A psychologist and die-hard fan excavates the ecstasy, anguish, and unshakable loyalty that make football more than a game

Inside the ecstasy, anguish and unshakeable loyalty that make football more than a game

'A book for anyone who has ever screamed at a television and wondered, briefly, why.' Adam Alter, author of Drunk Tank Pink

Dr Damien Pearse is a level-headed man. A psychologist, he spends his days encouraging patients to adopt a calmer, more grounded approach to life. And yet on match days all this unravels. He becomes anxious, panicked, sometimes belligerent, and if things go well for Wolves, manically ecstatic. And he is not alone – wander through any British town centre on a Saturday night and watch as the aftershocks of wins and losses spill out into the real world. Football means so much to so many.

Pearse meets with superfans, scientists, players and trolls, uncovering what drives our unwavering obsession with football. Examining ideas of identity, belonging, shame, modern masculinity and the most extreme acts of football fanaticism, Till I Die offers a poignant reappraisal of an enduring national pastime and passion.

'A thought-provoking, funny and ultimately heartbreaking book about how football fandom can evoke our most painful emotions' Dr Gwen Adshead, author of The Devil You Know