The Leaguers : The Making of Professional Football in England: 1900-1940

First book to concentrate exclusively on the Football League Covers one of the most important and influential periods in the history of English football Trade sales potential This is the first book on the history of soccer to concentrate exclusively on the Football League as the governing body of the professional game.

Using a wealth of archive material (much never before seen) from clubs, unions, and associations, Matthew Taylor provides a fascinating history of the formative years of professional football in England.

The book is divided into thematic chapters focusing on different aspects of the development of the professional game, the football league's internal structure and politics, its relations with other bodies in the football world as well as with its audience and the broader public.

The Leaguers also reveals how this pioneering period in the game was instrumental in developing the cultural phenomenon that the game was and is today.The book explains how successful clubs such as Aston Villa and Arsenal and players like Billy Meredith, 'Dixie' Dean and Alex James represented, especially in the period of proliferating sports related media and the cult of the cigarette card, a cultural reference point which went beyond the local community Expertly researched and written, The Leaguers offers a new perspective on this crucial period in the history of the game and its transformation into the industry that is professional football.