MAKING THE GRADE TO THE PRO LEVEL FROM A FOOTBALLER, PERSPECTIVE

by

NOEL TURNER

Dissertation submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements For the UEFA PRO Diploma 2015-2017 In the Malta Football Association Technical Centre

Tutor: MR. STEPHEN GRIMA

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Contents

Literature Review ...... 7 1.1 Introduction to the footballer career ...... 7 1.2 Aim of study ...... 9 1.3 Background ...... 9 1.4 Player development ...... 12 1.4.1 Fundamental Mental Skills ...... 14 1.4.2 Fundamental Physical Skills ...... 14 1.4.3 Identify, Prepare for, and Support Individuals Through Key Transitions...... 14 Methodology ...... 17 2.1 Introduction ...... 17 2.2 Aim and Objective ...... 17 2.3 Research Method ...... 17 2.3.1 Research Instruments ...... 17 2.3.2 Difficulties ...... 18 2.3.3 Construction of Research Instruments ...... 18 2.3.4 Pilot Study ...... 18 2.3.5 Interview Procedure ...... 19 2.3.6 Data Analysis ...... 19 2.3.7 Conclusion ...... 19 Coping ...... 20 3.1 Coping in Sport...... 20 3.1.1 Coping skills and resources ...... 20 3.2 Culture ...... 23 3.2.1 Lifestyle ...... 24 Challenges faced by the players...... 26 4.1 Training Demands connected to a higher athletic level ...... 27 4.2 Demands on Psychological level ...... 30 4.3 Demands on Psycho-social level ...... 31 The path to Success: The Player’s perspective ...... 36 Conclusion ...... 40 Appendix ...... 44 7.1 Interview questionnaires ...... 44

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Table of Figures

Figure 1: Players Playing Abroad ...... 7 Figure 2: Number of transfers per year of Maltese players Migrating to European - U.S.A – Australian Leagues...... 11 Figure 3: Players transfer in different countries ...... 11 Figure 4: Player age at transfer ...... 12 Figure 5: Stress on Players ...... 26

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This thesis would not have been possible without the help of many people:

I would like to express my gratitude to my tutor Mr. Stephen Grima for his advice, guidance and continues support given by supervising this work. I would like to thank Mr Joe Mallia the course coordinator for his encouragement throughout the course.

Special thanks also goes to my colleagues for their friendship, support and co-operation particularly my group, also I would like to thank Miss Adele Muscat for her Constructive criticism, supporting advise and help.

I am grateful to all the Players, club administrators and others who provided me with the data needed for this study by devoting time to share their views and experience.

Additional thanks goes to all the lecturers who offered their experiences and knowledge during the Pro licence Course.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my wife Amy and our Children, Nicole, Emma, Benjamin, Thomas and Matthew for their support, interest and most of all the patience they showed throughout the whole 2 years of the course.

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Abstract Noel Turner

MAKING THE GRADE TO THE PRO LEVEL FROM A FOOTBALLER PERPECTIVE

My inspiration of choosing this topic comes from my experience as a footballer and now for the last 8 years as a coach, the author. The career of a footballer is composed into a sequence of years involving practising the physical, psychological, technical and tactical aspects of the game. Since my childhood I always dreamed of playing for my home town and Malta national team and likely I succeeded very well in both, when I started getting older as a teenager I also had the dream of making the grade to the pro level with a foreign club, but although I have put into a lot of sacrifices, dedication, hard training and being consistent, by playing very well this commitment could not guarantee success. In fact, it is well known that many are the players that do not make it to the elite phase.

Hope fully with this research and findings I will help teenage players to have more possibility of making their dream come true and making the grade to the pro level abroad which certainly will give them a new meaning of living their life in the sport they love.

This study is aimed at investigating and exploring the life and history of top Maltese footballers who have or are making the grade with a foreign club abroad. It is meant to identify the process that a footballer has to encounter to prepare for the elite phase. Also I had to reach outside the aspects of the game to gain more insight about the benefits and negative issues of being a top Maltese footballer.

A qualitative approach was used for this study and data was collected by means of interviews. The interviews were conducted with the players and club administrators. This was conducted to gain a better understanding on diverse issues. The data collected was coded, analysed and discussed and certain findings were delved into, this was necessary to gain deeper insight into this subject matter.

Masters UEFA Pro Jan 2016

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Literature Review

1.1 Introduction to the footballer career

To become a professional football player, a natural step for Maltese football players is to migrate to a new country if they are talented enough; where opportunities are widespread, wages are higher, the quality of football significantly better, and where the support for the game is at a high level. However, the transition may not be easy and few are prepared (Bourke,2002). Adele Conference PSY Nov 2015 page 3. The Maltese football environment does not offer all players to be professional footballers, due to poor football conditions and facilities, lack of professional setup at the clubs and restricted funds. Anyhow, Malta has not produced a substantial amount of professional players playing abroad compared to the other small states in Europe which have a similar amount of population, which in 2015 Malta contains a little over 430.000 inhabitants. See Fig. 1.

9 Small States of Europe – Players Playing Abroad June 2016: Population % Overall Population 100 330,000 0.03 ICELAND 51 550,000 0.009 LUXEMBOURG 40 37,000 0.10 LIECHTENSTEIN 40 1,189,000 0.003 CYPRUS 36 49,000 0.07 FAROE ISLAND 24 77,000 0.03 ANDORRA 22 33,000 0.06 SAN MARINO GIBRALTAR 13 30,000 0.04 4 430,000 0.0009 MALTA SOURCE INTERNET Figure 1: Players Playing Abroad

When a young player moves abroad there are many factors that come into play. Researchers have studied how the players (especially young players) cope with the transition of moving to different surroundings. The player will often have to adapt to a new culture, language, interpersonal network, demands etc.

When a Maltese football player makes a transition into a European league it is best compared to an academy-to-first-team transition. According to research (Wylleman & Lavalle, 2004; Richardson et al., 2012; Finn and McKenna, 2010) this stage is characterized in terms of the developmental model as being mentally and physically tiring due to the increased intensity of the first-team settings. At the same time, moving from adolescence into young adulthood in an elite sporting environment may impact upon the

P a g e | 7 of 51 development of the psychological identity of the player. Alternatively, psychosocial concerns may emerge from developing new social relationships in the first-team environment while losing the psychological support provided by pre-existing social relationships (Wylleman & Lavalle, 2004).

In this thesis the term football career defines a period of multi-year sport activity, with the aim of achieving his/her personal peak in a chosen sport (in this case it is Football). The concept of a “career” is represented in all levels of competitive sports, from the beginning to the highest level achieved by the individual. Football careers can be international, national, regional, alternatively it can be professional or amateur or both (Stambulova et al., 2009). Wylleman & Reints (2009) have shown that the process of achieving an elite athletic career usually requires ten years of building experience and excellence to reach peak performance, also emphasis this sustaining their: Balyi & Hamilton (2004), when referring to Herbert Simon state that “it takes years of extensive training to excel in anything” (p.1). Such involvement can be related to an intrinsic value, which consists of love and passion towards the game. Such intrinsic issues are the key to subsist because the game requires both will and dedication (Arcucci & Bialo, 2004). Therefore, will and dedication are of utmost importance since there is a lot of commitment involved in practice (Arcucci & Bialo, 2004). While competing at the highest level lasts for 5-10 years, athletic careers come across as continuous in nature but Wylleman et al. (2004) found that former elite athletes frequently describe their own athletic career as events (e.g. the first selection to the first team or national team, winning a specific competition, injuries) or non-events which were anticipated but did not happen (e.g. not selected for a team, losing a final). Such combinations of events not only result in a mixture of emotions, behaviors and thoughts, but also lead to developmental challenges for the athlete. If the athlete´s coping ability is wanting in these situations, the athlete will not adequately react to the circumstances and therefore not make a productive transition to the next stage. Instead, the athlete will face a crisis transition, which could slacken the next step or possibly inhibit the process of reaching a higher level (Wylleman and Reints, 2009).

According to Stambulova (1994, 2000) the athletic career consists of predictable transitions and stages, including; i) the beginning of sport specialization, ii) the transition to intensive training in a chosen sport, iii) the transition into competitive sports, iv) the transition from amateur to elite sports, v) the transition from the peak of the career to the end of sports career and vi) the transition out of the sport career. The instance of these normative transitions highlights the developmental nature of the athletic career (Wylleman & Lavalle, 2003).

While many athletes adjust in adequate and positive ways during transitions, others may confront serious problems due to a lack of coping skills and resources. Coping skills help people to guard themselves from being harmed by challenging experiences in their lives. It signifies an individual’s cognitive, affective and behavioural efforts to manage specific internal and external demands (Holt, 2003). The most supported coping model in sport psychology is Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) transaction process P a g e | 8 of 51 perspective model. The purpose of the model is to build a framework for evaluating processes of coping with stressful events.

The main focus in this thesis will be on Making the grade to the professional level “developing mastery” which is an additional stage provided by Richardson et al. to Wylleman’s & Lavalle’s developmental model. The focus will be on how the nature of this stage affects the athletes on a psychological level, psycho-social level (support from others), environmental and cultural level. Richardson et al. (2012) contend that this stage is probably the most critical stage for young football players due to the fact that usually these players are not prepared enough to make the first team, but still there are a lot of expectations for the players to function and endure in the professional environment.

1.2 Aim of study

The aim of this paper is to provide understanding and depth into the transition process of Maltese football players. The purpose is to try to find the right path for young football players to success. In order to do so, this paper probes the lifespan perspectives on transitions faced by Maltese players with the intension to answer the research question. Making the grade to professional football: The player’s perspective – Is there a pattern for success? By examining the experience of transition faced by Maltese football players in terms of the “Developmental model of transitions faced by athletes” (Wylleman and Lavalle, 2004) and Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) transaction process perspective model; using phenomenological research and involving selected Maltese football players, that all have experienced transition to bigger leagues, the intention of this study is to better understand the development of footballers as they migrate to a new country into an elite sport environment. With better understanding of factors that are vital in this process it is hoped that young players can be better informed on: i) the factors that are needed to be aware and prepared before transitions, ii) how to cope effectively, iii) the behaviours that are needed to be adjusted in the transition. Finally, the findings can provoke interventions from stakeholders to support and counsel these young players for transitions.

1.3 Background

The reasons are clear – the dream that each player has to play in the best league possible and local clubs financial difficulties tend to push players out, while on the other hand wealthier economies as central European leagues are capable of attracting players by offering them various financial awards. Of course this is a quite simplistic view, In other words; players from smaller countries need to take their skills abroad in order to improve their game and their earnings. This illustration completely fits the Maltese football environment and the increasing development of young football player exchanges to better leagues in Europe.

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Labor migration has turned out to be a significant and recognized characteristic of the football industry. Since last year Clubs and the Malta Football Association agreed to remove the quota on signing and to field as much as 7 players during a game this is a new challenge for Maltese young players and it’s becoming more difficult to enter to the first team squad so a young player has to be really talented, well prepared and determined to cope with the challenges to play for the local senior squad. Playing abroad in a better league takes 2nd priority as first they have to gain a place in local football. On the other hand, even the experienced players had to come of their comfort zone to fight for their place and hopefully by improving their level it also improves the level of the Maltese game. The pull of profitable contracts from the professional leagues in Europe has proved to be difficult to oppose for generations of players from other continents and other regions inside Europe. This is the case of Malta; for young football players in Malta, the dream is to move to bigger leagues in Europe where opportunities are widespread, wages are higher, and the quality of football significantly better and where the support for the game is at a high level. The latest development shows that more and more Maltese players are trying to migrate to bigger leagues in Europe. See Fig.2

It is essential to understand how players experience and cope with the process of cultural and psychological changes that result when they encounter different cultures – on both group level and individual level. Furthermore, it is essential to recognize how these players cope with factors such as media, academies training and publicity. Contemporary findings have shown that when players migrate and experience these kinds of changes they face a lot of problems such as homesickness, loneliness, isolation, language competency and dislocation. These problems are not universal for all players but they seem to be common (Weedon, 2011). This shall be evidenced in the interviews held with the local football players.

Since Malta obtained independence in 1964 the first players exchange in football occurred, actually before in 1957 where a Maltese player went to Queen’s Park Rangers in England, throughout the next thirty years player exchange were though infrequent. In the following two decades more Maltese players moved abroad. However, it was not until 1996 that the number started to increase. In the years 1996 and 1997 a major transfiguration occurred in the wake of the case (Magnusson, 2001) where Jean–Marc Bosman, a Belgian football player challenged the legality of the transfer system and the rules of nationality quotas. The verdict required the national authorities to accept that no organization, however well intentioned, had the right to hinder the free movement of labor across EU borders (Garcìa, 2007). Before this ruling only top Maltese players had any chance of joining professional clubs. After the Bosman ruling the number of transfers increased and since 1997 a total of 3 players on average have moved abroad every year to play professional football.

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No.of transfer per year

6

5

4

3

2 Numberplayers of 1

0

1957 1959 1963 1964 1967 1977 1978 1980 1987 1988 2001 2002 2003 2004 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Year

Figure 2: Number of transfers per year of Maltese players Migrating to European - U.S.A – Australian Leagues.

This research was only interested in players who moved abroad on the premises of becoming a professional football player. Since 1957 till 2015. Italy and England have been the most frequent destinations for Maltese players, with Australia, U.S.A, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Greece Belgium, France and Serbia following suit.

Player transfer in Europe - U.S.A - Australia 1957 -2015

Greece France Germany 1 player Hungary 3 players 4 players 4 players Cyprus 5 players Belgium 2 players

Australia 7 players

Italy Serbia 11 players 1player

Bulgaria 4 players

England U.S.A 9 players 5 players

Figure 3: Players transfer in different countries

Full List of players and their respective clubs attached in Appendix.

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The average age of players when they transfer is 20.76 years old, and as can be seen in figure 4. Most players migrate to a European league either between the ages of 19 and 24 years old, or the ages of 21 and 23 years old. Players in focus in this research are players that migrated at the age of 14 years old or older.

Player age at transfer 1957 - 2015 7

6

5

4

3 Noof Players 2

1

0 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Age at transfer

Figure 4: Player age at transfer

1.4 Player development

The organization within which the youth-to-senior transition occurs is likely to influence athletes’ ability to cope with the demands of the change. Sport psychologists have discussed possible influential organizational factors. Martindale, Collins, & Daubney (2005), for example, identified five key generic themes from the literature associated with organizational structure and the coaching environment believed to be associated with effective talent development and transition. First, they identified that there should be several long-term aims and methods within an organization’s youth development program. Organizations should have a vision, purpose, and identity that is systematically planned and implemented (Martindale et al., 2005). For example, there should be a consideration of how factors such as perceived competence (Sternberg, 2000), long-term adherence (Deci & Ryan, 1985), and cognitive and motor skills development (Ericsson, 1998) can influence individuals’ sport development and senior team performance. Long-term plans should be based around improving youth athletes’ skills and competencies in these areas, to ultimately improve their overall performance.

Second, within a talent development program there is a need to provide coherent support networks and messages to athletes (Martindale et al., 2005). Utilization of role models and the availability of various

P a g e | 12 of 51 support mechanisms (e.g., support for technical and emotional issues) are believed to be crucial to the development of young athletes (Martindale et al., 2005). A study by Moore, Collins, & Burwitz (1998) highlighted that although the provision of support for elite athletes was helpful to their sport career and performances, it was almost non existent for developing athletes, which may hinder their progression. Third, characteristics required to become an effective senior team athlete are considered (e.g., drive and motivation to be successful; Abbott & Collins, 2002; Bloom, 1985). Martindale et al. (2005) emphasized that organizations need to focus on highlighting appropriate development and not early success. To this end, they proposed that there should be a developmental focus on the characteristics required to become successful athletes such as fundamental mental skills (e.g., concentration, attitudes, emotions, motivations), life skills (e.g., the ability to plan, monitor, self-evaluate), and physical skills (e.g., physical fitness and strength). Fourth, to help promote talent success, Martindale et al. (2005) also implied that individualized and ongoing development, where athletes receive individual goal setting and review, can be implemented in organizations. Csikszentmihalyi et al (1993) implied that such support can help with the individual development of talented athletes as they have specific targets to aim for and individual improvements to make. This form of support also ensures that athletes receive regular formal and informal communication, which relates back to the earlier point about ensuring athletes have appropriate support mechanisms and messages (Martindale et al., 2005; Siedentop, 1978). Fifth, Martindale et al. (2005) specified that each of the four elements just outlined will help to create an integrated, holistic, and systematic approach to developing young players into successful professional athletes. Equally, should the athlete not achieve success in sport, such programs will help to develop life skills, which may be transferrable to other walks of life or professions (Martindale et al., 2005). Although Stambulova (2003) and Martindale et al.’s (2005) work offers suggestions regarding the relevant features to include within development programs, it is unclear whether such literature is being utilized in the applied context, or whether existing programs integrate features recommended by these theories and research. Individual clubs may have their own interpretations of how to develop and transition athletes, which may or may not parallel Martindale et al.’s recommendations. It is known that the people responsible for talent development and transition, along with their reporting hierarchies, vary across clubs (Relvas, Littlewood, Nesti, Gilbourne, & Richardson, 2010). These variations in structure allow for different philosophies and ways of developing talent to be implemented. There may also be additional involvement from others, such as boards of directors, who may influence talent development. For example, the board of directors can decide whether to invest in facilities for the youth players (Slack, 1997).

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1.4.1 Fundamental Mental Skills

Emotional Attachment. Mental skills are not confined to practical skills such as concentration or goal setting; this term also includes attitudes, emotions, motivations, and desires. This underlying collection of mental skills is crucial for both participation and the pursuit of excellence in sport (indeed in almost any endeavor). It is well documented that without developing a strong emotional attachment and intrinsic pleasure from taking part in a certain activity, one will not pursue it to a high level (Bloom,1985). This is perhaps one reason why those who make it to the top tend to engage in more deliberate play and sport diversity between the ages of seven and twelve than do non experts (Cote, 1999; Cote & Hay, 2002). It would make sense that this be prioritized at early development stages, perhaps through fun and non pressured environments. Parents, teachers, and coaches, among others, may have a strong influence here.

1.4.2 Fundamental Physical Skills

Particularly within a sport specific environment, a broad range of fundamental movement and decision- making skills also characterize children with potential, because they underpin the development of the more sport specific skills required for future successful performance and involvement in more specialized activities (Beamer et al., 1999; Jess, et al 1998). Again, these basics are not innate qualities and they need to be developed systematically (Gallahue, 1982); however, unless a child has developed the generic fundamental skills by the age of eleven or twelve, future sport specific success may be beyond reach (Moore et al., 1998). Furthermore, it has been shown that up to 45% of perlite athletes reach an elite level in a different sport so that even in the case of elite sport, it would be sensible to develop a broad range of skills first. In line with this argument, several studies show that early specialization does not favor the development of elite athletes, and before adolescence, diverse sports participation is more important (Cote & Hay, 2002; Hill, 1993), perhaps acting as a foundation of mental and physical skills (Beamer et al., 1999; Ericsson, 1998). Again this highlights the apparent advantage, and perhaps necessity, to develop a sound grounding in fundamental skills (cognitive and physical) in order to become successful in a specific domain, or for a physically active lifestyle (Abbott et al., 2002). There is widespread consensus today that at a younger age other sports such as gymnastics, athletics, swimming… are required so that the player develops his/her generic fundamental skills such as movement - mobility – coordination and flexibility.

1.4.3 Identify, Prepare for, and Support Individuals Through Key Transitions.

It is apparent that development is extremely individualized and in turn, for effective practice, individuals have to be treated as such. It has already been presented that transitions, or periods of change, are key for future development, and during “sensitive” periods, young athletes may be more vulnerable to dropping out of sport or retiring early (Rowley, 1992). In fact, the variety of support available and the

P a g e | 14 of 51 range of mental skills utilized by an individual is likely to determine how beneficial a transition may be; indeed different or additional attributes and skills may be required. This development could be the key to successful progression (Abbott et al., 2002; Sinclair & Orlick, 1993). However, this need for mental skills is worrying when you consider the large number of problem periods (Rowley, 1992), coupled with a lack of (albeit growing) interest in sport psychology (Moore et al., 1998). Research highlights the need to identify and understand the nature of sport and individually specific problems, set up a variety of support networks, education and training over the long term, if we want more athletes to be successful (Moore et al., 1998; Rowley, 1992), and while many issues may be generic and dealt with on a broad scale, other individualized circumstances need to be tackled on that basis.

From a research carried out for the purpose of this dissertation, it emerged that most Maltese club’s don’t work much on player development. In general we work on his technical and tactical aspects and on winning but not on the other issues. At the same time Players who for the last five years were selected with the youth national teams found more help on the issues regarding preparing to play abroad.

As confirmed by the following players, “I think my club helped me a lot but in particular the M.F.A, when we started that program at around age 13-14, I spent five years there now, that really helped I think, they thought me tactical aspects that at the club I wasn’t being taught and also emotional values, like that when we used to go after school to eat and do lectures. At MFA they Helped us a lot cause we had very interesting things like talks and on different subjects and as well especially with Adele, she taught us a lot and I think that these professional concepts helped me because when I went abroad or when I was in a professional set up it wasn’t all new to me, I really felt that I experienced the concept before” (Player 1).

“ Prepared !!!, I don’t think so because I was too young, I was 15 years old so I wasn’t mature enough, that’s it I wasn’t mature enough.” (Player 2).

“The clubs never help me or prepared me for this realty of playing abroad, the clubs always think on their targets, I went to play abroad, it all came from my desire and determination I had to reach my dream of playing in a foreign league. No I found no special help from the club we just train for your league.” (Player 11)

Ironically, while the evidence suggests that early selection based only on performance leads to many with potential not getting the necessary opportunities, those who are selected early may also be at a disadvantage.

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While they will improve initially, early achievers may be prone to premature drop out through competitive pressure (Gould et al., 1982; Moore, Collins, & Burwitz,1998). Furthermore, those selected may miss crucial (long term) development experiences (e.g.,Cote & Hay,2002) by focusing too much on performance as opposed to learning (Ericsson,1998). Thus while many may “win’’ at junior levels, they may end up ill prepared to make the important step to senior level and fail to make the transition (Moore et al., 1998; Stafford,2005).

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Methodology

2.1 Introduction

This chapter is meant to provide details on how this research study was designed and conducted. It includes a description of all the steps and procedures involved and an explanation of all the strategies that were used to collect and analyse the data.

2.2 Aim and Objective

The purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth understanding of the characteristics needed by top Maltese football players and the phases that shape up their career in the transition process. The purpose is to try to find the right path for young football players to success. In order to do so, this paper probes the lifespan perspectives on transitions faced by Maltese players with the intention to answer the research question. Making the grade to professional football: The player’s perspective – Is there a pattern for success?

2.3 Research Method

This research is based on the feelings, thoughts and experiences of these particular players rather than on existing theories related to the progress of players making it to the elite level. It is meant to interpret the reality of individual players experiences and attempt to generate an explanation from the data collected (Woods, 2009).

For this study, a qualitative methods were used since it focused on the collection of words rather than numbers (Gratton & Jones, 2004) and is appropriate. “ when dealing with a process or complex real-life activities in great-depth’ (Noor, 2008:p.1602). A set of research questions were used in interviews with selected candidates.

2.3.1 Research Instruments

The main instrument used to collect data for this research was semi structured interviews. Hence, apart from building a relationship for successful communication, better information was achieved because it was possible to clarify interactively (Metcalfe, 2007). Also, the researcher could understand the mood and the background of the interviewees while observing their body language while responding to the questions posed.

Sixteen players, head coaches were interviewed by the researcher. The interviews were audio recorded, as suggested by Trochim (2006). The audio tapes were then stored in the researcher’s data base and labelled with the name of each interviewee.

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The researcher opted to use semi-structured interviews ‘because it offers sufficient flexibility to approach different respondents in ways that suit their personality while still covering the same areas of data collection’ (Noor, 2008:p.1604). This also allowed the researcher to better explore emerging themes and ideas rather then depending only on structured questions and concepts planned in advance of the interview (Hockey, Robinson, & Meah, 2007). Such interviews are also ideal as interviewees can easily describe and express their feelings and emotions.

2.3.2 Difficulties

One of the difficulties that I encountered was that some of the interviewees wanted to answer in Maltese, so when I came to transcript the interviews I had also to translate the answers from Maltese to English so that took me more time. Another difficulty that I encountered was that since some of the players lived abroad either I had to make a conversation through skype or had to wait until they came to Malta.

2.3.3 Construction of Research Instruments

The interview questions were structured in a way to retrieve sufficient and relevant information for this study. Most of the questions were developed as a general statement, and these were followed by sub- questions for further in-depth analysis (Noor, 2008).

The Researcher wanted to gain a deeper understanding regarding the players as a person and their sporting career while in Malta and abroad, issues of how they had been effected and had to cope with the new situations of a new club, new training methods, new culture and their personal life and other matters were also delved into. With such issues in mind, the researcher formulated the interview questions. The plotting of the questions was designed in a way to keep the flow during the interview and the wording was arranged to elicit more material, avoiding yes or no answers (Tapia, 2010).

2.3.4 Pilot Study

A pilot study is ‘a small scale version, or a trail run, carried out in preparation for a major study’ (Polit et al., 2001, cited in Cassar, 2010: p25). A pilot study was conducted to identify whether the questions for the interview were suitable to collect the right data, while also enhancing the researchers interviewing techniques. This pilot study was conducted with other players who only went for short trials abroad. After the completion of the pilot phase, some questions were modified and more questions added to delve into certain areas which were unexplored. These modifications helped in gathering better and more in-depth data.

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2.3.5 Interview Procedure

An appointment for the interview was set with the interviewees at their convenience. The interview with the players consisted of twenty-seven questions regarding various topics. (see appendix). The duration of the interviews varied between forty five to seventy - five minutes. As a researcher I encouraged the participants to reflect on their experience in as much detail as possible. To effectively accomplish this, I demonstrated respect for the person who was describing his experience of his pivotal transition process by allowing the participants to be in full control of the interview, not in form of leading the interview, but more in the way of allowing participants to express their thoughts in their own way (I did not put words in people’s mouth) and by being a good listener. The researcher was also very conscientious that the interview meetings endured long enough to analyse the topic in depth. I was also concerned to focus on specific circumstances and action sequences that could illustrate in detail the theme under investigation. This means that the essence or structure of the theme will emerge and show itself (Dale, 1996). The interviews with the head Coaches were held separately. A set of fourteen questions were given regarding different topics. (see appendix). And it took approximately fifteen to twenty minutes.

2.3.6 Data Analysis

Making the grade with a foreign club, from the initial phase up to the elite phase, together with various issues mentioned before have been recorded and analysed. All the data collected was transcribed and analysed using grounded theory analysis were the findings and the theory emerged from the data itself (Trochim, 2006). The text within the transcripts was coded. This coding process is for ‘categorizing qualitative data and for describing the implications and details of these categories’ (Trochim, 2006: p.1). the emerging categories formed the themes that will be discussed in the next Chapter.

2.3.7 Conclusion

In this Chapter, the researcher explained the process applied for this study and how data was collected. Interviews were used to collect the different perspectives of sixteen players and Head Coaches.

The data gathered from the interviews gave a clear picture that to make the grade and to be an elite footballer many aspects need to be in place. Being a naturally born talented player and having good technique does not make you a complete footballer. These results and the factors affecting the progress of footballers will be discussed in the coming chapter.

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Coping

3.1 Coping in Sport

The aim is to explore the day to day experiences within their new club and the challenges they encountered (including living arrangements; relationships – manager – coaches – teammates; Club – environment, training, playing style, culture, performance expectations; lifestyle).

Coping is defined as “constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resource of person” (Lazarus & Folkman’s, p. 141, 1984).

Coping as a process has three important features. Firstly, valuation and observation are concerned with what the individual truly thinks and does, being compared to what the individual typically does, would do, or should do.

Secondly, what the individual really thinks or does is scrutinized within a specific context. The clearer the context is, the easier it is to relate to a particular coping thought or behavior to the related demand. But to do so, the individual needs to have the ability to understand and evaluate coping and to direct it towards a particular condition – the individual needs to know what he/she is coping with.

Last is the notion of speaking about coping process; it applies to talk about change in coping thoughts and acts when a stressful encounter arises. Coping is thus a shifting process where individuals often need to rely more on one form of coping such as defensive strategies, and other times on problem-solving strategies. It depends on the conditions of the individual´s environment each time. The denotation of coping as a process can be seen as a long period of hard and grief work. It may occur within a few moments as in a disagreement which could be rapidly resolved, or could continue for hours, days, weeks, or even years. The pivotal point is that coping, both in short- and long-term cases are unfolding, shifting patterns of cognitive appraisal and reappraisal, and behavioral - and emotional processes (Lazarus and Folkman’s, p. 141-143. 1984).

3.1.1 Coping skills and resources

While many athletes adjust in adequate and positive ways during transitions, others may confront serious problems due to a lack of coping skills and resources. Coping skills help people to guard themselves from being harmed by challenging experiences in their lives. It signifies an individual’s cognitive, effective and behavioral efforts to manage specific internal and external demands (Holt, 2003).

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Athletes need to develop a range of both cognitive and behavioral coping skills to manage the stress that can emerge with transitions and the competitive environment.

‘‘You need to be a man when you are still a little boy and that makes sense.” (Player .10)

Problem-solving skills comprise of the ability to search for information and to evaluate situations with the purpose of recognizing the problem in order to create different courses of actions. These skills also weigh out these courses with respect to either desired or anticipated outcomes, and to select and implement the right plan of action. They are also vital resources for coping. Such skills are ultimately expressed in specific acts such as preparing for exam, developing a strategy to reach the first team, presenting oneself to a new coach, etc. Problem-solving skills are drawn from other resources that individuals have taken in from a wide range of previous experience; they are the individual’s store of knowledge, and the capability of their self-control.

Social skills are vital coping resources because of their general role in social functioning in human adaption. Social skills refer to the talent to communicate and behave with others in ways that are socially suitable, active and effective. The importance of social skills as a resource is evident in many areas, such as in therapeutic programs where individuals are assisted with everyday problems (i.e. improve communication skills, psychological assistance etc.); group action (i.e. at the training ground); and in cooperative relationships with others (i.e. relationship with manager).

Social support is one of the most important parts of an individual life. Having people around them who can receive emotional, informational, or tangible support is a powerful resource (Lazarus and Folkman, p. 159-165. 1984). Socially supporting relationships act as a coping resource and assist with an individual’s adjustment. Basically, social support appears to ease the coping process by providing additional resources such as advise, information, and material services that could increase individual’s coping resources (Green et al., 2001).

“From my family I found great help, otherwise I wouldn’t arrive till here, especially from my father he is a football fanatic, if not more than me, we are on the same wave length how we think about football. The club helped me as well cause they didn’t make it difficult for me to leave and join the foreign club, also I found great help from the M.F.A which was a great part for me going to play abroad because they gave me contacts there and encouraged me to go and not to lose this opportunity”. (Player 2)

“Also my family always gave me their support and especially my wife at that time my girlfriend who always encouraged me in everything and when it came to go abroad she said of course immediately”. (Player 6).

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“But all the help came from my parents both in football and helping me to continue with the studies. They were fundamental for me to make the move, their support was great”. (Player 8)

“I was lucky that my wife was very friendly and we made friends quickly and where we used to live was a small village and the people loved me because I became their hero sort off, and when you start seeing your wife and children happy that made things better for me to concentrate on my football career and to perform better”. (Player 6).

“They were vital in my career. If it wasn’t for them I believe I would have never made it abroad. My parents always supported me even when I felt a bit home sick they never told me to come back instead they came for a visit”. (Player 15).

They involved themselves and they used to “go to watch him train, play during friendly games and also take part in tournaments”. Micallef (2007), stated that parental support and encouragement throughout an athlete’s career will be beneficial especially if present during childhood.

Research done on the importance of social support perceived by elite sport athletes came to the conclusion that there is much need to recognize the fact “that important others can play a crucial role in the life of the performer, and that the consequences of performers being isolated from support are damaging” (Rees and Hardy, p. 344, 2000). For many occasions, however, resources are in fact constraints. These constraints are factors that restrict the ways an individual deals with the environment, some of which arise from personal agendas, other of which are environmental (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984).

Unfortunately, Maltese clubs and the Malta Football Association are not doing enough to educate and guide all stake holders on how they can help their players on the potential difficulties their players might face when moving abroad, unlike in England where clubs offer meetings for parents where with Coaches and supporting staff they educate and provide ways on potential difficulties and emotional assistance in the football context.

As this male parent said that this support was helpful.

“The support given by the club was crucial to us as parents, as it gave us a better Understanding of what our boy was going through. He came back from training [grumpy] on a number of occasions, but we sort of understood what he was going through and we let him deal with it in his own way. The club had told us to just try and be there for him, so we did that best we could”.

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Furthermore, parents were also educated on the difficulties they may face as their son moves to senior sport, such as feeling helpless when their son was struggling. Ex. In a similar study conducted by Birnir Egilsson. An Icelandic players parent said,

“We never really thought it would affect us . . . but as soon as it started to happen, him moving up and stuff it did. Seeing him go through a rough time, and in some situations not being able to do anything about it must be one of the worst nightmares of a parent, isn’t it? So we were struggling and falling out too, me and [wife’s name]. But having that bit of knowledge from the parents’ night, it helped us, because we knew what it was associated with . . . we knew when he became a bit more relaxed and stuff in the first team that it would all settle down and we would get our son back!

Previous research on stress and coping in elite circumstances shows that athletes have many coping strategies such as rational thinking, self-talk, positive focus and orientation, time management, social support, hard training, blocking and isolation. This varied range of indirect and direct stressors highlights the necessity to consider coping strategies to manage daily difficulties (Holt, 2003). Unfortunately, there are not many studies that have actually examined coping strategies used by professional football players. Bourke (2002).

Sources of stress for athletes are mostly related to interpersonal relationships (i.e. relationships with coaches, team mates, people outside the sport), high performance expectations (i.e. pressure to perform, train whilst injured, not performing as expected) and consequences of being in new settings (i.e. homesickness, missing family, new culture) (Lazarus & Folkman’s, 1984). Coping involves a personal response on the part of the athlete to address the stress response. To illustrate further the athlete feels nervous in competitive situations and tries to use personal coping resources to reduce nervousness. The use of various easing or encouragement management procedures to diminish the nervousness is usually referred to as stress management. When an athlete uses a stress management technique or any other cognitive or behavioral intervention; this is conceptualized as a form of coping.

3.2 Culture

When I finished the interviews and started analyzing what the players told me, I noticed that most of the players had the same problems with coping and challenges mentioned above, especially in the first few months. In Malta the players live in a much tighter knit community where everyone knows each other and where family and friends take precedence over everything else than in midland Europe (Armstrong & Mitchell,2008).

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“Changing comfort zone was a big step in my career I had to learn to control And amend my lifestyle to fit my new profession. Being away from home always puts challenges on emotions to the fact that family and friends were very much importance for my lifestyle”. (player 7).

Moreover, it has been suggested that individuals’ existence is framed around a Mediterranean culture that is characterized by enjoyment and idleness. Moving from Malta may be difficult as players within the country are used to what has been described as an ‘easy life or comfort zone’ and where the standard of football within the nation has been described as amateurish (Armstrong & Mitchell, 2008). It was clear that Maltese players did not prepare, or were not prepared, in an appropriate manner for the transition to a professional football club and subsequently many encountered difficulties during the first year. Players may have difficulties, they need to adjust to when living alone (Littlewood, 2005).

3.2.1 Lifestyle

I might say that Malta has a unique culture (lifestyle) since everything is close and everybody knows each other. The island mentality was seen as a setback by a host of players.

“So, Maltese lifestyle is particular why? Because Malta is a holiday island, So growing in a holiday Island and growing in an island mentality, sometimes we end up thinking that the world is our island but as soon as you go out of the island you see a different world”. (Player 9).

“Let’s start with lifestyle because your lifestyle (culture) is completely different than abroad where as your life is very comfortable, everything close, your friends, going out on Saturday or Sunday even sometimes Wednesday, we have everything here”. (Player 8).

“It depends what you really want like I said If I could change things I would have taking things more seriously when I was younger because my lifestyle kind of did effect my career because when you are younger you are not that smart”. (Player 12).

“This is your main problem we are laid back and we live in a comfort zone, and we spoil your own kids, how can we expect your kids to be prepared to play abroad”. (Player 16).

One of the major issues Maltese players experienced, that does not seem to have been experienced by players in other studies to such an extent, was adapting to certain lifestyle skills. Players reported that they had to undertake a range of chores that they had never previously done.

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In Malta, life is still very traditional, the mother or wife (typically) does all, or most, of the chores at home and few young people live alone (Armstrong & Mitchell, 2008). Players spoke about not knowing how to cope with living alone, they were not used to undertaking household chores nor cooking for themselves.

“Since I used to live outside Livorno and the others where all from there, they used to go out together and I didn’t use to go out with them I didn’t drive or had a car so I used to stay alone home, sometimes I would go but with the bus and to a certain time I had to leave. so it was a bit difficult for me I used to feel a bit sad so it was a disadvantage yes. I used to feel sad but I had also in mind that I wanted to stay so I would fight the situation and make the sacrifice needed to stay for my future”. (Player 2).

“Mentally I found help form Adele because about two years ago I had pressure regarding my studies and exams, and other social issues I asked at the M.F.A who can help me and since Adele works for M.F.A she gave me some hints on time management and other things but otherwise I never really had any preparation for social life”. (Player 8).

Balance The concept of balance runs at a number of levels where a balanced skills base specifically relating to the depth and breadth of physical and mental skills, but also in terms of a broad range of factors such as nutrition, flexibility, strength, fundamental skills, mental skills, decision-making skills, and so on need to be developed. At a different level, the ability to organize and balance one’s lifestyle is also extremely important. Research indicates that stress is an accumulative process and comes from a variety of physical and psychological factors (Silva, 1990). As such, being able to balance once life stresses is extremely important in staying injury free, motivated, and developing and performing well (Salmela & Moraes, 2003). Finally, one must consider the stress that retirement can cause to athletes, especially if it is enforced through injury (Sinclair & Orlick, 1993). Indeed, such a transition has been shown to be smoother and more beneficial to future development and well-being if there are clear goals and skills that can be utilized after an athletic career is over. Therefore, as part of a healthy training and performance career, education and future planning must play an ongoing role. Indeed it can also be used as part of recovery and relaxation away from the sport.

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Challenges faced by the players

Figure 5: Stress on Players

There are certainly many things happening in and around the footballer’s lives after they migrate to a bigger league in Europe. Findings showed that the football players in the present study have transition and adaption demands in four spheres of life:

Refer to figure 5. i) athletic level (new athletic demands, higher level etc.) ii) the psychological level (social insecurity, the last stage of adolescence etc.) iii) psycho-social level (senior professional, new manager etc.) iv) environmental & cultural level (high expectation environment, «survive or die” culture etc., and nature of sport (deprived of social support).

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4.1 Training Demands connected to a higher athletic level

According to Wylleman and Reints (2010) an athlete becomes more dedicated to his/her sport as the level of specialization and amount of training increases greatly (Wylleman and Reints, 2010). Every player mentioned these characteristics in different ways. As players stated:

“Professional set up is a very important issue because when I went abroad I felt the difference between the setup at Valletta which is one of the best in Malta and the setup of the club I played with in Cyprus, first of all nearly all the grounds that you train on are natural grass, you play home and away games, the players are all on professional bases, they don’t work, and the best thing that I encountered is that when you wake up in the morning you only have to think about football, and there you start noticing that you are in a professional set-up as a pro footballer”. (Player 9).

“I think the lifestyle is very important especially keeping yourself physically fit, taking care of what you eat, how you train, how you rest, always giving our 100%, that’s way I think that the lifestyle is important”. (Player 2).

Other players describe how dedicated they were to football and the significance of being constantly focused and determined.

“If I didn’t have the ambition and dedication to achieve my dream I would never succeed and I didn’t used to find excuses”. (player 6).

“To be a talented player is not enough, you must have all these qualities to achieve high in your career, Without ambition, enthusiasm, dedication and passion you arrive nowhere”. (Player 8).

“I think that determination pushed me to go further and further every year because that is how I am I always was determined”. (player 9).

“You have to have talent to play abroad but for sure to have ambition, enthusiasm, dedication and great will to achieve what you really want”. (Player 11).

High intensity training alongside a lot of stress and a constant pressure to perform are evidently characteristics of this stage, alongside others. As one player stated:

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“The football philosophy is completely different and the football is on a totally different level. The football that we grow up with in Malta is so transversely different from Belgium, every idea and values on how football works is completely different. Mainly how everything is much faster, back home in Malta, you could turn and choose your next pass. But over here you don’t have time to think, there is a man on your back right away. I needed to change my style of play”. (Player 6).

In these statements the players illustrate the change in specialization between the football development environment in Malta and abroad; it is fair to say that there is a great deal of change between environments, not only the high intensity training - but also the requirements of learning new philosophy and a new style of the game.

According to Richardson et al. football players in the developmental stage are experiencing the move from the top end as talented junior elite athletes to a lower end as a first – year senior athlete, so prior to the transition athletes are usually experiencing a lot of success because they are better than their peers. But when they enter as first-year senior athletes (professionals), players will generally be at the lower end in terms of athletic prowess and/or achievement (Richardson et al., 2012). Under these settings many young players will struggle to cope with these new features where they discover that they are no longer the best player or the most promising player in the environment like they used to be. Now they are a part of a first team with an established hierarchy (e.g. senior professionals, international stars), which is characterized of competition (Relvas et al., 2010). The findings support the notion that the players experience a big change in these new settings. This is reflected in player statements such as

“Training in Cyprus is much different than in Malta. We as a professional football team train six times a week with sessions varying from the deep physical work outs to strategic game plays. Initially it was a bit challenging since it’s very different to the Maltese football”. (Player 7).

“It was hard to adapt because training in Malta is slow and had no intensity where as abroad it’s the opposite way. Re tactics and technical there isn’t a big difference”. (Player 15).

In fact, research on athletes that are moving from the top end as a talented junior elite athlete to the lower end as a first-year senior has showed that one in two will experience difficulties such as loss of self- assurance and injuries (Wylleman & Reins, 2010). The Maltese players in my study show much of the same pattern, which will be drawn upon in this chapter.

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Other common challenges confronted by the players were challenges such as; hard competition, higher tempo, more physical standard, and expectations.

“Because when I went to Belgium the level was much higher, more competition from other players because you could play only 3 foreigners and we were 10 most of them midfielders and strikers so the intensity was for sure higher so everybody was fighting for your place to play and for your living because also we used to get certain bonuses according how much you play”. (Player 6)

“Training itself is not really different and you could probably visit many countries and realize that not much changes with regards to exercises etc... what does change is the mentality... abroad, you have more than, half the team which would be made up of players from overseas. Everyone fighting 100% for their career, for their future, for the next contract. Every session is 100% to impress the coach etc... every game is life or death because winning equals more money equals a good life for my children. This is a job”. (Player 14).

The demands that are accompanied by an entry into professional football are certainly many and therefore it is fair to state that there are additional factors that characterize this athletic level. Increased dedication, specialization, and training are certainly important characteristics, but only a few out of many (see others challenges in table 2). Interestingly, the findings also showed that this new athletic level was a huge motivational factor for some of the players. One player stated:

“Also it depends where you are playing, in which club, what possibilities you have, may be if you are in a bigger club you tend to make more sacrifices to buckle more and work harder that’s what I found in life the better the club was the more I would work harder, the more money I earn the more I worked to get better”. (Player 12).

As can be seen from the statements above, there are many challenges that these players encounter when they shift into this new athletic level. It can surely be interpreted that these players are scarcely equipped and/or barely prepared for this normative transition. Where they seem to be lacking in the necessary skills, experience, and knowledge to endure and perform within these new settings. In many ways this can be interpreted as a natural thing for an individual who is moving into new setting in a new country, but that does not mean that is not possible to prevent these challenges or even be better prepared for them. To do so; these players that have the opportunity to move abroad to play professional football need to be given some kind of education or instruction from experts or ex-professional football players.

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It is clear that these young players need to be well prepared prior to transition, also they need to be fully focused on their development post-transition if they want to function and survive. Therefor it is fair to state that these findings on what characterizes the athletic level at this stage could assist younger players to predict the possible demands that they will possibly encounter. According to findings in this research are, intensive training, specialization, more dedication, higher tempo, extreme competition, much more quality, and immense physical standard are the characteristics of the athletic level of the developmental mastery stage in the interpreted developmental model of athlete transitions provided by Richardson et al. (2012).

4.2 Demands on Psychological level

According to Wylleman & Lavalle (2004) athletes at the developmental stage are in their adolescence. Adolescence has often been referred to as a period of “storm and stress” due to the fact that it is a period defined by many changes with the potential to pose many challenges/tasks for an individual (Pummell et al., 2008). These tasks consist of physical changes, socialization (socialize more with peers and separate themselves from family at the same time), changes in cognitive development, and personal and emotional characteristics. Findings in this research did not bring forth a great deal of information about adolescence in general but experiences of being too young, not matured enough, or not mentally ready were frequently mentioned by the interviewers. Nevertheless, adolescence per se was mentioned by two players, unsurprisingly it came from the youngest players. Here they state their experience of getting into professional football:

“Yes, definitely you need to have a good level of maturity, it’s like I said it starts when you are still young, and my parents helped me a lot to be mature, and as soon that I got the opportunity and my life changed a lot, but it was hard for me obviously it’s hard changing a little boys mind and emotions into a man emotions but then there are requirements that they are needed to become a top player also one have to mention the sacrifice and confidence and mainly the belief in yourself that you can’t stop because you are going to hit up’s and down’s. Apart from talent but for me hard work beats talent because at the top level all the kids are talented so then attitude does the difference”. (Player 10)

“For sure you need a certain level of maturity I think I was too young when I went up. I think that the ideal age for Maltese players would be eighteen years old because by that time anyone who has decided to pursue a small career in education kind off, can focus to do that because I want to have a backup plan because if something goes wrong with football and at least in Malta, by eighteen you can finish your A levels.

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“So if you have your A levels done you can go to university any time you like, because there are people as well, who have nothing to do with football that they do their A levels and they take a year or more break, they go to work before going to university, You can consider football for example as if you are going to work instead of going to University you go to play football, do your career and then go to study whist you are playing football when you find it comfortable”. (Player 1)

“I think in my opinion I was too young when I went but at the same time it’s good to go young because you get used to the system, training and culture, but for me the ideal age is eighteen - nineteen years old because although you are young you are more mature then a fifteen year old. In my opinion you have to put football on one side and education on the other. They both have their positives and one has to balance between school and football, then in football you have to see if you are going to make the grade or not so education is important”. (Player 2)

4.3 Demands on Psycho-social level

One inherent change is the fact that many first-year seniors move away from home for the first time, and often to a new country with new social circumstances where new relationships occur and at the same time the psycho-social support in professional football settings is poor compared to prior settings (Richardson et al., 2012). Psycho-social support is nontherapeutic intervention that helps a person to cope with stressors at home or at work. Psycho-social support ranges from care and support offered by a partner, family members, friends, neighbours, teammates, or a manager on a daily basis. Ideally, it should be an ongoing nurturing relationship that communicates understanding, tolerance and acceptance. Athlete’s psycho-social development is the individual role within the social environment and the relationship role of others connected to the athlete. The influence from these two roles improves the quality of the athlete’s sport involvement throughout their athletic career. When referring to the role of relationships with others, it is in the view of the support they can provide to athletes. Research (Rees and Hardy, 2000) done on the importance of social support perceived by elite sports athletes came to the conclusion that there is much need to recognize the fact; that support from others can play a crucial role in the life of the athlete, and that the consequences of isolation from support is damaging.

The athlete’s social network usually involves coaches, parents and peers and is mainly determined by the stage of the athletic career (Wylleman & Lavalle, 2004). According to the developmental model of transitions of athletes, the athlete network in the mastery stage is with peers, coach and parents (Wylleman & Lavallee, 2004). Whereas Pummell et al. state that the athlete´s main interpersonal network could shift from lifelong friends, parents and coaches; to partners, teammates and manager (Pummell et al., 2008). Therefore players are moving from a nurturing interpersonal network into a new unknown network; a player stated: P a g e | 31 of 51

“At first it wasn’t easy at all because I went in mid-season and the club was second from last and the team was coming from seven straight defeats and after two weeks that I was there all the technical staff was changed so I had to start all over again. I used to understand the language but wasn’t so fluent, but in the pitch you have one language that is football so I didn’t find problems there, but the fact that the team was composed of young players and they didn’t have much experience helped me in a way that since I was already playing in international level with Malta and that I had just played against Italy which most of the players are their idols so it helped me to gain respect from the players and obviously by playing well game after game I gained more respect”. (Player 8)

This statement underlines the immediate shift. Findings support the notion of Pummell et al., 2008). that the main individual network consists of partners, teammates and manager. Nevertheless, the majority of players mentioned that this individual network was not that supportive (except the partner), rather it was majority. Players illustrated that the relationships with teammates was negligible, especially in the beginning; players stated:

“The local players didn’t make it any easier for me, they made sure that I felt the pressure, the competition was too high to make friends inside the team and from the other side one of my defects was that I get very emotional, emotions were my fear because I used to be very emotional and that didn’t help me in Pisa in fact for example. If I enter in a room and I felt that I wasn’t welcome I would put my head down and go out, ‘ I surrender’ it happened in Italy , although I have a character that in the dressing room I joke with everyone but when I went to Pisa I was not the same person I stayed always alone in the corner I didn’t integrate myself with the other players because I used to even in a match if I used to give a bad pass or lose a chance it used to effect me, I used to go home and stay thinking of that chance because in Malta I was an idol for what I had achieved, but in Italy I was a normal player”. (Player 13).

“At first it wasn’t easy it was a bit difficult but football wise I used to really enjoy myself obviously I wasn’t accepted in the dressing room because I believe that the Italians are racists and I have my reasons to think like this because when there was the attack on the twin towers on the 11 September I was there and they did like two weeks not talking to me because your language is similar to that Arabic.

So they were associating me to Muslims and terrorist. So it was difficult for me to integrate, even between them from North to South they have differences. I went

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in the same month that I was going to get married and my wife came a month and late, until my wife got used it was difficult”. (Player 13).

As it can be figured out, this was not the holistic view. In some instance players experienced supportive team mates or coaches. A player stated:

“I was very lucky that I had Raul Blanko as my coach because he was a hardworking man but most important a fair person. He taught me a lot, tactically and most of all how to make the right decisions in the game when to pass or to dribble and when, where and how to run in the right spaces. Because in Malta I used to get the ball and always dribble”. (Player 16).

The findings in this research favors more the latter research mentioned above, the support that came from parents were mainly in the form of advice and emotional support. Interestingly, the players also mentioned that although their parents were very supportive, they had little knowledge about how football worked. This provokes the notion that some kind of education is needed for parents. One of the players had the opportunity to move into a local (substitute) family when they migrated; both players spoke very highly of that experience and stated that the families were very helpful helping them adjust to the new environment. Players stated:

“I lived with a family in England who took good care of me; they helped me adjust to the new culture and to adapt to their lifestyle. They used to cook for me and I used to find my laundry ready, they used to treat me as if I am their own son, I was really happy and lucky with this family”. (Player 17).

The interpersonal relationship with agents was mentioned. The majority of the players characterized their relationship as opportunistic, as the agent treated the players mainly as a commodity. When things were going well the agent shows a lot of interest in the player, but when things are not blossoming the relationship was opposite. But for most of the players the agent is very important.

“Agent.... well, they are mostly rubbish people. The agent may have connections but at the end of the day, all they want is their commission. It is us as individuals who have to make the decisions and try to gauge which the best path for my career will be. Obviously, there will always be doubt. I have never signed a contract and left feeling 100% sure.” (Player 14).

“Agent, definitely! After what happened to me an agent is a must so he takes care of the negotiations and you focus on the game and not like what happened to me a week phoning to try to arrange to join the new club so in December it was evident that

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I had something going through my mind and I lost concentration on the pitch”. (Player 8).

“Agent in my whole career till now I changed three honestly if I have to be sincere but it’s not pointing fingers but I wasn’t lucky with agents because at the end of the day when I changed clubs I changed them because or I did good or because I didn’t do that good or a coach or a technical director that knew me called me to change club but I never had that agent that pulls off something for me. He might be influential but at the end of the day you have to work for your own things and give him the material the good things that he can work on he can propose, ok he can propose he can call and make contacts nowadays with the computer people watch everything then if you don’t increase your level it’s very difficult”. (Player 9).

On the other hand one player spoke positively about his agent,

“Agent definitely is a very important figure for a player seeking to find a club abroad because you need contacts to go and an Agent will have these contacts to help you find a club and also to make the necessary clauses in the contract but also I have to mention that one has to be very careful which agent you sign with because some of the agents think only for their commission and not the player. If something happens to you or they direct you and you lose the chance they have more players and that’s it, you’re just a number, the agent was a private agent he didn’t have anything to do with the club but he has a lot of contacts in Greece and Cyprus. The agent I have now I am very happy with, the way things are going because he gave me options and together we chose the right option for the best of my career”. (Player 11).

No empirical data could be found (that fitted this study) that studies the relationship between the player and the agent, but it is obvious from my interviewees that a player is the agent’s commodity. This interpretation from the players raises the question of whether agents should change their habits. It is evident in any normal business that a client complains if the producer or broker does not have contact. Also, it is obvious that a commodity that is not nurtured (player that is not supported) and not functioning (player is not playing football) will not sell. The golden rule “One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself” fits well in these circumstances. I am not generalizing by stating that all agents are opportunistic and un-supportive.

But this is a very interesting subject and maybe something that should be researched better with the aim to improve the relationship between players and agents. Improvement is always healthy and without a doubt something that both parties will benefit from.

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It is fair to state that one of the most important parts of an individual’s life is relationships with others; therefore it is not surprising that psycho-social interaction can be observed as important in transitions. My findings show that the players’ main interpersonal network consisted mainly of the manager, teammates, parents, and agents. Strangely enough, these relationships did not seem very supportive and nurturing, except for relationships between parents and the player. Richardson et al (2012) stated that the settings for young talented football players when they enter into the top-level of football, is an environment where players are usually deprived of social support. My findings support this as, this environment seems to be very different from many others.

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The path to Success: The Player’s perspective

In the end of all interviews I used “open-ended questions “to provide the participants the opportunity to reflect on their career experience as a whole. One of those questions was “posed regarded any recommendation for young players that have the opportunity to move abroad to play professional football. This question was brought forward to reach information from very enlightened sources (the players), and to give them the opportunity to share their opinion. Mentality was a topic that every player talked about as one of the most important factors in their career:

In training one can often notice that many players that were unbelievably talented weren’t able to excel. This underlines the fact that it is not enough to have physical talents. Physical talents are basically not enough to succeed; there are other factors that are much more important such as Skill, goal settings, anxiety control, self-belief, mental strength, healthy lifestyle etc.

“I was a striker and we were ten foreigners competing for a place to start and to control your emotions and pressure is very important, but most of all your character has to be strong and to believe in your qualities and you must be very good and to give 100% every day, also at that time I used to visualise goals before a game (similar to what psychologist do now but at that time we didn’t have) it used to come natural”. (Player 6).

“If you have a strong character in my opinion is most important factor in a footballer’s career. How strong you’re mentally, is the key. It plays a huge part. If you are strong mentally, then you have a huge advantage to succeed. You grow more and mature better with this value. When you start doing everything on our own you learn automatically”. (Player 2).

As findings have showed, a transition into professional football places extreme mental demands on the players, which often requires different mental strategies to address interferences such as, self-doubt, anxiety, publicity, and fear of failure which can inhibit the potential sport performance of the football player. Therefore it is extremely important for players to possess a strong mentality to take adequate decisions and coping with the developmental demands that can occur. Some players mentioned the importance of moving abroad as soon as possible, stating that the football environment was so much better abroad. Whereas some players advised players to wait for the right moment and earn some experience and self-confidence in Malta before they migrated, others are less hesitant.

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“Though I went out very young and my experience was really tough, I am convinced that sooner than later is better. Because there is nothing in Malta that you cannot learn abroad, but my advice is to be well prepared, choose the club that fits you best as a player”. (Player 10)

“Playing a lot of International friendlies/ tournaments and Qualifiers with the M.F.A U/17, U/19 and U/21 helped a lot, I played around fifty games so in those games I became more mature and confided in my talents because in every game you learn something”. (Player 1).

“The time I spend at Verbania was a very good stepping stone before I moved to Genk, because the gab from the Maltese game to the Belgian game was huge so like that I had a taste of what it would be, although I used to play for Malta in International games but this was week in week out playing home and away so it’s a bit different then playing once every two months for Malta”. (Player 6).

All statements make sense, but what is evident from the interviews is the importance of being highly self- confident in your talents when you move abroad and at the same time matured. Research on football performance has showed that self-confidence is a strong and consistent predictor of successful athletic performance, where higher levels of self-confidence lead to higher performance. Self-confidence comes from having the right kind of skills and clarity of goals to be achieved. The clearer the goal, the better possession of self-confidence the player has (Barker and Jones, 2008). This corresponds to the beliefs of many players:

“I think that in my opinion it is not only the maturity that counts but the talent of the individual, (Self – confidence) if you’re not good enough its useless to go, because if you are not better than their players they will not keep you. Self-confidence is the most important factor in professionalism. If you don’t have self-confidence and believe in your abilities you can just redraw from professionalism. Another important factor is to enjoy what you are doing”. (Player 6).

“The attitude outside the pitch focused on when playing on the pitch for the sense the way that you train during the week not only a day before the game, the way you prepare yourself mentally – the way you eat and the rest you take to be focused”. (Player 8).

Developmental awareness in the meaning of taking the right steps in your career (not to big steps) was mentioned by all players, and the advice of not going to a top club was also frequent:

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“Because nowadays sometimes I laugh when I hear that some of our boys are going for trails with very big clubs I think that it’s better to start with a smaller club because the level will be already higher than yours, then if the chance comes to move to a bigger club you take it but like that you will be prepared better”. (Player 6).

“Players need to be aware that they need to take small steps; it has never worked to go Straight to a top club in a top league. Work gradually to reach your ambitions”. (Player 12).

“It is important to go through your career in stages, it is hard to prove yourself if you go to a big club; much easier in a smaller club. As a player you need to play regularly competitive football, if you do so then your mental condition is much better. If you are not playing then everything is harder and everything turns negative. The city will be boring, the restaurants shit, the manager hopeless etc”. (player 14).

Other issues concerned having the right manager having realistic expectations, and having someone from the family to move with you were discussed. Unlike some of the Icelandic player parents who opted to go with their boys, Maltese parents find it very difficult to leave their job and their lifestyle to move aboard, although most of the players said that their parents were of great support to them.

In a similar study amongst Icelandic players by (Birnir Egilsson).

“I would advise parents to move out with the player, either for the short- or the long-term. It is important to uphold routines, diet etc”. (Player A).

“It is best if some family member has the opportunity to migrate with the player. Also, it is important to be active socially”. (Player B).

“My advice to young footballers is to not have too high expectations. You are not going into the first team tomorrow. You need to work hard every day, always 100% and focus on the positives. Think of this as a positive experience (Player 13).

“Luck is a huge factor like I said all I had was just an ambition to play football now I got lucky and got the chance and as soon that I got it I didn’t hesitate to take it but even if I didn’t have the chance I wouldn’t stop football for anything literally I just kept on going until I made it”. (Player 10).

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“The agencies did help me, it wasn’t the best agencies because if something went wrong at that time they had a lot of players so they saw you as a number, then I think luck comes in and when I went to Larnaca it was luck, because I had become very good friend with Jordie Gryuff and he was working with Larnaca as a Sports director and the coach was with us the previous year so with my ability, contacts, and a lot of hard work I managed to play abroad. At the end of the day you’re always from Malta so you have to work extra to prove yourself ”. (Player 12).

Respondents also delved on whether MFA and local clubs were preparing and assisting players to move abroad.

“There needs to be some kind of education for young players, especially due to the latest developments where players are moving abroad at younger and younger ages”. (Player 1).

“It is important to prepare young footballers better. After everything that I have been through and knowing the fact that I could have been better prepared, I am convinced that I would have reacted to the setbacks much better”. (Player 11).

These statements highlight the fact that some kind of education is needed for young footballers. One of the characteristics of Maltese sport is lack of money, but that doesn’t mean that it is impossible to implement some kind of education for players. The short-term goal for Maltese football governance should be implementing education for young players. One way of doing this would be to organize lectures for young players with ex-professionals who share their prior experience. Another way is to have lectures with sport psychologists. The M.F.A Technical Centre has already started with younger national team players and then gradually one could move into the clubs. The long-term goal should be an implementation of education into the training system, where not only young footballers are taught what the transitional demands are, but also to give input on issues such as goal–setting, anxiety control, mental strength, human relationship etc. In addition one should make educational pamphlets and host lectures for parents and trainers. It is quite evident that young football players are the future of Maltese football and the main resource. Therefore they need to be educated and nurtured.

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Conclusion

The purpose of this research was to explore the transitory experience of Maltese footballers into professional football. Specifically, this research explored the possible developmental stress factors connected to the transition and coping strategies (emotion-focused and problem-focused) used by Maltese football players. With the intention to answer the research question: Making the grade to professional football: The player’s perspective – Is there a pattern for success?

This study has showed that the transition into professional football as experienced by Maltese football players is within transition that creates particular challenges, expectations, and pressures along with the need to balance demands from other life domains. This transition is characterized and affected by: i) the Maltese culture and lifestyle (Culture shock).ii) The traditional, sheltered upbringing in families had a tremendous affect on the players during the transition process, where most of the players were still living with their parents. iii) Learning new languages. iv) higher level of intensity both in training and competition. This information gives a good picture on the process which is evidently something that is needed. Also, this study specifies potential sources of stress and effective coping strategies, knowledge which may be helpful in supporting future footballers through successful transitions. These themes may be helpful for refining transition education programs; specifically for athletes, coaches, sport psychologist and the footballers significant others.

The issue of age in leaving for a foreign team was discussed with consensus on opinions with some saying that it is better to leave young and grab the first chance that comes (age 15- 16 ) so you can adapt to the professional set up and the environment of the new club, but most of the players interviewed argued and, that it is better to go when you are more mature and take it step by step because most of the players who went for a trail or were offered a contract at a young age nearly all came back and then went again at the age of around 19 to 21 years old, even though they all mentioned that those trails (experiences) were beneficial and of great help to develop for their future in football as a player and as a person.

Other implications from the present study would be to consider what types of support are needed for young footballers, this study has showed that the players had little social support and in hindsight they wished that they had more. Further research is required to expand the knowledge regarding the influence of social support and to identify more precisely what types of support are needed. It may also be beneficial to consider how the current findings on coping strategies can be used to shape young football players for possible upcoming stressors, both in a cognitive and behavioral way, for example by providing young players with problem-solving, social, and goal-setting skills

Clearly, there is still much work to be done to examine the transition into professional football settings, both in Malta and in general. Further research should consider factors such as support from manager and the football administration role in this process (e.g. education, support, and research). P a g e | 40 of 51

It may also be interesting to do a research on the perception of significant others and study their views.

From the study undertaken, it is clear that players who embark on a football experience in a foreign country lack the required support. There are many factors that make the difference and determine if you are going to make it or not. If a young player is able to excel to the first team in the better leagues, it is because of their strong personality, talent, strong mentality, an influential agent (manager). Finally luck may be a valid contribution by being at the right place at the right time. Yet before luck can play its part our players need to be molded so that they have a great chance of making their dreams come through.

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Appendix

7.1 Interview questionnaires

SHORT QUESTIONAIRE FOR PLAYERS

CLUBS YOU HAVE PLAYED WITH?

PERIODS (DATES) MONTHS – YEARS YOU PLAYED WITH THE CLUBS?

AGE YOU WENT FOR FIRST TRAIL?

AGE YOU SIGNED A PRO CONTRACT?

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MAKING THE GRADE TO THE PRO LEVEL PLAYERS QUESTIONAIRE

1. At what age have you started practicing football?

2. How much do you feel that your club prepared you for this reality of playing for a foreign team? And how?

3. If you were going to start your career as a young player what expects would you want your coaches to develop in you?

4. What type of preparation you were given? (football wise – social – mental)

5. For how long have you been training with your club? (Maltese or foreign)

6. At what age were you scouted by a foreign team?

7. What was the main reason to go for the trail?

8. Did you find help from your parents – club – MFA – others?

9. How much do you consider the following to be important?

10. (A) Lifestyle – (B) emotional intelligence – (C) growing in professional set up – (D) agent.

11. Did any agent contact you to join the new club or someone put pressure on you or someone else in some way?

12. How did you adapt to the situation in a foreign country?

13. How long did you stay abroad? Why did you return?

14. Did you go for more trails before? How much? and did you feel they were beneficial?

15. Do you think that you need a certain level of maturity to make it abroad? And can you identify an ideal age for you?

16. Did you have any kind of pressure from parents or others regarding school (studying- Exams) when you were younger? P a g e | 45 of 51

17. How is the training different from what you used to do in Malta? (e.g. more intensive - physical – technical – tactical? And how hard was it for you to adapt?

18. How many sessions do you train per week?

19. Did you have any advantages on the other players in your team? Both on and off the pitch? (e.g. technical – tactical - Language – social – where you more prepared)

20. Did you have any disadvantages on the other players in your team? Both on and off the pitch? (e.g. same as above)

21. Where you missing something while abroad? (if yes what?) e.g. Maltese life style – friends – family ecc.

22. Do you think that the competitive environment in the local league helped you in some way or do you feel it was wasted energy?

23. If you hadn’t made it abroad (pro level), do you feel that you would have failed?

24. What are the things that the foreign environment has given you that is absent or non- existing in our local game?

25. Why do you think that you were chosen?

26. How did your ambition, enthusiasm, dedication contribute to you being chosen?

27. If you have to return to Malta, do you consider it as downgrade? What competences will you bring/ broad with you to the local game?

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MAKING THE GRADE TO THE PRO LEVEL CLUB / TEAM QUESTIONAIRE

1. Can you describe your player development from youth to adult?

2. Do you do early talent identification?

3. What are the major characteristics of players who make it to pro level?

4. Do these players have a specialised program? Ex. Do they go to a school of sport or do they have national team training camps? (stages).

5. What level of Support do they get from (A their own Club?) – (B National Association?)

6. Many players are scouted and go to play abroad, at what age are they scouted?

7. Are players who make it early developers biological age January to March) and if yes is there an alternative program for talented players which are late developers?

8. What level of support is generated from significant other I mine parents, friends Coaches?

9. Do you feel that the local youth league in your country has the required challenges for your player development?

10. Do the coaches focus on development or winning?

11. How much do you consider the following to be important?

12. (A) Lifestyle – (B) emotional intelligence – (C) growing in professional set up – (D) agents.

13. What advantage has your player got over other players from other countries?

14. How much do you educate your player about independent living?

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Maltese players who played in foreign leagues (Pg -360, Sacco, 2002; http://www.transfermarkt.com)

Players Foreign Club Country Period Alfred Falzon Melita Eagles S.C. Australia 1959 Joe Zammit Melita Eagles S.C. Australia 1963 - 1964 Joe Cilia Melita Eagles S.C. Australia 1964 - 1972 Southerland F.C. Australia Corinthians F.C. Australia Joe Cini Leyton Orient F.C. England 1956 - 1957 Queen’s Park Rangers England 1958 - 1959 Alfred Debono Pittsburgh Phantoms F.C. U.S.A. 1967 - 1968 Charlie Williams Pittsburgh Phantoms F.C. U.S.A. 1967 - 1968 Ronnie Cocks Pittsburgh Phantoms F.C. U.S.A. 1967 - 1968 Edward Aquilina Pittsburgh Phantoms F.C. U.S.A. 1967 - 1968 Willie Vassallo Melita Eagles S.C. Australia 1977 Joe Farrugia Melita Eagles S.C. Australia 1978 Raymond Xuereb Newcastle U.F.C. England 1977 - 1978 Carlo Seychell Wolves F.C. (Reserves) England 1978 John Bonello Hereford U.F.C. Germany 1980 - 1981 Ray Farrugia Melita Eagles S.C. Australia 1978 - 1990 Carmel Busutill Verbania Calcio Italy 1987 – 1988 KRC Genk Belgium 1988 - 1994 John Buttigieg Brentford F.C. England 1988 - 1991 Justin Haber Dobruzha Dobrich (loan) Bulgaria 1998 US Quevilly France 2005 – 2006 RE Virton Belgium 2006 Chaidari Greece 2007 – 2008 Sheffield united England 2008 – 2010 Ferencvaros Hungary 2010 – 2011 AO Kerkyra Greece 2011 - 2012 Gilbert Agius Pisa S.C. Italy 2001 - 2002 Stefan Giglio PFC CSKA Sofia Bulgaria 2001 – 2002 PFC Lokomotiv Sofia Bulgaria 2002 - 2003 Chucks Nwoko PFC CSKA Sofia Bulgaria 2001 Michael Mifsud 1.FC Kaiserslautern Germany 2001 - 2004 Lillestrom Norway 2004 - 2007 Coventry City England 2007 - 2009 Barnsley (loan) England 2009 Melbourne Heart Australia 2013 - 2014

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Luke Dimech Lincoln City F.C. England 2001 Shamrock Rovers F.C. Ireland Rep. 2002 - 2003 Mansfield Town England 2003 – 2005 Chester City England 2005 – 2006 Macclesfield Town England 2007 – 2008 AEK Larnaca Cyprus 2010 - 2012 Daniel Bogdanovic Vasas FC Hungary 2002 PFC Cherno More Bulgaria 2003 Cisco Roma Italy 2007 – 2008 Lokomotiv Sofia Bulgaria 2008 – 2009 Barnsley England 2009 – 2010 Sheffield United England 2010 – 2011 Blackpool England 2011 – 2012 Rochdale (loan) England 2012 Notts County (loan) England 2012 Luke Montebello Livorno Italy 2010 - 2012 Andrei Agius FK Zemun Serbia 2004 Atletico Catania Italy 2004 – 2005 Messina Italy 2005 – 2007 Martina (loan) Italy 2006 – 2007 Igea Virtus Italy 2007 – 2009 Nuova Cassino Italy 2009 – 2010 Melfi Italy 2010 – 2011 Latina Calcio Italy 2011 – 2013 Torres Italy 2013 – 2014 Aprilia (loan) Italy 2014 - 2015 Andrew Hogg Bari Italy 2004 Enosis Neon Paralimni Cyprus 2012 – 2013 Kalloni Greece 2013 - 2016 Andre Schembri Eintracht Braunschweig (loan) Germany 2007 – 2008 Carl Zeiss Jena (loan) Germany 2008 – 2009 Austria Karnten Austria 2009 – 2010 Ferencvaros Hungary 2010 – 2011 Olympiakos Volou Greece 2011 Panionios Greece 2011 – 2012 AC Omonia Cyprus 2012 – 2014 FSV Frankfurt Germany 2014 AC Omonia Cyprus 2015 – 2016 Boavista FC Portugal 2016 -

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Etienne Barbara Sc Verl Germany 2008 – 2009 Carolina RailHawks USA 2010 – 2011 Vancouver Whitecaps FC USA 2012 Minnesota United USA 2013 Tampa Bay Rowdies USA 2013 - 2014 Bjorn Kristensin Hessel Gods Football School Denmark 2008 – 2009 Silkeborg IF Denmark 2009 - 2010 James Paris Manchester City U18 England 2008 - 2010 Conor Borg Chievo Verona Italy 2014 Roma U19 Italy 2015 On loan Floriana Malta 2016 Juan Corbalan Virtus Lanciano Italy 2015 (Jan- June) Matthew Guillaumier Empoli Italy 2014 Rowen Muscat Dunaujvaros Hungary 2014 – 2015 Pavia Italy 2016 Myles Beerman Manchester City u18 England 2014 – 2016 Glasgow Rangers Scotland 2016 - Zach Muscat Akragas Italy 2015 – 2016 Arezzo Italy 2016 - Steve Borg Aris Limassol Cyprus 2015 - 2016 Rachel Cuschieri Apollon Limassol Cyprus 2014 -

Compiled by Noel Turner (2016).

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