Thomas Fletcher - Negotiating Fatherhood: Sport and Family Practices

The Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life series is impressive and contemporary in its themes and approaches Professor Deborah Chambers, Newcastle University, UK, and author of New Social Ties .

The remit of the Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life series is to publish major texts, monographs and edited collections focusing broadly on the sociological exploration of intimate relationships and family organization. The series covers a wide range of topics such as partnership, marriage, parenting, domestic arrangements, kinship, demographic change, intergenerational ties, life course transitions, step-families, gay and lesbian relationships, lone-parent households, and also non-familial intimate relationships such as friendships and includes works by leading figures in the field, in the UK and internationally, and aims to contribute to continue publishing influential and prize-winning research.

More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14676

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

This book has been a very long time in the making. Im sat at my computer in the middle of a stormy night in March and I am absolutely exhausted. When I embarked on this project I thought it would be a piece of cake. Thats probably exaggerating things a bit but I took the view that I had already written a PhD and when I began that I didnt really know how to write. A decade on and I think my writing skills have progressed quite a bit so, how hard could it be to write a book? As it turns out, its excruciatingly hard and I dont think I would have finished it if it wasnt for a number of people. Firstly, my wife, best friend and soul mate, Amanda. Your enduring faith and patience with me has been overwhelming. All those days where you came home, asked a perfectly innocent questionhows the book goingto be met with such hostility and pessimism. Thanks for putting up with me. Thanks too for putting up with my obsession for sport. This is perhaps the one thing we are poles apart on. Secondly, to my boys, William and Henry. My wonderful, beautiful, inspiring boys. You are the motivation for writing this in the first place and you are the reason I have persisted with it. Thirdly, to my mum and dad who supported me unconditionally; I wanted for very little. It may seem strange to some people, but thanks too must go to my dogs, Lizzie and Ruby. They have provided me with hours and hours of company when otherwise, I would have been working alone. Their gentle snores are the sound of my work space, and I love them for it. Id like to acknowledge some work colleagues too. To Kate Dashper, Damion Sturm, Davide Sterchele and Ellie May; thanks for being so cathartic when I needed to let off steam. Thanks for knowing when to ask how I was getting on and when not to. Thanks to all my participantsmy sport familyfor their brutal honesty and putting themselves out there. Hopefully you will recognise your voices and agree that I have done them justice. Finally, to colleagues at Palgrave, especially Amelia Derkatsch for providing so much support and flexibility throughout.

March 13, 2019

Thomas Fletcher