A good match: Europe Utd offers an intellectual focus on football

Europe Utd is a collaboration between Dutch designers Menno de Bruijn and Kasper Pyndt. The publication examines the football industry, and the cultural and social issues that surround it. ‘It’s a book about football, but not about the game,’ say the founders.

Using iconic imagery, the magazine brings to life the links between football and politics, racism and self-expression. A grinning Silvio Berlusconi, for example, is shown being handed an enormous trophy, while other images include fans circled making a monkey gesture and former Liverpool player Robbie Fowler pretending to snort the touchline like a line of drugs. A premise of the publication is to highlight the way in which football creates common ground between the culturally different member states of the EU.

Europe Utd points to a heightened appreciation of sport and its cultural impact. For more on how sports journals are becoming more sophisticated, read LS:N Global’s New Football and Re-valorised Sport microtrends.