Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
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University of Bath PHD Masculinities, Competition and Friendship in an English Professional Football Academy Adams, Adrian Award date: 2015 Awarding institution: University of Bath Link to publication Alternative formats If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact: [email protected] General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 01. Oct. 2021 Masculinities, Competition and Friendship in an English Professional Football Academy Adrian Mathew Adams A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Bath Department of Social and Policy Sciences October 2015 COPYRIGHT Attention is drawn to the fact that copyright of this thesis rests with the author. A copy of this thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that they must not copy it or use material from it except as permitted by law or with the consent of the author. This thesis may be made available for consultation within the University Library and may be photocopied or lent to other libraries for the purposes of consultation with effect from……………….(date) Signed on behalf of the Faculty/School of Social and Policy Sciences................................... 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My sincerest gratitude goes to my primary supervisor Dr. Tina Skinner for her unwavering support. Her time, care, and guidance has been invaluable in completing this thesis. I would also like to extend my thanks to Dr. Nicola Ingram and Prof. Eric Anderson for their insightful comments which have undoubtedly served to strengthen this thesis. My sincere thanks also go to Dr. Sam Carr, whose patient listening and questioning regularly helped to untangle my thoughts. I also place on record my gratitude to all the friends and colleagues who have offered me encouragement throughout the last six years. I am particularly indebted to Ben Rockett for his solidarity and friendship. Thanks to my parents, Michaela and Frank, my brother, Chris, and my partner, Lizzie, for their love and support. Finally, I would like to thank all of the participants of this study. Without their participation, patience and understanding this thesis would not have been possible. Thank you all. 3 ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to utilise a unique researcher vantage point (as embedded academy coach) to explore the experiences of male youth footballers (14- 15 years old) at an English professional football academy. Participant observations and in-depth semi-structured interviews with twelve boys were used to generate data. The analysis focused upon (a) the competitive social organisation of the academy, (b) representations of masculinity (c) emotional proximity and what it means to be ‘friends’ in the academy setting, and (d) attitudes towards homosexuality. My findings highlight the limited ability of boys to develop trust and ‘deep’ friendships in this institutional context. These findings suggest that a hyper-competitive (neoliberal) market-driven rationality penetrates football academies and may play a role in altering the parameters of how ‘friendships’ can be lived and experienced for young people ‘on the inside’ of such institutions. Despite limitations on ‘friendships’ and emotional-proximity inside the academy, there was some evidence of inclusivity (c.f. Anderson, 2009), with regards to attitudes towards homosexuality. However, drawing on the concepts of complicity (Connell, 1987, 1995) and hybridity (c.f. Demetriou, 2001; Bridges, 2014), caution is maintained in describing these youth academy footballers as conclusively inclusive. Implications of these findings, limitations of this study and directions for future research are all discussed. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................ 2 ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................................. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................ 4 PREFACE: TRAINING TIME: FLOODLIT NIGHTS AT WEST-SIDE ............................ 8 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 12 1.1 COMING TO STUDY WEST-SIDE FOOTBALL ACADEMY ............................. 12 1.2 RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................... 15 1.3 POSITIONING THIS STUDY .................................................................................... 16 1.4 ENGLISH FOOTBALL ACADEMIES AND CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE ..... 17 1.5 THE PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL INDUSTRY .................................................. 19 1.6 STUDYING A PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL ACADEMY .................................. 24 1.7 THESIS OUTLINE AND CHAPTERS ..................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 2: COMPETITIVE YOUTH SPORT EXPERIENCES AND NEOLIBERALISM ................................................................................................................ 29 2.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 29 2.2 YOUTH SPORT EXPERIENCES: SOME PSYCHO-SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS ......................................................................................................... 30 2.3 EXPLORING THE ‘EXTREME END’ OF THE COMPETITIVE SPORT SPECTRUM ...................................................................................................................... 34 2.4 ELITE, ORGANISED, COMPETITIVE SPORT AS NEOLIBERAL SOCIAL PRACTICE ........................................................................................................................ 38 2.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY ............................................................................................. 42 CHAPTER 3: GENDER, SPORT, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF BOYHOOD MASCULINITIES .................................................................................................................. 45 3.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 45 3.2 ‘TRADITIONAL’ PERSPECTIVES ON MASCULINITIES AND SPORT ......... 45 3.2.1 THE GENDERED AND GENDERING ‘NATURE’ OF TRADITIONAL SPORT FORMS ........................................................................................................... 46 3.2.2 A MALE OBSESSION: POSITIONING GENDER WITHIN A MODERN SPORT NEXUS ........................................................................................................... 47 3.2.3 MEN’S LOVE OF SPORTS .............................................................................. 49 3.2.4 THE ADULT-MALE ORGANISATION OF YOUTH SPORTS IN THE 20TH CENTURY ..................................................................................................................... 57 3.3 ‘CONTEMPORARY’ PERSPECTIVES ON MASCULINITIES AND SPORT .. 61 3.3.1 DECREASED HOMOPHOBIA, INCREASED INCLUSIVITY ..................... 61 3.3.2 DECREASED HOMOPHOBIA AND CHANGES IN SPORTING MASCULINITIES ......................................................................................................... 65 5 3.3.3 THE CHANGING SOCIAL LANDSCAPE OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL ................................................................................................................... 69 3.3.4 CONTEXTUALISING MASCULINITIES AND HOMOPHOBIA IN 21ST CENTURY SPORT ...................................................................................................... 71 3.3.5 GAY ATHLETES, COMING OUT, AND STRAIGHT-ALLIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY ..................................................................................................................... 73 3.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY ............................................................................................. 85 CHAPTER 4: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF IDENTITIES AND MASCULINITIES .................................................................................................................. 87 4.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 87 4.2 SOCIAL IDENTITIES AND THE SELF .................................................................. 88 4.2.1 A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST PERSPECTIVE OF ‘INDIVIDUALS’ AND ‘SOCIETY’ ........................................................................................................... 90 4.2.2 GOFFMAN’S TOTAL INSTITUTIONS AND PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL ACADEMIES................................................................................................................. 93 4.2.3 INSTITUTIONALIZATION, COLONIZATION,