Telling an important story about the development of modern Turkey, this fascinating book examines the place of football in Turkish society and the relationship between Turkish sport, nationalism, and globalization.

Drawing on original ethnographic research with Turkish football fans, as well as players and coaches, the book argues that Turkish sport, particularly football, has played an important role in Turkish modernity, offering another way to mark Turkish national identity. At the same time, as football has become part and parcel of the global culture industry, the inclusive aspect of Turkish sport is threatened by the trend to commodification and mediatization, as football has become less of a national project and more of a global project increasingly intertwined with the global economy.

Blending history, sociology, political science, and cultural analysis, this book is important reading for anybody with an interest in football, fandom, nationalism, modernity, Middle Eastern or European studies, or the relationship between sport and wider society.