A New Formation cover art

A New Formation

How Black Footballers Shaped the Modern Game

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A New Formation

By: Calum Jacobs
Narrated by: Calum Jacobs, Kwaku Dapaah-Danquah, Thomas Theodore, Aniefiok ‘Neef’ Ekpoudom, Sanaa Qureshi
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

A New Formation is an exploration of the unique role that Black British footballers have played in shaping the beautiful game both on and off the pitch, an inventive and highly original analysis of the intersections between football and wider Black British culture.

A New Formation is not a book about football and racism. Jacobs and his co-contributors—including authors Musa Okwonga and Aniefiok Ekpoudom and sports broadcaster Jeanette Kwakye MBE—eschew the standard frameworks of trauma and oppression that are foisted upon Black narratives and seek to move beyond discussions of diversity, identity and representation. Featuring interviews with legendary players such as Ian Wright, Anita Asante and Andy Cole, they draw upon broader social and cultural history to examine Black footballers in contexts larger than themselves. By engaging with these subtler connections between football and Black cultural expression, A New Formation reveals the vibrancy and nuance of contemporary Black life in Britain.

©2022 Calum Jacobs (P)2022 Penguin Audio
Football (Soccer) Sports

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Brilliant from start to finish. Perfect book for understanding the context of how black players shaped the modern game as a Black American.

10/10

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