Jonathan Clegg

Jonathan Clegg is a British sports journalist and editor at The Wall Street Journal. His reporting and commentary have also appeared in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, and FourFourTwo. His books, written with fellow Journal journalist Joshua Robinson, examine the financial arrangements, organizational choices, and personalities behind major professional sports rather than concentrating on match results alone.

The partnership began with The Club, an account of the Premier League’s commercial rise, and continued with Messi vs. Ronaldo, The Formula, and The Playbook. Published between 2018 and 2026, these books move from English and international soccer to Formula One and the NFL. Each connects the pursuit of sporting success with decisions about money, ownership, media, or the rules under which teams compete.

Clegg’s newspaper background is reflected in a focus on how sporting institutions operate. The Club follows the development of a league; Messi vs. Ronaldo uses two careers to examine a changing industry. The later books broaden that approach to a motor-racing championship and an American league where financial rules deliberately restrict the advantages available to successful teams. Robinson is a coauthor of all four works listed here.

Soccer Books

The Club: How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports: The authors trace the Premier League’s transformation from an English breakaway competition into a global entertainment business. Interviews and reporting follow television deals, new ownership, and the flow of international money into clubs. The account connects decisions made in boardrooms with changes in the game, showing how the league’s ambitions altered both English soccer and its relationship with supporters. Published in 2018.

Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World's Game: This joint account of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo examines how their rivalry reshaped international soccer. Their contrasting backgrounds and development lead into competition at Barcelona and Real Madrid, where personal achievement became part of a much larger commercial contest. The authors consider the clubs, sponsors, and financial interests that grew around two players whose influence extended well beyond matches. Published in 2022.

Auto Racing Books

The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World's Fastest-Growing Sport: The authors investigate Formula One’s reinvention as a global media and sporting business, including its breakthrough with American audiences. Racing personalities, engineering developments, ownership, and television provide interconnected parts of the story. The book explains how a competition associated with technical expertise and exclusivity expanded its following while retaining the rivalries and commercial tensions that shape the sport. Published in 2024.

Football Books

The Playbook: The Hidden Forces Shaping Winners and Losers in the Modern NFL: This examination of the modern NFL follows the executives and coaches trying to build lasting winners in a league designed to promote competitive balance. Salary rules, drafting, roster construction, and organizational decisions create opportunities and constraints. The authors use teams including Philadelphia, Baltimore, and the Los Angeles Rams to examine how successful organizations seek an advantage and respond when rivals adapt. Published in 2026.

Among the cases considered are responses to the NFL’s salary cap and the opportunities created by changes to rookie contracts. Teams could not simply copy the spending model of a wealthy soccer club, because league rules limited their options. The account therefore follows attempts to find value in player recruitment, contracts, and organizational structure. Its central question is how an advantage can survive once other franchises understand and imitate it.