Football Voodoo: Magic, Superstition and Religion in the Beautiful Game: Amazon.co.uk: Chris Roberts, Daniel Morgenstern: Books

Book Description

Publication Date: 18 May 2010 | Series: Religion in the Beautiful Gam

Football Voodoo is where soccer collides with the occult in the different means employed, other than ball skills and fitness, to win a match. These range from players' superstitions and rituals, use of colour, symbols and invocation right the way up to hiring mediums, witches and shamans to invoke curses in a bid to change the course of a team's fortunes. This is a world of hexed grounds, unlucky shirts, magic horses and burying cattle under goalposts. A place where managers urinate on corner flags, goalkeepers in the six yard box and dog mascots on defenders.

Football Voodoo is a blend of football, religion, witchcraft and anthropology revealing the startling links between the behaviour of footballers and the occult. Interwoven with this are tales of player's superstitions, cursed grounds, enchantments and voodoo sacrifice from within the world of football. Amongst other things it will reveal:

*Whether magician Alistair Crowley aligned the pitch at Stamford Bridge.
*The hex on Becks in the 2006 World Cup.
*Why John Terry might be the wicked witch of the West Stand
*Whether Cristiano Ronaldo has the brain of a feral pigeon
*The advantage gained for goalkeepers by wearing red
*The pagan origins of many of the lucky socks, boots and shin pads superstitions.

Many fans and players and players have their own rituals but this book, as well as, revealing some of the more interesting ones delves deeper and wider bringing to light some truly astonishing facts.

Written in a playful way it takes stories from across the English and Scottish League structures as well as numerous international examples from witch doctors aiding the Australian team to buried cats in Argentina. It is aimed at the ordinary fan who enjoys strange tales and the odder side of football.

#outer_postBodyPS { display: none; } #psGradient { display: none; } #psPlaceHolder { display: none; } #psExpand { display: none; } Football Voodoo is where soccer collides with the occult in the different means employed, other than ball skills and fitness, to win a match. These range from players' superstitions and rituals, use of colour, symbols and invocation right the way up to hiring mediums, witches and shamans to invoke curses in a bid to change the course of a team's fortunes. This is a world of hexed grounds, unlucky shirts, magic horses and burying cattle under goalposts. A place where managers urinate on corner flags, goalkeepers in the six yard box and dog mascots on defenders.

Many fans and players and players have their own rituals but this book, as well as, revealing some of the more interesting ones delves deeper and wider bringing to light some truly astonishing facts.

Product details

Paperback: 130 pages
Publisher: F and M Publications UK (18 May 2010)
ISBN-10: 0956494013
ISBN-13: 978-0956494016
Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15 x 1.2 cm
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,644,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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From the Author

It'll probably come as no surprise that the idea for Football Voodoo occurred to me in a pub. More specifically, and less obviously, in a room above a pub Holborn whilst a witch explained how she prepared for a ritual. As I listened to her describe how she focused her mind, donned a sacred kit and kissed a symbol before entering a sacred marked off space for some reason the image of Wayne Rooney kissing the Newton Heath crest at Goodison popped into my mind. So began a chain of thought that led to the book. How I managed to mentally jump from a flame headed wiccan in Central London to a talented lad from Liverpool 11 with a low centre of gravity is something that I'll probably let psychologists work out if I ever make enough money to afford proper psychiatric care.

Psychology weaves its way through the book and many practices that could be regarded as superstitious, religious or even obsessive compulsive have a sound psychological and in the case of colour, evolutionary biological, underpinning. In this way the research meandered away from straight forward witchcraft and folkways into sports psychology and various associations of symbols, colours and numbers which naturally are something football has in superabundance. There is also the question of chanting and the impact of prayer so it seemed foolish not to add in something on, what must today be referred to as, the terrace anthem or indeed the priestly aphorisms of the manager. The aim has been to provide an overview of all of these areas, hopefully without repetition and too much reliance on the foibles of contemporary superstars.It also means that over the past few years there have been many rewrites, additions and subtractions as well as tactical re-arrangements. However I hope this is the best formation and that what you have is entertaining but solid at the back as well as providing a lot of good stories to kick about.

About the Author

Written by Chris Roberts author of Heavy words lightly thrown (Granta 2004) on the history of nursery rhymes, Cross River Traffic (Granta 2005) about London's Bridges and Lost English (Michael O'Mara 2009) which concerned everyday phrases that have recently left the language. He also edits 21st century penny dreadful One Eye Grey which resets old London folktales in the present day.

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Football Voodoo: Magic, Superstition and Religion in the Beautiful Game [Paperback]

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