The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer

4.1 of 5 stars 4.10 · rating details · 614 ratings · 56 reviews

The definitive book about soccer. With a new foreword for the American edition.

There may be no cultural practice more global than soccer. Rites of birth and marriage are infinitely diverse, but the rules of soccer are universal. No world religion can match its geographical scope. The single greatest simultaneous human collective experience is the World Cup final.

In this...more

Paperback, 992 pages

Published January 2nd 2008 by Riverhead Trade (first published 2006)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,884)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jul 30, 2011 Giano Cromley rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a great, 900-page book. The astute reader will note that the first adjective is somewhat surprising in light of the second.

Here's what I can tell you about The Ball Is Round: As you read it, you will feel your brain getting bigger. Seriously. The author, David Goldblatt, is not only an expert on the history of soccer; he has an incredible grasp of the vectors that shape world history – from colonialism, to economics, to military power, to governmental competencies. The subtitle, A Globa...more This is a great, 900-page book. The astute reader will note that the first adjective is somewhat surprising in light of the second.

Here's what I can tell you about The Ball Is Round: As you read it, you will feel your brain getting bigger. Seriously. The author, David Goldblatt, is not only an expert on the history of soccer; he has an incredible grasp of the vectors that shape world history – from colonialism, to economics, to military power, to governmental competencies. The subtitle, A Global History of Soccer, is probably the most apt description you can get for this book, provided you understand that the word "global" is as equally operative as the word "soccer." Goldblatt manages to weave history's threads together in an engaging and immensely readable way. What you'll discover as you get deeper into this book is the symbiotic and, at times, parasitic relationship soccer has with global history and vice versa.

Colonial history and economic development are two of the biggest indicators of whether or not a country will have a good soccer team. Most often, according to Goldblatt, soccer is a result of history, a product of these factors. However, this book is most interesting when it's describing those times when soccer stops being a product of history and becomes an actual shaper of history – the times when a nation's soccer team has an impact on the strength of a governing party or when the failure of a team cripples the psyche of a nation. Those are the passages when this book is truly riveting.

Of course, all the usual caveats apply for any 900-page book. It's heavy as a brick and I basically spent the better part of my summer working my way through it. So if you're going to tackle this one you have to be committed. And there are times when this book may pull back the veil a bit too much for true die-hard soccer fans. Hearing about the huge number of match-fixing scandals, the frequently despicable fan behavior, and the endemic corruption of soccer's governing body, FIFA, may dim the true fan's enthusiasm a bit. But in the end, if you like soccer and have even a passing interest in history, you really must read this book. Your brain will be bigger when you're done.
(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 16, 2011 Damon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: soccer

I have read many soccer history books, but none have ever reached the width and scale of what David Goldblatt has achieved. He has covered almost every single country in the World, and he has broken up the chapters into fifteen year sections to make it more digestable. But even so, he has packed so much information into this book, that it is sometimes hard to keep all the dates, numbers, names and teams straight. I have been forced to pull out my atlas a number of times to help me keep all of t...more

like · see review

Apr 10, 2013 Kelvin rated it 5 of 5 stars

The book that I read was The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer by David Goldblatt, a great soccer book for all soccer player and soccer fans. I started reading this book a years ago when I finished reading a Michael Jordon book and I was interested in sport books. When i saw this book a year ago I was thinking of the last Goodreads book review and thought about the basketball book that I read and now, I started reading a soccer book about the best history of soccer. I was interested in t...more The book that I read was The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer by David Goldblatt, a great soccer book for all soccer player and soccer fans. I started reading this book a years ago when I finished reading a Michael Jordon book and I was interested in sport books. When i saw this book a year ago I was thinking of the last Goodreads book review and thought about the basketball book that I read and now, I started reading a soccer book about the best history of soccer. I was interested in this book because I thought that there were going to part of history a long time ago that I did not know about and maybe read more about the best soccer player that ever lived in the past. Another thing that I was interested in was the details that the author did in the story, by explaining how the fan there angry at the referee in one moment of the story. It was ever pleasant that the author would talk about the background information about the fans and the referees, so that the reader can get to know what he did in the past.

I recommend this book to my friends because it is interesting and amazing. I believe that my friends will like this book more than my friends that are girls because in the beginning of the story it talks about the soccer history of the best soccer leagues of the world. In the middle of the story it talked about a player that made 91 in a season. In the story they give put great details about match and the author puts incredible grasp of the vectors of some world history moments. If girls read this book they will not know who that player is and will ask a lot of questions. They will not be able to finish the book all the way , but that’s what I think probably there will be someone who is interested in the book and it history.

In the story the book becomes a little uninteresting when it beginning talking about how they wanted to spread soccer throw out the world and they started to make the Aussies, US, and Canada play soccer, but they rejected soccer. Soccer then spread to Europe and Latin America, as the book more interesting it stops being a history. The book changes from a history to a story, a story about the great players in the post WWII era. The story talks about the success of the World Cup in the 70s and 80s.

In the book it seemed daunting at first, being almost 1000 pages but I had to finish it really slowly because it was so good that I did not want to finish it. Usually I would take a break from a large book and do something else for a while but I could not bring myself to do that with this book. It was very informative and really exposed the underside of the Beautiful Game.

I could rate this book The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer I will rated it as a four because it interested me in reading more books about sports. I would read lots books that are about sports and I recommend this book to all kinds of ages. At the end of the book it compares the soccer player of the present time and the past time. It talks about how the fans loved to watch their favorite player play and some think that the player know are not the same player from the past.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Mar 23, 2011 Caroline rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: world-history

This book is immense. It was really hard-going, not because it wasn't interesting, but because it was so amazingly comprehensive. It really does cover the complete global history of football, right from way back when man first kicked something round, right up to the present day, covering every continent, every competition, and damn near every team. It's exhaustive. One of its major virtues is that it doesn't take football out geopolitical context, as so many sports histories tend to. Football ha...more

like · see review

Dec 21, 2011 Christopher Bashforth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an interesting read but I think the author failed in his central aim - why is football so popular? He tried to explain its popularity by referring to sociological and economic theory but he actually partly succeeded when just reciting the games or interesting ancedotes. I was expecting much more of this but instead there was much relating of football to theory which was extremely ponderous to read through and don't get me started on the conclusion. I hardly ever skim read but this was s...more

like · see review

Jul 03, 2009 Jogar01 rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: futbol

This history of soccer was ok. Very heavy on the European development of soccer. It has good passages on how soccer tied to the African national liberation movements. For example, in aparheid South Africa, soccer was the exclusive sport of the exploited, and rugby and cricket were the sports of the Afrikaneers and colonists. At close to 1,000 pages, the book becomes repetitive. Only for the true fans and perhaps for those interested in the links between sports and social movements (especially as...more

like · see review

Jun 14, 2010 Bobby Otter rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm not really sure where to start... so bullet points:
--very long, but very well organized. I was never lost and Goldblatt covers the entire world, I mean every where but... Mexico which was weird. But if Mexico is the only country he 'forgets' well it's not the end of the world.
--The book becomes weaker as it moves along, the beginning is fantastic (how football started, why the US/Canada/Aussies rejected football, why the Scots took to it, the spread of the game in Europe and Latin America) b...more I'm not really sure where to start... so bullet points:
--very long, but very well organized. I was never lost and Goldblatt covers the entire world, I mean every where but... Mexico which was weird. But if Mexico is the only country he 'forgets' well it's not the end of the world.
--The book becomes weaker as it moves along, the beginning is fantastic (how football started, why the US/Canada/Aussies rejected football, why the Scots took to it, the spread of the game in Europe and Latin America) but then as the book moves along it stops being a history as much as a anthropological study of the game. Instead of focusing on the great players in the post WWII era, Goldblatt spends time writing about violence in football (why it's there, stadium disasters, etc). This is all important, but too much time is spend on the more minor disasters or incidents.
--I would have liked to also known more about the success of clubs and countries and the meaning of these clubs to the fans/cities/areas they are located. Also, while he nailed the expansion and success of the World Cup in the 70s and 80s, it would have been nice if more time was spent on the actual World Cups themselves.
--There are times when it being a social history is a ton of fun.
--A book like this is not going to be perfect. But unless you really want to throw yourself in to football (as you'll be referring to it after you read it), then by all means, do it. But if you're just a causal fan or someone who's sort of interested... just move along. This isn't for the fair weather fan or the I'm half interested in the game... this is for someone who already has a very good understanding of the game and it's tactics.
--As I said, I would have loved to learn more about changing tactics, the star players, the clubs (who won what and when), and the World Cup/Euro/Champions League. But what you get is a mix of only the biggest stars to play the game (Pele, Maradona, etc), the politics of why a World Cup was hosted where, and a very general understanding of the clubs/countries. At times the book is fantastic (how TV and TV money is changing the game, the beginning history of the game) but I'm not sure how much 'more' I know about football today than I did before I began the book. It's a history of 20th century and the roll football played socially during the 20th century, as opposed to an actual history, player by player, tournament by tournament, blow by blow history of football. (less)

like · see review

Sep 09, 2009 Ryan Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sports, non-fiction-2009

To be honest, at first I thought I would never get through this immense tome. Once I started reading, though, the pages just flew by. Amazing. To think of the amount of the research required to write this book is mind-boggling. I loved how the author put the history of soccer into its geo-political context throughout the world. Yes, the book spends more time in Europe than anywhere else, but the book itself justifies this since it makes it clear that Europe is still the leader of the footballing...more

like · see review

Jan 21, 2008 Rich Jurnack rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Like most Americans, I grew up with an indifference (some would say ignorance) to the passions of global football. For a variety of reasons, within the past two years I have found the sport to be one of the most fascinating expressions of athletic art and have, in my own way, become a devotee of the phenomenon.

Goldblatt is an English author who grew up with the passion of a fan, but who brings to the sport the eye of an historian and a sociologist. The book is broken down chronologically and geo

...more

Goldblatt is an English author who grew up with the passion of a fan, but who brings to the sport the eye of an historian and a sociologist. The book is broken down chronologically and geographically, and he brings unique insights to the political upheavals of the 20th century through the prism of international football. David Goldblatt records the story, for instance, of the remnants of the old Austrian team -- one of the powerhouses of the 1930s -- being called upon to play the German national team a few weeks after the Anschluss in a "unification friendly." Matthias Sindelar, one of the early stars of the sport, led the Austrians to a 2-0 victory over the Nazis and never played football again . He refused to play for the Nazi football team.

It is a multi-faceted book, detailing everything from corruption at the highest levels of FIFA to the rapid, almost overnight growth of the sport in large Asian markets. But perhaps where his insight is most impressive is when he discusses the role of football in Latin American societies. For countries marked by close to a century of economic and political upheaval, football has been used as a tool of political patronage and popular sedation. Yet, football has also served as a focal point through which military regimes would be opposed by urban populations and lens to reflect the everyday violence of life in South America. Goldblatt might be the first author to draw these interesting parallels and to demonstrate the ways in which sport and society have been inextricably linked

The book is hefty and epic, but worth every one of its nearly 800 pages. For the student of 20th century history, it is an indispensable resource

(less)

1 like · like · see review

Feb 21, 2013 Joe Higgins rated it 4 of 5 stars

Few books on sports transcend their subject matter as well as this one does. Really more of a cultural history, it can seem a bit of a slog at first. Goldblatt takes us from country to country, continent after continent; and everywhere the story is the same: Nation gets middle class, middle class gets leisure time, football appears and thrives.

Everyone, from fascists and racists to military juntas to corporations tries to harness its power to their own ends, but football has a way of continuall...more

like · see review

Dec 29, 2008 Sean is currently reading it

Only about 20 pages in, but the preface and introduction are awesome; explaining why soccer is not an American sport. The first chapter is a bit tedious so far, talking about the ubiquity of ball games in ancient civilizations and why they didn't catch on. Now he's discussing the codification of the rules of soccer in England. One thing that has struck about this part is how new a game soccer really is.

like · see review

Oct 26, 2009 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: never-finished

The first few chapters about the evolution of the game were interesting, but I started to lose interest in the chapter about how football leagues started in practically every country in the world, especially since the main idea was the same for most of them--British-educated men start clubs in all parts of the empire, then locals get involved and the sport takes off. I am mostly interested in UK/European football, so I skimmed to the parts concerning those types of topics. The author obviously d...more

like · see review

Dec 27, 2009 Marc Robinson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Loved it!!! It seemed daunting at first, being almost 1000 pages but I had to finish it. Usually I would take a break from a large book and read something else for a while but I could not bring myself to do that with this title. It was very informative and really exposed the underside of the Beautiful Game.

like · see review

Jan 11, 2013 Jack rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Detailed, comprehensive, massive, difficult to hold on your lap but harder to put down. Every corner of the planet is covered by this great book - and whilst it celebrates worthy moments, there is no whitewashing of the adverse impacts the game has sometimes had.

like · see review

Feb 13, 2011 Ashley Lee rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, love

i loved this - it was meticulously detailed and well-organized. considering that it gave a history of soccer on six out of seven continents, it had to be. for a lengthy non-fiction book, it was a really enjoyable read.

like · see review

Jul 16, 2009 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fascinating review of the development and growth of soccer globally. The author recounts soccer's relationship to and impact on national politics in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia.

like · see review

May 26, 2008 Saadiq Wolford rated it 4 of 5 stars

This 900-page behemoth explains the 150-year evolution of soccer through history, sociology, and economics.

It's simultaneously both too much and too little: too much focus on the big picture and cause-and-effect, and too little focus on the individual lives and stories that humanize history and make it compelling. Soccer captures the heart and imagination like no other sport, but only glimpses of that passion are offered within these antiseptic pages.

Framing a story over six continents and alm...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 02, 2008 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars

Phew. If you wan all-encompassing history of soccer, this is it. It's not just about the game and the results (though, frankly, I would've liked a little more on the the players and great games since that's the part I'm interested in most), but everything else. Part "How Soccer Defines the World" and part "World Soccer Yearbook," it was fascinating to see Goldblatt weave in and out of different countries and times. The amount of research that went into this book must've been exhausting. And the...more

like · see review

Apr 12, 2013 Bryan Schwartz rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: misc-history

"Maybe the book was a metaphor for a soccer game. Long with very few points scored." --A colleague in my department

I couldn't have said it better myself.

like · see review

May 23, 2011 Joe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Probably a little more comprehensive than I was looking for, but still an interesting read. I think more focus on bigger matches and events and news would have been better than such a detailed analysis about every geographical region, many of which are pretty irrelevant.

like · see review

Nov 23, 2009 Schimmel added it

Shelves: rodrigo

you would like this book because it shows a lot of information of famous soccer players of the history

like · see review

Sep 20, 2012 Homer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Pack a lunch because this 900 page epic will take you on a journey you will never forget.

1 like · like · see review

Jan 06, 2012 Mike Templeton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: football

Extremely thorough history. Not for those with just a passing interest but outstanding for others.

like · see review

Oct 21, 2012 Amy Kasenga rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a great resource tool- you can open it up and start reading from any page.

like · see review

Mar 26, 2013 Janne Järvinen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This is a mammoth book, and like most non-fiction, heavy to read. It's better than most books you'd read for your studies, but still heavy. That being said, it took me more than six months to get through.

The book is also bleak and pessimistic. The later parts seem to show only the worst of the corruption, social unrest, and disasters surrounding the game. Then again, maybe it's just the truth.

In the end I still liked it. The size and tone manage to create and sustain an epic atmosphere. It is a...more

like · see review

Feb 01, 2009 Gregory Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars

Superb. Full history of football. It takes quite a while but it is worth it if you are football crazy such as me.

like · see review

Apr 11, 2013 thegift rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: uklit, sport, xlong-over-100kwords, philosophycrit, nonfiction

everything you ever need to know about football, everything you do not need to know, as well. i wanted to read this before the world cup championship game… just made it. this tells me many things i did not know about the game, clarifies my hopes for the game, outlines the way it has become the world’s game- and how intimately bound with economics, technology, politics, even religion. it is sobering to realize this elevation of a game to a sort of lens on our world. we can admit the world is unfa...more

like · see review

Oct 10, 2012 Jason Marquitz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Long ... But fairly interesting.

like · see review

Aug 17, 2011 Niko05 rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very long.. had to take a break.

like · see review

Aug 24, 2010 Kiah rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: soccer enthusiasts, history buffs

900 pages of football history! GLORY! This history was at times a bit overwhelming with the ridiculous amount of information contained in these 900 pages, but everything is incredibly interesting. Goldblatt covers every aspect of the history of soccer, from where the sport originated to how it spread around the world to how and why soccer became such a popular sport (or not so popular sport) around the world. It took me a while to get through this monster, but it was worth it (though I do wish I...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 62 63 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (5)

More editions...

Genres

Sports And Games > Sports

42 users

Non Fiction

35 users

History

19 users

European Literature > British Literature

2 users

Sociology

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About David Goldblatt

David Goldblatt is a highly experienced sports writer, broadcaster, and journalist. He is the author of The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football (Penguin, 2006), the definitive historical account of the world’s game. He has also written the World Football Yearbook (Dorling Kindersley, 2002), which was published in nine languages and ran to three editions.

As a journalist, he has written for...more

More about David Goldblatt...

Books by David Goldblatt

How to Watch the Olympics: The Essential Guide to the Rules, Statistics, Heroes, and Zeroes of Every Sport

Aesthetics: A Reader in Philosophy of the Arts

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Ball is Round...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer
avg rating	preview: The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer Goodreads rating: 4.10 (614 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1270311.The_Ball_is_Round?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347812904l/1270311.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1270311.The_Ball_is_Round?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer by David Goldblatt[/url]

The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website