In the original dustsheet. Black cloth binding with gilt title on the spine.

• F.B.A. provides an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feeling and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available.

For most football fans the winning game is over. The rich clubs are becoming richer; the smaller clubs of increasingly little importance. There is a marked decline in competitive balance and football’s biggest consumer, TV, is dominating demand, with the traditional fan being pushed out. Meanwhile, the game’s global regulators (FIFA and UEFA) pursue their own interests, with the result that domestic regulators are losing their power to enforce standards. In England, the national team suffers at least in part because the Premier League is composed of a disproportionate amount of foreign players and managers. Success for clubs from the Midlands, North East and most other parts of the country is now largely judged as avoiding relegation, or at best, finishing higher than seventh place in the Premiership. Inequality is increasing. Can competitive balance be restored? Is the game now forever doomed to crass commercialism and speculative, foreign ownership? And can football ever find its way back to the beautiful game it once was, a game loved and celebrated by families across the country?