I don't remember where I picked this up but I read it on holiday in Crete during the summer. There are some interesting insights into the succes of football teams, both national and at club level, and the authors do a good job of making their economic and statistical analysis readable and understandable. I have to say that at points it made rather depressing reading, taking some of the glamour out of the game and explaining how, over the long term money is the key determinant of footballing success. In a sense this is not news but having it spelled out seemed rather disappointing.

I knew this must have come from a fellow football fan (thanks Sean); and i'm a bit of a sucker for any 'pop-psychology' books :)

(25/05/18) This is a fascinating book, but also a bit disappointing. Great because it does exactly what it says on the tin; it looks into the real stats and other research & analysis to try and understand the underlying economic, social and politic reasons that football works the way it does. Which countries win more than they should, who takes the best penalties, why certain towns have such fervent club supporters (and others don't), what are the emerging nations on the world stage (and why) etc. etc. The minor criticism is that it is - OK the clue is in the title(!) - a bit dry and football nerdy even for me! These guys could have written a smaller more widely appealing book, like Freakonomics or anything by Malcolm Gladwell. But still this is a timely, wide-ranging, interesting, sometime counterintuitive book about the biggest sport in the world and one of the UKs greater exports (even if we are a bit rubbish ourselves!)

I'm passing this on to my footy-loving younger brother...he will appreciate the stats, psychology and general football neediness of it! Enjoy.