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Football is now not only a sport; it has become an industry. Gone are the days when players strode out on the pitches wearing woolly and itchy jumpers to play for a few quid, gone are the days of fans screaming from the terraces. And what has arisen in their place? A multi-million pound industry, where ticket, players and wage prices are soaring through the roof. With these huge changes in status have come huge changes in the jobs and roles that are involved in the game. My review is going to look at just what the beautiful game has become now, and what is exactly expected of different people doing different jobs and performing different roles.
The Managers
I start with the managers because they are the ones who are responsible for the tactical side and are the ones who pull the strings behind the clubs (making signings, selling players etc). They are also the ones who come under the most fire when things go wrong, as the first thing that comes to most peoples minds when they see performances declining is an inadequate manager. Sometimes they are right, as in the case of Ossie Ardiles at Tottenham, the man should have not only been relieved from his position as manager but also thrown into a mental home. Five up front? You must be mad! However, a poor manager is not always the reason for the inability and under-performing of the players. After all, the manager can only do so much and as soon as his selected eleven step out onto the pitch, it is up to them to perform and it is out of the mangers’ control. As well as choosing the team and tactics, other jobs that managers have to do include keeping relations between club and fans happy, pleasing the board, co-operating with the chairman and having a good relationship with the players. A failure to do any one or indeed a mixture of these will more often than not see the managers head rolling down the stands and into the hell of managerial unemployment. This is why managers have changed and shifted so much in recent years—No more loyalty is shown to the club that saved the club from a fierce relegation scrap last season. Oh no! A few bad results and all that is soon forgotten and a few weeks later so is the man who is guilty of bringing ‘turmoil’ and ‘anarchy’ to the club. Or maybe the club feel that a ‘fresh approach to the team’ is needed. Either way, a manager could find himself ousted from his club before he has had time to get his seat in the boardroom comfy. The manager’s head is the one that is permanently on the chopping block and, all things considered, he does actually have a huge burden to carry. You can’t feel sorry for them though, with all the cash they earn….
The Coaching Staff
The coaching staff consists of the team of people that is employed by the club to support the manager. It includes the Assistant Manager, Coaches, Scouts, Physio’s. These are the men who have to assist the manager with things such as training and making decisions. For instance, a coach can be assigned to one particular area to help improve performance there or a scout could be used to watch a particular player who the manager may think has the potential to be a good signing. The Coaching Staff is vitally important to the manager and the club, and no matter how great and terrific managers are, they simply cannot be in several places at once and perform several different jobs at once. A good coach can also be invaluable to the club as they will be able to extract the best from the players and improve their skills and attitudes. Physios are important for the obvious reasons, as in the event of an injury to a player they are the ones who are responsible for nursing that player back to full fitness and to recover from it. Scouts are the slaves of the managers in the way that they are sent to unknown territory in hostile surroundings to search for emerging talents (Well, what did you think all that boy scout training was really for! Lol). It is impossible for a manager to perform all of the necessary tasks on his own-therefore it is essential for him to have assistance in the form of his coaching team. The fact that the Assistant Manager may seize on the vacant position on the likely event of his dismissal does not stop the manager from sharing all of the darkest secrets of football with him…
The Board
The board are the fat cats who sit around smoking cigars with charts and graphs scattered out in front of them as well as the latest form guide to the horses. They are also the people who the manager has to try his up most to please-Any fellow Championship Manager fanatic will know that you can’t cause too much stir in the boardroom and expect to get away with it! The same goes for real life, as these are the people that have invested their hard earned cash into trying to make the club successful, and woe betide the manager if she splashes all their cash on a load of under-performing ‘has beens’. If you ever become a manager and are looking for the quickest way to get out of your job, simply go out of your way to displease them and you will be out of the door quicker than you can say ‘Profit and Loss’. Many a manager has come a cropper this way, and take it from me, there is guaranteed to be many more. Despite their ability to have eyes only for pounds signs, they are quite a valuable part of any top team. Without rich people like these buying up the shares, the money flowing into the club would dry out and the club would not be able to compete very well with the other ‘top clubs’. This is particularly true of the clubs of Premier League status, but is also true of the ‘smaller’ clubs. A recent example is Luton Town, who nearly fell into receivership due to the lack of funds being offered from directors, amongst other things. The bottom line is, like it or not, the board are there to run the business side of the club, and no matter what, a manger must please his board!
The Chairman
The Chairman is the man right at the top of the club. He is the only man who is at the ‘top of the food chain’ when it comes to club football. He is also the man who is head of the board, and he too injects a large amount of funds into the club. A good chairman can rake dividends for the financial side of the club as he has the ability to sign up the lucrative sponsorship deals. However, a bad chairman can see figures plunge off of the bottom of the graphs never to be seen again. In football, it is said that the only people that can sack the Chairman are the fans. I believe this to be true, as the fans can make their opinions known, as shown at Tottenham where Alan Sugar was forced out by a growing majority of fans calling for his head. To upset the fans, all you have to do as a chairman is to be tight with the cash, and although being a good business man is important, I feel that the most important thing is to have the clubs best interests placed above all of these facts and figures. Do that, and I think the Chairman will be all right in the eyes of the fans. Do an ‘Alan Sugar’, and you will be on your bike.
Other Staff
Other staffs include the people that never really get a mention when the club does something good or bad and whom nobody cares about, but the simple fact is that if they didn’t exist then there wouldn’t be any football at all. From the bloke who operates the gate at the turnstiles to the people who peel the potatoes for the half time chips, they are all-important and are people that the club can’t really do without. As a famous philosopher once said, ‘A mountain is made up of many small stones’, which basically means that every single little person goes who works and does something for the club goes into making the club the success that it is. Without these small stones’, we can never have the big mountain. I think that it is worth remembering these people, as no club can operate without them really. On a smaller scale, such as in small town football, these people are not quite as important but are still there. For example, with a local football team, the ‘small stones’ would be the council workers who mark out the pitches and ensure that they are kept in reasonably good condition. Anyway, I am sure I have bored you enough with my speaking of great philosophy; I think you can see my point, time to move on to the next section…
The Players
The players could be the most important members out of all the people employed at the club. They are more important than all of the managers and businessmen that lie behind the club for the simple reason that they are the ones that actually play the sport here. It is still to be remembered that the great business of football is based around the sport, and without the sport being actually played, all the rest of it in unnecessary. The players are the ones who the business in ultimately based around and once the financial side of the club is taken away, they are what it all boils down too. Once a player is out there on the pitch, it is up to them to perform. No matter what the manager has done or can do, the footballers are the only ones who can go out on the pitch and produce the goods. Sure, the manager can motivate them to do it and tell them how to do it, but the bottom line is that they have to do it themselves. The players are also the ones that most people see, and are the ones plastered all over the newspapers for a variety of reasons. These reasons could be anything from slating off other players to transfer rumours to their personal lives, but the fact is that they are the ones mostly in the limelight. This rubs off on the spectators as well, particularly the younger generation. An example of this is how teenagers and school children in play grounds and football fields all over the world rein acted the infamous ‘Hand of God’ act by Maradonna and imitated the diving of Jurgen Klinsmann. Footballers have a responsibility to the fans and to each other to act professionally, both on and off the pitch. After all, they are on contracts which us normal people could only dream of, earning over millions of pounds in a year. When all the multi-million pound transactions have been completed, it is up to the players to do themselves, each other and the club proud by doing what they do best-playing football.
The Fans
In many people’s eyes, including my own, the fans are the people who play a significant part in making the world of football ‘tick’. No good paying millions of pounds for the top entertainers if nobody is going to watch them or care about what happens. The fans are the ones that pay the rather expensive ticket prices to cram their way through the gates each and every week, in all weathers. They are also the people that stand on the sidelines in the bitter coldness of Sunday League Football, week in, week out in all weathers. I don’t think that any club would be able to survive without fans paying money to see it, and even at the lowest levels of grass roots football, the desire and passion would be significantly reduced if the team had no supporters following its actions. In my opinion, the fans are the reason that many players put so much effort into winning-to satisfy not only themselves and each other but also the people that are interested in every single kick of the ball. It is often said that fans go a long way to making football the game that it is today. I would certainly agree with that, and I feel that they are up alongside the actual players as the most important people in football. The fans also help to generate a significant amount of income for the top clubs, through ticket sales and merchandising, and this is another reason why the fans are so important to this huge industry.
The Captain
Being captain of a minor local team, I feel that I must write something about the roles and the responsibilities of being captain of the side. I myself consider it a great honour to be given the responsibility even at this minor level. As captain, it is your duty to ensure that all of your teammates play to the best of their ability and it is also your job to calm down any heated incidents, as I have had to do many a time in the past. As captain, you simply cannot afford to lose control or your temper, as if you do, the other players are most likely to follow your example and do the same. I must admit this has happened to me on a few occasions in the past, but the captain must really lead by example and make sure that they do set a good example to follow. The captain is also the one who has to relay the message given by the coaching staff and manager to the players on the field, and I often find myself being told to instruct a player to do a certain action or play a certain way. Also, it’s the captain’s duty to supply a link between the manager and the team. For example, if it is felt that a certain player is not at full fitness and a substitution may be in order, it is up to the captain to point this out to the manager, perhaps at half-time. He can also advise the manager on what he feels is going wrong or indeed right from a first hand experience of the action.
As a summary, many people are involved in the ever-growing world of football. Each person or group of people have their own specific job to do, which can be quite different from that of another. But at any level, all of these roles and jobs must come together to form a successful team and club.
The Managers
I start with the managers because they are the ones who are responsible for the tactical side and are the ones who pull the strings behind the clubs (making signings, selling players etc). They are also the ones who come under the most fire when things go wrong, as the first thing that comes to most peoples minds when they see performances declining is an inadequate manager. Sometimes they are right, as in the case of Ossie Ardiles at Tottenham, the man should have not only been relieved from his position as manager but also thrown into a mental home. Five up front? You must be mad! However, a poor manager is not always the reason for the inability and under-performing of the players. After all, the manager can only do so much and as soon as his selected eleven step out onto the pitch, it is up to them to perform and it is out of the mangers’ control. As well as choosing the team and tactics, other jobs that managers have to do include keeping relations between club and fans happy, pleasing the board, co-operating with the chairman and having a good relationship with the players. A failure to do any one or indeed a mixture of these will more often than not see the managers head rolling down the stands and into the hell of managerial unemployment. This is why managers have changed and shifted so much in recent years—No more loyalty is shown to the club that saved the club from a fierce relegation scrap last season. Oh no! A few bad results and all that is soon forgotten and a few weeks later so is the man who is guilty of bringing ‘turmoil’ and ‘anarchy’ to the club. Or maybe the club feel that a ‘fresh approach to the team’ is needed. Either way, a manager could find himself ousted from his club before he has had time to get his seat in the boardroom comfy. The manager’s head is the one that is permanently on the chopping block and, all things considered, he does actually have a huge burden to carry. You can’t feel sorry for them though, with all the cash they earn….
The Coaching Staff
The coaching staff consists of the team of people that is employed by the club to support the manager. It includes the Assistant Manager, Coaches, Scouts, Physio’s. These are the men who have to assist the manager with things such as training and making decisions. For instance, a coach can be assigned to one particular area to help improve performance there or a scout could be used to watch a particular player who the manager may think has the potential to be a good signing. The Coaching Staff is vitally important to the manager and the club, and no matter how great and terrific managers are, they simply cannot be in several places at once and perform several different jobs at once. A good coach can also be invaluable to the club as they will be able to extract the best from the players and improve their skills and attitudes. Physios are important for the obvious reasons, as in the event of an injury to a player they are the ones who are responsible for nursing that player back to full fitness and to recover from it. Scouts are the slaves of the managers in the way that they are sent to unknown territory in hostile surroundings to search for emerging talents (Well, what did you think all that boy scout training was really for! Lol). It is impossible for a manager to perform all of the necessary tasks on his own-therefore it is essential for him to have assistance in the form of his coaching team. The fact that the Assistant Manager may seize on the vacant position on the likely event of his dismissal does not stop the manager from sharing all of the darkest secrets of football with him…
The Board
The board are the fat cats who sit around smoking cigars with charts and graphs scattered out in front of them as well as the latest form guide to the horses. They are also the people who the manager has to try his up most to please-Any fellow Championship Manager fanatic will know that you can’t cause too much stir in the boardroom and expect to get away with it! The same goes for real life, as these are the people that have invested their hard earned cash into trying to make the club successful, and woe betide the manager if she splashes all their cash on a load of under-performing ‘has beens’. If you ever become a manager and are looking for the quickest way to get out of your job, simply go out of your way to displease them and you will be out of the door quicker than you can say ‘Profit and Loss’. Many a manager has come a cropper this way, and take it from me, there is guaranteed to be many more. Despite their ability to have eyes only for pounds signs, they are quite a valuable part of any top team. Without rich people like these buying up the shares, the money flowing into the club would dry out and the club would not be able to compete very well with the other ‘top clubs’. This is particularly true of the clubs of Premier League status, but is also true of the ‘smaller’ clubs. A recent example is Luton Town, who nearly fell into receivership due to the lack of funds being offered from directors, amongst other things. The bottom line is, like it or not, the board are there to run the business side of the club, and no matter what, a manger must please his board!
The Chairman
The Chairman is the man right at the top of the club. He is the only man who is at the ‘top of the food chain’ when it comes to club football. He is also the man who is head of the board, and he too injects a large amount of funds into the club. A good chairman can rake dividends for the financial side of the club as he has the ability to sign up the lucrative sponsorship deals. However, a bad chairman can see figures plunge off of the bottom of the graphs never to be seen again. In football, it is said that the only people that can sack the Chairman are the fans. I believe this to be true, as the fans can make their opinions known, as shown at Tottenham where Alan Sugar was forced out by a growing majority of fans calling for his head. To upset the fans, all you have to do as a chairman is to be tight with the cash, and although being a good business man is important, I feel that the most important thing is to have the clubs best interests placed above all of these facts and figures. Do that, and I think the Chairman will be all right in the eyes of the fans. Do an ‘Alan Sugar’, and you will be on your bike.
Other Staff
Other staffs include the people that never really get a mention when the club does something good or bad and whom nobody cares about, but the simple fact is that if they didn’t exist then there wouldn’t be any football at all. From the bloke who operates the gate at the turnstiles to the people who peel the potatoes for the half time chips, they are all-important and are people that the club can’t really do without. As a famous philosopher once said, ‘A mountain is made up of many small stones’, which basically means that every single little person goes who works and does something for the club goes into making the club the success that it is. Without these small stones’, we can never have the big mountain. I think that it is worth remembering these people, as no club can operate without them really. On a smaller scale, such as in small town football, these people are not quite as important but are still there. For example, with a local football team, the ‘small stones’ would be the council workers who mark out the pitches and ensure that they are kept in reasonably good condition. Anyway, I am sure I have bored you enough with my speaking of great philosophy; I think you can see my point, time to move on to the next section…
The Players
The players could be the most important members out of all the people employed at the club. They are more important than all of the managers and businessmen that lie behind the club for the simple reason that they are the ones that actually play the sport here. It is still to be remembered that the great business of football is based around the sport, and without the sport being actually played, all the rest of it in unnecessary. The players are the ones who the business in ultimately based around and once the financial side of the club is taken away, they are what it all boils down too. Once a player is out there on the pitch, it is up to them to perform. No matter what the manager has done or can do, the footballers are the only ones who can go out on the pitch and produce the goods. Sure, the manager can motivate them to do it and tell them how to do it, but the bottom line is that they have to do it themselves. The players are also the ones that most people see, and are the ones plastered all over the newspapers for a variety of reasons. These reasons could be anything from slating off other players to transfer rumours to their personal lives, but the fact is that they are the ones mostly in the limelight. This rubs off on the spectators as well, particularly the younger generation. An example of this is how teenagers and school children in play grounds and football fields all over the world rein acted the infamous ‘Hand of God’ act by Maradonna and imitated the diving of Jurgen Klinsmann. Footballers have a responsibility to the fans and to each other to act professionally, both on and off the pitch. After all, they are on contracts which us normal people could only dream of, earning over millions of pounds in a year. When all the multi-million pound transactions have been completed, it is up to the players to do themselves, each other and the club proud by doing what they do best-playing football.
The Fans
In many people’s eyes, including my own, the fans are the people who play a significant part in making the world of football ‘tick’. No good paying millions of pounds for the top entertainers if nobody is going to watch them or care about what happens. The fans are the ones that pay the rather expensive ticket prices to cram their way through the gates each and every week, in all weathers. They are also the people that stand on the sidelines in the bitter coldness of Sunday League Football, week in, week out in all weathers. I don’t think that any club would be able to survive without fans paying money to see it, and even at the lowest levels of grass roots football, the desire and passion would be significantly reduced if the team had no supporters following its actions. In my opinion, the fans are the reason that many players put so much effort into winning-to satisfy not only themselves and each other but also the people that are interested in every single kick of the ball. It is often said that fans go a long way to making football the game that it is today. I would certainly agree with that, and I feel that they are up alongside the actual players as the most important people in football. The fans also help to generate a significant amount of income for the top clubs, through ticket sales and merchandising, and this is another reason why the fans are so important to this huge industry.
The Captain
Being captain of a minor local team, I feel that I must write something about the roles and the responsibilities of being captain of the side. I myself consider it a great honour to be given the responsibility even at this minor level. As captain, it is your duty to ensure that all of your teammates play to the best of their ability and it is also your job to calm down any heated incidents, as I have had to do many a time in the past. As captain, you simply cannot afford to lose control or your temper, as if you do, the other players are most likely to follow your example and do the same. I must admit this has happened to me on a few occasions in the past, but the captain must really lead by example and make sure that they do set a good example to follow. The captain is also the one who has to relay the message given by the coaching staff and manager to the players on the field, and I often find myself being told to instruct a player to do a certain action or play a certain way. Also, it’s the captain’s duty to supply a link between the manager and the team. For example, if it is felt that a certain player is not at full fitness and a substitution may be in order, it is up to the captain to point this out to the manager, perhaps at half-time. He can also advise the manager on what he feels is going wrong or indeed right from a first hand experience of the action.
As a summary, many people are involved in the ever-growing world of football. Each person or group of people have their own specific job to do, which can be quite different from that of another. But at any level, all of these roles and jobs must come together to form a successful team and club.
Football is now not only a sport; it has become an industry. Gone are the days when players strode out on the pitches wearing woolly and itchy jumpers to play for a few quid, gone are the days of fans screaming from the terraces. And what has arisen in their place? A multi-million pound industry, where ticket, players and wage prices are soaring through the roof. With these huge changes in status have come huge changes in the jobs and roles that are involved in the game. My review is going to look at just what the beautiful game has become now, and what is exactly expected of different people doing different jobs and performing different roles.
The Managers
I start with the managers because they are the ones who are responsible for the tactical side and are the ones who pull the strings behind the clubs (making signings, selling players etc). They are also the ones who come under the most fire when things go wrong, as the first thing that comes to most peoples minds when they see performances declining is an inadequate manager. Sometimes they are right, as in the case of Ossie Ardiles at Tottenham, the man should have not only been relieved from his position as manager but also thrown into a mental home. Five up front? You must be mad! However, a poor manager is not always the reason for the inability and under-performing of the players. After all, the manager can only do so much and as soon as his selected eleven step out onto the pitch, it is up to them to perform and it is out of the mangers’ control. As well as choosing the team and tactics, other jobs that managers have to do include keeping relations between club and fans happy, pleasing the board, co-operating with the chairman and having a good relationship with the players. A failure to do any one or indeed a mixture of these will more often than not see the managers head rolling down the stands and into the hell of managerial unemployment. This is why managers have changed and shifted so much in recent years—No more loyalty is shown to the club that saved the club from a fierce relegation scrap last season. Oh no! A few bad results and all that is soon forgotten and a few weeks later so is the man who is guilty of bringing ‘turmoil’ and ‘anarchy’ to the club. Or maybe the club feel that a ‘fresh approach to the team’ is needed. Either way, a manager could find himself ousted from his club before he has had time to get his seat in the boardroom comfy. The manager’s head is the one that is permanently on the chopping block and, all things considered, he does actually have a huge burden to carry. You can’t feel sorry for them though, with all the cash they earn….
The Coaching Staff
The coaching staff consists of the team of people that is employed by the club to support the manager. It includes the Assistant Manager, Coaches, Scouts, Physio’s. These are the men who have to assist the manager with things such as training and making decisions. For instance, a coach can be assigned to one particular area to help improve performance there or a scout could be used to watch a particular player who the manager may think has the potential to be a good signing. The Coaching Staff is vitally important to the manager and the club, and no matter how great and terrific managers are, they simply cannot be in several places at once and perform several different jobs at once. A good coach can also be invaluable to the club as they will be able to extract the best from the players and improve their skills and attitudes. Physios are important for the obvious reasons, as in the event of an injury to a player they are the ones who are responsible for nursing that player back to full fitness and to recover from it. Scouts are the slaves of the managers in the way that they are sent to unknown territory in hostile surroundings to search for emerging talents (Well, what did you think all that boy scout training was really for! Lol). It is impossible for a manager to perform all of the necessary tasks on his own-therefore it is essential for him to have assistance in the form of his coaching team. The fact that the Assistant Manager may seize on the vacant position on the likely event of his dismissal does not stop the manager from sharing all of the darkest secrets of football with him…
The Board
The board are the fat cats who sit around smoking cigars with charts and graphs scattered out in front of them as well as the latest form guide to the horses. They are also the people who the manager has to try his up most to please-Any fellow Championship Manager fanatic will know that you can’t cause too much stir in the boardroom and expect to get away with it! The same goes for real life, as these are the people that have invested their hard earned cash into trying to make the club successful, and woe betide the manager if she splashes all their cash on a load of under-performing ‘has beens’. If you ever become a manager and are looking for the quickest way to get out of your job, simply go out of your way to displease them and you will be out of the door quicker than you can say ‘Profit and Loss’. Many a manager has come a cropper this way, and take it from me, there is guaranteed to be many more. Despite their ability to have eyes only for pounds signs, they are quite a valuable part of any top team. Without rich people like these buying up the shares, the money flowing into the club would dry out and the club would not be able to compete very well with the other ‘top clubs’. This is particularly true of the clubs of Premier League status, but is also true of the ‘smaller’ clubs. A recent example is Luton Town, who nearly fell into receivership due to the lack of funds being offered from directors, amongst other things. The bottom line is, like it or not, the board are there to run the business side of the club, and no matter what, a manger must please his board!
The Chairman
The Chairman is the man right at the top of the club. He is the only man who is at the ‘top of the food chain’ when it comes to club football. He is also the man who is head of the board, and he too injects a large amount of funds into the club. A good chairman can rake dividends for the financial side of the club as he has the ability to sign up the lucrative sponsorship deals. However, a bad chairman can see figures plunge off of the bottom of the graphs never to be seen again. In football, it is said that the only people that can sack the Chairman are the fans. I believe this to be true, as the fans can make their opinions known, as shown at Tottenham where Alan Sugar was forced out by a growing majority of fans calling for his head. To upset the fans, all you have to do as a chairman is to be tight with the cash, and although being a good business man is important, I feel that the most important thing is to have the clubs best interests placed above all of these facts and figures. Do that, and I think the Chairman will be all right in the eyes of the fans. Do an ‘Alan Sugar’, and you will be on your bike.
Other Staff
Other staffs include the people that never really get a mention when the club does something good or bad and whom nobody cares about, but the simple fact is that if they didn’t exist then there wouldn’t be any football at all. From the bloke who operates the gate at the turnstiles to the people who peel the potatoes for the half time chips, they are all-important and are people that the club can’t really do without. As a famous philosopher once said, ‘A mountain is made up of many small stones’, which basically means that every single little person goes who works and does something for the club goes into making the club the success that it is. Without these small stones’, we can never have the big mountain. I think that it is worth remembering these people, as no club can operate without them really. On a smaller scale, such as in small town football, these people are not quite as important but are still there. For example, with a local football team, the ‘small stones’ would be the council workers who mark out the pitches and ensure that they are kept in reasonably good condition. Anyway, I am sure I have bored you enough with my speaking of great philosophy; I think you can see my point, time to move on to the next section…
The Players
The players could be the most important members out of all the people employed at the club. They are more important than all of the managers and businessmen that lie behind the club for the simple reason that they are the ones that actually play the sport here. It is still to be remembered that the great business of football is based around the sport, and without the sport being actually played, all the rest of it in unnecessary. The players are the ones who the business in ultimately based around and once the financial side of the club is taken away, they are what it all boils down too. Once a player is out there on the pitch, it is up to them to perform. No matter what the manager has done or can do, the footballers are the only ones who can go out on the pitch and produce the goods. Sure, the manager can motivate them to do it and tell them how to do it, but the bottom line is that they have to do it themselves. The players are also the ones that most people see, and are the ones plastered all over the newspapers for a variety of reasons. These reasons could be anything from slating off other players to transfer rumours to their personal lives, but the fact is that they are the ones mostly in the limelight. This rubs off on the spectators as well, particularly the younger generation. An example of this is how teenagers and school children in play grounds and football fields all over the world rein acted the infamous ‘Hand of God’ act by Maradonna and imitated the diving of Jurgen Klinsmann. Footballers have a responsibility to the fans and to each other to act professionally, both on and off the pitch. After all, they are on contracts which us normal people could only dream of, earning over millions of pounds in a year. When all the multi-million pound transactions have been completed, it is up to the players to do themselves, each other and the club proud by doing what they do best-playing football.
The Fans
In many people’s eyes, including my own, the fans are the people who play a significant part in making the world of football ‘tick’. No good paying millions of pounds for the top entertainers if nobody is going to watch them or care about what happens. The fans are the ones that pay the rather expensive ticket prices to cram their way through the gates each and every week, in all weathers. They are also the people that stand on the sidelines in the bitter coldness of Sunday League Football, week in, week out in all weathers. I don’t think that any club would be able to survive without fans paying money to see it, and even at the lowest levels of grass roots football, the desire and passion would be significantly reduced if the team had no supporters following its actions. In my opinion, the fans are the reason that many players put so much effort into winning-to satisfy not only themselves and each other but also the people that are interested in every single kick of the ball. It is often said that fans go a long way to making football the game that it is today. I would certainly agree with that, and I feel that they are up alongside the actual players as the most important people in football. The fans also help to generate a significant amount of income for the top clubs, through ticket sales and merchandising, and this is another reason why the fans are so important to this huge industry.
The Captain
Being captain of a minor local team, I feel that I must write something about the roles and the responsibilities of being captain of the side. I myself consider it a great honour to be given the responsibility even at this minor level. As captain, it is your duty to ensure that all of your teammates play to the best of their ability and it is also your job to calm down any heated incidents, as I have had to do many a time in the past. As captain, you simply cannot afford to lose control or your temper, as if you do, the other players are most likely to follow your example and do the same. I must admit this has happened to me on a few occasions in the past, but the captain must really lead by example and make sure that they do set a good example to follow. The captain is also the one who has to relay the message given by the coaching staff and manager to the players on the field, and I often find myself being told to instruct a player to do a certain action or play a certain way. Also, it’s the captain’s duty to supply a link between the manager and the team. For example, if it is felt that a certain player is not at full fitness and a substitution may be in order, it is up to the captain to point this out to the manager, perhaps at half-time. He can also advise the manager on what he feels is going wrong or indeed right from a first hand experience of the action.
As a summary, many people are involved in the ever-growing world of football. Each person or group of people have their own specific job to do, which can be quite different from that of another. But at any level, all of these roles and jobs must come together to form a successful team and club.
The Managers
I start with the managers because they are the ones who are responsible for the tactical side and are the ones who pull the strings behind the clubs (making signings, selling players etc). They are also the ones who come under the most fire when things go wrong, as the first thing that comes to most peoples minds when they see performances declining is an inadequate manager. Sometimes they are right, as in the case of Ossie Ardiles at Tottenham, the man should have not only been relieved from his position as manager but also thrown into a mental home. Five up front? You must be mad! However, a poor manager is not always the reason for the inability and under-performing of the players. After all, the manager can only do so much and as soon as his selected eleven step out onto the pitch, it is up to them to perform and it is out of the mangers’ control. As well as choosing the team and tactics, other jobs that managers have to do include keeping relations between club and fans happy, pleasing the board, co-operating with the chairman and having a good relationship with the players. A failure to do any one or indeed a mixture of these will more often than not see the managers head rolling down the stands and into the hell of managerial unemployment. This is why managers have changed and shifted so much in recent years—No more loyalty is shown to the club that saved the club from a fierce relegation scrap last season. Oh no! A few bad results and all that is soon forgotten and a few weeks later so is the man who is guilty of bringing ‘turmoil’ and ‘anarchy’ to the club. Or maybe the club feel that a ‘fresh approach to the team’ is needed. Either way, a manager could find himself ousted from his club before he has had time to get his seat in the boardroom comfy. The manager’s head is the one that is permanently on the chopping block and, all things considered, he does actually have a huge burden to carry. You can’t feel sorry for them though, with all the cash they earn….
The Coaching Staff
The coaching staff consists of the team of people that is employed by the club to support the manager. It includes the Assistant Manager, Coaches, Scouts, Physio’s. These are the men who have to assist the manager with things such as training and making decisions. For instance, a coach can be assigned to one particular area to help improve performance there or a scout could be used to watch a particular player who the manager may think has the potential to be a good signing. The Coaching Staff is vitally important to the manager and the club, and no matter how great and terrific managers are, they simply cannot be in several places at once and perform several different jobs at once. A good coach can also be invaluable to the club as they will be able to extract the best from the players and improve their skills and attitudes. Physios are important for the obvious reasons, as in the event of an injury to a player they are the ones who are responsible for nursing that player back to full fitness and to recover from it. Scouts are the slaves of the managers in the way that they are sent to unknown territory in hostile surroundings to search for emerging talents (Well, what did you think all that boy scout training was really for! Lol). It is impossible for a manager to perform all of the necessary tasks on his own-therefore it is essential for him to have assistance in the form of his coaching team. The fact that the Assistant Manager may seize on the vacant position on the likely event of his dismissal does not stop the manager from sharing all of the darkest secrets of football with him…
The Board
The board are the fat cats who sit around smoking cigars with charts and graphs scattered out in front of them as well as the latest form guide to the horses. They are also the people who the manager has to try his up most to please-Any fellow Championship Manager fanatic will know that you can’t cause too much stir in the boardroom and expect to get away with it! The same goes for real life, as these are the people that have invested their hard earned cash into trying to make the club successful, and woe betide the manager if she splashes all their cash on a load of under-performing ‘has beens’. If you ever become a manager and are looking for the quickest way to get out of your job, simply go out of your way to displease them and you will be out of the door quicker than you can say ‘Profit and Loss’. Many a manager has come a cropper this way, and take it from me, there is guaranteed to be many more. Despite their ability to have eyes only for pounds signs, they are quite a valuable part of any top team. Without rich people like these buying up the shares, the money flowing into the club would dry out and the club would not be able to compete very well with the other ‘top clubs’. This is particularly true of the clubs of Premier League status, but is also true of the ‘smaller’ clubs. A recent example is Luton Town, who nearly fell into receivership due to the lack of funds being offered from directors, amongst other things. The bottom line is, like it or not, the board are there to run the business side of the club, and no matter what, a manger must please his board!
The Chairman
The Chairman is the man right at the top of the club. He is the only man who is at the ‘top of the food chain’ when it comes to club football. He is also the man who is head of the board, and he too injects a large amount of funds into the club. A good chairman can rake dividends for the financial side of the club as he has the ability to sign up the lucrative sponsorship deals. However, a bad chairman can see figures plunge off of the bottom of the graphs never to be seen again. In football, it is said that the only people that can sack the Chairman are the fans. I believe this to be true, as the fans can make their opinions known, as shown at Tottenham where Alan Sugar was forced out by a growing majority of fans calling for his head. To upset the fans, all you have to do as a chairman is to be tight with the cash, and although being a good business man is important, I feel that the most important thing is to have the clubs best interests placed above all of these facts and figures. Do that, and I think the Chairman will be all right in the eyes of the fans. Do an ‘Alan Sugar’, and you will be on your bike.
Other Staff
Other staffs include the people that never really get a mention when the club does something good or bad and whom nobody cares about, but the simple fact is that if they didn’t exist then there wouldn’t be any football at all. From the bloke who operates the gate at the turnstiles to the people who peel the potatoes for the half time chips, they are all-important and are people that the club can’t really do without. As a famous philosopher once said, ‘A mountain is made up of many small stones’, which basically means that every single little person goes who works and does something for the club goes into making the club the success that it is. Without these small stones’, we can never have the big mountain. I think that it is worth remembering these people, as no club can operate without them really. On a smaller scale, such as in small town football, these people are not quite as important but are still there. For example, with a local football team, the ‘small stones’ would be the council workers who mark out the pitches and ensure that they are kept in reasonably good condition. Anyway, I am sure I have bored you enough with my speaking of great philosophy; I think you can see my point, time to move on to the next section…
The Players
The players could be the most important members out of all the people employed at the club. They are more important than all of the managers and businessmen that lie behind the club for the simple reason that they are the ones that actually play the sport here. It is still to be remembered that the great business of football is based around the sport, and without the sport being actually played, all the rest of it in unnecessary. The players are the ones who the business in ultimately based around and once the financial side of the club is taken away, they are what it all boils down too. Once a player is out there on the pitch, it is up to them to perform. No matter what the manager has done or can do, the footballers are the only ones who can go out on the pitch and produce the goods. Sure, the manager can motivate them to do it and tell them how to do it, but the bottom line is that they have to do it themselves. The players are also the ones that most people see, and are the ones plastered all over the newspapers for a variety of reasons. These reasons could be anything from slating off other players to transfer rumours to their personal lives, but the fact is that they are the ones mostly in the limelight. This rubs off on the spectators as well, particularly the younger generation. An example of this is how teenagers and school children in play grounds and football fields all over the world rein acted the infamous ‘Hand of God’ act by Maradonna and imitated the diving of Jurgen Klinsmann. Footballers have a responsibility to the fans and to each other to act professionally, both on and off the pitch. After all, they are on contracts which us normal people could only dream of, earning over millions of pounds in a year. When all the multi-million pound transactions have been completed, it is up to the players to do themselves, each other and the club proud by doing what they do best-playing football.
The Fans
In many people’s eyes, including my own, the fans are the people who play a significant part in making the world of football ‘tick’. No good paying millions of pounds for the top entertainers if nobody is going to watch them or care about what happens. The fans are the ones that pay the rather expensive ticket prices to cram their way through the gates each and every week, in all weathers. They are also the people that stand on the sidelines in the bitter coldness of Sunday League Football, week in, week out in all weathers. I don’t think that any club would be able to survive without fans paying money to see it, and even at the lowest levels of grass roots football, the desire and passion would be significantly reduced if the team had no supporters following its actions. In my opinion, the fans are the reason that many players put so much effort into winning-to satisfy not only themselves and each other but also the people that are interested in every single kick of the ball. It is often said that fans go a long way to making football the game that it is today. I would certainly agree with that, and I feel that they are up alongside the actual players as the most important people in football. The fans also help to generate a significant amount of income for the top clubs, through ticket sales and merchandising, and this is another reason why the fans are so important to this huge industry.
The Captain
Being captain of a minor local team, I feel that I must write something about the roles and the responsibilities of being captain of the side. I myself consider it a great honour to be given the responsibility even at this minor level. As captain, it is your duty to ensure that all of your teammates play to the best of their ability and it is also your job to calm down any heated incidents, as I have had to do many a time in the past. As captain, you simply cannot afford to lose control or your temper, as if you do, the other players are most likely to follow your example and do the same. I must admit this has happened to me on a few occasions in the past, but the captain must really lead by example and make sure that they do set a good example to follow. The captain is also the one who has to relay the message given by the coaching staff and manager to the players on the field, and I often find myself being told to instruct a player to do a certain action or play a certain way. Also, it’s the captain’s duty to supply a link between the manager and the team. For example, if it is felt that a certain player is not at full fitness and a substitution may be in order, it is up to the captain to point this out to the manager, perhaps at half-time. He can also advise the manager on what he feels is going wrong or indeed right from a first hand experience of the action.
As a summary, many people are involved in the ever-growing world of football. Each person or group of people have their own specific job to do, which can be quite different from that of another. But at any level, all of these roles and jobs must come together to form a successful team and club.