THIS IS OUR GAME

Reminds me of why I love football at its heart it s a reflection of the communities that are built around it A special book Jamie Carragher You know when you re in a Football City The murals the billboards the graffiti the colours on the bars and pubs No two football cities are the same That cross on the club badge commemorating a 1st century fisherman martyr Ajax The cemetery of graves dedicated to the club s league rivals Napoli The guttural roar of fans chanting Aupa Athletic aupa Euskal Herria a fierce declaration of Basque pride and identity echoing through San Mamés like a battle cry Bilbao In a world of increasing corporate and homogenous sport football cities preserve culture and exhibit the particular and the unique with glorious passion Fandom in a football city is for everyone for boys and girls for elderly men and the infirm for the fashionable the outcasts and the hopeless it gives their days meaning and clarity it can unite divided cities and divide the otherwise united This is Our Game is a celebration of these unique fan cultures Part travel part social history giving voice to distinctive local experiences revealing the atmospheres attitudes fables fashions tensions and triumphs of twenty two unique pl