Mctier, Alexander John (2019) Community Stadia: a Sustainable Phenomenon? Phd Thesis
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McTier, Alexander John (2019) Community stadia: A sustainable phenomenon? PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/75117/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] COMMUNITY STADIA: A SUSTAINABLE PHENOMENON? Alexander John McTier MA (Joint Hons), MSc. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Adam Smith Business School College of Social Sciences University of Glasgow August 2019 i Abstract Influenced by urban entrepreneurial economic development policy, 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 that collectively boost the economic competitiveness of their towns and cities. Public funding for stadia developments has been secured on these bases but also increasingly challenged as stadia costs are under-estimated and the benefits, particularly for lower income communities, exaggerated. Responding to these criticisms and with greater policy attention on establishing sustainable communities, the social and community benefits of new stadia developments have increasingly been promoted to secure and justify public investment. In the UK, community stadia have emerged in this context. Community stadia are an intriguing phenomenon as, in theory, they enable professional sports stadia to deliver on community aims alongside their core sporting and commercial demands and the economic development aims stemming from their flagship development status. Public funding has followed with a number of community stadia built or planned; this despite the limited critical analysis of the stadium type and its impact. It is this gap in the literature that this research addresses, doing so through a critical realist, case study methodology of two community stadia: The Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster and The Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk. Specifically the research draws on the community-related literature and interviews with diverse stadia stakeholders to define community stadia by conceptualising the factors that characterise or influence community stadia, understand what communities they engage with and benefit, and critique whether they are a sustainable phenomenon that can genuinely deliver on sporting, commercial, community and economic development aims. The research finds that community stadia have the potential to deliver across these 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 that require imaginative but effective design, planning, governance and operational management. Indeed, civic leaders and stadia officials need to be attuned to the concepts of inclusive design, co-production, and space and place; as well as having a ii diverse skill set spanning community engagement and partnership working to entrepreneurial and marketing skills. Acknowledgements There are a number of people I want to thank for the interest, insights and support they have given me over the course of the research. First are Liam Scully and Peter Eadie. Undertaking the case studies would have been far more demanding without their interest in the concept of community stadia and their connections across Doncaster and Falkirk. Second are the diverse stakeholders that agreed to participate in the research and speak openly about their views and experiences of the stadia. Closer to home, I want to thank my supervisors, Professors Iain Docherty and Andrew Cumbers, for the literature suggestions, comments on previous drafts, and reassurances they have given me over the last five years. There is then the support of my employers and colleagues, particularly Professor Alan McGregor, Aileen Nicol and Sharon Glasgow, who have trusted me to balance my day-to- day work commitments with my studies. Finally, I want to thank my wife, Claire, and my two boys, Gregory and Hamish, for giving me the distractions that have allowed me to forget about work and studies at bedtimes, weekends and holidays. Work-life balance is key and I am grateful that I have this. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Table of Contents iii List of Tables iv List of Figures v List of Maps v List of Abbreviations v Author’s Declaration vi Chapter 1. The Changing Face of the UK’s Professional Sports Stadia 1 Chapter 2. New Stadia Developments and Urban Economic Development 9 Policy Chapter 3. The Emergence of Community Stadia 38 Chapter 4. Methodology 66 Chapter 5. Community Stadia and the Communities They Serve 101 Chapter 6. The Quadruple Bottom Line – Community Co-Existing With 143 Sporting, Commercial and Economic Regeneration Aims Chapter 7. Conclusions 182 References 204 iv Appendix 1. E-Survey of Community Stadia 218 Appendix 2. Plain Language Statement for Research Participants 221 List of Tables PAGE Table 4.1: Intensive and Extensive Research 68 Table 4.2: Case Study Selection Process of Newly Constructed UK Stadia 74 of Professional Sports Clubs (2000-2015) Table 4.3: Non-Matchday Facilities Housed In and Communities Targeted 83 By Surveyed Stadia Table 4.4: Headline Doncaster and Falkirk Socio-Economic Statistics 86 Table 4.5: Interview Schedule and Application to Research Questions 93 Table 4.6: Doncaster and Falkirk Interview and Focus Group Participants 96 Table 5.1: Objectives for the Falkirk Community Stadium 111 Table 5.2: Keepmoat Stadium and Falkirk Stadium Facilities and Services 119 Table 5.3: Stadium Users by Organisation / Facility 130 Table 7.1: Key Features of the Community Stadia Phenomenon 184 v List of Figures PAGE Figure 4.1: Stakeholder Categorisation of Research Participants 99 Figure 5.1: The Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster 102 Figure 5.2: The Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk 107 List of Maps PAGE Map 5.1: Doncaster and the Keepmoat Stadium 105 Map 5.2: Falkirk and the Falkirk Stadium 109 List of Abbreviations AGP Artificial Grass Pitches AITC Albion In The Community ALEO Arms-Length External Organisation BHA Brighton & Hove Albion CARE Culture, Amusement, Recreation and Entertainment CSR Corporate Social Responsibility FC Football Club FIFA Federation Internationale de Football Association FiTC Football in the Community IRB International Rugby Board NEET Not in Employment, Education or Training RLFC Rugby League Football Club RUFC Rugby Union Football Club SME Small and Medium Enterprise UEFA Union of European Football Associations UK United Kingdom vi Declaration of Originality I declare that, except where explicit reference is made to the contribution of others, this dissertation is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree at the University of Glasgow or any other institution. Printed Name: Alexander John McTier Signature: Copyright Statement Copyright in text of this thesis rests with the author. Copies (by any process) either in full, or of extracts, may be made only in accordance with instructions given by the author. 1 Chapter 1 – The Changing Face of the UK’s Professional Sports Stadia Section 1.1 Introduction Community stadia – professional sports stadia with community-facing aims, facilities and services (City of York Council, 2010; PMP, 2008 and Sanders et al., 2014) – have emerged in the latter half of an unprecedented era of new or redeveloped professional sports stadia in the UK. Delivering on sporting, commercial, economic development and community aims, the attraction of community stadia is that they seemingly provide a solution to the lofty sporting aspirations, human disasters, societal tensions and commercial demands and opportunities that have confronted Britain’s professional sports stadia over the last 30 years. Indeed, turning the clock back to the 1980s, many stadia, particularly football stadia, were physically dilapidated, associated with the negative externalities of congestion, litter, anti-social behaviour and hooliganism, and attendances were falling (Bale, 2000; Paramio et al, 2008; Van Dam, 2000; Williams, 1995). With many stadia now described as 21st century ‘cathedrals’ (Giulianotti, 2011), the modern, large capacity and commercially minded stadia found in major cities are very different. Community stadia are a departure from these stadia: developed with holistic aims but at a lesser scale to reflect their provincial professional sports clubs and the towns and small cities they are based in. Examples of community stadia can be found in Brighton, Chesterfield, Colchester, Doncaster and Falkirk – spanning male and female professional football, rugby league, rugby union teams – and their emergence is becoming something of a trend with further examples planned for Brentford, Cambridge, Castleford, Grimsby, Truro, Wimbledon and York. Community stadia have therefore emerged in the last 10-15 years but their origins date further back. Understanding this modern history is important as political, sporting,