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Making a difference: The power of football in the community
Abstract
This paper seeks to contribute to the debate on the changing relationship between professional football clubs and their local populations by examining ‘football in the community’ schemes and the emergence of the ‘community stadium’. In particular, the paper challenges popular arguments about the annexation of ‘community’ to the continued commodification of football, instead arguing that football has a salience that can be used to support inclusion programmes in education, health and other social arenas. Using a case study of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club and its charity, Albion In The Community, the paper argues that increasing separation between the ‘business’ of football and the ‘service’ of community is a viable pluralistic form that offers strong and sustainable connections between local communities and their football club. The development of community stadia, first at Colchester and now at Brighton, further underpin this relationship by concretizing ideas of community space against the increasingly fluidity of social life.
... Embedded in local communities, professional football clubs came to represent a specifc white, male, working-class identity. Changes in those local communities and changes to the structure of the sport mean that the relationship between football clubs, their local communities and their fan bases have changed considerably over the years (Bale, 1993;Brooks, 2019;Critcher, 1979;Dixon, 2013;King, 1998;Nash, 2000;Redhead, 1997;Sandvoss, 2003;Taylor, 1971;Taylor, 1982;Wagg, 2004). Moralising ideals about the benefts of sporting participation gave way to football spectating through the combination of Saturday afternoons free from work, a relative rise in disposable income, and increasing commercial opportunities and motivations for business men to involve themselves with the local football club (Walvin, 1975). ...
... Accelerated by the Taylor Report's recommendations surrounding the need to regenerate the physical infrastructures of football stadia, the formation of the Premier League and its signifcant broadcasting deal with BskyB left many football supporters feeling disenfranchised and heightened the symbolic understandings of supporters' relationships with their football clubs and with each other (Brooks, 2019;King, 1998;Nash, 2000). The concept of 'community' was simultaneously being invoked within political discourse and its symbolic loss being redefned within the support base of clubs across the country as the increasingly hyperreal, hyper-commodifed experience of live football was textually challenged and intellectually explored (Redhead, 1993(Redhead, , 1997. Moreover, the real consequences of unregulated governance were beginning to have an effect on the very existence of clubs, an issue that has continued well into the 21st century. ...
... Accelerated by the Taylor Report's recommendations surrounding the need to regenerate the physical infrastructures of football stadia, the formation of the Premier League and its signifcant broadcasting deal with BskyB left many football supporters feeling disenfranchised and heightened the symbolic understandings of supporters' relationships with their football clubs and with each other (Brooks, 2019;King, 1998;Nash, 2000). The concept of 'community' was simultaneously being invoked within political discourse and its symbolic loss being redefned within the support base of clubs across the country as the increasingly hyperreal, hyper-commodifed experience of live football was textually challenged and intellectually explored (Redhead, 1993(Redhead, , 1997. Moreover, the real consequences of unregulated governance were beginning to have an effect on the very existence of clubs, an issue that has continued well into the 21st century. ...
... Na academia, os debates sobre mecanismos de financiamento das fundações dos clubes de futebol (BINGHAM; WALTERS, 2013) e propostas de instrumentos de medição de impacto social (LOMBARDO et al., 2019;OSHIMI et al., 2022) sobrepujam pesquisas que valorizam a perspectiva da comunidade (SANDERS et al., 2012). Por isso, o estudo de caso de Panton e Walters (2019) se destaca ao analisar estratégias e táticas de mobilização empregadas pela comunidade que lhe asseguraram participação ativa no desenvolvimento e nas decisões do projeto de regeneração urbana durante a construção do novo estádio do Tottenham Hotspurs FC, clube inglês da Premier League. ...
... Muitos clubes relutam em abraçar a RSC como parte de sua atividade principal, mesmo que o futebol seja considerado um negócio social que deve interessar-se pelos seus impactos sociais e não só esportivos (SANDERS et al., 2012). Nesse sentido, a separação (v) entre clube e sua fundação é justificada (WALTERS; PANTON, 2014), pois, enquanto a gestão do clube cuida das operações do futebol e do desempenho esportivo, a fundação se dedica a sua RSC (TRENDAFIOVA; ZIAKAS; SPARVERO, 2017). ...
... O estádio configura-se como um espaço social inscrito em um dado lugar, regido por normas e práticas sociais particulares e que assume duplo significado de clube e comunidade. Ele aparece "como um ícone da presença e do poder que o futebol pode conceder sobre a comunidade" ou ainda como um recurso da própria comunidade (SANDERS et al., 2012), tal qual as OETPs são vistas como ativos da comunidade capazes de alavancar benefícios sustentáveis (TRENDAFIOVA; ZIAKAS; SPARVERO, 2017). Logo, a desativação, reforma ou construção de um estádio de futebol promove grande impacto social, afetando a comunidade do entorno, e, por isso, despertam a atenção do clube e do poder público em relação às práticas de gestão a serem adotadas para melhor condução desse processo. ...
A partir dos anos 1990, o futebol profissional inicia um processo de transformação dos clubes das grandes ligas europeias em empresas globais, sendo os processos de tomada de decisões cada vez mais pautados pelos interesses financeiros e de marketing. Ao mesmo tempo, os crescentes escândalos relacionados a casos de doping, racismo, violência e corrupção aumentam a pressão por mudanças profundas em sua estrutura de governança associadas aos programas de Responsabilidade Social Corporativa (RSC). Um dos propósitos da RSC derivado desse compromisso é a reconstrução da relação do clube com a comunidade. O objetivo desta pesquisa é identificar indutores e barreiras nas práticas de RSC na sua relação com a comunidade. A abordagem metodológica adota a revisão sistemática da literatura dos artigos científicos sobre RSC no futebol profissional, publicados no período de 2011 a 2022. Os resultados mostram que o processo de transformação do futebol em um negócio global distancia o clube de uma relação efetiva com a comunidade que está na origem de seu desenvolvimento. A pesquisa indica que a reconstrução dessa relação é multidimensional (dimensões econômica, político-integrativa e ético-emocional) e demanda ao clube o desenvolvimento de estruturas democráticas de diálogo e participação, permeadas por relações de confiança e transparência.
... Also, local businesses could be treated as a component, due to the monetary relationship with football. These organisations typically gain from football and are clearly influenced by the presence of any football-related activities (Sanders et al., 2014). ...
... This social impact creates a variety of stakeholders' values, establishing clubs as a substantial field player (Breitbarth and Harris, 2008). Football has the power to unite people and cultures (Schlenkorf and Edwards, 2012); to promote a healthy lifestyle and increase the sporting activities among the community (Veal, Toohey and Frawley, 2012;Martin et al., 2016;Hills, Walker and Barry, 2018); to lessen antisocial problems (Nichols and Ralston, 2011); to develop local empowerment and social development (Misener and Mason, 2008;Sanders et al., 2014); to create a social identity (Geeraert, 2016), etc. ...
... The football industry, due to its enormous impact on society (Morrow, 2013), directly affects other sports and sporting activities (Sanders et al., 2014). The governing bodies may exploit football's capacity for their benefit and satisfy specific needs and values. ...
Football has long transcended its state of being a sport, to evolve into a business that supports a complex and dynamic multi-billion industry. Never having lost its identity, it still bears massive influence, far beyond the economic one, affecting and being affected by a multitude of stakeholders. Inexorably, this phenomenon of multi-stakeholder envelopment, entails a wide set of challenges, risks and considerations for football clubs that need to develop the requisite strategies that identify, interrelate and, ultimately, balance the value exchanges involved, towards a sustainable future. The above highlight the imperative of understanding the nature and role of key stakeholders and delineate their delivered value towards a football club. Clubs share value and align interests and strategies with each stakeholder, forming alliances and partnerships that are founded on a win-win principle; and the collection and interconnection of these relationships constitute the backbone of a strategic framework, that enables clubs to respond and adapt efficiently and effectively to the incessant environmental changes. This is, however, not a set of individual linkages, but a systemic network of stakeholders and values, whose collective effect shapes the essence of the football ecosystem.
Despite its afore-described importance, existing theory remains in its infancy and new in terms of explicit knowledge and degree of interaction. Extant studies on the topic are only partial and incomplete; or tend to over-focus on individual stakeholder-value relationships; or perceive stakeholders as broad categories overlooking the fact that various sub-categories exist as diverse entities; or analyse the industry’s actors and values individually and not as a system. This research contributes to the field of sports strategic management and bridges the gap in knowledge through its aim, to comprehensively identify the football industry stakeholders and their relative value in the individual club perspective, and to conceptualise and test their interrelationship in the Cyprus context towards the development of a corresponding framework of club benefits. This study addressed the stakeholder theory on a wide range of individuals and groups, enhancing the theory itself, in a context that until now was lacking empirical validation, and developed for the first time a unified club-specific framework of benefits.
Methodologically, considering the complex contextual circumstances, the study developed and applied a customised multi-level approach to collect and verify qualitative data. The research deployed every significant relevant study in the field to develop an initial theoretical generic framework, which was first validated by an Experts Panel and subsequently tested in the Cyprus-specific context. The empirical stage applied the qualitative approach, gathering data through forty-one semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with individuals within the top nine football clubs, as well as with key industry stakeholders who de facto represent specific groups, in order to validate the findings.
The research findings contribute significantly to knowledge, presenting scholars and practitioners with a systemic and comprehensive understanding and prescription of the individual club stakeholder management relationships and synergies. In this vein, the development of the final framework acts as a map, a blueprint for both theory and practice, bridging the gap in the literature, offering new avenues for further research, and arming executives with practicable valid knowledge. The research’s content, context and methodology generate a holistic set of contributions to scholarly business knowledge, and the gained insights and recommendations act as catalysts to individual football clubs’ strategic redevelopment and repositioning against their internal and external stakeholders
... Interest and investment in new stadia has not only been in high profile stadia but also, and the focus of this paper, in lesser scale 'community stadia'. Conceived as a stadium type in their own right, community stadia can be described as professional sports stadia with additional communityfacing aims, facilities and services that reflect the scale of the professional clubs they host and the towns and small cities in which they are situated (City of York Council, 2010;PMP, 2008;Sanders et al., 2014). ...
... In the UK, new professional sports stadia with explicit aims of becoming 'community stadia' have been constructed in Brentford, Brighton, Chesterfield, Colchester, Doncaster, Falkirk and Wimbledon, while further examples are planned for Cambridge, Castleford, Grimsby, Truro, and York. It is this increasing number, allied to a sparse community stadia-specific literature that currently spans just three sources (City of York Council, 2010;PMP, 2008;Sanders et al., 2014), which forms the motivation behind this paper. Furthermore, the construction of community stadia in the UK has typically been (part-) funded by public monies and, once constructed, public sector bodies (such as local authorities or armslength external organisations (ALEOs)) are involved in their ownership and management. ...
... The only community stadium referred to within the academic literature is Brighton & Hove Albion FC's Amex Community Stadium. In the Sanders et al. (2014) article, the rationale for Brighton & Hove Albion FC investing in a community stadium as opposed to a conventional football stadium was reported to be twofold. On a sporting front, the stadium enhanced the relationship between the club and its supporter base; on a community front, it provided a permanent home for Albion in the Community (the club's community outreach/CSR organisation) and a hub for the local, disadvantaged community of Moulsecoomb. ...
New professional sports stadia have been widely advanced as flagship developments that can generate jobs and wealth, support place branding and culture-led strategies, and host mega-events. Public funding for new stadia has been secured on these bases but also challenged as stadia costs are under-estimated and the benefits, particularly for lower income communities, exaggerated. Emerging in this context, community stadia are an intriguing phenomenon as they offer the potential for professional sports stadia to deliver on community aims alongside their sporting, commercial and economic development aims. Public funding has followed with a number of community stadia built or planned in the UK, yet with limited critical analysis of the stadium type and its impact. This paper helps to fill the literature gap by learning from two community stadia case studies: The Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster and The Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk. It finds that community stadia have the potential to deliver across the four aims, with stadia’s association with the world of professional sport facilitating engagement with multiple, diverse and ‘hard to reach’ communities. However, they are also complex phenomena leading the paper to construct a 12-feature conceptualisation of community stadia that can advance practitioner and academic understanding of the phenomenon.
... Even though many of the articles in the field of sport and social entrepreneurship deal with the strengthening of the individual's social capital and networks, there are also other examples of how sport can be used to reach and help marginalized members of society. An example is the study by Sanders et al. (2014) of a football club which had founded a financially independent charity, the aim of which was to contribute to societal development through education. The charity was itself situated in the football club's stadium, as in Walters and Chadwick (2009), and was first and foremost directed at hard-to-reach groups in society. ...
... To summarize, sport is, in the articles focusing on the processes, used to promote inclusion and/or help people on the margins of society (Gawell, 2013a;Hassanien & Dale, 2012;Hayhurst, 2014;Kennedy & Kennedy, 2015;Kiernan & Porter, 2014) by building up their social network (Webber et al., 2015), social capital (Ratten, 2011b;Sherry & Strybosch, 2012), health (Pringle & Sayers, 2004), and level of education (Sanders et al., 2014). Closer inspection of the goals of the enterprises reveals various interpretations of the term "social" in the concept of social entrepreneurship. ...
... This is a result of the authors either using the concept in an all too diffuse manner or alternatively presenting all schools of thought without choosing one in particular (see Notes 1 and 2). Secondly, the concept is sometimes used in a sense similar to CSR and philanthropy (Ratten 2011a(Ratten , 2011c, and, as is the case with these concepts, social entrepreneurship is often used, or can be used, for promotional purposes, for instance to improve reputation and economy, within both commercial organizations (Hayhurst, 2011;Miragaia Marques et al., 2015) and sports organizations (Gallagher et al., 2012;Gilmore et al., 2011;Sanders et al., 2014;Walters & Chadwick, 2009). Thirdly, the articles relate to sports in three different ways: (a) as a form of conceptual and theoretical development (e.g., Ratten, 2010); (b) as a goal, for instance in the form of the Special Olympics (Smith et al., 2009); and (c) as a means to help marginalized people (e.g., Cohen & Welty Peachey, 2015), to strengthen people's social networks (Webber et al., 2015), to build social capital (e.g., Ratten, 2011b), and to change attitudes in society (McNamara et al., 2015). ...
Bjärsholm presents a summary and analysis of international research on social entrepreneurship and sport. The concept of social entrepreneurship is initially introduced and discussed. By looking at different schools of thought and variables of entrepreneurship, Bjärsholm presents and frames previous research in the field. He shows that international research is fairly limited and that the sporting context often plays a minor role in the research. The chapter then concludes with a discussion of how earlier research has, somewhat ambiguously, applied the concept of social entrepreneurship within a sporting context.
... Another unique element of the current programme stems from schools partnering with a football club foundation, which enhances the reach of programmes in the community. Associated with success and status, football can 'reach and inspire its target audience in the way that no traditional educational actors can hope to achieve' (Sanders et al., 2014). In the current study, it is possible that the involvement of the football club acted as a motivator for parents due to their affiliation with the team. ...
... Moreover, allowing parents to work alongside their children meant they were experiencing the programme and retaining information for themselves. It has been proposed that shifting away from traditional learning and incorporating football-based, realworld examples into community football programmes, in the way that the current programme did, can be advantageous in making learning more accessible and relatable for wider audiences (Sanders et al., 2014). Moreover, the inclusion of football-based activities in particular could be beneficial for schools to explore. ...
Children are consistently not achieving recommended levels of physical activity (PA) despite it being a compulsory requirement of the national curriculum in England. Fruit and vegetable consumption also falls below recommended levels for both adults and children. With school PA increasingly being outsourced, football foundations (linked to professional football clubs) are now prominent providers of children’s PA. However, research exploring coach-led interventions in schools is limited with a particular gap in knowledge surrounding the qualitative experiences of children and parents/carers. The current study therefore aimed to explore the experiences of children and parents engaged in a 6-week family football programme. Family football is a free after-school programme engaging parents/carers and their children, to enhance their engagement in PA and healthy nutritional habits. A purposive sample of parents/carers and their children (N = 36) took part in qualitative focus groups to discuss their experiences of participating in family football. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed two themes: (i) healthy lifestyle facilitators and challenges and (ii) added value of programme participation. Children discussed programme content around nutritional practices and parents/carers discussed examples of where nutritional practices had improved at home, though some parents/carers and children highlighted persistent barriers to health improvement. Both parents/carers and children reflected on how the programme had enabled them to spend dedicated time with one another. The findings emphasize the significance of direct parent/carer involvement in school-based health interventions as well as the value of coach-led interventions in the enhancement of PA enjoyment, nutritional knowledge and connectedness of families within schools.
... The societal value category focuses on the stakeholder's shared values and beliefs. Football has always been a sport with a great impact on people's everyday lives, having the power to unite cultures, promote a healthy lifestyle (Hills et al., 2018), lessen antisocial problems (Nichols and Ralston, 2011), develop local empowerment and social development (Sanders et al., 2014), create a social identity (Geeraert, 2016), etc. It rectifies social concerns in communities, influencing and affecting any social changes (Misener and Schulenkorf, 2016). ...
... Clubs are highly influential in society, shape public discourse, generate strong The contemporary football industry emotions and affect social development in many directions (Thorpe et al., 2014). The pluralistic football ecosystem, establishes a sustainable bond between the two, enabling the latter to absorb some of football's influence on society and achieve social and economic development (Sanders et al., 2014). Football clubs have always enjoyed the commitment and support of local communities. ...
Purpose
Football exists and evolves in a dynamic ecosystem, displaying a massive and multidimensional influence on most contemporary societies, and football has grown into a significant industry with a plethora of stakeholders. This research is the first to comprehensively identify the key industry stakeholders and their distinct value, from the individual club perspective, and to conceptualise and test their interrelationship toward the development of a corresponding framework of club benefits.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applied a multilevel approach to collect and verify qualitative data. It initially developed a preliminary conceptual framework, which was first validated by an expert panel and was subsequently extensively tested in the Cyprus-specific context, which offered fertile ground for such a study. The empirical stage rested on 41 semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with very high-ranking individuals from the top nine football clubs, as well as with key industry stakeholders.
Findings
Though the examined industry is partly in line with international norms, it is also highly affected by unique characteristics that alter the various stakeholders' role, producing (even negative) value of varied typologies that is directly linked with the industry's financial, sporting, cultural and social conditions.
Research limitations/implications
The research ultimately presents scholars, practitioners and policymakers with a systemic and comprehensive understanding of the individual club stakeholder value offerings, delivers a tested framework as a tool for social and business management and prescribes future avenues for research, governance and practice.
Originality/value
Extant studies on the subject are either partial or focus on individual stakeholders and evidently lack requisite scientific comprehensiveness. The current research bridges this significant gap in knowledge by exhaustively identifying the key industry stakeholders, explicating their relative social, economic or other value in the individual club perspective and developing a value-based stakeholder framework.
... This is a result of the authors either using the concept in an all too diffuse manner or alternatively presenting all schools of thought without choosing one in particular (see notes 1 and 2). Secondly, the concept is sometimes used in a sense similar to CSR and philanthropy (Ratten 2011a, 2011c) and, as is the case with these concepts, social entrepreneurship is often used, or can be used for promotional purposes, for instance to improve reputation and economy, within both commercial organizations (Hayhurst, 2011;Miragaia Marques et al., 2015) and sports organizations Gilmore et al., 2011;Sanders et al., 2014;Walters & Chadwick, 2009). Thirdly, the articles relate to sports in three different ways: (a) as a form of conceptual and theoretical development (e.g., Ratten, 2010); as a goal, for instance in the form of the Special Olympics (Smith et al., 2009); and (c) as a means to help marginalized people (e.g., Cohen & Welty Peachey, 2015), to strengthen people's social networks , social capital (e.g., Ratten, 2011b) and to change attitudes in society . ...
... Ratten (2011c) Economics and business administration (entrepreneurship) Conceptual 26. Sanders et al. (2014) Sports science (sports sociology) Empirical 27. Sherry & Strybosch (2012) Sports science (sports sociology) Empirical 28. ...
Social entrepreneurship represents a new organizational form reflecting a time of societal change. The concept of social entrepreneurship has in recent years received an increased academic interest from the field of sport management. This review therefore aims to outline the scope and focus of, as well as theoretically position, the utilization of the concept of social entrepreneurship in the current body of peer-reviewed research within the field of sport and social entrepreneurship. Thirty-three English language peer-reviewed articles were selected and analyzed using Gartner's (1985) variables of entrepreneurship and three schools of thought within social entrepreneurship. The findings show that the scope of research into sport and social entrepreneurship is limited and that sport plays a minor role in the articles. The articles focus on the processes of social entrepreneurship, but the manner in which the concept of social entrepreneurship is used differs between articles and is seldom defined. These findings indicate that much can be done to better understand sport and social entrepreneurship. Emerging directions for future research are provided.
... Whether the intention is toward profit, altruism, or both, professional sports teams who demonstrate desirable values, such as doing charity work in the community, can create a more positive brand image which could, in turn, create new fans and foster greater loyalty. Sanders et al. (2014) investigated football in the community, more specifically at a lower league club. The findings did not point towards there being a specific fiscal benefit, but instead, more general benefits to the local community, education, and work. ...
... Whether the intention is toward profit, altruism, or both, professional sports teams who demonstrate desirable values, such as doing charity work in the community, can create a more positive brand image which could, in turn, create new fans and foster greater loyalty. Sanders et al. (2014) investigated football in the community, more specifically at a lower league club. The findings did not point towards there being a specific fiscal benefit, but instead, more general benefits to the local community, education, and work. ...
... The other possibility is the utilization of the stadium building for various purposes (e.g., cultural, commercial activities). In parallel with this, more and more authors, especially in the United Kingdom, call such facilities "Community Stadiums" e.g., [27,28]which allows the facility to be open for visitors 365 days a year. Ensuring multifunctionality and thus creating a real Community Stadium is particularly important for facilities which are located in residential neighborhoods. ...
As a result of the stadium construction wave recently observed in North America and Europe, the question of the cost-effective operation of these facilities entered the foreground. Formerly, researchers advocated that these sports facilities had no significant positive economic impact, and no considerable increasing effect can be observed in terms of workplaces, personal incomes, or local tax revenues. In recent years, however, many researchers attribute a serious economic impact to particular facilities, including the so-called multifunctional stadiums, which are used for purposes other than one particular sports activity. The aim of our study, after summarising the factors leading to the establishment of multifunctional stadiums and the most important characteristics of the completed facilities, is to demonstrate the various utilization possibilities through the case study of the Great Forest Stadium in Debrecen. As an outcome of the research, it may be concluded that the facility has all features (conference room, catering unit, own shop, etc.) that are typical for medium-sized stadiums. Besides, the services related to health sciences constitute unique elements that can be explained by the activities of the higher education institution of the city, the University of Debrecen, which considers the Third Mission activities as particularly important.
... Also, local businesses could be treated as a component, due to the monetary relationship with football (Moore et al., 2016). These organisations typically gain from football and are influenced by the presence of any football-related activities (Sanders et al., 2014). ...
... Also, local businesses could be treated as a component, due to the monetary relationship with football (Moore et al., 2016). These organisations typically gain from football and are influenced by the presence of any football-related activities (Sanders et al., 2014). ...
Football clubs strive to remain competitive and sustainable in a multi-faceted industry which involves a plethora of stakeholders. Consequently, it is imperative to comprehend the industry structures, identify the stakeholders, and implement processes to manage every relationship. Although numerous studies have applied stakeholder theory in the specific field, they tend to focus on stakeholders as broad categories, overlooking the fact that various sub-categories exist as diverse entities. The aim of this study is to identify every football industry stakeholder and develop a strategic stakeholder framework from the club perspective. Methodologically the research relies on an extensive theoretical examination of stakeholder theory, through the explication and evaluation of its development over the last forty years. The findings enhance the theory itself in a context that until now was in its infancy and provide solid foundations to practitioners to delineate the synergies and implement principles on how to constructively manage these relationships.
... Sport can be used to reach, and help marginalized members of society. An example is the study by Sanders et al. (2014) of a football club which had founded a financially independent charity, the aim of which was to contribute to societal development through education. Hayhurst's (2014) article which deals with an NGO program which uses sport to promote gender equality in Uganda. ...
... The strengthening of junior categories allows identifying a greater number of young talents, reducing the costs with the purchase of beginner players, as well as a greater number of possible athletes available to the technical team. In addition, when investing in junior categories, the club plays a social role, as football is a sport capable of inspiring its target audience for learning and human development (Sanders et al., 2014). ...
Football is interrelated to several industrial and commercial segments. It generates significant economic and social results. Thus, football needs to be understood as a value ecosystem. The multiplying and systemic effects of the football chain are not known to clubs and society. The current literature has neglected them. This study aims to dynamically evaluate improvement actions aiming to add economic value to the Brazilian football value ecosystem based on a system dynamics model. It is possible to identify a dynamic relation between variables in the football ecosystem and assess the impacts of the improvement actions proposed here. We also propose and simulate scenarios demonstrating the impacts of decisions before implementing them in the real context and identify multiplying effects on the football value ecosystem. The results of the simulation show a positive impact of professional management on
the football business for the club and society.
Keywords: Football; System Dynamics Model; Brazilian football; Value ecosystem.
... The strengthening of junior categories allows identifying a greater number of young talents, reducing the costs with the purchase of beginner players, as well as a greater number of possible athletes available to the technical team. In addition, when investing in junior categories, the club plays a social role, as football is a sport capable of inspiring its target audience for learning and human development (Sanders et al., 2014). ...
Football is interrelated to several industrial and commercial segments. It generates significant economic and social results. Thus, football needs to be understood as a value ecosystem. The multiplying and systemic effects of the football chain are not known to clubs and society. The current literature has neglected them. This study aims to dynamically evaluate improvement actions aiming to add economic value to the Brazilian football value ecosystem based on a system dynamics model. It is possible to identify a dynamic relation between variables in the football ecosystem and assess the impacts of the improvement actions proposed here. We also propose and simulate scenarios demonstrating the impacts of decisions before implementing them in the real context and identify multiplying effects on the football value ecosystem. The results of the simulation show a positive impact of professional management on the football business for the club and society.
... More specifically, sports is considered a means to accomplish social goals; for example, playing football assists women addicted to alcohol [15]. Furthermore, sports is viewed as a process of increasing the sense of belongingness to society in individuals who need help constructing social networks [31], providing social capital [33], ensuring good health [29], and providing an education [34]. ...
This study empirically explored antecedents and outcomes related to social entrepreneurship in the context of professional sports from the customer’s perspective. Two parent companies—FuBon and ChinaTrust, both financial holding firms—and two franchises—FuBon Guardians and ChinaTrust Elephants—in the Chinese Professional Baseball League were the research elements in this study to ensure generalizability of the findings of this study. The participants of this study were 268 spectators of a FuBon Guardians game and 201 spectators of a ChinaTrust Elephants game. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. Results indicated that innovation and corporate social responsibility positively correlated with social entrepreneurship. Moreover, social entrepreneurship was positively associated with affective commitment to the parent company and sports franchise. Finally, affective commitment to the parent company not only exerted a positive effect on the intention to purchase the products of the parent company but also promoted the intention to purchase licensed merchandise and attend games. Similarly, affective commitment to the sports franchise not only exerted a positive effect on the intention to purchase licensed merchandise and attend games but also promoted the intention to purchase the products of the parent company. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed in this study.
... Sanders. A et. al. [12] conducted a detailed study in which, the author argues and challenges the repeated commodification of football and obscure challenges in defining the community associated with it. He states the services that football produces in areas like education, health and other social areas. ...
... It is with this aspect of the SE paradigm that this paper concerns itself. The paper seeks to explore the power of these community-owned, SE-embedded clubs and their transformative power (Sanders et al., 2014) concerning socialization and proactive behaviors and how they might influence children in their capacity as fans. What drives this orientation is that football has become associated with deviant behaviors (Winands & Grau, 2018). ...
Community‐owned clubs are profound socializing agents that offer children a prosocial environment that disarticulates some of football's most pernicious ideologies in favor of an environment that is developmental, empowering, and self‐affirming while facilitating self‐determination. The work highlights the evolution of community‐owned clubs from activist enclaves to virtuous, imperative environments that influence and transfer community‐bound knowledge. Children in the study articulated that the ethos found at these clubs has enhanced their self‐esteem and self‐efficacy and has positively changed their perceptions, behavior, and interactions with the vulnerable individuals within their community. In addition, the data reveals a new idealism in terms of football with self‐restraint and nominal consumption of club apparel preferred to traditional materialism.
... This means that their players are paid a small salary/sum of money for each appearance they make but they are also able to have full-time occupations. Whitehawk is in Brighton-a leftist, cosmopolitan city on the south coast of England (Sanders et al. 2014)-and the gentrified East Dulwich is part of the London Borough of Southwark. Both have experienced a growth in attendances in the last few seasons and 3000 people attended Dulwich Hamlet's final game of 2014/15 season (Forster 2015). ...
This chapter lays down seven analytical touchstones to understand the collective actions of football fans that can be gathered from the published literature in both the sociology of social movements and the sociology of sport. These analytical touchstones are (i) the structures of and roles in collective action; (ii) affect, emotion, and collective effervescence; (iii) communication, cooperation, and conventions; (iv) mobilizing resources; (v) tactics; (vi) recruitment to collective action and ‘outcomes’ of mobilization; and (vii) the spaces and places of organization and action. Each is relationally defined and discussed.
... This means that their players are paid a small salary/sum of money for each appearance they make but they are also able to have full-time occupations. Whitehawk is in Brighton-a leftist, cosmopolitan city on the south coast of England (Sanders et al. 2014)-and the gentrified East Dulwich is part of the London Borough of Southwark. Both have experienced a growth in attendances in the last few seasons and 3000 people attended Dulwich Hamlet's final game of 2014/15 season (Forster 2015). ...
This chapter brings together the themes of the book to summarize both the findings and a cultural relational sociological approach. In concluding the book, the chapter discusses the concept of a football ‘club’ as a project with inherently relational and collective properties and the UK parliamentary debates around the ‘regulation’ of the sport as adding new actors to the relationships involved in the production and consumption of football.
... This means that their players are paid a small salary/sum of money for each appearance they make but they are also able to have full-time occupations. Whitehawk is in Brighton-a leftist, cosmopolitan city on the south coast of England (Sanders et al. 2014)-and the gentrified East Dulwich is part of the London Borough of Southwark. Both have experienced a growth in attendances in the last few seasons and 3000 people attended Dulwich Hamlet's final game of 2014/15 season (Forster 2015). ...
This chapter centrally unpicks the uses and descriptions of ‘relational sociology’, ‘collective action’, and ‘football fandom’ in the social scientific literature. In doing so, it lays down the foundations for the concepts and dynamics (these are (i) relations/relationships, (ii) interaction, (iii) networks, (iv) social actors, and (v) power/counter-power) that are core to cultural relational sociology and discusses them up in a way that can be applied to issues emerging in the study of both collective action and football fandom.
... This means that their players are paid a small salary/sum of money for each appearance they make but they are also able to have full-time occupations. Whitehawk is in Brighton-a leftist, cosmopolitan city on the south coast of England (Sanders et al. 2014)-and the gentrified East Dulwich is part of the London Borough of Southwark. Both have experienced a growth in attendances in the last few seasons and 3000 people attended Dulwich Hamlet's final game of 2014/15 season (Forster 2015). ...
This chapter shows how football supporters are embedded in social networks and how these networks are mobilized for a protest movement against economic elements of football. The chapter starts by highlighting that the neo-classical economic assumptions of rationality and perfect competition are problematic in the football marketplace, especially as the chapter goes on to show how supporters are socially embedded in social networks. From there, Twitter networks of two prominent fan movements against economic factors in football were analysed. The results show that these online network structures created by supporters were structured through weak ties and short information paths, which were central network mechanisms to facilitate efficient communication and resistance.
... This means that their players are paid a small salary/sum of money for each appearance they make but they are also able to have full-time occupations. Whitehawk is in Brighton-a leftist, cosmopolitan city on the south coast of England (Sanders et al. 2014)-and the gentrified East Dulwich is part of the London Borough of Southwark. Both have experienced a growth in attendances in the last few seasons and 3000 people attended Dulwich Hamlet's final game of 2014/15 season (Forster 2015). ...
This chapter illustrates the emotions, tactics, and successful collective mobilization of Swansea City supporters in late 2001 and early 2002 that led to the formation of a Supporters’ Trust. In particular, it focuses on the relationships between people in online and offline space and how these modes of interaction come together when the club’s future was threatened. It then considers some of the challenges now facing the ownership model of the Supporters’ Trust at the club as a result of the takeover of a majority of the shares by an American consortium in 2016.
... This means that their players are paid a small salary/sum of money for each appearance they make but they are also able to have full-time occupations. Whitehawk is in Brighton-a leftist, cosmopolitan city on the south coast of England (Sanders et al. 2014)-and the gentrified East Dulwich is part of the London Borough of Southwark. Both have experienced a growth in attendances in the last few seasons and 3000 people attended Dulwich Hamlet's final game of 2014/15 season (Forster 2015). ...
This book draws upon a relational sociological paradigm to explore the processes of collective action in football fandom across Europe and the UK. Through a range of case studies, the authors address pertinent themes in football fandom, including anti-discrimination, ‘home,’ ticketing, name changes, ‘ownership,’ and broader leftist politics. Each of these case studies engages with the theoretical framework of cultural relational sociology, highlighting the different social and cultural changes English and European football has undergone, often over a very short period of time.
... As already mentioned above, there are several authors (Morrow, 2013) (Sanders, Heys, Ravenscroft, & Burdsey, 2014) who consider football as a "social business" but in the "Country of emigration from the Southern to Northern Italy, perhaps the typhus is more than anywhere else a recognition and social success vehicle" (Forgione, 2015) (Note 4). ...
In the last few years, the economic literature has shown an increasing interest in the football industry. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between financial performance and sporting performance in Italian football, by investigating the statistical evidences.In order to do it, the financial indicators and sporting performance will be examined with regards to 29 clubs in Serie A (the highest official Italian football league) that participated in the league during the period 2011-2015. The data are collected from the financial statements of the clubs and have been processed into financial ratio indicators. The empirical statistical analysis has been carried out by means of correlation and regression analysis.This research study empirically reveals that Italian clubs that are in good financial health, not indebted and that record higher revenues achieve the best sporting performance. This process is consistent with the “virtuous circle” theorized by the academic literature.The application of this work can be extended to other national leagues by adding new ratios. On the other hand, the main limitation is related to the fact that the entry of foreign investors in recent years to Serie A could change this trend.
... Given that international soccer competitions are often dubbed "wars" between rival nations, nearly all major countries have shown ambitions to boost "soccer power" on the world stage (BBC, 2006). While recognizing its geographic leverage, countries have also attached significance to the role soccer plays domestically as a liaison between the government and local populations, utilizing its growing clout to shape the lifestyles of citizens, encourage social participation and involvement and promote integration and cohesion among communities (Sanders et al., 2014). In addition to such social and political characterizations, soccer also represents one of the most pervasive and profitable forms of entertainment, as evidenced by the expansion and prosperity of professional soccer clubs and leagues. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of Chinese youth’s attention to and involvement with Chinese soccer and its professional league, the Chinese Super League (CSL), on their level of satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey study was employed to test the hypotheses. Research participants ( n =948) were students from five major universities that represented each of the five main geographic regions of China. Data were randomly assigned into two halves: one half for CFA ( n =474) and the other half for structural equation modeling (SEM) ( n =474). Mplus 7.0 was used to conduct both the CFA and SEM.
Findings
The findings of this study indicated an overall lack of attention to and involvement with Chinese soccer and CSL among Chinese youths. Discussions have been presented on the causes of the lack of youth passion for Chinese soccer and suggestions have been articulated to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of policy formulation, business operation and marketing strategy.
Originality/value
The present study built on the extant sport management literature, demonstrated the complexity of consumers’ cognition and conation in the professional soccer setting, and revealed counter-intuitive relationship between attitudinal traits and behavioral patterns, which in turn provided unique insights for Chinese professional soccer marketers, managers and administrators.
... Additionally, voluntary organizations are generally perceived as important arenas in which social integration can be fostered (Østerlund & Seippel, 2013). Examples of the power of football in the community are reported by,e.g., Sanders, Heys, Ravenscroft, and Burdsey (2014). ...
In order to realize a sustainable development of the football pyramid, European grassroots foot- ball clubs depend on their capacity to fulfill their roles, functions and missions. This involves the ability to deploy resources from different capacity dimensions including human, financial and structural resources. The clubs’ problem solving capacity is critical for survival as macro changes in the global economy have gathered pace and economic and cultural shifts and dis- continuities are impacting the participation in – and consumption of – football in new and often unclear ways. Stakeholders within the European football pyramid need to know which resources contribute to minimizing organizational problems and maximizing organizational suc- cess. A better understanding of the relationship between capacities, problems and public welfare effects allows a better development of the sport. While previous academic research on Euro- pean football has mainly focused on the professional level, this research paper aims at comparing the organizational capacity at the bottom of the European football pyramid. This leads to a two-step approach:
• Differences in organizational capacity and problems, as well as in the public welfare effects of football clubs across Europe are assessed.
• The influence of organizational capacity on the severity of organizational problems of foot- ball clubs, and on public welfare effects is analyzed. In particular, the effect of various capacities on problem minimization and public welfare maximization are central.
Theoretical background: Organizational capacity is understood as the ability of organizations to perform functions effectively, efficiently, and sustainable. The concept received an increasing amount of attention within the community sport context as it provides a meaningful understanding of the challenges and strengths that exist within these organizations. Despite the growing body of literature in this area, significant gaps remain when the analysis shifts to the determinants of that capac- ity. The continued reconfiguration of broad capacity suggests that context-specific frameworks may be more pertinent. The framework of Doherty, Misener, and Cuskelly (2014) is used as a foundation for the research project as its dimensions – human resources, finance, infrastructure, planning and development, and external relationships and networks – align with several of the distinguishing features of grassroots football clubs; specifically, the critical reliance on human resources in the form of volunteers, relatively fewer economic resources, a more informal struc- ture, a focus on member benefit goals and activities that address those goals, and relatively fewer external linkages. Each of the capacity dimensions is expected to have varying influence on the ability of an organization to fulfill its mission and achieve its objectives.
Methodology
This research project conducts an empirical comparison between football clubs in Europe. It is designed as a cross-section study which draws primary data from a population of European football clubs in six countries (N=36,166) through an online survey consisting of roughly 30 questions. The statistical data analysis consists of descriptive statistics to portray mean dif- ferences for the respective variables in the national associations as well as 60 regression models to determine the effect of different dimensions of organizational capacity on a) organizational problems and b) public welfare effects – in general, and for each country in particular. Appropriate control variables are included in the regression models to account for size- and country specific effects.
Results and conclusions
Over n=5,110 clubs participated in the study and indicated that attracting/retaining volunteers and referees and the cost of operation are the biggest organizational problems. The investigated clubs demonstrated differences in ranking 20 organizational problems and the respective magni- tude. Clubs also vary in size and composition of their members (e.g., age, gender), organizational structure (e.g., paid/female staff), and infrastructural capacities. For example, only 20% of the investigated Italian clubs can make use of their own facilities while this share amounts to 80% in Norway. Although differences within the financial dimension exist, the share of clubs breaking even is relatively similar across the countries, indicating similar levels of financial performance. The analytical results show that there is clear evidence of the effect of specific capacities on organizational problems and public welfare effects. For example, following a strategic concept is beneficial for almost two thirds of all considered organizational problems, while imitating the supply of commercial sports providers is harmful with respect to 40% of the problems. Moreover, a higher share of female staff can be linked with higher public welfare effects. While financial capacity is generally important, it is not specifically beneficial for higher public welfare effects. The problem dimension shadow of the game (i.e. discrimination, violence and manipulation) is barely determined by organizational capacities and needs to be addressed in future research to sustain the integrity of the game.
Charitable arms of professional sports clubs and organizations (PSCOs) offer a range of health promotion (HP) programmes within communities, yet little is known about their role within approaches to HP, particularly from the view of key intersectoral partners. Our study explored the perceptions of the role of PSCOs within local approaches to HP from the perspective of multisectoral stakeholders in a southwest region of England. A qualitative single case study approach was implemented, undertaking semi-structured interviews (n = 23) with intersectoral stakeholders spanning the sport, public, voluntary, and health sectors. Findings suggest PSCOs were viewed as important organizations for provision of local HP due to their unique assets, such as stadia, branding, coaching staff and their presence within communities. However, their aims and objectives were unclear to stakeholders and often perceived as motivated by ‘brand drivers’ of the elite club, despite holding independent charitable status. Moreover, stakeholders were generally unaware of evaluation materials created by PSCOs and favoured the development of a co-produced evaluation framework for PSCOs. In conclusion, PSCOs should utilize existing community forums, networks, and working groups to better communicate organizational structure, aims, and provision amongst prospective partners. Better understanding of PSCOs structures and aims would support understanding of organizational readiness and requirements for future collaboration in intersectoral approaches to local HP. Moreover, local policymakers should consider how mutually beneficial partnerships with PSCOs could be formed, and how the unique assets, and reach, of PSCOs can be best utilized within intersectoral approaches to local HP.
In the face of increasing environmental and societal pressures, organizations are gradually moving away from merely reducing their detrimental effects toward making positive impacts. One sizeable sector of economic activity, that is frequently overlooked, is that of sport, of which football is the largest in terms of economic value, fan base and global cultural influence. It is only relatively recently that outliers in the football industry have transitioned from being purely profit‐motivated to being both socially and environmentally aware. This transition is challenging since it is being undertaken within the often aggressively masculine environment, as well as the deep‐seated socio‐historical origins and contexts of the individual clubs and the sport as a whole. One such outlying football club is Forest Green Rovers which appears to have navigated this journey successfully. However, research has yet to understand “how” this has been achieved. This study addresses this gap through a 4‐year examination of the social and environmental initiatives of Forest Green Rovers. This lower‐league “club on the hill” is globally recognized for its novel approaches and solutions. Through examining the various Boundary Objects that aid in uniting disparate social groups in order to effect considerable changes to the “match day experience” and to stakeholders' consumption behaviors, it explains how their pragmatic, syntactic, and semantic functions combine to create an accepted suite of socially and environmentally beneficial initiatives.
Sporun en çok takip edilen ve sosyal değişim gücü en fazla olan branşı futbolun üçüncü sektörün en önemli aktörlerinden biri olduğu bilinmektedir. Bu bağlamda futbol kulüpleri de sivil oluşumları ile sosyal risklere karşı spor özelinde futbolun gücünü kullanarak çeşitli sosyal hizmet müdahaleleri gerçekleştirmektedir. Bu çalışma, İngiltere Premier Lig futbol kulüpleri bünyesinde bulunan vakıfların yürütmüş olduğu sosyal hizmet uygulamalarının incelenmesine odaklanmaktadır. Çalışmada Premier Lig futbol kulüplerinin hangi sosyal hizmet uygulamalarını gerçekleştirdikleri incelenmiş olup bu uygulamalar MAXQDA programı aracılığıyla detaylı bir şekilde analiz edilmiştir. Bu analizler sonucunda kulüplerin bünyelerinde bulunan vakıfların futbolun da gücünü kullanarak daha çok sağlık hizmetleri, eğitim, istihdam, sosyal içerme ve sosyal refah alanlarına yönelik çalışmalar yaptığına dair bulgulara ulaşılmıştır. Çalışmadan elde edilen bulgular, futbol kulüplerinin sivil oluşumlarının sporun gücünü kullandıklarında etkili ve sürdürülebilir sosyal hizmet müdahalesi gerçekleştirebileceğini göstermektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, İngiltere’deki benzer uygulamalardan yola çıkılarak Türk futbol kulüplerinin de sosyal hizmet alanında daha çok aktif olmaları gerektiğine yönelik farkındalık sağlamaktır.
Purpose
The primary purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the key perspectives that emerge in this Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal (AAAJ) Special Issue as a basis for determining the existence or otherwise of a Soccer Society, as well as reflecting on the challenges that evidence of corruption in soccer (the beautiful game) has had on the game to date. Reflections on these matters are then utilised to offer a prospective analysis of issues for further research.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is a reflective analysis that draws on existing societal work to provide key dimensions of accounting and accountability for significant organisations in the world of sport in general and soccer in particular.
Findings
Much prior research on soccer has largely focussed on the internal workings of soccer organisations, with little discussion of the importance of context. This paper explores the influence of the game more broadly. Moreover, a number of the papers included illustrate an overwhelming sense of joy and pleasure from experiences of the beautiful game, as well as providing evidence of the general societal good that can flow from it. However, the study also highlights concerns emanating from weak, and seemingly pliable, governance, regulatory and accountability regimes that provide a fertile field for corruption and sportswashing.
Research limitations/implications
This paper highlights a research agenda as an encouragement to interdisciplinary accounting researchers to investigate accountability and governance issues as a basis for evidence-based discussions of the impact of soccer and its regulation.
Originality/value
This paper specifically, and the Special Issue more broadly, offers a set of original empirical and theoretical contributions with respect to an activity that has faced limited scrutiny and consideration by academic accountants. Together, they offer a substantive body of work to enable future research in this area.
In the United Kingdom, many sport coaching career paths are considered to be focused on skills development, competence, and leadership within the context of performance. However, sport coaching also sits substantially within the community and youth sectors, where sport is seen to facilitate various social policy issues. Aligning nonperformance-related coaching contexts to existing formal qualifications schemes is problematic, given they frequently emphasize athlete and team performance. While an emerging base of studies examining community sports coaching exists, further insight and perspectives of in situ learning and coach support in this context are needed. Using observations, evaluation, and feedback centered on practitioner competence and confidence, and conducted over a 2-year period with 13 new community/grassroots sports coaches working with Albion in the Community (the official charity of Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club), we present some of the key findings and principles that we believe underlined their practice. These principles related to how, despite the majority being appropriately qualified at national governing bodies Level 2, they generally needed additional support and expertise for their specific (community) operational environment in terms of outcomes, practice design, and challenging what was seen as a focus on providing competitive (team) environments above individual player development.
This chapter explores social enterprises as an alternative and addition to traditional entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs). It reviews the substantial social enterprise literature in order to identify the myriad of competing tensions constraining development and success of social EEs in areas of significant poverty and economic deprivation. Following this, the findings of several contemporary and novel studies are discussed. These collectively evidence ways social enterprises are overcoming the seemingly immutable constraints they operate under. In particular, the Social Enterprise Places initiative has been highly effective in supporting the development of flourishing social EEs in many locations in the UK. However, the growth of social enterprises, both in number and economic importance, presents further challenges that social enterprise owners and managers will have to contend with. Consequently, these organisations and their allied ecosystems require continued structural, financial and skills support. © 2022 by Emerald Publishing Limited. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
Purpose: This paper explores the perceptions of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) at Football in the Community (FitC) organisations associated with English professional football clubs regarding developments and changes over the 25 years since their inception. Of interest was how the schemes might/might not reflect the original underpinning ethos, aims, and intended outcomes.
Methodology/approach: Ten CEOs participated in interviews designed to explore their perceptions of the challenges, developments, and opportunities in the industry over 25 years.
Findings: Thematic analysis revealed four main issues facing the sector: security and sustainability of delivery and funding; the importance of growth and diversification; engagement with multiple agendas and agencies; “professionalisation” of the workforce; and brand values and awareness. For CEOs, success of their schemes was measured both in terms of financial security of programmes and social impact within the community.
Practical implications: The sustainability of FitC schemes is inextricably linked to the success of organisations, contributing to social policy objectives.
Research contribution: Through the identification of strategic and organisational factors that have underpinned the development and outcomes of FitC, the paper addresses the gap in the literature by considering the perspectives of CEOs.
In sport management research, little attention has been paid to the relatively new concept of social entrepreneurship. In short, the concept refers to innovative methods of creating and satisfying social values through sport. However, research has shown that social entrepreneurs in sporting contexts are having difficulties in creating sustainable businesses. In addition to that the economic preconditions for social entreprenurial undertakings are uncertain, more research is needed on the general preconditions for conducting social entrepreneurship in sport. Hence, the aim of this compilation thesis, which consists of five papers, is to examine and analyse the preconditions for conducting social entrepreneurship in sport. The thesis is divided into two parts. In the first part, the subject of research (i.e., social entreprenurship in sport) is presented and defined. This is done by contextualising social entrepreneurship, analysing previous research on social entrepreneurship in sport, theoretically defining the concept and describing some research ethical issues that might arise in studies of social entrepreneurship. The second part of the thesis consists of three empirical studies of organisational, economic and political preconditions for conducting social entrepreneurship in sport. The findings from this thesis are based on an extensive literature review and five case studies in which multiple methods of data collection were used (interviews, documents and observations). The first paper, Sport and social entrepreneurship: a review of a concept in progress, shows that research on social entrepreneurship in sport is limited, the concept is seldom defined and sometimes used in ways more similar to philanthropy or corporate social responsibility. Also, sport only plays a minor role in the reviewed literature. The second paper, Ethical considerations in researching sport and social entrepreneurship, discusses some of the ethical dilemmas that have occurred when researching social entrepreneurship in sport. These dilemmas can, for example, be related to the principle of confidentiality. The third paper, Social entrepreneurship, sport and democracy development, offers an explanation of how to understand the “social” dimension in the concept of social entrepreneurship in sport. The social is ultimately about democracy in the sense that the participants are recognised, are given influence and are included in the organisation and in its community. The fourth paper, Networking as a cornerstone within the practice of social entrepreneurship in sport, focuses on how social entrepreneurial sport organisations can achieve economic sustainability by using their networks. The analysis shows, for instance, that the network of a social entrepreneurial sport organisation encompasses many actors from all sectors of society, and that the networks themselves assume many forms. The fifth and final paper, Swedish sport policy in an era of neoliberalism: An expression of social entrepreneurship?, provides an analysis of political preconditions for conducting social entrepreneurship in sport in Sweden. The paper, for example, argues that some political initiatives in the Swedish sport policy can be regarded as social innovations, since these aim to both solve certain identified social problems in society in general (e.g., social inclusion), or in sport in particular (e.g., making sport activities more accessible by lowering costs). In sum, this thesis contributes with: (a) empirical examples of social entrepreneurial sport organisations; (b) a theoretical understanding of the “social” dimension of social entrepreneurship in sport; (c) an ethical discussion on the role of researchers; and (d) a starting point when discussing the Swedish government support for sport.
Social entrepreneurship is a nascent concept within academia that is increasing in scholarly attention and practice, especially within the study of sport. A recent article has reviewed the concept of social entrepreneurship (SE) and sport and offered suggestions for future studies. Building on this article, I suggest that there is a need for critical, sociological explorations of sport and SE, most especially for scholars within the field of sport for development and peace (SDP). In this article, a review of SE and sport is briefly provided, as well as a presentation of recent critical perspectives on SE. Drawing attention to the connections between SDP and critical studies of SE, I suggest that there is an opportunity for sociologists of SDP to further understand the complex relations and neoliberal power structures involved in SDP social change, sustainability, innovation, and donor-recipient relations that would contribute significant insights for the future of the field.
Non-league football fandom has become a key site of social activism in recent years. This chapter provides an ethnographic account of fans of two clubs—Dulwich Hamlet and Whitehawk—whose fans organize various political campaigns through their club. They see each other in friendly terms and regularly interact to share ideas and celebrate their particular style of fandom. Over time, personal relationships form that encourage further dialogue and support.
Soccer (football) is identified as the most popular sport in the world with a high turnover of economic-financial resources. The different segments of the soccer (football) value chain exert mutual influence on the variables that rule the dynamics of this sector. In this sense it is necessary to identify the variables that represent the soccer (football) value chain systemically; to understand the interrelationships between these variables, the main difficulties derived from this interrelationship and to point out variables that require actions to increment the results of the soccer (football) value chain as a whole. Hence, this study applied a semi-structured questionnaire with open-ended questions about the problems and leveraging variables that exist in this sports modality. A causal linkage diagram was elaborated based on the answers to the interviews, showing the systemic structure of the soccer (football) value chain in Brazil, whose premise it is to identify the existing circularities and the possibly existing points of leverage. The systemic structure pointed to the economic participation of soccer (football) in the Gross Domestic Product as a central variable to be leveraged, which tends to synthetize the results of the joint action of the actors in this chain. Furthermore, the variables that may limit or amplify the growth were identified. The systemic structure showed that the soccer (football) commodity chain is complex because of the great number of variables and interrelationships needed to represent its dynamics. The relationship between the actors also proved to be a factor of impact on economic and social development.
The aim is to identify factors contributing to increased motivation to playing football in a system of fitness training. Soccer is considered as a form of recreational activity. The study included 30 boys and 30 girls 17-21-year-old. In the process we used the method of sociological research. It is shown that a positive attitude toward physical education formed the majority of students. Found that for most students, classes recreational games are a means of promoting health, well-being, improve the physique. Established internal and external factors that encourage students to sports and recreational activities. Recommendations to improve the motivation of students to playing football.
Purpose
To report on findings from the evaluation of two innovative community‐based prevention projects in the UK targeted at children disaffected from school, one involving football the other horticulture.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative inquiry focusing on three areas: “theories of change” underpinning the projects; referral and operational processes; inter‐agency partnerships. Main methods were: an interactive event for 50 practitioners; semi‐structured interviews with project staff, project participants and other stakeholders; review of project documentation; observations.
Findings
Both the projects evaluated had clear and plausible “theories of change”. Referral processes were effective. Strong variations in “dosage” and length of project involvement appeared to be linked to differences in the effectiveness of the two projects.
Research limitations/implications
The principal limitation to the research was the lack of case monitoring and outcome data that prevented any quantitative assessment of the projects. Further research is needed to establish the long‐term impact of this kind of targeted prevention work.
Practical implications
Prevention work targeted at children disaffected from school needs to be underpinned by clear “theories of change”. Effective work requires good relationships with referring schools, the delivery of multi‐faceted interventions and interventions to be of an adequate length.
Originality/value
The focus on “theories of change” or mechanisms is an original contribution to the prevention literature. The paper will be valuable for those working in drug action teams and local authorities in planning prevention work for young people. The two projects were highly innovative in involving pupils in two very different activities – football and horticulture.
As global corporations scan the world for preferential locations, particular places are forced into a competitive race to attract inward investors. All of this is leading to increased global inter-urban competition around entertainment industries, where cities must reimage and reimagine themselves in order to position themselves as `world-class'. Sports stadiums and other complexes have become increasingly important in this dynamic. In this article, the shift in sports venue from the Montreal Forum to the Molson Centre is examined as a means to explore a variety of issues: the privatization and spectacularization of urban spaces, the local customization of those developments through a marketing of nostalgia, the increasing importance of sport teams and venues in investment in civic images and infrastructure.
In the preceding article (Tellis, 1997), the goals and objectives were presented and explained in detail. In this article, the methodology to accomplish those goals and objectives will be examined. The reader will become familiar with the specific techniques that are used in the current study, and supported by the literature that was reviewed in the previous article. That methodology will follow the recommendation of Yin (1994) and has four stages:
Design the case study,
Conduct the case study,
Analyze the case study evidence, and
Develop the conclusions, recommendations and implications.
The article begins with an introduction, that includes some of the background information that is intended to inform the reader. Following that section, each step of the methodology will be explored in detail. Finally a summary will connect all the information in a concise manner.
There is a widespread belief that sport (broadly defined) has the power to make ‘society’ more equal, socially cohesive and peaceful. The potential of sport as a tool for development and peace is being harnessed by an ever-expanding range of organizations at local, national and international levels, engaging in ever-evolving public-private partnerships. Whether a transnational corporation committed to corporate social responsibility, an international aid organization pursuing the Millennium Development Goals or a grassroots non-governmental organization (NGO) seeking to meet the everyday needs of disadvantaged communities in the Global South, it is increasingly common to herald sport as ‘a new engine of development’ 1 and social development through sport as a ‘new social movement’. 2 A typical statement representing the aspirations of this movement stresses how: Through sport and physical education, individuals can experience equality, freedom and a dignifying means for empowerment, particularly for girls and women, for people with a disability, for those living in conflict areas and for people recovering from trauma. 3 This heralding of sport as an agent of personal and social change has, of course, not gone unchallenged. It is by now commonplace to point to the absence of ‘hard’ evidence needed to ‘test’ whether and how sport programmes actually work, to criticize the shortcomings of ‘anecdotal evidence’, and to stress the need for better monitoring and evaluation of ‘sportfor-development’ programmes. 4 Aside from methodological considerations, there is a danger that social development through sport is imposed on disadvantaged communities in a top-down manner, lacking community engagement and shared ownership. 5 Instead, sport-for-development programmes should be participatory, promote self-reliance and empowerment, use indigenous understandings and knowledge, take an interest in both the means and ends of development, and be concerned with ethical and moral issues as well as practicalities. One of the cornerstones of alternative development in the Global South, in which local NGOs play a critical role, is the belief that the state is often part of the problem and that alternative development should occur outside, and perhaps even against, the state. 6 This alternative perspective is directly at odds with mainstream approaches to development through sport which promote ‘linked-up’ partnerships between states, international NGOs, transnational corporations and international organizations such as the United Nations, UNICEF or FIFA. For example, the Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group posits that the future of sport as an instrument for development and
From the perspective of city officials, proposals to build new stadiums are tenuous because of the dual local government imperatives of having to be both visionary (i.e., entrepreneurial) and conservative (i.e., fiscally responsible and publicly accountable). Based on case data in Dunedin, New Zealand, we investigate two related dilemmas that emanate from that city's stadium deliberation process. The first is with regards to the dichotomy between politicians and bureaucrats, and the degree to which deliberations on a new stadium should be politically or technocratically driven. The second concerns the extent to which local authorities favour independence or accountability in gathering information. Here we suggest that deference and delegation to an ‘independent’ body became tantamount to procrastinating – that is a case of holding the process up in order to progress it. Our analysis demonstrates that such dilemmas demand immediate responses that, while seemingly benign in the short term, alter the balance between a city's entrepreneurial outlook and its view towards citizen responsiveness.
Green exercise is activity in the presence of nature. Evidence shows it leads to positive short and long-term health outcomes. This multistudy analysis assessed the best regime of dose(s) of acute exposure to green exercise required to improve self-esteem and mood (indicators of mental health). The research used meta-analysis methodology to analyze 10 UK studies involving 1252 participants. Outcomes were identified through a priori subgroup analyses, and dose-responses were assessed for exercise intensity and exposure duration. Other subgroup analyses included gender, age group, starting health status, and type of habitat. The overall effect size for improved self-esteem was d = 0.46 (CI 0.34-0.59, p < 0.00001) and for mood d = 0.54 (CI 0.38-0.69, p < 0.00001). Dose responses for both intensity and duration showed large benefits from short engagements in green exercise, and then diminishing but still positive returns. Every green environment improved both self-esteem and mood; the presence of water generated greater effects. Both men and women had similar improvements in self-esteem after green exercise, though men showed a difference for mood. Age groups: for self-esteem, the greatest change was in the youngest, with diminishing effects with age; for mood, the least change was in the young and old. The mentally ill had one of the greatest self-esteem improvements. This study confirms that the environment provides an important health service.
'Imagined Communities' examines the creation & function of the 'imagined communities' of nationality & the way these communities were in part created by the growth of the nation-state, the interaction between capitalism & printing & the birth of vernacular languages in early modern Europe.
In the sociology of Zygmunt Bauman, contemporary society, labelled consumer society by Bauman, is viewed as liquid modernity, which underlines mobility as indicative of our time. Globalization encapsulates the increasing mobility of capital and social elites; Bauman stresses that the present consumer society is stratified, and for the poor mobility is not an easy option. Spatial differentiation goes hand in hand with social differentiation. Increasingly, the affluent segments isolate themselves in voluntary ghettos such as gated communities, while the poor are relegated to the enforced ghetto, where they are labelled an underclass and viewed as useless and unwanted. Bauman demonstrates the development in North America as indicative of the situation elsewhere, but suggests an alternative to neo-liberal welfare state dismantling: namely the introduction of a basic income and substitution of the work ethic by an ethic of craftsmanship.
A liquid modernity, where the traditional certainties have become fluid and blurred, presents a major challenge for education. The world is changing so quickly that homo sapiens, learning animal par excellence, can no longer rely on strategies acquired through learning experiences, let alone those derived from traditional values or wisdom. The excess of useless information creates a glut. When saturation level is reached, accumulation ceases to be a sign of wealth and becomes undesirable. Knowledge is confined - discarded like refuse - in the infinite capacity of cyber-computers. What should we humans keep and what should we reject in this process? In times of liquid modernity, how and what should our children be taught in order to be able to develop survival strategies throughout their lives?
Football for Peace (F4P) is a sport-based co-existence project, for Jewish and Arab children, organized by the University of Brighton in partnership with the British Council, which has been running in towns and villages of the Galilee region of northern Israel since 2001. This article examines this initiative, first, by placing it in its broader socio-economic and political context; and, second, by tracing its specific history and development. Third, the article draws upon interviews conducted in the field and records kept by student volunteers to identify some of the key issues that emerge when making sport-based social interventions in complex, divided societies like Israel. The article suggests that if projects such of this are locally grounded, carefully thought out, and professionally managed they can make a modest contribution to wider efforts to promote conflict resolution and peaceful co-existence. The conclusion raises some of the broader socio-political issues and controversies that continue to inform the Project’s development.
Sports economists have created a sizable literature on the costs and benefits of publicly funded major-league sports stadiums. This research suggests a growing consensus that stadiums provide little economic advantage for local communities. In response, some stadium supporters have modified their tactics to increasingly avoid claims of tangible economic benefits. Instead, they insist that new stadiums offer communities more intangible social benefits. These alleged intangible benefits can take many specific forms but usually have something to do with a community’s self esteem or its collective conscience. This article draws on the authors’ primary research in 10 U.S. cities that are involved in different stages of new stadium construction. The authors demonstrate how local elites socially construct ideas such as community self-esteem and community collective conscience to help them reap large amounts of public dollars for their private stadiums.
This paper explores the background, fan culture and scope of the oppositional stance taken by many Manchester United fans to the corporate takeover of their club by the US-based Glazer family. The paper will situate the takeover battle within a number of trends within United's fandom, namely: the reassertion of locality among United's Mancunian fan base; the formations of fan groups at Manchester United;[1] the nature of fan communities. The paper will explore the failure of highly politicized and radicalized fan organizations to stop the takeover and the destruction of community that this entailed. It will conclude by exploring the formation of a new, fan-owned football club - FC United of Manchester, established by disaffected and disillusioned Manchester United fans - and begin to situate this within different theoretical approaches to 'community'.
Purpose
To report on findings from the evaluation of two innovative community‐based prevention projects in the UK targeted at children disaffected from school, one involving football the other horticulture.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative inquiry focusing on three areas: “theories of change” underpinning the projects; referral and operational processes; inter‐agency partnerships. Main methods were: an interactive event for 50 practitioners; semi‐structured interviews with project staff, project participants and other stakeholders; review of project documentation; observations.
Findings
Both the projects evaluated had clear and plausible “theories of change”. Referral processes were effective. Strong variations in “dosage” and length of project involvement appeared to be linked to differences in the effectiveness of the two projects.
Research limitations/implications
The principal limitation to the research was the lack of case monitoring and outcome data that prevented any quantitative assessment of the projects. Further research is needed to establish the long‐term impact of this kind of targeted prevention work.
Practical implications
Prevention work targeted at children disaffected from school needs to be underpinned by clear “theories of change”. Effective work requires good relationships with referring schools, the delivery of multi‐faceted interventions and interventions to be of an adequate length.
Originality/value
The focus on “theories of change” or mechanisms is an original contribution to the prevention literature. The paper will be valuable for those working in drug action teams and local authorities in planning prevention work for young people. The two projects were highly innovative in involving pupils in two very different activities – football and horticulture.
Fans are of central importance to sport-service production. Their passion, excitement and involvement are crucial for event implementation and value creation. This paper focuses on how a football-fan community engages in manifold interactions with its team, the local context and the network of actors as a whole. Within the theoretical framework of the stakeholders and the network approaches, a case study analysis and examination of ACF Fiorentina's season-ticket-holders database highlights a system of relationships where fans are able to influence the internal dynamics of the social network developed around the football club. In light of the empirical evidence emerging from the case studies and the database on supporters, we have proposed a first typology of fans' roles and strategic behaviours. Findings show not only the roles assumed by fans during the match in terms of identification and participation, but also underline the variety of ways in which fans behave as stakeholders of their own team. In terms of value co-creation, this research highlights the fan community as a salient stakeholder and not just a mere spectator grouping. As such, fans and supporters provide an important role by influencing choices and behaviours of the football club and other stakeholders.
The concept of liquid modernity proposed by Zygmunt Bauman suggests a rapidly changing order that undermines all notions of durability. It implies a sense of rootlessness to all forms of social construction. In the field of development, such a concept challenges the meaning of modernization as an effort to establish long lasting structures. By applying this concept to development, it is possible to address the nuances of social change in terms of the interplay between the solid and liquid aspects of modernization.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explain that corporate citizenship refers to the specific activities that an organisation engages in to meet social obligations, and which has become an issue of growing importance within the business community. A key area in academic literature concentrates on justifying corporate citizenship initiatives to the corporate sector by illustrating a range of strategic benefits that a firm can achieve. This study is located within this body of work and aims to illustrate the strategic benefits that a football club can gain from the implementation of corporate citizenship activities through the community trust model of governance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws from qualitative primary and secondary data gathered from Charlton Athletic and Brentford football clubs.
Findings
Analysis of the data resulted in the identification of six strategic benefits that a football club can realise through the creation of a community trust model of governance. These are the removal of commercial and community tensions; reputation management; brand building; local authority partnerships; commercial partnerships; and player identification.
Research limitations/implications
The paper considers the importance of these findings for a generic business audience, discussing how organisations can also benefit from the creation of partnerships with football clubs focused on the delivery of corporate citizenship initiatives.
Practical implications
The paper provides information regarding the application of management practice evident in football to other forms of business organisation.
Originality/value
The paper is the first to consider how corporate citizenship initiatives in football can assist firms in other sectors to achieve a range of strategic benefits.
Football in the Community (FITC) is a programme of community involvement sited at all professional football clubs in England and Wales. It is overseen, in general, by the Footballers’ Further Education and Vocational Training Society (FFE&VTS). The research, ‘The Footballers’ Further Education and Vocational Training Society Limited, Football in the Community: Resources and Opportunities’, examined the current state of FITC, and was funded by the FFE&VTS. The study reveals that the rapid growth of FITC has already begun to outstrip the resources of the programme’s present infrastructure. A significant strengthening of this infrastructure is urgently required to help realize the great potential that exists for future community impact through football.
In a contemporary football landscape of locational and geographical change, the analysis of Manchester City Football Club and the relocation to the City of Manchester Stadium highlights some interesting issues surrounding the new British football stadium and a sense of place. In reaction to the placeless stadium environment, thinking around the sporting tophilia can then be developed around these new cultural spaces by looking at how the power of the fans to refigure and renegotiate their fandom has been used in a variety of ways to try to create a sense of identity within the new stadium space. A bringing of the ‘old’ to the ‘new’ appears to be central to the attempted creation of place in these new social spaces with no history or identity of their own, whilst the physical presence, organization and mobility of activated fan groups such as Bluewatch present not only the collective concern over the ability to identify with the new stadium environment, but also demonstrate the power to organize as a collective force to make an impact on how the stadium is appropriated and to change activity within. With the current drive to relocate within British professional football showing no signs of slowing down, the move to these new stadiums will continue to be a rich and fertile ground for the analysis of the sporting tophilia and indeed for the development of football fan culture itself.
This essay reflects on what has happened to the concept of ‘community’ in English football since the election of the New Labour government in Britain. It seeks to understand present governance arrangements around the game in terms of the legacy of ‘the third‐way’: the political philosophy adopted by New Labour when it came to power in the late 1990s. Specifically, it seeks to understand how the Labour government’s avowed commitment to ensuring economic freedom and prosperity on the one hand and equality of opportunity and social justice on the other has resulted in English football adopting a relatively unregulated corporate social responsibility approach to meeting community ‘obligations’. The essay argues that the result has been the emergence of a ‘Janus‐faced’ sport which, to some degree, separates out ‘community concerns’ from more everyday business operations and practices.
Cities across the United States increasingly turn to culture industries as a way to revitalize their urban cores and re-image themselves to both residents and prospective visitors. It is expected that this strategy will differentiate cities, bringing about widespread economic benefits at a time of intense inter-city competition. This essay examines how professional sports fit this dynamic and specifically discusses the important role that stadium development plays in advancing a related public-policy agenda. By reviewing the plans for four stadium-development projects in Chicago, this contribution reveals the complexities of these practices, which rarely consider the impact on the neighbourhoods themselves. The unanticipated outcomes of these processes are often shaped by race, class, varying political actors and community organizations.
This essay discusses contemporary community theory and football. After problematizing the idea of community, it traces the career progress of contemporary community theory in the work of various authors, paying particular attention to the ways it has been applied to football. It is suggested that community went from being a stock sociological concept to something much more elusive, which while providing the wellspring of a number of inspired uses is always running the risk of conceptual incoherence. Here the esay demonstrates that community in football draws on two sources of the imagination: the symbolic construction of community and imagined communities. In the light of the critique emanating from the discussion of these two kinds of imagination the essay suggests that community in football must be understood in the context of the shift from a solid modern society to a liquid modern sociality. Here the author offers a critical discussion of Zygmunt Bauman’s idea of liquid modern community, while in the process anticipating its critics. Drawing on empirical research on community‐based anti‐racist work in football, the final part of the essay demonstrates that in the public policy domain community has become to all intents and purposes just a word, rather than a mobilizing tool for creating in football some democratic operating principles that might make something like a community in the people’s game actually possible.
This article traces the historical development of Chris Rojek's writing and documents his distinctive contribution to contemporary debates about postmodern culture. Rojek has consistently sought to develop a coherent sociology of leisure and has sought to apply his sociological imagination to develop leisure studies as a field of study. However, there seems to be an ambivalence or reluctance to engage with Rojek's work on leisure theory. From the outset, his work is both critical and subversive as he challenges ‘conventional wisdom’, which associates leisure with free time and freedom. He argues that both concepts need to be contextualized and any quest for a universal theory of leisure is both illusory and idealistic - one cannot dislocate free time or quality of experience from the social and historical context in which it occurs. Rojek also takes to task critical paradigms of feminism and cultural studies, whilst favouring the contribution that postmodern perspectives can make to understanding leisure practices. The article traces the development of his ideas theorising about leisure by reviewing his seminal texts, Capitalism and Social Theory (1985), Ways of Escape (1993), Decentring Leisure (1995) and most recently, Leisure and Culture (2000).
Like many other football clubs in recent years, Ipswich Town has attempted to supplement its takings from football matches by using its stadium for other commercial activities, namely rock concerts. Previous anecdotal evidence suggests that the staging of large-scale rock concerts at football grounds generates nuisances far greater in magnitude than those associated with football matches, although there is little research to support this view. This paper is the first to apply the established methodology of investigating football-induced externality effects to a community experiencing both football matches and occasional large-scale rock concerts at the same venue. The findings conflict with previous evidence and suggest that general nuisance increases with distance from the stadium up to a distance of 1 km. The effect of staging rock concerts at the stadium has increased the negative effects generated, particularly noise levels. However, football-induced nuisance is perceived as being a greater problem overall, possibly due to the higher frequency of matches. Whilst the spatial extent and severity of football-induced nuisance can be understood largely in terms of urban morphology, personal opinion and local authority policy, an important factor affecting concert-induced nuisance is the weather, with wind direction having a particular effect on the spatial pattern of the noise generated.
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Coalter et al. The Role of Sport in Regenerating Deprived Urban Areas
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Sheffield Divided or United?
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English Professional Football and its Communities
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Raising Achievement and Aspirations Through Football
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The Spatial Externality Effects of Football Matches and Rock Con-certs'. Soccer & Society 31. Eckstein and Delaney, 'New Sports Stadiums, Community Self-esteem, and Community Collective Conscience
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The Art of Case ResearchTeaching and Playing Sport for Conflict Resolution and Co-Existence in Israel
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