A People's History Of Football: A Graphic Chronicle s/c back

Page 45 Comicbook Of The Month June 2026

Absolutely kickin’, this strikes straight to the core of soccer’s long and surprisingly ancient history of seemingly incessant socio-political struggles while celebrating – with exceptional panache – the almighty skills of some of its barrier-breaking stars!

Did you know Brazil’s Garrincha had one leg 6cm shorter than the other? It added unpredictability to his already nimble dribble. The art is equally agile as multiple, beautifully balanced, fleet-of-foot Garrinchas run rings round the opposition stuck in side-stepped slow-mo. Perfect use of the punctured panel border too!

Long before corrupt-as-fuck FIFA sank its gouging, unprincipled talons into its soft-skinned ball, the great game has been continually co-opted by those wishing to forge positions of power, often over entire populations.

Did you know each pitch used to be the size of a parish?! Yep, village would battle village across The Commons... until the rich stole swathes of that common grazing ground for themselves. Folk Football was a safe way to settle rivalries semi-peaceably – a point that didn’t go unnoticed by social engineers then, later and further afield.

This vibrant, revelatory album tells precisely the story it promises: of the people’s fight to keep possession of the ball for their own collective enjoyment. The opposition...? Industrialists, white colonialists, priests, politicians, psychiatrists (pfft!) and a patronising, patriarchal press hoovering up profits and unilaterally deciding who they deign may play the game.

Did you know that women’s football was MASSIVE during WWI? Factories fielded their new female employees – the Munitionettes – for charity matches. Why was this then suppressed? You’ll groan.

I’m afraid you’ll groan right through to the final whistle, but you’ll thrill throughout as individual players make their play, their stand ground and supporters unite to fight. Oh Egypt!

“But Stephen, you’ve not even mentioned the key role of private boarding schools like Rugby in –“

Fuck ‘em.