![Sample our Sports and Leisure journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5949/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Sports-Leisure.jpg"})
Abstract
The ‘club versus country’ debate, which refers to an individual’s allegiance to their respective club and national teams, has become an increasingly popular topic for debate in the context of English football. Whilst prior work in this area has focused on the tensions between club officials and national associations, this study investigated the attitudinal and behavioural loyalty of fans towards club and national teams. Data were collected from 647 football fans across 16 English club teams utilizing a survey approach. Findings suggest that those with high levels of loyalty to their club are more likely to be loyal to the national team, questioning whether this is a ‘versus’ debate at all from the fan perspective. In addition, Premier League fans display lower levels of attitudinal loyalty to the national team than lower league fans, which may reflect underlying concerns that club players may sustain injuries in national team matches.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Robbie Keane, interviewed in 2013 whilst playing for LA Galaxy and the Republic of Ireland.
2. Rio Ferdinand, interviewed in 2013 whilst playing for Manchester United (announcing his retirement from international football).
3. FIFA, ‘World Cup’.
4. Reynolds, ‘Four-year England Deal’.
5. UEFA.com, ‘Champions League’.
6. G-14 was replaced by the larger European Club Association in 2008, a body with wider membership but the same remit of representing club teams at European level.
7. International Football Arena, 2012.
8. Ogden, ‘Club versus Country Battle’.
9. McCracken and Gummer, ‘Club v country’.
10. Redknapp, ‘Club versus Country Battle’.
11. The FA.com, ‘Future of England Team’.
12. Ekai, ‘Debate Rages On’.
13. Hawkey, ‘Club versus Country Row’.
14. Obel, ‘Club versus Country Rugby’ and Das, ‘Organising International Cricket’.
15. Wakefield and Sloan, ‘Loyalty and Spectator Attendance’.
16. Gibbons, ‘English National Identity’.
17. Dick and Basu, ‘Customer Loyalty Conceptual Framework’.
18. Trail et al., ‘Attachment: Fans versus Spectators’.
19. Robinson, ‘Dyed in the Wool?’.
20. Wakefield and Sloan, ‘Loyalty and Spectator Attendance’, 159.
21. Sutton et al., ‘Fostering Fan Identification’.
22. Theysohn et al., ‘Official Supporters Clubs’, 306.
23. See note 21 above.
24. Crabbe, ‘England at World Cup’.
25. Smith and Stewart, ‘The Travelling Fan’.
26. Mintel, ‘Football Business’.
27. Adamson et al., ‘CRM in Football Industry’.
28. Ben-Porat, ‘Split Loyalty’, 272.
29. Obel, ‘Club versus Country Rugby’, 444.
30. Gürtler et al., ‘Players to National Teams’, 6.
31. See note 8 above.
32. Gardiner and Welch, ‘Home-Grown Player Rule’. Recently introduced rules concerning the number of foreign players allowed in club level teams have been seen as a mechanism to strengthen national teams.
33. Vickery, ‘Falcao’s Move to Monaco’.
34. Frick, ‘Football Players’ Labor Market’.
35. Maguire and Pearton, ‘Global Sport Migration Patterns’.
36. Baur and Lehmann, ‘Mobility of Football Players’.
37. Vincent et al., ‘England Expects: Newspapers’ Narratives’.
38. Tapp, ‘We’ll Support You Evermore?’ 214.
39. Gibbons and Lusted, ‘Is St George enough?’
40. Ben-Porat, ‘Split Loyalty’.
41. McDonald et al., ‘Fans’ Global Football Allegiances’.
42. King, ‘Football Fandom and Identity’.
43. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, ‘The World Cup Patriots’.
44. A topic recently explored by Valeriano, ‘Latino Assimilation, Divided Loyalties’.
45. Lowrey, Neatrour and Williams, ‘The Bosman Ruling’.
46. Dal Lago and De Biasi, ‘Italian Football Fans’ Culture’.
47. See note 16 above.
48. Moorhouse, ‘Soccer and Nationality’, 72.
49. See note 40 above.
50. Gürtler et al., ‘Players to National Teams’.
51. Giulianotti, ‘Supporters, Followers, Fans, Flaneurs’.
52. Hill and Green, ‘Repeat Attendance, Involvement, Loyalty’.
53. In 2013, 96% of players selected across all England squads were registered with Premier League clubs, and only two non-Premier League players made an actual appearance.
54. Fletcher, ‘End of the Road’.
55. See note 39 above.
56. See note 16 above.
57. Bauer et al., ‘Loyalty of German Fans’.
58. Costello and Osborne, ‘Exploratory Factor Analysis’.
59. Premier League, ‘National Fan Survey’ and Waddington et al., ‘Composition of Football Crowds’.
60. See note 40 above.
61. Giulianotti, ‘National Identity in Uruguay’ and Jinxia and Mangan, ‘Football in New China’.
62. Castro-Ramos, ‘Loyalties, Commodity and Fandom’.
63. Campbell et al., ‘Beyond BIRGing and CORFing’.