The Influence of Overseas Coaching and Management on the Occupational Subculture of English Professional Football
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The influence of overseas coaching and management on the occupational subculture of English professional football Graham Smith A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Brighton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2011 i Abstract As an area of academic and popular interest it is generally acknowledged that migrant British players and coaches were instrumental in football‟s global diffusion and that different technical and tactical emphases developed according to particular geographical locations and cultural milieu. As the twentieth century unfolded the trend reversed with increased inward flows of elite foreign playing and coaching labour into the upper tiers of UK football, challenging the distinctive and erstwhile dominant occupational culture of the English game. This study examines this process of sub-cultural adaptation. It is principally concerned with critical evaluation of the dynamics of occupational culture modification and any resultant tensions evidenced between expatriate and indigenous coaching talent and other interest groups operating within the higher echelons of English professional football. Owing to issues associated with access, the occupational subculture of elite level football is impenetrable to most researchers. Previous employment in professional football allowed this author to overcome such impediments, permitting access to a range of high status national and international players and coaches affecting and affected by occupational sub-cultural change (n=25). This enabled the deployment of a distinctive ethnographic paradigm combining insider knowledge and grounded experience with academic orthodoxy. The ensuing study is built upon critical analysis of rich data collected in semi-structured interviews, adding a fresh dimension to understanding the impact of globalisation on top tier professional English football. While the findings confirmed and reinforced the established pattern of increasingly globalised specialist labour mobility, circulatory migration career patterns were also identified suggesting employability potential may be enhanced through experience of working across a range of distinctive host football and cultural environments. Qualitative data analysis indicated the opinion of indigenous coaching talent on the impact of this foreign influx polarised. Although many native coaches demonstrated an enlightened standpoint, adopting innovative practices introduced by non- indigenous talent, these views were counter-balanced by evidence of a myopic arrogance bordering on xenophobic resistance to change in what now has to be considered the global rather than the „English‟ game. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1 – Introduction: Moving goal posts? ......................................................... 1 1.1 Research context ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research motivation and rationale ................................................................................... 3 1.3 Football as a medium of sociological enquiry .................................................................. 7 1.4 Research questions ........................................................................................................... 9 1.5 Presentation of chapters .................................................................................................... 9 1.6 Summary......................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2 - The social and historical context of football’s global journey ........... 12 2.1 The „English‟ game: from revolution to evolution? ....................................................... 13 2.1.1 The Football Association ............................................................................................. 16 2.1.2 Giving the „English game to the world: The dialectics of translocation and transformation....................................................................................................................... 18 2.2. The emergence of managing and coaching talent .......................................................... 26 2.3 Englishmen abroad: Expatriate football talent ............................................................... 29 2.3.1 Coaching in foreign football environments ................................................................. 31 2.4 Football and English jingoistic traditionalism ................................................................ 41 2.5 Summary......................................................................................................................... 50 Chapter 3 - Labour migration and professional football ....................................... 52 3.1 Introduction to migration ................................................................................................ 53 3.2 Conceptions of migration ............................................................................................... 54 3.3 Factors influencing migration ......................................................................................... 57 3.3.1 Historical perspectives ................................................................................................. 58 3.3.2 Migration policy – a European Union perspective ...................................................... 60 3.3.3 A UK perspective on in-migration .............................................................................. 61 3.3.4 Non-EU migration into the UK ................................................................................... 62 3.3.5 The work permit scheme ............................................................................................. 62 3.3.6 Applying for work permits on behalf of football talent ............................................... 63 3.4 Sporting labour mobility in an increasingly globalised world ........................................ 65 3.5 Migratory movement typologies .................................................................................... 67 3.6 Playing talent mobility: dynamics and career contingencies .......................................... 70 3.7 Why employ non-indigenous coaching or managerial talent?........................................ 76 3.8 Summary......................................................................................................................... 77 iii Chapter 4 -The changing occupational culture of professional football coaches 79 4.1 Organisational/Corporate culture ................................................................................... 80 4.1.1 Organisational culture and professional football ......................................................... 81 4.2 Subcultures and occupations .......................................................................................... 84 4.2.1 Sub-cultural theory ...................................................................................................... 85 4.2.2 Critique of sub-cultural theory .................................................................................... 87 4.3 Signifying practices and coaching talent distinctiveness ................................................ 89 4.4 Semiotics and signifying practices ................................................................................. 92 4.5 Coaching talent mobility and the dynamics of cultural change ...................................... 93 4.6 The dialectic tensions of structure versus agency........................................................... 95 4.7 Summary - theoretical framework .................................................................................. 96 Chapter 5 - Methodology......................................................................................... 100 5.1 Introduction and research motivations ......................................................................... 101 5.2 Research design ............................................................................................................ 102 5.3 Biography and potential bias ........................................................................................ 104 5.4 The ethics of „insider‟ research .................................................................................... 105 5.5 Investigative, insider research ...................................................................................... 109 5.5.1 Advantages of insider research imperatives .............................................................. 110 5.5.2 Constraints of insider imperatives ............................................................................. 113 5.6 Data collection: Interviews ........................................................................................... 115 5.6.1 Participant selection ................................................................................................... 117 5.6.2 Access ........................................................................................................................ 118 5.7 Applied research: Fieldwork ........................................................................................ 121 5.7.1 Power and truth in elite interviews ............................................................................ 122 5.7.2