About This Game For the People is an acute social novel with strategic elements that puts the player in the shoes of a state official.

The People's Game is [Gary's] call to mend football, harmed by the greed and selfishness of bigger clubs and associations.' Radio Times

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Gary Neville has had a front-row seat in football for over 30 years, witnessing the sport at every level—as a player, a coach, a pundit and an owner. Most of all, he's a fan. I’ve mentioned how, if given a sufficient budget, CGI can smooth over the generic fault lines in matchplay recreations. In the future? Sky Sports television recently featured coverage of the FIFA Interactive World Cup. I conclude my book with speculation on how gaming will influence the future not just of the football film, but the game itself: the Premiership has certainly lost a whole generation of paying fans (the average attendance is now aged 40+), and clubs, mindful of future fan creation, are currently signing up ‘e-players’ so they can reach out and ‘sell their brand’ to teenagers. The new Tottenham stadium also includes plans to host major e-sports events. A feature film featuring a football video games player would be a shrewd next move. Football may have played little part in making East Germany a European sporting superpower but as Alan McDougall explains in this splendid new book there was a voluntarist ethos to the game that made it dynamic at both regional and national levels. Football mattered because it was popular and it was popular because it mattered. This is the best account of football behind the Iron Curtain since Robert Edelman, written with clarity, style and wit.’

British football remains, arguably, the sole bastion for homophobia, and The Pass, adapted from John Donnelly’s Royal Court play with Russell Tovey reprising his stage role, is a film well worth seeing, about a Premiership star struggling to ‘pass’ as heterosexual. It challenges, yes, but the problem for the film, as I recall a review pointing out, was finding an audience: would conventional soccer fans want to see a film about a gay player wrestling with his sexual identity, and would a modern LGBT crowd be sympathetic to the player’s at times self-loathing decisions?Shoot, stab, burn, poison, tear, vaporise, or crush ragdolls. This game is for people who enjoy throwing around ragdolls but want it to be more detailed, satisfying, and feel more free while doing so.