Futsal

Futsal is one of the fastest-growing sports on the planet: over 60 million people play this lightning-fast and tactically intricate variation of indoor football. Despite its growing status, however, futsal's history remains largely unknown and untold. Jamie Fahey is a leading futsal expert and qualified youth coach. He spent his childhood playing endless football matches in the shattered urban landscape of 1980s Liverpool - on the same streets later graced by Wayne Rooney, the 'last true street footballer'. Yet when Fahey's own footballing career stalled, he realised he had been unwittingly learning the skills that pointed to his true passion. In Futsal: The Story of the Indoor Football Revolution, Fahey makes the case for futsal's transformative grassroots effect, both in the UK and abroad. He also tells the story of futsal's politics, tactics and personalities - and in doing so, illuminates a hidden corner of sporting history.

Jamie Fahey is a Guardian journalist and production editor who has also been involved with futsal for nearly two decades, both as player and coach. He is the paper's primary reporter on the sport and considered a world expert. Futsal is his first book.