Balance of Power between Football Players and Football - Case Study Example

An Interim Follow-Up of the Research Topic on the Balance of Power Between Football Players and Football Clubs with reference to Luton, England Name: School Affiliation: Balance of Power between Football Players and Football Introduction It is also very usual, especially here in Luton, England for football to be referred to as soccer or association football. However, the usage of the term 'association football' is used in very limited circumstances. Any unqualified reference to football in an English context is normally understood as a reference to association football rather than to any other member of the football family of sports. The only other members of this family played to any great extent in England belong to the rugby football sub-family which is normally referred to as rugby. The title and remainder of this article refers to football in the English sense. Research Purpose This research work is meant to serve the purpose of being a follow up to my research proposal. Through it, I intend to ensure that by the end of this research, a clear understanding of the relationship and the need to have a balance of power between the players and existing clubs and those football clubs that may come up in future is clearly achieved. The research also intends to realize all the existing gaps between the players and the clubs and give possible suggestions on the best way forward on the balance of power between football players and football clubs. Academically, this research is indeed to partially fulfill the requirement of the course I am undertaking. It is also an interim assignment which is a coursework for my assignment. Moreover, it is a natural follow-up on my project proposal which I made. Through this work, I intend to lay a firm foundation for my research project and ensure that I fulfill the need of the players and ensure that necessary suggestions and prescriptions are keenly laid out to enhance the constant improvement and enjoyment of football as a game, a profession and as a leisure activity to the fans, players and the clubs' managerial bodies and owners at large. Luton and Football as an Art Luton, a locally pronounced town and a unitary authority of Bedfordshire is a relatively small town in England with a population of about two hundred and thirty thousand people. It is the home of the non-league Luton Town football club. Previously, the club was in the top flight of the English league as well as a in the football league cup triumph (Bailey, 1997). In Luton, England and in other parts of the world, football has become one of the major sporting activities. The latest development has seen the sporting activity rise from the sports' perspective to Knute Rockne; foot has become 'a game played with arms, legs, head, and shoulders but mostly the neck up'. This clearly explains the vital role that the game plays in the world today. In London, the game has massive support with the major premier league clubs attracting large crowds and thus gaining financially. Despite all the efforts that have been made to ensure that the quality of the game continues to improve, the world over, one key area seems to have been forgotten - the need to fully balance between the football players and the football clubs. In this research paper, the intent is to research on the topic and examine the actual balance that exists in which there is a need to exist between the football players and their respective clubs both within and outside the premier league sector (Bailey, 2005). I also intend to give some brief definition, history and necessary information regarding the player power. There is also a look at some aspects of the gender imbalance and the overall welfare of the players in the football game, gender not withstanding. The issues that relate to the player hiring process, their countries and the contract basis will also be analyzed in this research paper. Indeed there exist a number of consequences of freedom of movement for both, football clubs and contemporary football markets and the emerging trends in the ownership of the clubs especially here in England (Bailey, 1997). Research question hypothesis There are a number of questions that this research work intends to answer with regards to the balance of power between the football players and their respective football clubs. I therefore set to find out whether there is a balance of power between the football players and the football clubs. The paper here sets to find out if the players ever have a say in matters that concern them and the club and how the power they have, if any, is within their full control or not. There is need to know whether the players really desire to know whether the self interest of the football clubs' owners interfere with the welfare of the football players. A player also sets out to find out whether or not there exist other stakeholders that influence the powers of the players and those of the football clubs with regard to the way football affairs are run in London. The research hypothesis on the research topic includes; Footballers do not have full control of the matters that concern them in the football arena There are a number of issues that need to be analyzed and thus together enhance the efficiency in the relationship between footballers and the football clubs. England is the only country where players do not have adequate powers to control their affairs. Most football clubs fully determine the amount a football player is worth, when to pay the money and other terms of the club-player contract without considering matters regarding the need to involve them. There are other stakeholders and football governing bodies that determine the powers that a football club ought to control. Sponsors of the club may influence the amount of powers a given football club and their players may control through financing that the team receives. Is the constant interaction between players from other countries negatively influencing the standards of football in our football clubs' Players do not participate in any way in making the laws and rules that govern the game. The new trend of rich people in the world buying football clubs has affected the powers of the players in their respective clubs. A football coach in a team can determine the amount of power that the players should control within the team and the powers that the club should control. Overall Research Aim The overall aim of this research is to fully establish the relationship between players and the management team of the club. The research intends to determine and outline all the possible needs of players and the clubs and thus understand how each party determines the decision making process in the club and from which sector the actual power lies. LITERATURE REVIEW Under this section, a number of resources from which the issues related to powers in football and who between the players and their football clubs actually control the powers is analyzed. A number of issues that relate to football powers are also analyzed. Real life examples where players and clubs have either indicated the existence of their powers or the absence of it have also been analyzed in this section. Model and theories of football At elementary educational levels, in high schools, colleges and in universities, there exist a number of terminologies, theories and models that govern football. The theories are many, very diverse yet most of them greatly contribute to the wealth of knowledge that has led to the constant growth of the game and the change in powers between the players and the football clubs. A number of football games experienced have indeed helped to shape the way the matches are played, players enumerated and other benefits allocated. For instance, recently, the football match between Yale and Harvard University led to much unexpected situations. The match served to involve the question of the season's champion in an almost hopeless muddle and powers that the footballers have in determining how the game is controlled. Football History in England Football was played as far back as the medieval times. Research shows that the first evidence of football games was in the medieval times. The evidence of football indicates that it began in the twelfth century. No clear evidence of football rights was ever present at the time. No football clubs existed as football was purely played for leisure. This explains the reason why there was no need to have rules that were required, the need to vest powers in the players, clubs which never even existed or the referees at the time. Football was played after dinner in London. The youths, after dinner, would go out into the fields for the very popular game of ball. In the year 1314, King Edward the second of England said that football and the use of footballs would be a good evolution that would later need regulation in order to ensure that all the stakeholders in the game fully enjoy and benefit from it (Bath, 2008). The organization of football into teams and the importance of goal scoring came into existence in the sixteenth century (Hayes, November 2002). However, the eighteenth century Gymnastic Society of London is, arguably, the world's first football club. The then commonly called Cambridge rules were first drawn up at the university. It was however very clear that the rules mainly concerned the affairs of the referee and player security and the powers of the referee during the game. The rules fell short of explaining the powers that the major stakeholders, the players, had in determining the team to play for and the remunerations and other benefits that they were entitled to. Sheffield Football Club, which is the world's oldest club, led to the Sheffield and Hallamshire football clubs. 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School also devised an influential set of rules (Bath, 2008; Sharon, 1988). These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association in eighteen sixty three, which first met on twenty sixth October eighteen sixty three. A number of rules and laws currently existing stipulate the powers of the players and the football clubs the world over. The football laws have been put in various categories in order to ensure that all stakeholders' needs are catered for. The common current laws that govern the game and other stakeholders, both in Luton and the world over include; The ball law; the offside football law; the referee law; The field play laws; the number of players laws; the players' dressing and other equipment laws; the assistant referee laws; the duration of the match law; the start of the match law; laws related to fouls, free kicks law; the penalty kick related laws; the goal kick law; the corner kick ones among other related laws. Related Existing Football Laws According to the existing football laws, there exist a number of laws that help in the governing of football laws with regard to the powers controlled by the players and the referee. Some of the relevant football association laws, which were published in the early eighteen sixty three and later approved on fifth December the same year, and their explanations are that; Players shall be considered as belonging to teams and thus it is the team which participates in the competition and not individual players. Players are therefore considered to be the assets of the team. After a goal is scored during the time of play, the conceding team shall be entitled to kick off, and the teams shall change goals after each goal is won. No aspect of an individual player is therefore brought out nor are there self interests. In most competitions, it is the team which is rewarded and not the individual players despite the individual effort and skills invested in the team by the players. Tripping and hacking is not allowed in football. Moreover, no player is allowed to use their hands to hold or push his adversary under any circumstance. Should such an offence be committed, reasonable disciplinary measure may be taken against them at the discretion of the referee irrespective of the circumstance surrounding the incident in question. No player from any team participating shall be allowed to have projecting nails, iron plates, or even have gutta-percha on their shoe soles or heels of their boots. This shows that no players have the power to protect themselves unless the protection is verified by the governing body. Transfer of players: Various transfer windows do exist. The transfer windows allow for the players who may be willing to move to other clubs after the expiry of their contract to do so. It also enables teams to sell players to other clubs on various accounts especially if the selling is believed to benefiting the club and not necessarily the player (Bath, 2008; Sharon, 1988). Cost of buying players Currently, players are considered assets of the team. This explains the fact that players who are perceived not be performing as per the club's coach's expectations may be sold by the club to another club and better ones bought as replacements. Players can also be given to other clubs in exchange for other players or for cash and other benefits. Moreover, it is worth noting that at times players can be sold to other clubs whether willingly or unwillingly. A perfect case is that of Samuel Eto'o who was sold to Inter Milan football club by Barcelona football club. According to the FIFA world cup website (Fifa.com, 2008), European football is in a spiral of intra-league and inter-league polarization of talent and wealth. The Luton football and that of London as a whole is explained as growing in complexity and yet ignoring the very fundamental aspect of the game. This fundamental aspect mainly relates to the needs of the players who are supposed to be the major stakeholders and their respective clubs' interest. Indeed the sportsman and champion effects have driven Luton football clubs to the edge of insolvency, and polarized competition throughout other parts of this country and Europe at large. Despite the revolution and the financial crises most footballers' continue to control more power in terms of the amount they should be paid based on their skills and the overall contribution they bring to the success of the team. Research has also shown that the only meaningful way in which players contribute to the success of their careers and the exercise of their powers within clubs is through the constant maintenance of the quality of their game. This enables the players to be in a position to bargain on how much they ought to be paid based on the market trend. The sudden change in the beauty of football game mainly lies in the balance of symbiotic competition. Since the English Premier League (EPL) broke away from the Football League in 1992, the EPL has virtually lost its competitive balance. The rebellion of the EPL coincided with a deeper media revolution as digital and pay-per-view technologies were delivered by satellite platform into the commercial television vacuum created by public television monopolies throughout Europe. As the revenues for advertisement increase, so do the benefits and the power that both the players and the clubs control in the market. Good players and clubs gain more through their work while players and clubs that are not performing well attract fewer customers and thus loose out in the market share (Bath, 2008). High ranking clubs however gain more since most benefits accrued through their good performance in the competitions directly go to their accounts/kitty. According to the Hayes (2002), invariance, proposition in sports economics, the powers of the players and those of the clubs, and the transfer decision normally have no great consequences on the impact of the competitive balance of football in Luton, England. Nevertheless, it increases their bargaining power and at times influences even the decisions that the referee makes during actual football matches. More powers invested in the players would see the sudden increase in the quality of football and the overall increase in the players' salaries and thus reduce exploitation. Asymmetric freedom in open labor markets and closed national leagues distorts the distribution of talent among European leagues. The simultaneous emergence of Champions League from a knock-out European Cup tournament since 1992 reflects a series of ad hoc concessions of UEFA to quell revolutionary threats of a breakaway European Super-League. Research Design In choosing the research design for this research topic, a great deal of consideration had to be made. The time required to do the research and the resources available to carry out this research in the most cost effective manner were some of the factors considered. Moreover, the research of the balance of power between football players and football clubs covers many individuals. In the choice of the research design method used, much consideration was put on the target group in an attempt to ensure that more effort is put on the actual stakeholders in football around Luton and a few other areas in England. In the research, ethnographic research design shall be used to analyze the current situation and come up with crucial and quite viable conclusions (Sharon and Merriam, 1988). Justification of the Research Design Chosen Ethnographic research design refers to the research design where the researcher provides descriptions of human societies. This methodology of design does not actually prescribe the use of any particular method. Observation, administration of questionnaires and interviews may be used but through a very naturalistic method of study that enhances the efficiency and acceptance of the research findings. Since the research design method entails asking of questions, discovery of new ideas and exploration, the results are often very accurate. The fact that Luton area is not very big is a good reason to employ the ethnographic research method due to the flexibility involved. Since the researcher lives in Luton and it is much easier to allow active participation of the Luton community which is at the centre of the research in the power between football players and football clubs. Indeed the fact that Luton area has in the past and still participates in many football sporting activities makes Ethnographic research design a better methodology to use since people would be more receptive. Moreover, the research would be done in a natural setting; it enhances intimate face to face interaction with participants; leads to an accurate reflection of participants' perspectives and their behaviors; utilizes multiple data sources qualitatively and leads to an analytic strategies to build local cultural theories. This method is also quite suitable in this case since it will enable the framing of behaviors of the respondents in the best socio-political and historical context. In addition to the above justifications of the use of ethnographic design, the method has the benefit of ensuring that people do not know what they actually want. The design method would therefore enable me to get more reliable responses from the respondents. Lies are therefore minimized. This method also enables the researcher to clearly put the research questions in the most appropriate context in reference to the research topic. The research design also gives more emphasis on the research population being sampled thus ensuring that the focus is on the study population. The data to be collected would be related to the pattern of their participation in football as a sport, the number of individuals fully depending on football for income, the number of small and major football clubs in the area of study, the income disparities among footballers, the ownership of the football clubs and the people who control real power within the clubs. Furthermore, data on the participation of football players in the formulation of football policies in the area and the percentage of footballers, either past or the current ones, in the leadership of their club would also be collected. Cash flow related data in football clubs in Loton and in other English clubs would also be collected and analyzed as well as the composition of football teams' players and owners of the clubs. This would mainly be on the basis of their countries of origin. Data Design During the data collection using ethnographic research, observation of the actual composition of players in football clubs would be done where possible. In some cases, a study of the available records would be done (Bath, 2008; Mark and Huberman, 1994). Data collection process require more complicated processing because of their qualitative nature hence both open ended questions and closed ended questions would be used wherever they are considered to be vital. Research Sample An average of four individuals would be interviewed in the football clubs. A few key stakeholders within the Luton area would also be interviewed. This small number can be attributed to the fact that ethnographic research mainly depends on the actual viewing and interaction with people rather than the administration of a questionnaire. The sample of people, areas, institutions and clubs to be used in the study sample would be chosen using the stratified random sampling at the lower levels (Bath, 2008; Mark and Huberman, 1994). At the senior football clubs and institutions, two senior personnel and two players would be used as a study sample in the data collection process. One the data collection processes is done, the constant comparison (the grounded theory) data analysis theory would be used to analyze the data and come up with conclusions of the findings from the research. This method entails studying the data collected such as the field note, looking at the document for any indicators of categories in events and behavior and then do a comparison of codes to find consistencies and differences (Sharon, 1988). Research Material Required Since ethnographic research would be used in the proposed research, no special research materials or tools are required in the process. Moreover, no specific facilities are of travelling and walking would be required as opposed to actual materials. The talking and interaction with people mainly needs more time and communication with core individuals that aid in the ethnographic data collection study. Instead, only a mobile phone to facilitate making of calls would be needed. Budget The budget of the research includes but is not limited to the following research costs: - Making of phone call (airtime) and travelling costs and; -Food, accommodation fees and payment to interviewers. Provisional Timetable of the Research Please refer to the table below Activity Estimated Timeframe Development of the research objective 1 day Designing research protocol 1 week Designing or adopting the instruments for research 1 week Recruit interviewers 2 weeks Translate instruments into local language where necessary (ethnographic design) 1 week Train interviewers (include pretesting and revising instruments in training) 1 week Collect data 3-5 days per geographic site Transcribe recordings 1 week Translate transcripts 1-2 weeks Preliminary analysis in field 3 days Prepare for presentation 1 day Present preliminary results to communities 1 day References Bailey, NP 2005, The very definition of the Luton town football. Nottingham: Soccer data. ISBN 1899468102.' Bath, R ed., 2008, The Complete Book of Football: Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1 86200 013 3, pp. 87 Collings, T 1985, The luton town story and the British football. 1885-1995. Luton: Luton Town F.C. ISBN 1-951067, pp. 90-7.' James, PS 1980, Participant observation research. Taxonomic Analysis, Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Publishers. Hayes, DP November 2002, Complete top hatters of football. Dunstable: The Book Castle. ISBN 1903747279. Mark, B & Huberman, A 1994, Qualitative analysis of data collected, 2nd ed. Newbury Park, Cal.: Sage. Sharon, M 1988, Football in England. Jossey-Bass. Logical Analysis/Matrix Analysis: Miles Publishers. Typological Systems: John Lofland & Lyn H. Lofland 1995, Analyzing the social settings in Laton, 3rd Ed. Belmont, Cal.: Wadsworth. Read More