Introduction

As a basis for this paper, I shall largely rely on an analysis of media coverage of football and footballers over the past six months. However, this will be added to and where appropriate informed by my knowledge of the football industry developed in an ongoing three year long consultancy working with a football manager. This, then, is the experience that will provide the material for this paper, but, where am I intending to take you? In the past, 'soccer', or to use the more common terminology, 'football', has been referred to as 'the people's game'. I shall use this as my point of departure and start by asking the question, is this an accurate or fair description? Do 'the people' identify with football and footballers? And, in this sense, do David Beckham and Michael Owen play for Britain? Without wishing to spoil the plot, I believe there is a good deal of data to suggest a positive answer to these questions. However, this only leads us to a perhaps more interesting question. Namely, if there is a case for believing that we, 'the people', identify with football and footballers what does this tell us about the current state of society?

 

The World Cup

In attempting to establish whether David Beckham and Michael Owen play for Britain I want to start with those two individuals in the summer of last year (July 1998), by relating to some of the events of the World Cup. I suppose it goes without saying that the vast amount of media interest in the event is itself an indication that we do identify with football and footballers. The other general point I should like to make is that, as the world cup showed, football is a true global sport. No matter where you go, on any of the Continents, football is big, it is popular and its popularity is growing rapidly.

You will recall that England had a rather unsuccessful time in France failing to progress past the group stage. Indeed, we could say that our presence in the World Cup was only marked by the sending off of David Beckham for a retaliatory kick at an opponent and the quite superb goal scored by Michael Owen. But, of course, we should not forget that it was also Michael Owen who cheated by taking a dive in the match against Argentina and 'conned' the referee into giving England a penalty.

Michael Owen came home from the World Cup a hero, his sin of cheating conveniently forgotten by all and sundry. Not so, David Beckham, who came home a villain and was vilified loudly and at considerable length by the media and people alike. Such were the powerful identifications of an English public, 'the people', that David Beckham was blamed by many for all the failings of the team. He became the bad object for a variety of negative projections. As such, he was the focus for all sorts of threats which meant that he had to be protected by his Club and given police protection when in public. It was even reported that he would need to leave the country to pursue his career. The Daily Mirror was so concerned that it published a feature article 'calling for an end to the sustained attack on Beckham'. This topic continued to consume many column inches well into the start of the next season.

It is perhaps worth noting, that while these events were occurring the team manager was largely conspicuous by his absence from providing any support for his player. Rather, it was left to his club manager, Alex Ferguson, to fulfil that role. It is interesting to surmise that Hoddle may have found it very valuable to have such a public scapegoat for his own very public failings.

For many watching the world cup there was considerable concern that many players - such as Owen - were play-acting, feigning injury, and shirt pulling - or put another way - cheating. In a sense, they were putting their own spin on things to cheat referees and opponents alike.

The other player who was prominent in the World Cup - sadly, not for the reasons everyone expected - was the Brazilian Ronaldo who appeared to mentally buckle under the extreme stresses of the expectations of performing well in front of millions of people. This has echoes of my own experience of working in football. One of my earliest reflections from my field notes is that professional football is both a physically and emotionally painful game. This is most apparent in the period just before taking the field when on a regular basis one player will forcibly vomit, one will twice evacuate his bowels, others will take pain killers, others will have massages, and yet others will go through all sorts of regular routines. An extreme example of the emotional problems experienced by players is that of a player I worked with whom I shall call Peter, a highly competent player, who at one point was suffering so badly that he literally could not get out on the pitch. As he described it, 'My legs just will not operate, they go to jelly, my head has gone'.

One of the ways that football players handle the pain and anxiety of their profession is by adopting exceedingly macho attitudes and behaviour. The language is strong and coarse, the subject matter is highly sexist and frequently relating to sexual conquests. Hard drinking bouts are boasted about and seen as part of the 'normal' relaxation. It is as if the macho activities are necessary to support them in their need to face up to the demands of the role. A further interesting feature is that in most cases footballers wives and girlfriends are, in the main, pretty, well dressed, attractive and highly feminine. Again, it seems that this is necessary to perpetuate the image of their macho male partners. I suppose I can't give a better example than the aforementioned David Beckham whose partner is Posh Spice.

One other aspect of the World Cup is perhaps worth a mention (that reported by Robert Hardman in the Daily Telegraph on 15th July 1998), which is summed up in this passage: 'In Britain everyone has been moaning about the commercialisation of the people's game for ages, but it has still happened. Now that the World Cup final itself has become a fan-free event, perhaps we can, once and for all, dispose of that old cliché about football being the 'working man's sport'. The 'people' can do their singing and dancing in the streets. Leave the stadiums for the suits.' I shall return to this matter later but at this stage will simply pose the question, 'who are the 'people'?

 

Football as a Profession

Largely based on the glory and excitement of watching football, and indeed the pleasure of playing, it may be many a young child's dream to be a professional footballer; however, at this level this is not a game but a highly competitive business. Success and failure are never far apart and the latter will frequently result in the manager being fired. As such, it is a role which is legendary for its insecurity of tenure. Frequently, the manager is replaced by his deputy or another member of staff and this was the way that the manager that I work with, came to be in charge of the team.

In this respect, it is interesting to note that within days from the end of the World Cup a third of the managers had been sacked or resigned. A further third followed in the ensuing weeks. On the domestic front, a manager was sacked almost before the League Championship competition began. Kenny Dalglish a latter day super star, was sacked and replaced by another super star Ruud Gullit who himself had been sacked at Chelsea when being highly successful. And, of course, let's not forget that Dalglish was quickly followed in another couple of weeks time by the departure from Spurs of Christian Gross who had barely arrived. He was replaced by George Graham after a long and protracted struggle to wrest him from his current employers Leeds United, showing that loyalty simply does not exist in either direction.

The news media is constantly speculating about who will be sacked and about who will fill the current vacancy. Many of those sacked are of course frequently put forward as replacements for their recent colleagues. Thus Dalglish was being touted for the position at Spurs after the sacking of Gross. The roller coaster ride that is football management was well captured by one commentator (Brian Glanville, The Times, 13 December 1998), under the headline, 'Profession that can turn legends into scapegoats'. The myth of the manager. By turns hero and villain. Now to be prized now to be blamed. Now worshipped now ejected.

This in and out existence can be better understood in the context of the manager's knowledge, skills and ability to manage. A key point is that many of these managers are exceedingly high on professional skills having been employed in the industry all their working lives - and sometimes since joining a professional club at a very young age. However, they are woefully lacking in any appreciation of managerial skills. From my experience, I would argue strongly that the absence of any formal development opportunities for football managers results in outdated, and sometimes highly unprofessional management practices being perpetuated. The most likely way managers currently learn is from their own experience of the managers that they play for. This results in a perpetuation of bad practices and not infrequently seems to result in a situation known to child psychologists whereby abused children become abusing parents: or, in this case, abused footballers become abusing managers and coaches.

Some of you will have seen them in fly-on-the-wall television documentaries - and I have experienced them at first hand; the football manager from hell: the manager who treats his players like dirt. The manager who doesn't think his players have had an original thought in their entire life. The manager who is indifferent to his players, has a superior attitude, and considers players as something to use and abuse. The manager who has poor listening and feedback skills. The manager who can't delegate, develop his players, conduct performance appraisals, or establish priorities. The manager who has a short fuse and little patience with players. The manager who criticises players personally for the work they do - frequently in public. The manager who has created a work environment full of fear and paranoia.

I wish this were an exaggeration, but as many of us will have seen, if anything, some football managers are worse than described. This sort of management and leadership is destructive and damaging. Players who are treated in this manner, are likely to have such a poor view of their worth or a low self-esteem, that they can have little pride in their behaviour.

A prime example of this managerial malpractice was the current England manager, Glenn Hoddle's decision to write a book about the World Cup where he clearly sacrificed any loyalty to his players by an appalling betrayal of confidence, all with the sole end of sensationalism that would make him money. What he actually got for the book I don't know but for serialisation in the Sun newspaper he was allegedly paid £250,000. Hugh McIlvanney writing in the Sunday Times (6th September) stated: 'Hoddle invited, indeed almost demanded the linguistic equivalent of a kick in the crotch the moment he released his laughably self-serving World Cup diary''It is still difficult to comprehend the Football Association's lamentable quiescent to Hoddle's exploitation of his position to profit hugely from the publishing of a book that was - given its contempt for the traditional bond of trust between coach and players - bound to undermine his credibility and effectiveness as the man in charge of the national team.'

Let me now turn to the ownership of football Clubs. Clearly, there is something about football that draws those with big money and even bigger egos to have control over a football team. For example: Alan Sugar at Tottenham Hotspur; Ken Bates at Chelsea; Mohamed Al Fayed at Fulham; Jack Walker at Blackburn; Sir John Hall at Newcastle; and, Robert Maxwell at Oxford; to name but a few. Rather like some latter-day dignitaries that leant their names to public buildings, owners of football clubs now indulge their vanity in lending their names to grounds or parts of grounds: for example, The Madejski stadium at Reading; and the Matthew Harding stand at Chelsea.

A relatively small number of the players, are superstars, these are the ones who can earn vast amounts of money, money, money! Not all are so lucky, but even at the lower levels players are still accorded star status by an their ever-loving supporters. In addition, super star status means that several players have the opportunity for extending their earnings beyond the football industry. Several, such as Dean Holdsworth, previously of Wimbledon and now of Derby County, have taken up modelling; Vinnie Jones had a starring role in the film 'Lock, Stock and Two smoking barrels'; As did Eric Cantona who had a starring role in the film 'Elisabeth'; While Emanuel Petite the Arsenal player appeared as himself in an edition of The Bill; Ian Wright has his own television chat show and Gary Lineker is a regular on television; And, we should not forget David Ginola's advertisement for shampoo which had traditionally featured a female model.

 

Drink & Drugs

Being a superstar or even a lesser star brings its own problems, not least those associated with Drink and Drugs. For example, on 9th September, under the headline 'Addiction fears force Merson to abandon Boro' we heard the news that Paul Merson was seeking a transfer from Middlesborough. While a player at Arsenal, Merson had admitted to having addiction problems concerning drugs, alcohol and gambling and underwent a course of therapy to overcome his problems. He was now publicly stating that such was the environment at Middlesborough that he feared that if he stayed there he would fall back into his old habits.

It is interesting to note that at the time Merson was at Arsenal the environment was such that he, Tony Adams and another player all had difficulties resulting from alcohol abuse. Adams served a prison sentence for drunk driving but has since recovered with the much publicised help of alcoholics anonymous. Since then, we have had the much-publicised problems of Gazza who was admitted to a clinic to help him with his problem of alcoholism. At about the same time, largely unnoticed, a player from Sunderland also went into a clinic to seek a cure for alcoholism. There have also been other cases of young players at lower level clubs being positively tested for drugs. Interestingly, it seems that these players have been punished quite severely with longish bans from the game. None of the so-called superstars have been punished in any way.

 

Alternative medicine

Anyone who follows football will have heard the name Eileen Drewery a spiritualist healer. A healthy scepticism is in order when discussing Mrs D's much publicised healing powers. However, Darren Anderton swears by her for her 'laying-on of hands' that cured a bad knee that all the doctors could not cure. Ian Wright swears by her for making him realise that he was cheating his wife and thus became a reformed character.

 

Racism

Football has traditionally been highly racist. For years, many football managers would not sign black players on the pretext that 'they were not brave enough' - or to put it in the vernacular, 'they didn't have enough bottle'. Things have moved on, although there is still an absence of any black players at some clubs. However, the same sort of arguments now seem to apply to Asian players who are highly conspicuous by their absence from our League teams. This extends to racism on the field which is reflected in attempts by the League to do something about the problem by making racist abuse a red card offence.

 

Player Power

Paul Merson also demonstrated an example of a further growing aspect of the game, namely, player-power. He showed that individual players now have the power to override even the most binding of contracts by securing a £6.75 million move to Aston Villa in the face of a fierce attack from his former employers Middlesborough. Aston Villa had, of course, been the 'victims' of such a move by their own player, Dwight Yorke, who had insisted that he wanted to join Manchester United. Less obvious signs of player power contribute to the managerial merry-go-round by players not performing to their true potential. Faced with a manager who constantly verbally abuses them and sometimes even physically assaults them, they reach the point where might is right and simply rebel. Thus the manager who has created a work environment full of fear and paranoia, is left with no followers.

 

The Supporters

I now want to turn to another aspect of the game: the supporters. At the point where the team are actually working, when they are playing matches, all this is taking place in the presence of a large crowd. As Freud (1921) pointed out, the essence of conscience is 'social anxiety' the fear of public opinion. However, when we find ourselves in a crowd the voice of the individual conscience may be silenced. Hence all that has been repressed, all that violates the standards of conscience can now uninhibitedly appear in behaviour. An amusing reflection concerns a good friend whom I frequently sit with during games. At one particular match I suddenly became aware that sitting beside me was not the gentile, polite and urbane man that I knew so well but someone who was swearing and shouting. I smiled as I thought to myself, 'Freud was right'. I also have to confess that despite many and frequent attempts to stay focused on my task I at times find myself caught up and overwhelmed by the crowd.

 

Hooliganism

One aspect of the World Cup we cannot forget is the old familiar pictures of 'men behaving badly'. Drunken English louts fighting with all and sundry, including the police. Perhaps we should not be not surprised at such actions when the Sun newspaper is so identified with the activities of the national team that it publishes banner headlines drawing similes with the battles between England and Germany in the last World War.

From my unique position of working closely with football players it is also not surprising. After a hard earned or important victory, players will express their extreme elation in terms of remarks accompanied by supporting actions such as 'We 'f'.ing killed them' or 'we 'f'.ing murdered them'. They have achieved their desires in the most emphatic manner and the elation and emotion are at an exceedingly high level. If, indeed, the Sun and the supporters do identify with the national team, we should not be surprised that they will also share something of the players' emotions.

A losing or winning sequence really brings out the best and worst of emotions. Every fan knows that when their team lose they more often than not feel depressed for some while. Many of us will recall the headlines when Graham Turner was England Manager; the Sun called him Turnip Head; and others followed with highly derogatory statements. Much the same happened with Glen Hoddle who having seen his side lose to Sweden - who everyone accepted played well on the day and deserved to win - was subject of all sorts of speculation and abuse. One journalist said it was 'A touch of humiliation for Hoddle' doubtless referring to Hoddle's own activities. Others sought to link him to posts at clubs.

I have mentioned the Media but think they merit further comment. Football is big business for both television and radio stations. In order to gain the rights to football they have of course had to pay a great price. The income that this provides clubs has, in turn, led to inflated wages within football. Sky television have largely used football as a means of gaining subscribers. Indeed, it has been said that without Premiership football they would not have succeeded. Elizabeth Murdoch, the boss of Sky, told the Edinburgh television festival that since the launch of Sky it had become indelibly associated in the public's mind with sport. For sport read football, because football and its deal to televise the Premier League has been the lever that Sky has used to jemmy its way into homes across the country

 

Big Business

The influence of television cannot be stressed strongly enough. In early September football was headlined on the Front Page and Back Page as news broke that Rupert Murdoch was making a bid to buy Manchester United . The reason Sky wanted Manchester United was that it desperately needed to hold on to the key factor behind its success as a brand: sport in general, and football in particular. The story in the Evening Standard (7th September) commenced: 'Manchester United's stock market value rocketed by more than £100 million today amid speculation of a multi-million-pound bidding war for control of the world's richest and most famous club'.

The Sunday Business (13th September) showed the potent mixture of politics, television, big business and football, as follows: On one page was the headline. 'Governments should keep off the pitch'; On another page was the headline ' Truth is the casualty'. 'The media magnates assault on football in the UK spells the end of objective reporting about his team from both his own papers and those of his rivals'; On yet another page: 'New world begins at Old Trafford.' It is almost certain that within five years most Premier League clubs will be aligned with media companies or entertainment businesses' said David Brooks, football analyst of Nomura. Tony Fraher of Singer & Friedlander Investment Funds said, 'The real battleground is not England, it's Europe and the advent of the Super League''I would not be entirely surprised to see Murdoch get involved with a club such as Milan'.

By this stage we had also heard of a Carlton Television bid for Arsenal. The Murdoch / Manchester United bid has been quickly followed by Carlton TV - a major investor in digital TV - considering a take over of Arsenal, and reports of United News and Media, another multi-media company, looking at Tottenham Hotspur.

Just how important the stock-market is regarding football clubs was reported above in regard to Newcastle's decision to replace Dalglish with Gullit. One commentator wrote that the Dalglish drama 'was scripted in the boardroom but edited in the City'. The view put was that this was not really a sports story but more a business story. The goings and comings were simply the necessary means of satisfying the city backers. Money is the all-important factor. Other clubs who have not been doing well have found their stock market value slump drastically. There are more than 20 British and European clubs quoted on the stock exchange.

 

The link to Politics

Politicians have long sought to use football as an opportunity for a good photo. Harold Wilson used to make a virtue out of the fact that he supported Huddersfield Town and you could guarantee that on their one visit to London every year he would be there pipe in mouth looking for the photographers. David Mellor and Tony Banks along with John Major have made it plain that they support Chelsea. It should be noted that Mellor first supported Fulham the local team to his constituency but found the pastures at Chelsea more attractive - I wonder why?

But football is involved in a more direct way with Peter Mandleson's old department, the Department of Trade and Industry having responsibility for the enquiry into the proposed take over by B Sky B of Manchester United. And of course, Tony Blair was brought into this minefield because of allegations that he had sought to influence the Italian Prime Minister that Rupert Murdoch should be allowed to take control of an Italian TV system. The same Rupert Murdoch that Blair went all the way to see in Australia just before the election.

 

Europe

Europe has an ever-increasing effect on football in this country and the link between Europe and business is constantly growing especially through media moguls but also in other ways. Liverpool and Arsenal have French managers; Chelsea an Italian manager; and Newcastle a Dutch manager.

As with the nation, football has its own European controversy, The threat of a European Super League. For years, this has been a largely hypothetical notion, but suddenly this year it seemed that there was a great deal of substance behind this story. The Premiership, the Football Association and UEFA all reacted angrily to this story threatening expulsion from existing tournaments. The threat to the establishment was highlighted by the then Chief Executive of the FA, Graham Kelly who was quoted as saying, We have to stand firm on this one we can't allow a private circus to undermine our domestic and international competitions.' The people behind the proposed Super League were an Italian firm, Media Partners International. Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool all showed an interest. What seems certain is that the European question has not gone away and will be very much in football people's minds over the next couple of years.

Another example of the European influence has been the Bosman case. Here a little known Belgian player took his Club to Court insisting that under European law he had the right to a free transfer anywhere in Europe at the end of his contract. The Court agreed and now players are permitted to a free transfer anywhere in Europe as soon as their contracts are at an end. Which has had considerable implications for most Premiership clubs who have found it considerably cheaper to hire foreign players than to pay the wages of British players.

 

Summary

So, what does this all tell us? Is it accurate or fair to describe 'football' as 'the people's game'? Do 'the people' identify with football and footballers? And, in this sense, do David Beckham and Michael Owen play for Britain? From the above analysis it certainly seems that there is hardly a facet of our lives that is not represented by football. I would therefore suggest that this makes it highly likely that a large proportion of society does identify with football and footballers.

Professional football is experiencing many of the struggles that other professions are currently going through. Take, for example, the matter of drink and drugs. Not only is there a growing number of professional footballers who are becoming drug addicts or alcoholics but the number of those in other professions is also growing. An example is the recently reported number of junior doctors, reported as two thirds, who are regularly addicted to drink and drugs. More than a third of the men were smoking cannabis and 1 in 10 took other illicit drugs such as LSD, cocaine and ecstasy. And, just like football, the report in the Lancet called for regular testing.

The last recession opened the doors for a more primitive style of management, one which relied upon various forms of coercion to achieve their ends. This is very much in line with the style of management employed by most football managers who rely upon humiliation and even physical force. Which is well demonstrated by the England Manager, Glen Hoddle, in his treatment of David Beckham.

These, and other aspects of football such as racism, alternative medicine, the effects of the global economy, spin doctoring, insecurity of tenure, lack of loyalty, money, Europe, and above all, the involvement of television are also experienced by us 'the people' in other ways. News and sport, especially football, are now reported in the news media with an almost equal importance. Indeed, BBC Radio 5 is totally comprised of news and sports coverage, such is the interest and influence.

So, to answer my own question, Yes, I do believe that we identify with football, but I want to go further because I believe there is support for the notion that life itself has become more like a game of football for many people.

Earlier on I posed the question 'who are the people?' in regard to the notion that we could now dispose of that old cliché about football being the 'working man's sport'. An important fact is that football has evolved with the times. It has represented the masses over the decades. Pre- and post-war those employed in heavy industry could identify with those lucky enough to earn money to play a sport that they also enjoyed playing. As society has changed, so football has evolved to represent society. The easy and successful switch from mass attendance at games to mass television audiences has meant that it is now a TV sport for all. Everyone is now able to be an armchair critic and expert.

This means that there is an even larger number of people who identify with the game but societal changes mean that many of these people are not just 'working class' but include a large and growing number of the 'middle class', and this is the important point, a middle class which I would suggest is largely comprised of a range of professionals. Thus, we may loosely say that society is now largely comprised of professionals and non-professionals. In general terms we can see the professionals as the ones with the education and wealth and the non-professionals as the poorly educated and low paid or unemployed.

'Professionals' include the vast numbers of employees in the public sector be that the NHS, Education, or Criminal Justice System. It also includes those in the private sector, where professionals such as those in the Financial sector, Marketing, and Personnel, are every bit as influential and commanding as those in the public sector. And, this also extends to the ever-growing service sector where occupations such as Chefs, Therapists and dare I say, Consultants, all roam in the societal jungle.

There has been such a proliferation of professionals that not only are non-professionals excluded but there is also exclusion between professions. The boundaries around professions have been so well developed that it becomes increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to challenge decisions.

It is felt that despite these societal changes one of the reasons that 'football' is still seen as the 'people's game' is that it is, and always has been, a professional sport. In a society so dominated by 'professionals' it is perhaps little wonder that they should identify with a 'professional sport'.

 

Meaning of a professional

Having introduced the concept of a Professional it may be helpful to briefly consider what we mean by the term.

It is generally agreed that the professionalism of an individual depends on the degree to which that individual internalises certain values pertinent to the profession. There is disagreement about specific value areas, but four areas appear pertinent:

From a football perspective, the values of professional footballers are strong on issues of professional autonomy - the right to decide how their function is to be performed and to be free from lay restrictions. The referee is never right and there are always excuses from managers for a lack of discipline.