Written by a world-respected football historian, this football history unpacks the global game's greatest myths in a charming gift edition.

Football has been completely mythologized: as a result, many of the things football fans think they know about the game and its history turn out not to be true. Written by Kevin Moore, the founding director of the National Football Museum (the world's leading football museum), this thoroughly researched and authoritative book debunks more than 50 of the greatest myths surrounding football. Moore unearths the truth behind many accepted myths, including:

· The Germans took football to Brazil, not the English
· Rugby and not football could quite easily have been the world's leading sport
· There are gay professional players . . . and always have been!
· Goalkeepers should not dive for penalties
· Football hooliganism did not begin in England
· Shirt colors do make a difference
· Cambridge and not Sheffield is the home of the oldest football club in the world
· Arsenal should not be in the Premier League . . . they cheated to be there
· The Dynamo Kiev team were not executed after beating a German SS team in 1941
· England did not win the World Cup fairly in 1966 . . . but not in the way you think!