Andy Brussel’s ‘Football Murals’ book is a work of art

Street art is becoming an increasingly popular form of expression, especially in the United States. Artists modify buildings and surfaces to express their opinions about people and events. This unique expression is difficult to replicate elsewhere. Painting the face of my hometown Lionel Messi in Argentinian colors is an expression of love and affection. People can’t miss wall art.

How do murals interact with football fandom? In his new book, Football Murals: Football’s Biggest Street Art Extravaganza, journalist and broadcaster Andy Brussel gives examples of how this art form celebrates football and football fandom in different ways and countries. Brussel combines beautiful photography with reflections. In doing so, he explains to his readers why this rarely-discussed sporting extravaganza is worthy of attention.

Less than 200 pages, the book has a series of short chapters structured primarily around the players.The majority of the chapters talk about players and their impact on fans and the sport. Brussels presents his art on the player’s street as an example. Some chapters are organized by theme. The “Murals Memorials” and Hillsboro-focused pieces are particularly moving. Of course, no book on football would be complete without a chapter on managers and management. This will allow readers to see the amazing Roman street art of Roma’s current manager, Jose Mourinho.

book review of football mural

The good thing about this book is its uniqueness. There are other books about football visuals. Still, I think this is unique in that it focuses specifically on street art. I knew very little about street art until I read this book. After putting that down, I still knew very little about street art performances and commissions. In addition, I have some pictures that I would like to add as a background for my phone or computer.

The book is short and straightforward, so there isn’t much to say. It has beautiful pictures and some descriptive text. You won’t learn much about the subject by reading it. Still, there’s too much text for this to be a coffee table book or straight picture book. I think it would have been better if it was more like a picture book. Still, the author finally admits that the book is not comprehensive. Therefore, he asks readers to send in good examples of other or new street art.

This is the type of book bought by true football fans who collect a wide variety of books on the sport. If you want to do something different about football fandom, or do something less burdensome with good pictures, football mural A good book to review. But if you think Inverting the Pyramid is the only kind of soccer book worth reading (that is, tactics and history), skip this one.

Football Murals are available from Amazon and all upscale bookstores.