Analyzing football as a cultural practice, this book investigates the connection between the sport and its built environment. An international multi-disciplinary range of perspectives are set in four thematic sections bring together with particular focus on the stadium. Texts and case-studies make this a useful book for lecturers and researchers in sociology, cultural studies, geography, architecture, sport and environment.

Introduction: Football, Space and the Built Environment Part 1: The Politics of Representation and Design 1. The New European Stadium 2. "Show Yourself to the People!": Ancient Stadia, Politics and Society 3. Challenging the Stadium: Watching Sport Events in Public Part 2: Architecture and Media 4. The Stadium as a Cash Machine 5. The Mirror Stage in the Stadium: Media Spaces of Television and Architecture 6. Killing Sports Fields: The Amahora Stadium Complex in Kigali, Rwanda Part 3: When Global Flows Meet Local Cultures 7. Global Players and the Stadium: Migration and Borders in Professional Football 8. Going to the Match: The Transformation of the Match-Day Routine at Manchester City FC 9. "Come Home": The Stadium, Locality and the Community at FC United of Manchester Part 4: Gender and Space 10. Sport, Football and Masculine Identity: The Stadium as a Window onto Gender Construction 11. Producting Gender-Normative Spaces in U.S. Women's Professional Soccer 12. Football Under Cover in Tehran's Ararat Stadium Part 5: Emotions and the Body 13. Emotions in Sports Stadia 14. Heroes, Myths and Magic Moments: Religious Elements on the Sacred Ground 15. 'Beckhamania': Promoting Post-modern Celebrities Beyond the Stadium 16. Conclusion: The Stadium - Lense and Refuge