Call for Papers: The origins and evolution of professional football clubs from a business, management, and organizational history perspective

 Your Presence is Requested

22 – 23 June 2023

Birkbeck CollegeSchool of Business, Economics and Infomatics

BAM Management and Business History Special Interest Group invites you to attend an exciting workshop.

Facilitators

Professor Geoff Walters, Birkbeck, University of London

Sean Hamil, Birkbeck, University of London

Dr Kevin Tennent, University of York

Dr Alex Gillett, University of York

Professional football provides fertile ground for historians interested in exploring continuity and change. It has undergone considerable change and evolution in terms of its identification as an industry – historically football identified as a representative competition between locales, and in many countries profit or even turnover were not considered significant in the purpose of clubs. The entry of broadcasting and the opportunities for related entrepreneurship and licensing in the context of the game have created the opportunity for much of the change that the game has undergone, with a considerable increase the problem of “appropriability” (Buchanan, 1965; Demsetz, 1970; Coase, 1988), in which club owners have struggled to capture the benefits of these innovations, although they have often pushed to exploit them. Many of the benefits have flowed to players, who have seen increased status through the “economics of superstars” (Rosen, 1981) where highly talented played have seen their bargaining powers increase.

We invite papers looking at club football from a management and business history perspective, especially those drawing on archival or oral history research.  Papers should seek to contribute to a developing stream of research including Dizin et al (2004), Walters and Hamil (2013), Gillett and Tennent (2017) and Fernández-de-Sevilla (2021). Secondly, following Gillett and Tennent (2020) we aim to broaden the realm of business and management history by providing opportunities to look at theoretical and empirical themes related to the professional football industry such as project-based enterprise, hybridity, or the role of not-for-profit organisations in business.

Benefits of Attending:

• Receive critical feedback on and review of in-progress academic work
• Network with academics and practitioners in the field with the potential to encourage impact collaboration
• Understand the current state of academic work on management and business in the football industry

This is an ideal opportunity for academics with an interest in the business, management or organisation of football, and/or its history, as well as practitioners with an interest in taking a historical perspective to present challenges within football.

For further details on price, location, terms and conditions, and to book your place to attend:

Please follow this link 

Note that Registrations close on the 8th June 2023 at 23:59 UK time

To submit your research ideas for inclusion: 

Short abstracts (c. 300 words only) before deadline of April 30th 2023

Please send your proposals to:

alex.gillett@york.ac.uk 

and

kevin.tennent@york.ac.uk

The event speaks to sections A1, A2, A3 and C1, C2 and C3, as detailed in the BAM Framework.

New Chapter: Business History of the FIFA World Cup

We have a chapter all about the history of the business of the FIFA World Cup, in this new book '

'The Business of the FIFA World Cup' edited by Simon Chadwick, Paul Widdop, Christos Anagnostopoulos, and Daniel Parnell. Published by Routledge.

We have written Chapter 2, a summary history of the World Cup and its variations.

More information here

Euro 2020 (in 2021!) Predictions

With the covid-delayed Euro 2020 now finally just a few days away, we decided to follow soccermadboffins tradition and map out three scenarios: Kevin’s predictions, Alex’s predictions, and the predictions of a dice roll.

A quick explanation as to how the dice roll scores were calculated

-        If rolling a 1, 2, or 3 that’s the score, 

-        If rolling 4 or 5 it counted as ‘nil’, and;

-        Rolling a 6 meant roll again and use whatever number comes up (so the upper limit of normal time is 6 goals but it is fairly unlikely to come up).

So what are the predictions?

As usual at the end of the Group Stage we will show all of our predictions and those of the dice vs the reality.  If we can find them, after the group stages we will also try to compare with any algorithm type predictions as proposed by statisticians working for business consultancies and universities.

We cannot all get every prediction right, so we will then try to do another set of predictions based on who actually gets out of the Group Stages and as the knock-out rounds unfold.

But in the meantime we had a go at predicting the entire tournament…

Random Dice Rolls…

The dice interestingly predict England to finish 3rd in their group, behind Scotland and Czech Republic, then face North Macedonia in Budapest for a crunch Round of 16 fixture...which North Macedomia win 5-3 after extra time!

Also in the Round of 16 Scotland lose 2-3 to Germany in Dublin. 

Wales finish third in Group A behind Switzerland and Italy, progressing to a showdown with France in the Round of 16, winning 3-2 to become the Great British hope before folding to a 0-6 defeat by the Czech Republic in the Quarter-Finals.

Surprise breakout teams will include Finland, who will reach the semi-final. Also....

Winner: Austria to convincingly beat Hungary 5-1, to lift the trophy!

Austrian team celebrating...a realistic prediction for this year's Euros?

Alex

Predicts England to finish second in their Group, before crashing out to Sweden after a penalty shoot-out in the Round of 16.

Predicts Scotland to finish in third place in their group, just behind England, to reach the Round of 16 where they lose to the Netherlands 1-2 after extra-time.

Predicted Wales to achieve just 1 point to finish third in their group and fail to qualify for the Round of 16.

Winners: Germany to beat Portugal in a close final.

Germany is used to celebrating...could it be deja vu in 2021 and is it starting to get boring yet?

Kevin

England will win Group D before meeting France in the Round of 16, who will beat them on penalties.

Scotland will finish bottom of Group D and fail to progress.

Wales are to be Great Britiain's best hope, finishing as runners-up in Group A just behind Italy, then beating Denmark on penalties in the Round fo 16, before losing 1-2 to Portugal in the Quarter-Final. 

Winner: Belgium to beat France, also in a close final.

Could the Euros bring some excitement to Belgium?

**********************************************************************

Check back soon for progress reports on how our predictions (and those fo the dice) fare against reality! (and against statistical modellers such as at Economics Observatory).

Remember, these predictions are for fun only please do not use them as the basis for any gambling decisions!

The big kick-off is this Friday when Turkey play Italy. Wales play Switzerland on Saturday, England kick-off their campaign v Croatia on Sunday, and then Scotland line-up against the Czech Republic on Monday. 

To celebrate, we have a free online public lecture and Q&A with former FIFA-listed referee Keith Hackett. It will take place this Saturday 12th June starting at 2.30pm prompt. It will last for one hour and tickets are completely free, for more info and to book your place please click here.

Providing Evidence for the House of Lords: A 'National Plan for Sport & Recreation' ?

We are delighted to announce that we have had another piece or written evidence published, this time for a House of Lords Select Committee for a 'National Plan for Sport & Recreation'. 

The National Plan for Sport and Recreation Committee is appointed to consider the effectiveness of current sport and recreation policies and initiatives, and the case for a national plan for sport and recreation.

View our written evidence here (opens as pdf or) here (html).

Or, check out all of the written evidence (we are NPS0022 credited to 'York Management School') here 

More about the inquiry and all of the evidence types here.

This follows another recent contribution of written evidence, in January our work was included amongst several expert reports for a UK Parliament Select Committee for 'Digital, Culture, Media and Sport' inquiry into 'Sport in our communities'.

Soccer Mad Boffins in Moneyweek Magazine

Excellent new article about investment in football published in the UKs best selling financial magazine, Moneyweek. Written by Mathew Partridge, the article includes quotes from us two Soccer Mad Boffins (Dr Alex G. Gillett and Dr Kevin D. Tennent) as well as Professor Stefan Szymanski (author of the bestseller 'Soccernomics') and Professor Ignacio Palacios-Huerta (professor of management, economics, and strategy at the London School of Economics and a member of the board of the Spanish top-flight club Athletic Club de Bilbao.

Read the article for free by clicking on the link below:

https://moneyweek.com/share-tips-how-to-invest-in-football/

A Day at the NFM's 1966 World Cup Exhibition

Following our previous blog post about the launch of the National Football Museum’s 1966 World Cup Exhibition, which the Soccer Mad Boffins have contributed to, we decided to make a visit and take a few photos to show our readers what is on display.  

As well as enjoying reading the wealth of information and marvelling at the museum's exclusive artefacts, we also found time to have our picture taken with the England squad.....

.......and as the mascot, World Cup Willie!

The exhibition is fun as well as informative, and there is something for everyone, young and old alike. If you have not yet been to the National Football Museum then now is the time to go.  The exhibition runs until 23^rd April 2017 (St George’s Day!) and entry is FREE. In addition to the World Cup exhibition you will also discover many other treasures in the permanent displays.

Our book about the World Cup is out soon, published by Routledge as part of their International Studies in Business History series.

Senate House Symposium: Some Highlights

The 'More than Just a Game: The legacy of the 1966 Football World Cup' symposium, held at Senate House on Friday 3rd June proved an enjoyable day with many interesting new insights into the 1966 tournament and its longer term impacts emerging.  The day was well attended by sports historians and other interested parties, and organised by Leslie Crang, a student on the MSc Sport Management & the Business of Football programme at Birkbeck College, London, together with Emily Stidston, Senate House's Engagement Support Officer.

Before Kevin's presentation the day was kicked off by Prof John Hughson from UCLAN, in Preston, who showcased the research from his new book7 on the cultural aspects of the 1966 World Cup.  In an intriguing talk Hughson commented on portrayals of the competition on film, from an episode of the Rank Organization's Look at Life documentary series, to FIFA's official film of the tournament, Goal!, and also Alf Garnett and his son in law Mike attending the 1966 Final in the film version of the BBC sitcom Til Death us do Part.  In the afternoon Dr Christoph Wagner of De Montfort University presented his research on the impact of the World Cup on Anglo-German relations, with particular interest in German reactions to 'Das Wembley-Tor' and how the 1966 final was seen as something of a moral victory for both sides.  This was followed by Dr Stacey Pope of Durham University who has studied memories of the 1966 tournament of female football fans of Leicester, some of whom were already seasoned followers of Leicester City FC, but
for others the tournament, which reached record TV audiences, was their first experience of soccer.  Not surprisingly England's victory remained an important memory for many.  The final session saw Kevin join a panel discussion with the football historian and Guardian writer David Goldblatt, and Prof Kath Woodward of the Open University, in which the long term implications of the tournament for English identity were discussed; a major contention being that the English have lacked any real outlet for their patriotism apart from football, as perceptions of Englishness have drifted away from Britishness in the years following 1966.  After all, the Union Jack would never be seen as a representative emblem of the England football team today, as it is on the front cover of the Radio Times prior to the 1966 tournament as seen in our picture.

The symposium was very enjoyable and useful for us and we thank the organizers as well as the other speakers and the attendees for their feedback on our book, Foundations of Managing Sporting Events: Organizing the 1966 FIFA World Cup and contributions to the discussion.

Kevin to Appear at Senate House Symposium!

Kevin will be representing us at an academic symposium at the University of London's central library, Senate House, which is said to have inspired George Orwell's Ministry of Truth in the novel 1984, on Friday June 3rd.  The symposium focuses on the political, social, economic and cultural impact and legacy of the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Kevin will be talking about the financial and organisational findings from our forthcoming book; in particular how government support for the tournament had been crucial for the provincial venues, but also how the hoped for boost for Britain's tourist industries did not materialise as envisaged.

The symposium is free to attend and open to the public, starting at 9.30am.  Other attractions during the day will include a keynote by Professor John Ewing Hudson, Professor of Sport and Cultural Studies and Director of the International Football Institute at the University of Central Lancashire, a discussion on the impact of England's victory on Anglo-German relations by Dr Christoph Wagner of De Montfort University, a paper on women's experiences of the 1966 Finals by Dr Stacey Pope of Durham University, and a roundtable discussion with Dr Kath Woodward from the Open University and the football historian and Guardian journalist David Goldblatt, who will also be making the closing remarks.

It should be a very engaging and thought provoking day - further details and registration is here!

Introducing The New Signings: Soccer Mad Boffins

Alex (left) and Kevin (right) signing their publishing contracts.  Photo taken by: Chris Purdham 

We are very pleased to announce that we have now signed publishing contracts to have our paper 'Beer and the Boro - a Perfect Match!' included in the forthcoming book 'Brewing, Beer and Pubs: A Global Perspective'.

Our chapter is co-authored with Fred Hutchinson (Teesside University) and the book will be published by Palgrave Macmillan in March 2016. It will include contributions from many great writers and it will be edited by a great team - Ignazio Cabras (Northumbria University, UK), Prof David Higgins (Newcastle University, UK) and Prof David Preece (Prof Emeritus, Teesside University). 

Our paper, as you might gather from the rather punning title, is about Middlesbrough Football Club and its relationship with breweries as sponsors and suppliers to its stadium.  In the paper, we place particular focus on the 1980s - and what happened before and since that time.

You can read all about the book here.

Stay tuned for more exciting news regarding publication plans for even more of our research - in particular the work we have been doing on the 1966 FIFA World Cup.

FIFA Women's World Cup 2015 - A Feast of Football

Whilst the world of football was rocked by events in Switzerland around the FIFA presidency elections, the FIFA Women's World Cup Finals kicked-off in style with a 1-0 victory by this year's hosts Canada over China (who were the inaugural hosts way back in 1991).

There have been some tremendous score lines including Germany's 10-0 win over Cote D'Ivoire, Cameroon's 6-0 victory over Ecuador, Switzerland's 10-1 win , also against Ecuador.  There have also been a couple of 4-0's, a 3-2, and a 3-3, and we are not yet past the group stages. Of course, there have also been many matches with substantially lower score lines, but there is no denying that it has been entertaining: 88 goals in 28 matches, at the time of writing, an average of 3.143 goals per game, but only two goalless draws so far (Canada v New Zealand in Group A, and USA v Sweden in Group D).

England's 2-1 win over Mexico was a great advertisement for the tournament, a close scoreline with goals at either end and a high standard of technical ability throughout.  FIFATV have made highlights available on youtube:

The remainder of the group fixtures take place today (16th June) and tomorrow (17th June), with the Second Stage of 'knockout' fixtures beginning on 20th June and culminating in the Final on July 5th.
More information can be found at FIFA.com: http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/news/index.html and also via the BBC at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/womens/

Soccer Mad Boffins Comment on the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil - Part 2

And so the knock-out stages of the 2014 FIFA World Cup have begun. Despite having the ‘home advantage’, Brazil (ranked third place in the FIFA rankings) were forced into a penalty shoot-out by Chile (ranked 14^th).

Brazil are not the only nation to have faced testing opposition from supposed underdog opponents.  There are several notable absences from the ‘last sixteen’ thanks to one of the most (perhaps the most) exhilarating Group Stages of the competitions history. A series of high scoring games and shock results have served to remind us of what makes our sport so exhilarating - that any team can earn a result on their day.

I’ve been reminded on several occasions of Italia '90 where a Costa Rican team considered as something of a novelty embarrassed a supposedly superior Scotland team which comprised numerous ‘star players’ of the day.

Return to the present and Costa Rica are at it again. In the group stages they stunned Italy and dispatched a lackluster England team.  Italy looked awful because Costa Rica had balance, discipline, stamina, and tenacity, kept their formation and played a defensive game, man-marking and off-side trapping the Italians constantly, which frustrated them and ground them down. On any occasion that an Italian got the ball three Costa Rican's descended on him, then when Costa Rica went forward it was fluid - get the ball and immediately look for the next player to give it to, pass and move in short triangles up the pitch, keep possession and frustrate and tire the opposition. But it worked – and that's how you can win games when you aren't Brazil, England take note.

Also, watch the Costa Rican (and for that matter, the Chilean) coaches pacing the touchline and making sure the team keeps to the plan. Contrast with England, Italy and Spain whose coaches looked like dour, defeated men for 90 minutes, sat glumly watching their teams disintegrate.

Speaking as an Englishman, my observation is that our team seems to go into tournaments thinking that they are in the same bracket as the best teams, only to fail. When England played Italy, we made Italy look good because in reality we were an average side with few, if any of the qualities I attributed to Costa Rica in the previous paragraphs. We probably haven't been particularly good since about 1990 and the halcyon days of Butcher, Robson, Linekar, Shilton etc (or arguably 1996, where we did alright, but had a bit of luck and 'home advantage').

In contrast, Costa Rica have been a real talking point and last night beat Greece on penalties. Their football isn’t always pretty but they go into games knowing what they need to do, and deliver results.

In their book Soccernomics, Kuper and Szymanski pose the question are England really underachievers? Or is it just that the English population expect too much of them? They postulate about England’s achievements relative to their given resources and those of competing nations.

According to their analysis, England are one of the most experienced nations in football, and as a country has a relatively high financial income.  It is however a medium sized country.  When ranked on this basis, Kuper and Szymanski believe England’s peers are therefore Russia, Azerbijan, Morroco, Ivory Coast and Mozambique, rather than Brazil, Germany, and Argentina, etc.

When Kuper and Szymanski’s variables and the England football teams results are considered in relation to other footballing nations, it appears that between 1980 and 2001 they actually over-performed. Nowadays though they win plenty of friendlies but not enough ‘big ticket’ competitive matches in which they face much larger nations. 

If we believe the research then, England and the English should not expect to go into World Cups expecting to just go in and win the competition playing the sort of football that its squad of ‘star’/’household name’ players might whilst representing their respective leading Premiership clubs.  Instead, perhaps we ought to take a leaf out of Costa Rica’s book and approach the competition as underdogs, playing a more disciplined and well-drilled type of football where the sum of the whole is greater than the sum its parts.