Ramón Llopis-Goig is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Valencia, Spain. He is co-author of Groove Armada with John Williams (2006) and he has published a collection of papers on the globalisation of football in Europe and Latin America entitled Fútbol Postnacional (2009).

"Ramon Llopis-Goig has produced the definitive social scientific analysis of the most successful football society in recent times [...] this book will be essential reading for all academics, students and general readers with interests in football and in Spanish culture and society." - Professor Richard Giulianotti, Loughborough University, UK "Despite its cultural centrality, the study of football, el deporte rey (the king of sports) in Spain, has been dominated by predominantly popular journalistic analysis [...] this book not only fills a major gap in the literature but provides a solid foundation for future investigations [...] It is essential reading for anyone interested in the sociology of Spanish football." - Professor Steven Jackson, University of Otago, New Zealand

• Introduction 1. Spaniards' Secular Ritual 2. Historical Configuration 3. Team Identification and Football Culture 4. The Decline of the Spanish Fury 5. The Metamorphosis of the Football Clubs 6. Detraditionalization, Hyperconsumption and Ambivalence 7. Inductor Masculinities 8. Hooligans, Ultras and Vandals 9. Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance Conclusions and Epilogue