Terry has none of his ability to raise a laugh.' - Daily Express exactly what's needed to cheer us all up in the autumnal gloom. 'The subject matter is football, with a dash of Romeo and Juliet.'Satirical, historical, fantastical and irresistible.' - Daily Mail.Or, to borrow another phrase, it's about life, the Universe, and everything.' - The Times This isn't just football, it's Discworld football. 'Behind the fantasy Terry Pratchett looks at very real contemporary issues and scores many goals.Because the thing about football - the important thing about football - is that it is not just about football.

As the match approaches, four lives are entangled and changed for ever. The prospect of the Big Match draws in a street urchin with a wonderful talent for kicking a tin can, a maker of jolly good pies, a dim but beautiful young woman, who might just turn out to be the greatest fashion model there has ever been, and the mysterious Mr Nutt (and no one knows anything much about Mr Nutt, not even Mr Nutt, which worries him, too). And now the wizards of Unseen University must win a football match, without using magic, so they're in the mood for trying everything else. Because the thing about football-the most important thing about football-is that it is never just about football.Football has come to the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork. As the big match approaches, these four lives are entangled and changed forever. Nutt (about whom no one knows very much, including Mr. Meanwhile, Trev (a handsome street urchin and a right good kicker) falls hard for kitchen maid Juliet (beautiful, dim, and perhaps the greatest fashion model there ever was), and Juliet's best pal, UU night cook Glenda (homely, sensible, and a baker of jolly good pies) befriends the mysterious Mr. Oh, and on top of that, they must win a football match without using magic. To begin with, they have to figure out just what it is that makes this sport-soccer with a bit of rugby thrown in-so popular with Ankh-Morporkians of all ages and social strata.

And so when Lord Vetinari, the city's benevolent tyrant, strongly suggests to Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully that the university revive an erstwhile tradition and once again put forth a football team composed of faculty, students, and staff, the wizards of UU find themselves in a quandary. The wizards at Ankh-Morpork's Unseen University are renowned for many things-wisdom, magic, and their love of teatime-but athletics is most assuredly not on the list.

Discworld 37