Table of Contents
1 Driving with a Dashboard: In Search of New Truths About Soccer 1
Part I The Clubs
Racism, Stupidity, Bad Transfers, Capital Cities, the Leicester Fairy Tale, and What Actually Happened in That Penalty Shoot-Out in Moscow
2 Gentlemen Prefer Blonds: How to Avoid Silly Mistakes in the Transfer Market 13
3 The Worst Business in the World: Why Soccer Clubs Haven't Made Money 60
4 Safer Than the Bank of England: Why Soccer Clubs Almost Never Disappear 83
5 A Decent Business at Last? Be Careful What You Wish For 99
6 Super League: Why Rich People Don't Always Get What They Want 111
7 Unbanned: The Case for Reparations for Women's Soccer 118
8 Need Not Apply: Does Soccer Discriminate Against Black People? 130
9 Do Coaches Matter? The Cult of the White Manager 146
10 Isaac Newton, Liverpool, and the Moneyball of Soccer: Have Data Analytics Transformed the Game? 168
11 The Economist's Fear of the Penalty Kick: Are Penalties Cosmically Unfair, or Only If You Are Nicolas Anelka? 186
12 The Suburban Newsagents: City Sizes and Soccer Prizes 203
Part II The Fans
Loyalty, Suicides, and Happiness
13 A Fan's Suicide Notes: Do People Jump Off Buildings When Their Teams Lose? 227
14 Happiness: Why Hosting a World Cup Is Good for You 241
15 Football Versus Football: A Tale of Two Empires 264
16 Are Soccer Fans Polygamists? A Critique of the Nick Hornby Model of Fandom 290
Part III Countries
Rich and Poor, Tom Thumb, England, Spain, Palestine, and the Champions of the Future
17 The Curse of Poverty: Why Poor Countries Are Poor at Sports 311
18 Core Beats Periphery: Why Little Western Europe Rules International Soccer 331
19 Why England Still Loses-But Nowadays Only Just 360
20 Tom Thumb: The Best Little Soccer Country on Earth 389
21 The Future: The Best of Times-and the Streaming Service 407
Acknowledgments 413
Notes 415
Select Bibliography 417
Index 425