Includes bibliographical references and index.

oday soccer is the global game played by millions of people around the world. This was not always the case. Ireland was one of the first countries to play the game. Played in Ireland since the late nineteenth century, it was known to many as the 'garrison game'. David Toms looks at soccer's development in Munster, arguing that far from being the 'garrison game' of popular imagination, soccer was enjoyed by a whole range of people across social classes since the late nineteenth century. This book charts soccer's development in Munster from its earliest days as a game played by an elite few to a game of the everyman. Along the way, it explores the ups and downs of the sport as it was played amid war, revolution and class conflict. David Toms guides us through soccer's journey in Munster from a field in Mallow in the 1870s to the glamour and excitement of cup finals in front of crowds of thousands by the end of the 1930s. Along the way we encounter the emergence of modern sporting culture where sport is as much entertainment as exercise.