Simon Kuper (of Football against the Enemy fame) has published a new book entitled “Why England Lose: and Other Curious Phenomena Explained.” Jonathan Wilson reviewed it today on the Guardian’s site and this bit actually made me say, “wow.”
At the risk of exposing myself as a complete and utter nerd, I think I am going to have buy this book this week.
It will actually be called Soccernomics here in the States, with the British title as its sub-title. I have already pre-ordered it and am looking forward to it. Thanks for the link to the write-up.
I wonder if there are any tidbits about America, that would be something to read.
This would be interesting theory to try on American soccer cities …
There certainly was an industrial connection with the 1920′s boom – Bethlehem Steel, Indian Flooring, Todd Ship Yard and J&P Coats were just some of the clubs from that era.
However, the 1970′s were somewhat of a puzzle.
Pioneer sporting areas did well where no other big sport teams existed – Tampa, Portland, Seattle and Memphis. Although Las Vegas and Hawaii did not fare as well (but that is true even today).
Whether it was poor facilities, managment or attendance that made long time cities like Chicago, Philadelphia and St. Louis fade into the past, is worth exploring.
New York, the heart of both the golden era and the NASL is now a question mark that is being examined even now.
We await the results.
The industrial connection in American soccer goes back a lot farther than the 1920s.
The first sustained growth of American soccer, in the early 1880s (after the northeastern colleges had ended their early flirtation with it) happened particularly in three areas, Fall River, Mass.; Kearny, N.J.; and St. Louis. Fall River and Kearny were major textile centers at that time, and their position as early American soccer centers was a result of heavy immigration to them from British textile centers (particularly from Lancashire cities to Fall River and from the Clyde Valley in Scotland to Kearny).
In both Britain and America, 19th century soccer was built very much around the textile industry (five of the 12 founding teams of the Football League were from Lancashire, which was the center of the English textile industry).
I wonder if I should wait for Franklin Foer to rip off this book too.
Ooooooh. Franklin better leave 15%, because HE GOT SERVED