The pursuit of lifelong participation: the role of professional football clubs in the delivery of physical education and school sport in England

Professional football (soccer) in Europe has changed dramatically in the past two decades, largely due to the escalation of media rights deals. Many professional football clubs are now complex businesses, intrinsically concerned with financial matters. Within the rapidly changing business context of football, the aim of this research is to further understand the main issues that are related to a career as a manager. This paper has five sections: (1) we offer an appraisal of the general literature as it applies to professional football management; (2) we introduce the theoretical focus of the article with specific reference to the “career” and describe the context and background to the research; (3) we describe the research methodology and present and discuss the research results, which center on the career development of the manager; the position of a manager in organizational structures, and how the changing organization affects the role of manager; (4) we set out the conclusions and implications of our research; and (5) we offer our plans to progress this research, enabling a new body of knowledge to be developed on this specialized role.

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Professional Clubs as Platforms in Multi-Sided Markets in Times of COVID-19: The Role of Spectators and Atmosphere in Live Football

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13042312 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 2312

Author(s):

Elisa Herold ◽

Felix Boronczyk ◽

Christoph Breuer

Keyword(s):

Quantitative Research ◽

Network Effects ◽

Business Models ◽

Professional Football ◽

Multilevel Regression ◽

Football Clubs ◽

Game Outcome ◽

Emotional Value ◽

Betting Odds

In-stadium spectators affect the emotional value and atmosphere of sport live broadcasts. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Europe, the presence of in-stadium spectators, however, was suspended until further notice. Conceptualizing professional clubs as economic platforms, network effects due to the lack of in-stadium spectators may affect stakeholders’ utility. Thus, the main aims of this study are to examine the influence of missing in-stadium spectators for professional clubs by investigating network effects on (1) TV viewers’ emotional arousal and (2) TV viewers’ attention towards sponsor messages during live football broadcasts. Using a quantitative research design, a controlled lap was conducted, and broadcasts were presented to n = 26 highly involved participants. Heart rate, eye-tracking, and betting odds data served as measurements of arousal, attention, and game outcome uncertainty and were aggregated on a second-by-second basis (k = 140,400). Multilevel regression analysis showed significant differences in viewers’ arousal and attention to sponsors, contingent on the presence of in-stadium spectators and game outcome uncertainty. The presence of in-stadium spectators increased arousal, while attention towards sponsor messages decreased, depending on game outcome uncertainty. Based on the presence of network effects, implications to sustainably adapting professional football clubs’ business models based on stakeholders’ different interests can be given.

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Tackling mental health: the role of professional football clubs

Sport in Society ◽

10.1080/17430437.2016.1173910 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 281-291 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Kathryn Curran ◽

Simon Rosenbaum ◽

Daniel Parnell ◽

Brendon Stubbs ◽

Andy Pringle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Professional Football ◽

Football Clubs

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The School Sport Co-ordinator Programme: Changing the Role of the Physical Education Teacher?

Sport Education and Society ◽

10.1080/13573320309252 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 231-250 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

Anne Flintoff

Keyword(s):

Physical Education ◽

Physical Education Teacher ◽

Education Teacher ◽

School Sport

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Sport in the Piarist Stanisław Konarski Gymnasium in Rakowice in 1909-39

Biuletyn Historii Wychowania ◽

10.14746/bhw.2018.38.4 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 55-66

Author(s):

Mariusz Ausz ◽

Ewa Barnaś-Baran

Keyword(s):

Physical Education ◽

Interwar Period ◽

Civic Education ◽

School Curriculum ◽

Physical Development ◽

Great Care ◽

School Sport ◽

Polish Society ◽

Source Materials

The article shows the role of physical education in the Piarist priests’ gymnasium in Rakowice near Kraków in 1909-39, a period when sport entered the school curriculum on a permanent basis. In the Interwar period, the order was able to open more schools in Lida, Szczuczyn Nowogródzki, and Lubieszów. The school in Rakowice was modern and comfortable and enjoyed a growing reputation among wealthy Polish society. The Rakowice school took great care of the physical development of young people. The article uses source materials describing the physical education of this institution. In this school, sport was considered to be an important educational factor, and the monks also saw it as an element of improving health, hygiene and finally, civic education. Polish society and the Polish state needed educated and healthy youth. However, it should be noted that this school was an elite, paid school, attended by children from wealthy families who were more aware of the importance of sport. This also contributed to the fact that the gymnasium had great facilities for practising sports, which many excellent secondary schools of that period could envy.

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Evidence for a Role of ACTN3 R577X Polymorphism in Football Player’s Career Progression

International Journal of Sports Medicine ◽

10.1055/a-0753-4973 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 39 (14) ◽

pp. 1088-1093 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Daniel Coelho ◽

Eduardo Pimenta ◽

Izinara Rosse ◽

Bruno de Castro ◽

Lenice Becker ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Football Player ◽

Career Progression ◽

Control Group ◽

Professional Football ◽

Professional Category ◽

Genotype Frequencies ◽

Football Clubs ◽

Chi Squared

AbstractThe aim was to investigate a possible role of the ACTN3 R577X polymorphism in a Brazilian football player’s career progression. 2 questions were formulated: 1. Does ACTN3 polymorphism affect the probability of an individual being a professional football player? 2. Does this polymorphism affect the progression of the athlete throughout his career? The study included 353 players from first division Brazilian football clubs in the following categories: under-14 (U-14), U-15, U-17, U-20, and professional (PRO). The control group (CON) was composed of 100 healthy non-athletes. The chi-squared test was used to assess differences between the allele and genotype frequencies. Comparing football categories, the XX genotype was less frequent among professional players than in the U-20 (p<0.05) or the U-15 category (p<0.05). The RX genotype also presented more frequently in the PRO category than the U-14 category (p<0.05). Moreover, a trend towards a higher frequency of the RX genotype and a lower frequency of the XX genotype was observed in the professional category compared to U-20. These results suggest that the genotype in the ACTN3 polymorphism affects the probability of a football player progressing throughout his career and becoming professional, meaning that playing football selects against the ACTN3 XX genotype.

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