Joshua Robinson

Joshua Robinson is a sports journalist whose work includes reporting as European sports correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. He has also written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Sports Illustrated. His books with Jonathan Clegg investigate the business and organizational forces shaping professional sport, combining reporting on influential individuals with accounts of how leagues and teams change.

Their first collaboration, The Club, appeared in 2018 and examined the rise of the Premier League. Messi vs. Ronaldo followed in 2022, The Formula in 2024, and The Playbook in 2026. The subjects span soccer, Formula One, and American football. Robinson and Clegg approach these settings through the connections between competition, investment, regulation, and the pursuit of an audience.

Robinson’s European reporting provides a background for books whose stories cross national borders. International ownership and television rights feature in The Club, while the commercial reach of two players is central to Messi vs. Ronaldo. In The Formula, expansion into the United States becomes part of a wider racing history. The Playbook shifts to a league organized around restrictions intended to keep its franchises competitive.

Clegg, his coauthor, also works at The Wall Street Journal as a sports editor.

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.

The book follows the breakaway that established the Premier League in 1992 and the television income that helped transform it. Club owners from several continents became part of the story, bringing different ambitions and sources of capital. Interviews with people involved in that expansion place the business changes alongside the teams’ competitive demands. The result is a history of institutions and investment as well as a history of English soccer.

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: Robinson and Clegg examine how NFL organizations try to sustain success despite rules intended to prevent permanent dominance. Their reporting follows team executives and coaches through decisions about player evaluation, contracts, and roster construction. Case studies show franchises looking for openings in a tightly regulated competition, then confronting the challenge of maintaining an edge once other teams learn from their methods. Published in 2026.