Scoring for Britain - International Football and International Politics, 1900-1939 (Paperback, annotated edition)

Political interference in sport, though commonly associated with Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and the Soviet Union, has been perceived as something alien to Britain, where both government and sporting bodies have sought to present images respecting the autonomy of sport. However, in the 20th century, the growing politicization of sport in other countries encouraged British governments to view sport as an instrument of policy suportive of British interests in the wider world. Association football, Britain's major sport, came to be seen as a means of projecting favourable images of Britain as a great nation to a large and often responsive overseas audience, given the country's status as the masters of football espousing fair play and other postitive values.