Benjamin Roberts is a writer, broadcaster and keen observer of the political and social aspects of the Beautiful Game. His family background is Northern Irish but he lives and works in Southern England. He is a fan of Charlton Athletic.

'[A] throroughly researched history, peppered with anecdotes...a book which gets that the relationship between football and politics is nowhere more keen than in the Northern Irish game.' - Tim Marshall - author of 'Dirty Northern Bastards - A History of Britain's Football Chants' 'Anyone interested in Irish football, North or South, should read this. Ethnic rivalry, religious prejudice and recurring violence - the Beautiful Game as played out against the background of a bitterly divided Northern Ireland.' - Paddy Agnew, Rome correspondent for the Irish Times, writer for World Soccer