Global popular culture and big business have revolutionised the East in a generation. Football, Sport of the masses and now commercial super power, has travelled with this tide of change in the East in its own right.

The development of football as a major participatory sport in Japan, Korea and China makes it an ideal case study for analysis of the complex relationship between sport, culture, society and economy in the East. Football is also a useful entry point for examination of the phenomena of increasing globalisation, and this theme is widely discussed.

This broad ranging collection of essays includes:

- Social change and national identity
- Women's football and gender traditions
- Finance and investment in football
- The development of professional football
- Football and the media
- Football Fans, 'hooligans' and soccer supporter culture