New York, Routledge, 2006, 209p. , ISBN10: 0-415-36372-1
Most professional footballers don’t have a Ferrari, a mansion, a celebrity girlfriend or a lucrative book deal. Few of them will ever play at Wembley. Their careers are short, insecure, and played out under constant scrutiny. The Work of Professional Football offers a sociological study of the working lives of ‘ordinary’ professional footballers. Based on extensive research, including indepth interviews with players who have achieved varying degrees of professional success, it provides unprecedented insight into this ‘closed’ world, and a unique sociological exploration of a contemporary working culture.
Introduction
Professional football in context
Attitudes to work in professional football
Uncertainty and football injuries
Injuries, stigma and social identity
Transferring and the transformation of self
Transfer markets and informal grapevines
Control and the process of transferring
The fate of idealism in professional football
Conclusion
Most professional footballers don’t have a Ferrari, a mansion, a celebrity girlfriend or a lucrative book deal. Few of them will ever play at Wembley. Their careers are short, insecure, and played out under constant scrutiny. The Work of Professional Football offers a sociological study of the working lives of ‘ordinary’ professional footballers. Based on extensive research, including indepth interviews with players who have achieved varying degrees of professional success, it provides unprecedented insight into this ‘closed’ world, and a unique sociological exploration of a contemporary working culture.
Introduction
Professional football in context
Attitudes to work in professional football
Uncertainty and football injuries
Injuries, stigma and social identity
Transferring and the transformation of self
Transfer markets and informal grapevines
Control and the process of transferring
The fate of idealism in professional football
Conclusion