The long-overlooked story of a number of adventurous Britons who left their homeland before the First World War to inspire and shape the growth of modern football in continental Europe and South America. Drawn from widely different backgrounds, their motivations and contributions were diverse – helping to form legendary clubs now supported by millions across the globe; bringing revolutionary changes to the way football was taught and played, and laying the foundations on which the game would continue to flourish. Full of entertaining accounts and anecdotes from the birth of the global game, Fathers of Football places the lives of these innovators soundly in historical and social context. They all left a deep and lasting impression on football in the countries they worked in; yet for too long Britain turned its back on their lessons and achievements. Even today they remain largely unknown – prophets more honoured abroad than at home.
