Soccer's Missing Men: Schoolteachers and the Spread of Association Football(Sport in the Global Society)

Now unknown or forgotten, influential schoolmasters took the game of association football to many parts of England. They had several roles: they brought the game to individual schools, they established regional and national leagues and associations, and they founded professional football clubs. They also exported the game around the world, working as moral missionaries, passionate players and energetic entrepreneurs. The role of teachers in association football is a much neglected aspect of English cultural history. It is a story that deserves to be told because it allows a fundamental reappraisal of the status and position of these teachers in late nineteenth century and early twentieth century society. This volume was previously published as a special issue of the journal Soccer and Society.

Table of Contents:
1. Preface Mike Huggins 2. Foreword: Recovering Soccer's Missing Men: Re-examining Soccer's Moral Messages and Educational Alms Gerry P.T. Finn 3. Prologue: Elementary Schoolmasters - Reappearance 4. Early Inspiration: Athleticism and Colleges 5. Early Action: Founding and Furthering Clubs 6. Pioneers and their Influence: Playing the Game 7. An Exceptional Pioneer: Be Strong for Christ 8. Pioneering Further Afield: Beyond England 9. Keeping Control: Refereeing the Game 10. Keeping the Ball Rolling: Administering the Game 11. Epilogue: Elementary Schoolmasters - Disappearance

About the Author :
J. A. Mangan is Emeritus Professor of Social History at De Montfort University. He is the founder and General Editor of the journal Sport in the Global Society, and founding and executive academic editor of the Cass journals, The International Journal of the History of Sport; Culture, Sport, Society; Soccer and Society; and the European Sports History Review. His internationally acclaimed Athleticism in the Victorian and Edwardian Public School, and The Games Ethic and Imperialism were both reprinted by Frank Cass. Colm Hickey has a B.Ed (hons) from Borough Road College, an MA from the Institute of Education at the University of London, and a PhD from the University of Strathclyde. He is currently completing an MBA at the University of Hull, and is Deputy Headteacher of St Bernard's Catholic School, High Wycombe, UK.

Review :
I think what was most revelatory about it was the knocking on the head of the old chestnut that athleticism (and indeed the amateur ethic) were simply upper class phenomena. And it was also just a marvellous piece of historical archeology - the unearthing of institutions and people either forgotten, or appearing as names in unimaginative official histories but never properly appreciated. Professor Gavin Kitching, University of New South Wales