“To what extent do football organisations and networks allow individuals to ‘thrive’?”

Introduction

The global commercialisation of football has led to a fundamental transformation of the industry's management practices and its strategic international development. The enormous riches pouring into European football may have produced a top-class spectacle featuring players from around the globe producing football of the highest quality and playing in some of the best state-of-the-art stadiums in Europe. However, this evolution has been accompanied by instability in the game (Kennedy & Kennedy, 2016) and although there are huge financial spoils to be gained from on and off-field success, there are also correspondingly significant costs of failure.

The expansion in football finances is driven primarily by TV revenue, changes to ownership structures and indirectly by the commercial exploitation of “brand loyalty” (Aaker, 2009). Even in the depths of an EU-wide economic recession, fan identity and loyalty is a rich seam that revenue-hungry clubs are eager to mine. The business logic demands that football is consumed through expertly targeted merchandising that exploits collective identity and over-inflated pricing for spectating, both for match day tickets and for pay-per-view broadcasting. It is through such participation that fans, who help to create the live entertainment and atmosphere, also attract commercial partners and income for clubs and players through sponsorship, advertising and endorsements.

However, away from the high financial stakes of the professional game, football should not lose touch with its humble origins, where its capacity of playing a positive role in local development, social inclusion and fostering tolerance, can be realised. In addition, consumers are increasingly looking beyond mere products and are becoming more concerned with respect for societal values. Those involved with football have an opportunity to build around critical consciousness using football as a lens through which collectivist approaches to problem-solving can be aired as an antidote to individualism. Accordingly, football has the potential to be more than a sport. It can be a unifying process that enables collective actions to address common problems on a global scale (Conn, 2004).

When considering current academic inquiry; decision making, organisational responsibility and the unique economics of professional football have long been recognised and heavily researched (Leach & Szymanski, 2015; Anagnostopoulos, Byers, & Shilbury, 2014; Rouvrais-Charron & Kim, 2009; Michie & Oughton, 2005). Traditionally, the essence of the European game required leagues and individual clubs to provide a joint product that depended on effective cooperation to increase economic value. In this respect, the output of the league and its constituent members is maximised when the uncertainty principle is adhered to and there is some degree of competitive balance. A further idiosyncrasy concerns the creation of financial sustainability alongside playing success. This latter imperative reinforces the motivation to “invest” (or gamble) through buying players and paying excessive wages to attract and retain the best and/or highest profile talent. This may help to explain the unprofitability of many professional football clubs given a landscape of multiple objectives.

All of these pressures create an important need for good governance at club level as the requirement to maintain on-field performance balanced with commercial opportunities necessitates a degree of commitment to common regulatory arrangements. Dialogue and consultation between boards of directors and shareholders is also an increasingly important element underlining “good” governance for professional football clubs. In this climate corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly important in football organisations as the social demands on clubs have amplified. Scholars focusing on CSR in sport have generally examined content-related issues such as implementation, motives or outcomes (Kolyperas & Sparks, 2011) as a means for organisations to leverage their societal position. Commercial and operational concerns such as stakeholder management, brand reputation, fan attendance and corporate governance have further accelerated a situation where CSR is of particular importance to professional football bodies, football events and individual players (Walters & Tacon, 2010).

In presenting this special issue we contend that football and its management have a responsibility to evolve through strategic developments and performance measurements which allow key individuals to “thrive” within the broad footballing landscape. An opportunity exists through examination and theoretical advancement to understand the relationship between primary stakeholder management, social issues and organisational success.

Stakeholder management

Freeman (1994) outlined the concept of “stakeholder management” as a way of thinking and acting for managers who saw themselves confused by the dynamic nature of environmental changes. The concept has since been treated as a foundation for the theory of an organisation (Donaldson & Preston, 1995; Post, Preston, & Sachs, 2002) and a framework for relationships of business and society (Rowley, 1997). This has been described in general terms as the “embeddedness” (Freeman & Phillips, 2002) of economic actions in social relations, which is a sports context, can easily be found in the traditional concept of clubs or “societies” (Friedman, Parent, & Mason, 2004) which may be densely interlinked with other social networks. Accordingly, the idea of stakeholders is hardly new to football and arguably there are three major issues concerning the contemporary football industry: stakeholder definition and salience; organisational actions and responses; and stakeholder actions and responses. However, some important concepts are new to modern professional football management: The contractual acknowledgement of stakeholders; the degree of business transparency; the interaction with groups formerly considered outside the game, and the need to strategically manage stakeholders in order to gain advantages against other sports in the global sports marketplace.

The four basic strategies described by Pedersen (2006) that stakeholders may use to translate their concerns to the world of professional football include; creating public pressure through mass media; mobilising political pressure via national institutions; initiating market forces through organisational strategies, and directly putting pressure on corporate agents. In addition, research at club level has confirmed the increasing need for stakeholder management in order to demonstrate sound governance and strategic management (Bale, 2000; Hamil, Michie, Oughton, & Warby, 2001; Holt, Michie, Oughton, & Shailer, 2004; Crane & Matten, 2004). This change has been driven by internal motivations for growth as well as external events such as serious corruption scandals implicating FIFA and UEFA respectively, which have facilitated organisational recognition of their expanding economic, social and political significance.

As a consequence, owners and executives need to ensure that they are fully appraised and aware of developments in the wider external environment just as corporate managers in other industries are increasingly tracking and engaging with stakeholders and their growing range of interests. CSR is broadly grounded in an understanding of the social context of business and challenges organisations to explicitly clarify their business ethics, acknowledge expectations of their stakeholders, and integrate these to provide a social benefit. Smith and Westerbeek (2007) suggest that risk management, institutional relevance, organisational functioning, market positioning and ethical assumptions are the core reasons why businesses get involved with local communities. Whilst Green (2006) has highlighted the increasing relevance of football and its contribution to provide “Sport for All” opportunities, Brown, Crabbe, and Mellor (2006) challenge this presumption in the context of football clubs and their community relations arguing that the organisation and management of participation initiatives over the past 15 years has actually contributed to the exclusion of disadvantaged groups in society, especially on economic grounds.

This special issue explores these ideas and considers how they contribute to the strategic direction taken by a variety of football organisations. The aim is to develop new knowledge and understanding of the business challenges as clubs and governing bodies attempt to manage the complexities which surround the many commercial opportunities that spring from, increasing youth participation, recruiting talent, supporting employees and improving fan relationships. Consequently, the papers collected in this issue consider global football issues that add to, and challenge existing perspectives of how primary stakeholders can be supported to “thrive” with football organisations.

Overview of contributions

We are delighted to include the work from Nikita Osokin and Ilya Solntsev who designed a performance measurement framework for regional networks and national organisations in Russia. The work which identifies five key dimensions: Player Development, Elite Sport, Grassroots, Infrastructure Development and Promotion Activities, provides an insight into how performance measures can be assembled and used to make “data-informed” managerial decisions. In addition, the mapping procedure introduced in this paper enhances the taxonomy approach promoting opportunities for NGB's to coordinate their development initiatives for individuals to “thrive”.

Paul Kitchin and Aaron Crossin explored the differing dimensions of organisational capacity which facilitate or constrain the integration of disability football. They argue that, while a “certain” level integration was achieved in community sport organisations, what exists can only be termed “accommodation” as opposed to “true” integration. Their main suggestion is to develop structural capacity which can be important for managing human resources, facilitating relationships with other organisations, and possibly reducing obstacles. They conclude by highlighting that all clubs should work towards a cohesive, strategic and defined vision for integrating disability sports which will allow previously marginalised individuals to “thrive”.

Laura Finnegan, David Richardson, Martin Littlewood and Jean McArdle present primary stakeholder perspectives of the governance of schoolboy football in the Republic of Ireland. They identified a lack of congruence and a “somewhat united” system which was the result of ineffective stakeholder management based on poor communication practices, a perception of (a) inaccurate disclosures, (b) perceived lack of inclusion in decision-making, and (c) organisational injustice and confusion over role clarity. They suggest that managing relationships with diverse stakeholders through a sport governance system is key for strategic policy implementation and may allow future schoolboy football players to “thrive”.

Paul Widdop, Alexander Bond and Simon Chadwick explore football's emerging trade networks finding that the football transfer network is embedded in sporting, industrial and political networks. In Europe, the network appears closely linked to business and commercial interests as revenue streams are drawn strongly from media contracts and rights deals, with the free-market being the principle structure through which connections are established and movement takes place. They contrast this with China and Russia, where the transfer network is closely connected to state orientated systems of decision-making and resource allocation. Hence, China's utilisation of football as a means to accumulate and project soft power has significantly impacted upon their recent role within the transfer network. This paper makes the case that the football transfer network follows a similar structure to that of regular trading, political and international relations. These network visualisations and the associated analysis have a key role to play in strategic football management enabling players to “thrive”.

Steven Bullough offers critical insight into the UEFA Champions League revenue distribution, and the performance and participation of clubs and national associations from 2003 to 2017. At present under the current system of qualification, there is an imbalance towards established elite clubs, with ‘new entrants’ finding it very difficult to permeate this group both in terms of financial and playing performance. The rationale proposed by UEFA to make the distribution fairer from 2018–19 is yet to be both scrutinised and implemented, however the increase in qualification places for the top four national associations (England, Spain, Germany and Italy) would appear to contravene this ethos. The results of this study outline disparities in the current system and highlight how the recent rule change will impact and limit the ability of non-elite clubs to ‘thrive’ in Europe’s premier competition.

We also welcome insight from Stephen Morrow and Brian Howieson on learning to be a professional football manager. Using a Bourdieusian perspective they expose how aspiring managers possess a distinct logic that reinforces particular habits within which certain kinds of capital are more highly valued. Winning games and/or trophies is seen as symbolic capital and determines the upward mobility of a manager. However, the business transformation of football and the increased emphasis placed on economic capital by owners and directors have had major ramifications for managers. Furthermore, national and transnational governing bodies, have sought to emphasise a professional field logic, specifically the requirement for managerial education. The study offers evidence that managerial accreditation and the education system has structured the field and contributed to a changing system of dispositions designed to allow managers to “thrive”.

Luke Gibson and Ryan Groom investigate the micro-politics of organisational change in professional youth football and develop an understanding of the “professional self”, specifically how individual coaches experience the change process. Their findings reveal how organisational change negatively affects day-to-day working practices, relationships with other members of staff, employment within a club, and subsequently the holistic coaching environment. The impact of the paper adds further weight to the assertion that coaching is characterised by “uncontrollability, incomprehensibility, and contradictory values” which unfortunately limit the ability for coaches to “thrive”.

Finally, Paul Huiszoon, Guillaume Martinent and Guillaume Bodet explored the ways that sport governing bodies can influence non-transactional fan behaviours and in doing so uncover relationship strengths within subgroup-specific local models. This paper shows how relationship strengths can change depending on fan devotion. Managers should acknowledge that they have the power to enhance attitudes by deepening trust in, and knowledge about sport governing bodies. The insights shared are essential for practitioners, who want to incorporate NGB's into a holistic and segment-specific marketing strategy amplifying behaviours and allowing highly devoted fans the chance to “thrive” through emotional investment.

Concluding thoughts

In summary, these papers provide a small sample of the current and continuing work which highlights the challenges football organisations are faced with. Football businesses are increasingly looking for innovative solutions, techniques and applications to help meet organisational needs and increase the opportunities for key stakeholders to “thrive” across spatially dispersed and multi-faceted markets. In the UK, more involvement in the governance of football at the European Union level and various government agencies aims to foster increased participation from the supporters who may feel disempowered given that external bodies are gaining power at the expense of national associations. Consequently, the papers in this special issue present a picture where policy-makers at all levels have a responsibility for the future of football and its ability to create a continuing positive impact on managers, coaches, players, and citizens. We hope that the special issue papers infuse further theoretical, methodological and empirical advances.

We would like to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to all the contributors to the special issue. This includes the authors who submitted papers, each reviewer who devoted voluntary time providing valuable feedback and the editorial team at Routledge for their help throughout the process. A final special mention should also be made to Dr. Andrew Adams for his continual support and guidance towards this editorial.