In 2009, the Football Association (FA), the national governing body of football in England, announced its plan to introduce the country's first semi-professional women's elite league. Launched in 2010 as the FA Women's Super League (FA WSL), its introduction provided both an opportunity to research whether this evidenced a change of position for the women's elite game within footballing narratives and also to examine the place of the FA within these. This study adopted a critical sociological feminist approach to deconstruct the assumptions, values and practices that frame the female game and the introduction of the FA WSL, while providing new insights into the role of the sport's governing organisation in defining elite women's football. Through observations at matches and interviews with people working within the women's game, an examination of the development and introduction of the FA WSL was undertaken, with valuable early insights provided into the first three years of the new League. The study identified that the introduction of the FA WSL was impacted upon by the complex, closed and gendered nature of the FA's organisational structure. The new League adhered to traditional societal concepts of hegemonic masculinity, heteronormativity and liberal approaches to gender equality. The study also found that the new elite women's structures required the clubs who gained entry into the FA WSL to adhere to commercialised, spectacularised and commodified values which dominate the men's game and neo liberal societal narratives. The increased inclusion of females into elite football structures did not profoundly disrupt traditional discourses or provide evidence of a fundamental challenge to gender inequality in the game.

This thesis takes a Marxist perspective on English football from 1883 to 1963 and charts the struggle between those who governed, the Football Association and the Football League and those whom they governed, the professional players. This was not only a struggle between opposing groups but also a struggle between opposing classes operating within the society/industry of English football. A struggle that was to endure as a result of the diametrically opposed ideologies each class held about the presence and/or purpose of the professional player. For the purpose of this research the cotton industry was used as a comparator from which developments in English football could be gauged to suggest that professional players had managed to successfully overcome the ideological domination of the governing bodies of English football, thus instigating a working-class revolution. Marx’s prediction for a workers’ revolution may not have materialised for the ordinary working class during the nineteenth century, however, this thesis suggests that such a revolution did occur in English football, post-1961, when the professional players and their Union representatives, the PFA, successfully fought for the removal of the maximum wage and the retain-and-transfer system.

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This thesis outlines research undertaken by formal collaboration between Everton Football Club's Football in the Community (FitC) scheme; Everton in the Community (FitC) and Liverpool John Moores University, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences. In recent years, there has been recognition of the influence that English Premier league (EPL) football clubs can have in attracting men to physical activity and health engagement programmes. Despite attempts to align FitC programmes with suitable evaluation procedures, there still remains limited evaluative empirical evidence. '. Study 1 adopted ethnographic principles to explore the effectiveness of, and identify the barriers to, promoting positive health behaviours and messages to male football fans at an EPL football stadium on match days. Results showed that in general, men did not wish to engage in health related behaviours on match days however approaches that did not impose on, nor contaminate, the men's match day experience were more successful. Study 2 adopted a multi-method approach to explore the distinct barriers that hard-to-reach (HTR) male populations encounter when attempting to commit to regular participation in physical activity and health behaviours and to examine the impact of engaging in a 12 week FitC intervention. Economic, environmental and social barriers to engagement in regular physical activity and positive health behaviours are highlighted and specific biopsychosocial effects of engaging in the FitC programme are identified. Study 3 utilised informal semi structured interviews with programme participants to explore the contextual, environmental and psychosocial barriers experienced by men from HTR populations. Psychosocial motivations for programme uptake and the impact of regular engagement in the FitC men's health programme are discussed. It is recommended that commissioning agencies should endorse and fund men's health initiatives delivered in and by professional sports clubs. To maintain participant engagement and maximise improvements to men's health and wellbeing, alterations to current practice and research are discussed.

Elite football players are required to train multiple metabolic and physical parameters simultaneously. Due to the nature of the competition schedule and training time available players often perform sports-specific endurance-training and high-load, low repetition resistance-training on the same day (Hoff et al., 2006). Empirical evidence highlights that when two disparate forms of muscular contraction are trained within the same training cycle, adaptations in strength and power related variables can become blunted - a situation most commonly referred to as the ‘interference phenomenon’ (Hickson, 1980). Experimental data suggest the organisation of each training stimulus can modulate the training response and exacerbate the ‘interference phenomenon’. However at present few data exist concerning how elite football teams currently organise their concurrent-training programmes. Furthermore to the authors’ knowledge no practical guidelines exist as to minimise the interference phenomenon within the constraints of the applied football environment. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to investigate the impact of training organisation on the acute and chronic responses to football-specific concurrent exercise programmes in elite football players. Initially we conducted a pilot study (chapter 3) to observe the concurrent-training strategies currently in place at a professional football club. The study had two aims (1) to describe the training frequency and training load across the first 10 weeks of a competitive season and (2) to characterise the acute organisation of training and nutritional intake around concurrent-training. It was found that training frequency and volume was greatest during the initial three weeks of the observation. Following this training frequency and training load decreased significantly. Although, following the decrease in training load there were no between week fluctuations in training load. Together, these results suggested that the reduced ‘pre-season period’ (i.e. 3 weeks) and the lack of fluctuation in training volume and intensity from weeks 4 to 10 may not be optimal for longer-term muscle performance (Fleck, 1999). The secondary findings from this study demonstrated that when concurrent-training was performed on the same day, the order of aerobic and resistance exercise, the nutritional availability and the recovery period between training sessions was unsystematic. It was thought that this approach to the organisation of concurrent-training may not have been optimal for longer term muscle adaptation. Collectively, this study showed that despite large investment in sports science departments and highly experienced coaches, the application of periodised and well-structured training is not always possible. The lack of systematic training and nutritional intake observed at this football club could have exacerbated the ‘interference phenomenon’ and subsequently been sub-optimal for longer term muscle adaptation and athlete performance. The purpose of study 1 and 2 (chapters 5 & 6) was to investigate if the concurrent exercise protocols previously observed could modulate the ‘interference phenomenon’. In a series of studies we investigated the muscular adaptations following 5 weeks of strength-training performed either before or after football-specific endurance-training (‘S + E’ and ‘E + S’). It was found that improvements in strength and power related variables become blunted in the S + E training group. It was hypothesised that the between group differences could be explained by the differences in muscle architecture adaptation observed in the E + S training group. As both training groups completed similar training loads it was thought that the recovery period and nutrient timing associated with each training group could have either ‘enhanced’ or ‘blunted’ underlying adaptive mechanisms respectively.

The overall purpose of this Ph.D. thesis was to identify factors underpinning football officiating excellence. As a result, this thesis provided an in-depth study into understanding Mental Toughness (MT) and its development within elite football referees. A secondary purpose was to use the findings of the series of studies contained herein, to bridge the gap between theory and applied practice by providing recommendations for football officiating National Governing Bodies (NGBs), sport psychology consultants, and developing a programme aimed at facilitating officiating excellence and enhancing effective referee development. The aim of the first study of the thesis was to provide an in-depth understanding of football officiating excellence in the context of English Premier League (EPL) refereeing. Specifically, in this study, 15 “Select Group” referees (i.e., a panel of elite football officials governed to referee EPL matches) were interviewed about their perceptions of factors underpinning officiating excellence. Overall, the findings of study one indicated that there was no single dominant factor underpinning football officiating excellence, rather a variety of social (e.g., support networks), physical (e.g., superior physical components), environmental (e.g., opportunities to thrive), and psychological factors (e.g., personal characteristics). In particular, it was clear that EPL referees rely on seven MT attributes (i.e., sport intelligence, achievement striving, tough attitude, high work-ethic, coping with pressure, robust self-belief, and resilience) to deal with the many demands in this elite football environment. Subsequently, this finding enabled a further study to examine MT in this area. Again, using one-to-one interviews, study two explored the same 15 Select Group referees to attain a comprehensive understanding of MT in elite football officiating. Central to this investigation, study two examined situations perceived to require MT in EPL refereeing, as well as the behaviours and cognitions deployed by referees in such situations. Findings revealed that these MT situations converged into five higher-order themes: pre-match situations, during-match situations, post-match situations, general elite refereeing situations, and general-life situations. Throughout these situations, a multifunctional set of adaptive patterns of behaviour (e.g., act as a barrier between players) and cognitive strategies (e.g., awareness of players' emotions) were outlined. Recommendations for the development of MT in football officiating were offered, which together with findings from study one, highlighted the need for the design and implementation of a MT intervention. The purpose of study three was to evaluate the effectiveness of a Mental Toughness Education and Training Programme (MTETP) in English football officiating. Taken together with the pilot study, the findings outlined the effectiveness of a MTETP on MT development and performance, provided a good starting point for future research in an effort to develop more robust MT interventions, and assisted sport psychology consultants who endeavour to enhance MT in football officials. From a theoretical perspective, the findings of this thesis provided a detailed insight into the specific factors underpinning football officiating excellence. In doing so, a comprehensive conceptualisation of MT and its development in the context EPL refereeing was achieved. From an applied perspective, future guidelines for NGBs, coaches, and sport psychology consultancy for the effective integration of MT education and training in elite football officiating were presented.

The English Football Association (FA) reported female soccer was the nation’s number one team sport for female sport participation (1.38 m). There is no research on physical- and match- performance of female soccer players in England at the elite level and no investigations in to the new re-structure that the English FA made in 2011 for both senior and youth levels. Therefore, the overarching aim of this research thesis was to develop physical performance and match performance profiles of female soccer players in England across senior and youth players at both elite and non-elite levels of play.

This thesis provides a commentary on my publications and considers how my research has developed through each phase of my adult life. This is a thesis in support of a PhD by Publication, where the tone and approach aims to appraise my output and consider its contribution and significance, resulting in a more personal account than a traditional PhD allows. It provides an explanation and justification for the publications, positioning them and the period of research within a contemporary context. Within this thesis, I outline the origins of my research and provide a commentary on my writing and research career alongside my personal development. I set my output within the context of the different stages of my career, both in terms of my previous business life and my formal academic engagement, where it should be stressed that each stage has built on the experience I gained during the previous one. My work focuses on the development of football within Manchester and is directly linked to the current state of knowledge and debates within sports history on the origins of football. It adds regional context that informs the wider debate on the game’s origins. The historical publications which this synthesis presents illustrate changing scholarly emphases since my first publication in 1989 while also demonstrating a raising in the quality of football writing and research. My work considers football’s growth, dependencies, successes and failures, providing evidence supporting considerations on every aspect of the sport. The submitted publications demonstrate my increasing focus on academic development through each phase of my working life. If my works in their entirety could be published as one volume, within its pages would be a coherent, all-encompassing tome documenting research that has challenged perceptions of Mancunian football and highlighting a factual account of how the game was established in the region, how it grew, who was influential on its propagation and development, who attended, who played and how rivalries became established.

This thesis examines how football reflects the identity of a specific community of Ulster unionists living in Northern Ireland. The central hypothesis at the heart of this study concerns the multifaceted nature of unionist and loyalist identity within a subgroup of Protestant, working class supporters of Glentoran Football Club residing in east Belfast. The thesis demonstrates that these supporters exhibit a multitude of identity positions that are influenced by historical, political and spatial factors and are neither constant across time nor consistent in any one individual. It is also established that among this group of Irish league supporters are a significant number of individuals who are able to exhibit a liberal unionist stance, contrary to the more intransigent views that have often been presented in previous work as representative of loyalist football supporters. Theoretically, this thesis is underpinned by a number of perspectives on national identity, the nation and nationalism and specifically those elements of theory that are most pertinent to the analysis of unionist identities and their expression. The study reveals that the identities that cohere around Glentoran FC lie on a continuum of identities that reflect Ulster British, civic, political and liberal unionism, Ulster Loyalist, ethnic and cultural unionist identity positions. In total, fifty people were interviewed, having been chosen through a mixture of purposive, snowballing and theoretical selection techniques. The sample consisted mainly of those who supported Glentoran, but also of those who had significant experience with the club such as players, staff employed by Glentoran FC and personnel within the Irish Football Association with significant experience. In addition to interviews, participant observation at 16 Glentoran matches was undertaken between May 2006 and May 2013 and documentary analysis was carried out to gather further information and to verify some of the statements made during interviews.

Historically, research in talent identification has used a reductionist approach, whereby elements for successful soccer performance have been assessed as discrete components and their predictive power examined in isolation to match performance. To examine attributes that contribute to successful performance, a multidimensional represented task, such as small-sided games (SSG’s), may play a crucial role in achieving this objective. The game technical scoring chart’s (GTSC) reliability and validity was established. This thesis examined and designed an appropriate SSG by examining appropriate pitch size, game duration and surface. Reliability of the SSG design was also established. Utilising this SSG design, a 4 v 4 multiple SSG was used in an attempt to identify the most talented player. The results demonstrated that the more successful players in the SSG’s were rated highly by coaches and played the SSG’s at a higher speed and covered greater distances than their less successful peers. Consequently, multiple SSG’s could be used to identify talented pre-pubertal soccer players. A further study, attempted to examine a possession-based SSG model for talent identification. The results demonstrated highly rated player’s won the most amount of games. Possession-based SSG’s could also be used in a multidimensional represented task talent identification model to determine the most talented players. Finally, the thesis examined the influence of decision-making on player’s performance in both the traditional and possession-based SSG’s and found that there were no significant relationships between decision-making and success in both the traditional and possession-based SSG. In conclusion, this thesis has identified that both a traditional and possession-based SSG could be used within a talent identification model to successfully identify talented players through the recording of players win to loss ratio in multiple SSG’s. This talent identification model could be used to continually assess players’ ability throughout a season to evaluate player development.