New Formation

Written by Calum Jacobs with several co-contributors, this collection of essays looks at football through a lens seldom given room in the sport's histories: the part Black British players have played in changing the game, both on the pitch and in the wider culture around it. The contributors set aside the familiar narrative of hardship and injustice often applied to Black stories, and they aim to move past conversations focused on diversity, identity and representation. This is not a book about racism in football.

Alongside Jacobs, the contributors include Musa Okwonga, Aniefiok Ekpoudom and sports broadcaster Jeanette Kwakye MBE. Interviews with players such as Ian Wright, Anita Asante and Andy Cole anchor the discussion. Drawing on broader social and cultural history, the essays place Black footballers within contexts that extend well beyond the sport, tracing the subtler connections between football and Black cultural expression.

The result is a portrait of contemporary Black life in Britain, shown in its range and complexity.