge of, and affection for, the game of football and by their proven abilities as political scientists. The result is an outstanding and coherent analysis of the multi-level governance of European football and a major contribution to the growing body of substantive research on the phenomenon of Europeanization’.
This collective volume has stressed the need not to restrict Europeanisation to EU-isation, as for example UEFA has also been a potent motor of transformation. The book suggests also the need to study Europeanisation away from traditional political arenas, introducing the so-called transnational-societal realm. The authors have also identified the importance of transnational bechmarking, also known as crossloading. Thus, Europeanisation is presented as a complex process and the book suggests systematising factors to help with analysis.
Over the years of planing, research and production, this project has benefitted from the support of the Centre for the Study of International Governance at Loughborough University, the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, the Institute of Sport and Leisure Policy at Loughborough University, and the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES).
