This book provides a historical study of the beginnings of the UEFA, demonstrating how the formation of the organisation was linked to the decentralisation experienced by FIFA, the world governing body of football. Vonnard examines why administrators created an association that transcended the barriers of the Cold War, and focused on the development of a network that promoted football outside the constraints of international politics. Finally, he emphasises the role UEFA played in the Europeanisation of the people’s game, and in the early years of the European integration process.

The research is based on a rich body of new archival material from the UEFA and FIFA Documentation Centres, and various European football federations, as well as reports from a number of leading newspapers of the era, and interviews with football personalities of the 1950s. It will be of interest to students and scholars across the history of sport, international relations, and European studies