Stakeholders leadership approaches in soccer context: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

The present study aims to analyse the leadership on soccer, according the stakeholders approach. The methodology was a systematic review on soccer leadership, published between 1995 and 2020. The Web of Science and Scopus databases were used, resulting in a sample of 80 articles. Several indicators were analysed in order to identify the authors who have most studied this topic, the most cited articles, the journals where they were published, and the thematic clusters developed around the topic. Through a content analysis, four research clusters were distinguished: Behaviour, Performance, Style, and Formation. The clusters with the highest number of publications were Behaviour and Performance. The results suggest that the theme of leadership in soccer should be more developed in the Formation cluster, particularly among coaches. The study can be useful for all stakeholders involved in the context of soccer, when using leadership as a strategic tool to improve organizational performance.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank to NECE – Research Unit in Business Sciences funded by the Multiannual Funding Programme of R&D Centres of FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under the project “UIDB/04630/2020”. This study has been partially subsidised by the Aid for Research Groups (GR18170) of the Regional Government of Extremadura (Department of Employment, Enterprises and Innovation), with a contribution from the European Union from the European Funds for Regional Development.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

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16. Bormann et al., ‘Athlete Characteristics and Team Competitive Performance as Moderators for the Relationship between Coach Transformational Leadership and Athlete Performance’; Fransen et al., ‘We Will Be Champions’; and Keatlholetswe and Malete, ‘Coaching Efficacy, Player Perceptions of Coaches’.

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28. Ruiz-Barquín and de la Vega-Marcos, ‘Lss-3 Leadership Scale Adaptation in Soccer’.

29. Hampson and Jowett, ‘Effects of Coach Leadership and Coach-Athlete Relationship on Collective Efficacy’.

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39. Riemer and Chelladurai, ‘Leadership and Satisfaction in Athletics’.

40. Ibid.

41. Ferkins et al., ‘Board Involvement in Strategy’.

42. Vella et al., ‘The Relationship between Coach Leadership’.

43. Riemer and Chelladurai, ‘Leadership and Satisfaction in Athletics’.

44. Ibid.

45. Hoigaard et al. ‘Preferred Coach Leadership Behaviour in Elite Soccer in Relation to Success and Failure’.

46. Calvo and Topa, ‘Leadership and Motivational Climate’; Keatlholetswe and Malete, ‘Coaching Efficacy, Player Perceptions of Coaches’; Pankow et al. ‘The Development of Leadership in Model Youth Football Coaches’; Vella et al. ‘The Relationship between Coach Leadership’; Bradbury, ‘Institutional Racism, Whiteness and the under-Representation of Minorities in Leadership Positions in Football in Europe’; and Constandt et al. ‘Coach Ethical Leadership in Soccer Clubs’.

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48. Blanton et al., ‘Flipping the Script’; Collins and Cruickshank, ‘Take a Walk on the Wild Side’; and Kurak and Açak, ‘Investigation of the Effects of Football on Life Skills of Individuals’.

49. Arnulf et al. ‘Heroic Leadership Illusions in Football Teams’; Bridgewater et al. ‘Substitution and Complementarity between Managers and Subordinates’; and Detotto et al., ‘Do Managerial Skills Matter?’

50. Dixon et al. ‘Examining the Relationships between Challenge and Threat Cognitive Appraisals and Coaching Behaviours in Football Coaches’; and Riemer and Chelladurai, ‘Leadership and Satisfaction in Athletics’.

51. Constandt et al., ‘Coach Ethical Leadership in Soccer Clubs’; Fanti et al., ‘Who Is the Hooligan?’; Fielding-Lloyd and Meân, ‘I Don’t Think I Can Catch It’; and Tucker, ‘It’s Not Just About the Football’.

52. Holt et al., ‘Levels of Social Complexity and Dimensions of Peer Experiences in Youth Sport’; and Price and Weiss, ‘Relationships among Coach Leadership, Peer Leadership, and Adolescent Athletes’.

53. Holt et al., ‘Levels of Social Complexity and Dimensions of Peer Experiences in Youth Sport’; and Price and Weiss, ‘Peer Leadership in Sport’.

54. Chelladurai and Saleh, ‘Dimensions of Leader Behavior in Sports’.

55. Vidic and Burton, ‘Developing Effective Leaders’; and Wałach-Biśta, ‘A Polish Adaptation of Leadership Scale for Sports’.

56. Ruiz-Barquín and de la Vega-Marcos, ‘Lss-3 Leadership Scale Adaptation in Soccer.”

57. Dixon et al., ‘Examining the Relationships between Challenge and Threat Cognitive Appraisals and Coaching Behaviours in Football Coaches’.

58. Blascovich and Mendes, ‘Challenge and Threat Appraisals’.

59. Dixon et al., ‘Examining the Relationships between Challenge and Threat Cognitive Appraisals and Coaching Behaviours in Football Coaches’.

60. Blascovich and Mendes, ‘Challenge and Threat Appraisals’.

61. Fielding-Lloyd and Meân, ‘I Don’t Think I Can Catch It’; and Tucker, ‘It’s Not Just About the Football’.

62. Tucker, ‘It’s Not Just About the Football’.

63. Fielding-Lloyd and Meân, ‘I Don’t Think I Can Catch It’; and Norman et al., ‘It’s a Concrete Ceiling’.

64. Fielding-Lloyd and Meân, ‘I Don’t Think I Can Catch It’.

65. Constandt et al., ‘Coach Ethical Leadership in Soccer Clubs’.

66. Denton, ‘Can Business Leaders Build Teams Like Alex Ferguson?’

67. Ilharco ‘The Relevance of Media in Football Coaching’.

68. Denton, ‘Can Business Leaders Build Teams Like Alex Ferguson?’

69. Constandt and Willem, ‘The Trickle-Down Effect of Ethical Leadership in Nonprofit Soccer Clubs’; and Denton, ‘Can Business Leaders Build Teams Like Alex Ferguson?’

70. Bandura and Walters, ‘Social Learning Theory’.

71. Fanti et al., ‘Who Is the Hooligan?’.

72. Bradbury, ‘Institutional Racism’.

73. Constandt, ‘Does It Really Matter?’

74. Dixon et al., ‘Examining the Relationships between Challenge and Threat Cognitive Appraisals and Coaching Behaviours in Football Coaches’.

75. Fanti et al., ‘Who Is the Hooligan?’

76. Fransen et al., ‘We Will Be Champions: Leaders’; Fuster-Parra et al., ‘Team performance and collective efficacy in the dynamic psychology of competitive team’; and Gomes et al., ‘Athletes’.

77. Gomes et al., ‘Athletes’; and Lassalle et al. ‘Experience Discrepancy in Leadership Succession’.

78. Fransen et al., ‘We Will Be Champions’; and Konter, ‘Leadership Power Perception of Amateur and Professional Soccer Coaches and Players According to Their Belief in Good Luck or Not’.

79. Bridgewater et al., ‘Substitution and Complementarity between Managers and Subordinates’; and Detotto et al., ‘Substitution and Complementarity between Managers and Subordinates’.

80. Detotto et al., ‘Substitution and Complementarity between Managers and Subordinates’.

81. Lassalle et al., ‘Experience Discrepancy in Leadership Succession’.

82. Maderer et al., ‘Professional Football Squads as Multicultural Teams’.

83. Konter, ‘Leadership Power Perception of Amateur and Professional Soccer Coaches and Players According to Their Belief in Good Luck or Not’; Schyns et al. ‘What Lessons Can We Learn from Football About Leadership and Management?’; and Soebbing et al., ‘The Impact of Leadership Changes on Expectations of Organizational Performance’.

84. Soebbing et al., ‘The Impact of Leadership Changes on Expectations of Organizational Performance’.

85. Fransen et al., ‘We Will Be Champions’; Fuster-Parra et al., ‘Team Performance and Collective Efficacy in the Dynamic Psychology of Competitive Team’; Hampson and Jowett, ‘Effects of Coach Leadership and Coach-Athlete Relationship on Collective Efficacy’; and Pain and Harwood, ‘The Performance Environment of the England Youth Soccer Teams’.

86. Maderer et al., ‘Professional Football Squads as Multicultural Teams’; and Pain and Harwood, ‘The Performance Environment of the England Youth Soccer Teams’.

87. Gomes et al., ‘Athletes’ Perception of Leadership According to Their Perceptions of Goal Achievement and Sport Results’.

88. Ferkins et al., ‘Board Involvement in Strategy’.

89. Molan et al., ‘Leadership Off the Pitch’.

90. Fransen et al., ‘We Will Be Champions: Leaders’.

91. Maderer et al., ‘Professional Football Squads as Multicultural Teams’.

92. Soebbing et al., ‘The Impact of Leadership Changes on Expectations of Organizational Performance’.

93. Ferkins et al., ‘Board Involvement in Strategy’.

94. Calvo and Topa, ‘Leadership and Motivational Climate’; Chen, ‘How Does Paternalistic Style Leadership Relate to Team Cohesiveness in Soccer Coaching?’; and Keatlholetswe and Malete, ‘Coaching Efficacy, Player Perceptions of Coaches’.

95. Calvo and Topa, ‘Leadership and Motivational Climate’; Ulukan, ‘The Democratic Leadership in the Football Clubs’; and Vella et al., ‘The Relationship between Coach Leadership’.

96. Chen, ‘How Does Paternalistic Style Leadership Relate to Team Cohesiveness in Soccer Coaching?’; Ekstrand et al., ‘Is There a Correlation between Coaches’; Pankow et al., ‘The Development of Leadership in Model Youth Football Coaches; and Ulukan, ‘The Democratic Leadership in the Football Clubs’.

97. Calvo and Topa, ‘Leadership and Motivational Climate’; and Vella et al., ‘The Relationship between Coach Leadership’.

98. Calvo and Topa, ‘Leadership and Motivational Climate’.

99. ‘Is There a Correlation between Coaches’ Leadership Styles and Injuries in Elite Football Teams? A Study of 36 Elite Teams in 17 Countries’; Keatlholetswe and Malete, ‘Coaching Efficacy, Player Perceptions of Coaches’; and Mills and Boardley, ‘Expert Premier League Soccer Managers’.

100. Charbonneau et al. ‘Transformational Leadership and Sports Performance’.

101. Ekstrand et al., ‘Is There a Correlation between Coaches’; Keatlholetswe and Malete, ‘Coaching Efficacy, Player Perceptions of Coaches’; and Pankow et al., ‘The Development of Leadership in Model Youth Football Coaches’.

102. Ulukan, ‘The Democratic Leadership in the Football Clubs’; Keatlholetswe and Malete, ‘Coaching Efficacy, Player Perceptions of Coaches’; and Moen et al. ‘Performance Progress and Leadership Behavior’.

103. Chen, ‘How Does Paternalistic Style Leadership Relate to Team Cohesiveness in Soccer Coaching?’

104. Jing-Horng Lu and F. and Hsu, ‘The Interaction between Paternalistic Leadership and Achievement Goals in Predicting Athletes’ Sportspersonship’.

105. Calvo and Topa, ‘Leadership and Motivational Climate’.

106. Duguay et al. ‘Athlete Leadership as a Shared Process’.

107. Blanton et al., ‘Flipping the Script’; Collins & Cruickshank, ‘Take a Walk on the Wild Side’; and Kurak and Açak, ‘Investigation of the Effects of Football on Life Skills of Individuals’.

108. Blanton et al., ‘Flipping the Script’; Draper et al. ‘Empowering Professional Soccer Players in South Africa’; and Kurak and Açak, ‘Investigation of the Effects of Football on Life Skills of Individuals’.

109. Collins and Cruickshank, ‘Take a Walk on the Wild Side’.

110. Lawrason et al., ‘A Transformational Coaching Workshop for Changing Youth Sport Coaches’.

111. Blanton et al., ‘Flipping the Script’; and Collins and Cruickshank, ‘Take a Walk on the Wild Side’.

112. Thelwall-Jones and Stockdale, ‘Developing Rugby Club Leaders Is a Long Game’.

113. Ahn and Cunningham, ‘Standing on a Glass Cliff?’

114. Clarkson et al., ‘Negotiating Gender in the English Football Workplace’; and Fielding-Lloyd and Meân, ‘I Don’t Think I Can Catch It’.

115. Gibson and Groom, ‘Ambiguity, Manageability and the Orchestration of Organisational Change’.

116. Kurak and Açak, ‘Investigation of the Effects of Football on Life Skills of Individuals’.

117. Draper et al. ‘Empowering Professional Soccer Players in South Africa’; and Kurak and Açak, ‘Investigation of the Effects of Football on Life Skills of Individuals’.

118. Gibson and Groom, ‘Ambiguity, Manageability and the Orchestration of Organisational Change’.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [UIDB/04630/2020].