The Policy Press New Horizons inCriminology book series provides conciseauthoritative texts that are international in scopeand reflect cutting-edge thought and theoreticaldevelopments. These short, accessible texts explainprinciples and developments clearly before goingdeeper into the subject, and are written so that thenon-specialist academic, student or practitioner canunderstand them. Written by leading authors in theirfields, the series aims to become essential readingfor all academics and students (and practitioners)interested in where criminology is heading.

Criminology is a subject that has always been willingto explore new horizons, to consider otherdisciplinary influences and to embrace newmethodologies. By exploring new possibilities, freshand innovative ways to consider the traditional coreof criminology can be found; and the traditionalcore itself might also be questioned. Thecriminological imagination (see Young, 2011)continues to expand, and this new book series aimsto reveal to a wider audience these cutting-edgedevelopments.

With numerous high-profile cases of bribery,drug-taking, illegal gambling, violence and simplecheating in sport, there is clearly scope for asports criminology. Sportspeople play by variouslaws, rules and norms that would be familiar to thecriminologist – all of which can be bent or brokenfor personal advantage. Furthermore, systems ofpolicing, surveillance, social control andpunishment permeate the sporting world. There arealso issues of race, disability, gender andsexuality within sport that would interest thecriminologist. Perhaps there is much that sport canlearn from criminological scholarship, andsimilarly, much that criminology can learn fromsport.

Having an international reputation for his writing onsport and criminology, Nic Groombridge was theobvious choice of author for this book, and I wasdelighted when he accepted my invitation. Hisenthusiasm for the subject is evident in his popularblog at http://sportscriminology.blogspot.co.uk,where he states that he is ‘a fan of criminology andof sport’. This is certainly evident in this book,which is the first to be published on sportscriminology. Nic draws on his experience as a sportsfan and (amateur) sportsperson. He also drawsinfluence from the sociology of sport and sportslaw, but concludes that a sports criminology can saysomething new, especially if it comes from acritical perspective.