Joel Rookwood

Dr Joel Rookwood is a senior lecturer in Sport Business Management at the University of Central Lancashire, and holds a visiting fellowship at the University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia.

His areas of expertise include football, politics, fandom, management, events, development, peace and identity, areas in which he has published widely. He has conducted research at fifteen sports mega events and watched football in 120 British grounds and at stadia across 100 countries.

Joel has worked for various elite clubs and governing bodies as a coach and performance analyst, and has helped manage 30 international sport-for-development programmes, including post-conflict projects in Israel, Liberia and Bosnia.

He spent a decade as a global columnist for a Japanese football website from 2002, and has made numerous documentaries across six continents relating to football, hooliganism, conflict, events and development, with online versions amassing over 250,000 views across various platforms. He has a global experience across various contexts having visited 160 countries.