Sport, Space and the City

Book excerpt: Little more than a decade since Sport, Space and the City was written in 1993, the sport-city nexus continues to be a focus of world attention. This global interest is reflected, in part, by the fact that while this book concentrates mainly on British football (soccer), it was well received in North America and translated into Japanese. Its widespread reception implies a degree of general interest and application of its contents. Almost all of it is fully relevant to the present day. A geographical perspective - the view taken in this book - continues to inform studies of sport and the city. Space and place are now widely recognized by sports sociologists and sports historians as being central to their studies and Sport, Space and the City is often cited as a source of ideas and concepts that inform such studies. This reprinting will enable those previously denied access to an out-of-print book to enhance a geographical approach to the exploration of sport in the late modern city. "John Bale's book is essential reading for those wishing to think seriously about sports stadia." Sports and Leisure 1993 "This splendid and path-breaking book might more accurately be entitled "Professional Football, Space and the British City. It will prove revolutionary in the field of sports geography and thoroughly stimulating to social and economic geographers, planners and football enthusiasts everywhere." Society and Space 11, 1993 "An offering from the preeminent British scholar on sports and geography. This was one of the first books I came across when I became interested in sports stadia. It presents a general overview of many issues related to stadium development including the evolution of the sports space, hooliganism and the performance boost to home teams. A very useful book indeed." From Tim Chapin's sports facility reference list Top Ten