English Football League Research Articles

Competitive Balance and Consumer Demand in the English Football League

Competitive balance in sports leagues is often used to justify revenue sharing agreements. The justification is that competitive balance leads to higher attendance and higher attendance generates more revenues. By sharing revenue, small market teams can afford to pay for high quality talent, assuring more equal distribution of that talent. Unlike US professional leagues, English football operates under a system of relegation and promotion so that at the end of each season the worst performing teams are "relegated" and the top performing teams in the next level down are "promoted". This may serve as an alternative to revenue sharing to maintain competitive balance.Using data from the top English football league (currently the Premiership) from 1888-89 through the 2014-15 season we calculate multiple measures of league competitive balance for each year using both 3-1-0 and 2-1-0 point systems. We then use these measures with available macroeconomic control variables to examine the relationship between competitive balance and match attendance.We find that, counter to related work in US sports leagues, competitive balance in English football is negatively associated with attendance. This is particularly true in the case of the Premiership era, wherein only five teams have won the championship and in the past 10 seasons, the top 4 places of the championship has been dominated by 7 clubs, yet attendance has steadily increased. This result raises questions about the utility of revenue sharing in increasing attendance in English football.

The provision of medical care in English professional football: An update.

To compare the current methods of appointment, qualifications and occupational experience of club doctors and physiotherapists in English professional football with (i) those outlined in a study published in 1999, and (ii) Football Association (FA) medical regulations. Qualitative. Postal questionnaire survey of (head) doctors and physiotherapists at each of the clubs in the English Premiership, Championship and Football Leagues 1 and 2. Response rates of 35.8% and 45.6% respectively were obtained. The majority of football club doctors are GPs who have sports medicine qualifications and relevant occupational experience. Time commitments vary from full time to a few hours per week. Most are appointed through personal contacts rather than job advertisements and/or interview. Almost all football clubs have a chartered physiotherapist, many of whom have a postgraduate qualification. They work full time and long hours. Most are appointed through personal contacts rather than job advertisements. They are frequently interviewed but not always by someone qualified to judge their professional expertise. Football club medical provision has become more extensive and increasingly professional over the last 10-20years, with better qualified, more career-oriented and more formally contracted staff. It is likely that clinical autonomy has subsequently increased. However recruitment procedures still need to be improved, especially in relation to advertising vacancies, interviewing candidates, and including medical personnel on interview panels. In two aspects clubs appear not to be compliant with current FA medical regulations.

The People’s Game: Football, State, and Society in East Germany by Alan McDougall

Reviewed by: The People’s Game: Football, State, and Society in East Germany by Alan McDougall László Kürti (bio) Alan McDougall. The People’s Game: Football, State, and Society in East Germany. 362pp. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. ISBN 9781107052031. “Everyone is an expert about football,” popular parlance has it in Eastern Europe. Alan McDougall has produced an excellent monograph on a little known aspect of socialist sport, football (or soccer as it is known in much of the English-speaking world) in what was once called the GDR (or DDR), German Democratic Republic, a communist state that existed in 1949–90. McDougall is not unknown in the discipline of East German history; he produced a milestone book in 2004 on the Free German Youth Movement (FDJ). This time, however, he offers a wonderful antidote to general theories about sport reflecting social issues. The People’s Game does make it clear that football of the East German variety was not simply a favorite pastime for diehard fans and club managers but relates to larger issues of politics, identity, and economy. Methodologically the book rests on a solid foundation: McDougall researched regional archives, utilized printed primary sources, and in order to obtain data about personal experiences he conducted interviews with fans. The book is organized thematically and chronologically, starting with the early GDR years of 1945–49 (chapter 2), and ending with the years of its demise between 1989 and 1991. The focal aspect of McDougall’s study is organized into three parts. In Part I, the focus is on football as performance sport, as experienced by its central characters, the players, national teams, football clubs, and the role of the secret police, the Stasi. This latter point is especially fascinating as we learn how coaches, star players, and referees worked for the Stasi as informers. In Part II, McDougall switches to football as a spectator sport, tackling spectatorship in the Ulbricht era, the fan culture during the subsequent Honecker years, and the rise of hooliganism during the same period. We learn much about the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) and its stance on football as well as spectators. Here, chapter 9 is especially revealing of the ways in which the East German state failed to curb football unrest, a failure that paralleled similar global hooliganism. The subsequent chapter presents an even more interesting picture about football and corruption in the GDR. More than any other chapters, chapters 9 and 10 offer the most valuable data about the connection of politics and public sentiments about football and the rejection of the Honecker regime. Part III concentrates on football as a mass participatory activity as we learn a great deal about everyday life experiences of players and fans alike. Chapters detail topics such as women’s football, matches between East and West German amateur teams, and the nature of mass sport and the failing facilities and [End Page 161] infrastructural problems. McDougall is correct in emphasizing that football in East Germany was unique in the Eastern bloc, as it “tended to be more subversive than state-affirming” by “keeping alive expressions of Heimat, Resistenz, and individualism that stubbornly resisted the SED’s dictatorial goals” (336). As a final note: it is safe to say, as McDougall duly asserts in his concluding chapter, that football clubs from the former East Germany will exist outside the German premier league system and will remain second-class for many years to come. The two most successful ones, Dynamo Dresden and F. C. Hansa Rostock, have been relegated to the second and third divisions in the Bundesliga. Despite this status, Germans, both East and West, enjoy their game: after the English football league championship, the 2. Bundesliga is the second-most-watched secondary football league in the world. I congratulate McDougall for providing a succinct and heretofore unknown English-language analysis about the history of this fascinating world. His book can be highly recommended both to specialists of East Germany and its policies toward sport and to those concerned with politics and sport in general. Graduate students will, no doubt, find many challenging and exciting questions in McDougall’s book to utilize in their...

The Dynamics of Quadropoly: League Position in English Football between 1888 and 2010

This paper explores competitive balance in top-tier English league football from its inception in 1888. It examines the extent to which finishing in the top four positions in successive seasons is the preserve of a small number of clubs. Using a range of statistical measures, the analysis shows that the current high levels of competitive imbalance are not new phenomena. The overall pattern approximates a ‘U curve’: current patterns parallel those in the 1890s. In the early years of English league football, differences in resources between clubs soon became apparent. Clubs from the larger conurbations generated consistently larger revenues than their counterparts in the smaller industrial towns. The introduction of the maximum wage in 1901 and the transfer system helped to stem these increasing inequalities between clubs. This coincided with a massive wave of new stadia construction which enabled all the clubs to compete on an increasingly level playing field. These conjunctural changes to English football before 1915 produced the era of relatively competitive football during the inter-war years. This continued until the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961. Since that time, competitive balance has reversed and become increasingly restricted. English top-tier football has re-entered an era of extreme competitive imbalance.

Maturational effect on Functional Movement Screen™ score in adolescent soccer players.

The effect of maturity on Functional Movement Screen (FMS) scores in elite, adolescent soccer players was examined. A cross-sectional observational study was completed. Participants were 1163 male English Football League soccer players (age 8-18 years). Players were mid-foundation phase (MF) (U9); late foundation phase (LF) (U10 and U11); early youth development phase (EYD) (U12 and U13); mid-youth development (MYD) phase (U14-U15); Late Youth Development Phase (LYD) (U16) and early professional development phase (EPD) (U18). Age from peak height velocity was estimated and players were categorized as pre- or post-peak height velocity (PHV). To analyse where differences in FMStotal score existed we separated the screen into FMSmove (3 movement tests); FMSflex (2 mobility tests) and FMSstab (2 stability tests). FMStotal median score ranged from 11 at MF to 14 for EPD. There was a substantial increase (10%) in those able to achieve a score of ≥14 on FMStotal in those who were post-PHV compared to pre-PHV. This was explained by a substantial increase in those achieving a score of ≥4 on FMSstab (21%). There was a substantial increase in the proportion of players who achieved the FMStotal threshold of ≥14 with an increase of 47.5 (41.4-53.6)% from the MF phase to the EPD phase due to improvements in FMSmove and FMSstab. PHV and maturity have substantial effects on FMS performance. FMS assessment appears to be invalid for very young players. Findings are relevant to those analyzing movement in soccer players.

Neural network models for group behavior prediction: a case of soccer match attendance

Soccer match attendance is an example of group behavior with noisy context that can only be approximated by a limited set of quantifiable factors. However, match attendance is representative of a wider spectrum of context-based behaviors for which only the aggregate effect of otherwise individual decisions is observable. Modeling of such behaviors is desirable from the perspective of economics, psychology, and other social studies with prospective use in simulators, games, product planning, and advertising. In this paper, we evaluate the efficiency of different neural network architectures as models of context in attendance behavior by comparing the achieved prediction accuracy of a multilayer perceptron (MLP), an Elman recurrent neural network (RNN), a time-lagged feedforward neural network (TLFN), and a radial basis function network (RBFN) against a multiple linear regression model, an autoregressive moving average model with exogenous inputs, and a naive cumulative mean model. We show that the MLP, TLFN, and RNN are superior to the RBFN and achieve comparable prediction accuracy on datasets of three teams from the English Football League Championship, which indicates weak importance of context transition modeled by the TLFN and the RNN. The experiments demonstrate that all neural network models outperform linear predictors by a significant margin. We show that neural models built on individual datasets achieve better performance than a generalized neural model constructed from pooled data. We analyze the input parameter influences extracted from trained networks and show that there is an agreement between nonlinear and linear measures about the most significant attributes.

An Evaluation of a Mental Toughness Education and Training Program for Early-Career English Football League Referees

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a Mental Toughness Education and Training Program (MTETP) in elite football officiating. The MTETP consisted of four individual and two group-based workshops designed to develop mental toughness (MT) and enhance performance in three English Football League (EFL) referees. Adopting a single-subject, multiple-baseline-across-participants design, MT and referee-assessor reports were evaluated. Self and coach-ratings of MT highlighted an instant and continued improvement in all three referees during the intervention phases. Performance reports of all referees improved throughout the intervention phases compared with the baseline phase. Social validation data indicated that an array of strategies within the MTETP facilitated MT development. Discussions acknowledge theoretical and practical implications relating to the continued progression of MT interventions in elite sport.

Agreement between Two Methods of Dietary Data Collection in Male Adolescent Academy-Level Soccer Players.

Collecting accurate and reliable nutritional data from adolescent populations is challenging, with current methods providing significant under-reporting. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the accuracy of a combined dietary data collection method (self-reported weighed food diary, supplemented with a 24-h recall) when compared to researcher observed energy intake in male adolescent soccer players. Twelve Academy players from an English Football League club participated in the study. Players attended a 12 h period in the laboratory (08:00 h–20:00 h), during which food and drink items were available and were consumed ad libitum. Food was also provided to consume at home between 20:00 h and 08:00 h the following morning under free-living conditions. To calculate the participant reported energy intake, food and drink items were weighed and recorded in a food diary by each participant, which was supplemented with information provided through a 24-h recall interview the following morning. Linear regression, limits of agreement (LOA) and typical error (coefficient of variation; CV) were used to quantify agreement between observer and participant reported 24-h energy intake. Difference between methods was assessed using a paired samples t-test. Participants systematically under-reported energy intake in comparison to that observed (p < 0.01) but the magnitude of this bias was small and consistent (mean bias = −88 kcal·day−1, 95% CI for bias = −146 to −29 kcal·day−1). For random error, the 95% LOA between methods ranged between −1.11 to 0.37 MJ·day−1 (−256 to 88 kcal·day−1). The standard error of the estimate was low, with a typical error between measurements of 3.1%. These data suggest that the combined dietary data collection method could be used interchangeably with the gold standard observed food intake technique in the population studied providing that appropriate adjustment is made for the systematic under-reporting common to such methods.

Post-playing careers of Irish-born footballers in England, 1945–2010

This article uses player interviews and secondary sources to analyse the post-playing careers of a number of Irish-born footballers who played in English league football during the period from the end of the Second World War to 2010. It will illustrate that the majority of these players attempted to remain in the game in some capacity after retiring. Changes in the post-playing career routes attempted by retired players indicate that while more modern careers such as agent and sport science-related work are now available, the number of players who complete secondary-level education and attain third-level degrees remains low. Despite more emphasis on educating young recruits, the level of qualifications available at clubs has been problematic for those seeking to further their education outside the game. In addition, financial difficulties and a change in identity have left many players facing tough mental challenges on retirement from football.

Catch Me If You Can

The central hypothesis of this study is that relationships develop systematically between referees and teams and affect referees’ decisions. Referees’ travel distance to respective stadiums and count of matches refereed for respective teams are used to measure long-term relationships. We find some evidence that the count of referee–team interactions affects disciplinary cautions in lower divisions of the English Football League. This is less evident in higher divisions where, however, distances between referees’ hometowns and stadiums appear to play a role. The influence of distance further increases with the extent of referees’ experience with the respective teams.

84 The Emergency Response Facilities and Secondary Prevention Strategies Across Professional Football Clubs in England

Purpose The sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) of a professional athlete is a tragic, highly publicised event with profound implications. Recent studies have demonstrated that quick and effective defibrillation has the potential to prevent sudden cardiac deaths. Of concern, a study across European football arenas revealed significant deficiencies in emergency preparations, with up to a third of arenas lacking on site automated external defibrillators (AEDs), medical action plans and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training programmes. This study aimed to map the emergency response planning and prevention strategies across professional football clubs in England and identify potential differences between top level and lower division clubs. Methods Between June and October 2014, in collaboration with The Football Association (FA), we sent a questionnaire to the medical personnel of all 92 professional clubs across the English football league. The questionnaire covered four key areas: cardiac screening; emergency planning; provision and training of AEDs; and provision of emergency services for the players on match days. Results With a response rate of 65%, 60 clubs responded to our survey (Figure 1). All clubs participated in cardiac screening as per The FA guidelines. All clubs provided AEDs for their players not only on match days but also during training sessions. In contrast to the Premiership however, where all clubs provided AED training to designated staff, almost 30% of clubs in the lower divisions had available devices but no formal training for the staff. The majority of clubs across all divisions reported the existence of an emergency action plan for SCA but the presence of documentation was variable. Almost all clubs in the Premiership and 1 st division who had an action plan had it clearly documented, while only 78% of clubs in the Championship and 63% in 2 nd division with a plan provided formal documentation. Finally, all clubs in the Premiership and 1 st division but only 70% of clubs in Championship and 2 nd division provided an ambulance on match day. Conclusions/implications Our study indicates that the majority of clubs in England have satisfactory prevention strategies and emergency response planning. In comparison to the ARENA safety study, clubs across the English football league outperform their European counterparts as all ensured AED provision and 70% provided a documented emergency action plan. Improvements, however, are necessary to further enhance cardiovascular safety of all athletes and close the gap between the Premiership and lower divisions.

English professional football players concussion knowledge and attitude

BackgroundConcussions are a common pathology in football and multiple misconceptions exist amongst the players and managers. To address these misconceptions, and potentially reduce concussion associated sequela, effective educational interventions need to be developed. However, the current knowledge and attitude status must be ascertained to appropriately develop these interventions. The purpose of this study was to assess the concussion knowledge and attitude of English professional footballers. MethodsTwenty-six participants from one English Football League Championship club completed the study. A mixed methods approach included the Rosenbaum Concussion Knowledge and Attitudes Survey (RoCKAS) and a semi-structured interview. The RoCKAS contains separate knowledge (0–25) and attitude (15–75) scores and was followed by a semi-structured interview consisting of concussion knowledge, attitude, and behavior related questions. ResultsThe mean score on the RoCKAS knowledge was 16.4 ± 2.9 (range 11–22) and the attitude score was 59.6 ± 8.5 (range 41–71). The interview responses identified inconsistencies between the RoCKAS and the intended behaviors, endorsing multiple concussion misconceptions, and revealed barriers to concussion reporting. ConclusionThe results of this study suggest that Championship Level English footballers have moderate concussion knowledge, safe attitudes, and good concussion symptom recognition when assessed with pen and paper questionnaires. However, within the semi-structured interview many respondents reported unsafe concussion behaviors despite accurately identifying the potential risks. Further, multiple barriers to concussion reporting were identified which included perceived severity of the injury, game situations, and the substitution rule. These findings can help form the foundation of educational interventions to potentially improve concussion reporting behaviors amongst professional footballers.

International sports law journal (2015) 15:1–2

2015 is the year of anniversaries in sports law. It is a century exactly since, in April 1915, an English football league first division match between Manchester United and Liverpool was fixed in United’s favour for financial gain by a number of the players involved. 100 years later, an English league football is dealing with a series of criminal trials relating to arrests made by the UK’s National Crime Agency after an investigation prompted by newspaper allegations of match fixing. In addition, a current Manchester United player, Ander Herrera, may still be called as a witness to a Spanish court hearing later this year over allegations that a match in May 2011 between Levante and his former club Real Zaragoza was illegally interfered with to ensure the latter won to avoid relegation. Herrera forcefully denies any wrongdoing. Sports gambling and possible, related corruption have become much more sophisticated since the ‘‘fix’’ of 1915, which was motivated by the fact that the footballers in question were facing a league shut down given the escalation of World War I. A recent investigation by the BBC, for instance, focused on the use of ‘‘courtsiders’’, who send back live data to syndicates and betting companies while tennis matches are under way. Courtsiding is linked to ‘‘inplay’’ betting, the purpose being to send back information faster than TV or betting companies can get the data and thus manipulate the odds on betting exchanges. The analogy is to high-frequency trading on the stock exchange where facilitated by tailored computer programmes, a micro-second advantage can translate into profit. The BBC investigation into courtsiders claimed that 75 people were at last year’s Wimbledon final, sending information back or betting on their own. It further noted that the tennis authorities, principally through its Tennis Integrity Unit, have been trying to ‘‘weed out’’ courtsiders for years, although tennis umpires apparently provide official score data which are used by betting companies. The BBC investigation focused on a ‘‘courtsider’’ who was arrested at the Australian Open, and later released. It seems that, although courtsiding is not fixing as generally understood, it does illustrate that the key to understanding gambling odds is that prior inside information of any kind remains fundamental to financial gain on the betting markets. Changing to an anniversary of an altogether different kind, 30 years ago football faced tragedy with the Bradford City FC stadium fire which killed 56 on 11 May 1985. Recent coverage of the fire in the British media has focussed on the publication of a book suggesting that, far from being an accident as the immediate tribunal inquiry found, the fire was started by Bradford’s then chairman for insurance fraud purposes. The coverage prompted the chair of the original tribunal, a former judge, to dismiss the allegations as speculative and unhelpful. Not long after the Bradford fire, 39 spectators lost their lives at the European Cup final between Juventus and Liverpool held at the crumbling, 1920s-built Heysel stadium. According to one British journalist, ‘‘Heysel was the disgraceful culmination of more than a decade of ugly incidents involving English supporters on their European travels: Tottenham Hotspur in Rotterdam in 1974 and 1983, Leeds United in Paris in 1975, Manchester United in St Etienne in 1977, the national team in Basle in 1981 and so on until the spiral of moronic violence reached its tragic conclusion—logical in one sense, crazy in all others—in Brussels’’. Subsequently, English football was, & Jack Anderson jack.anderson@qub.ac.uk

Handbook on the economics of professional football

Contents: Introduction John Goddard and Peter Sloane PART 1 THE PRODUCT MARKET 1. Club Objectives P. Sloane 2. League Structure, Promotion and Relegation J. Goddard 3. Measurement of Competitive Balance and Uncertainty of Outcome D. Owen 4. Spectator Demand and Attendances in English League Football B. Buraimo 5. The Collection and Distribution of Media Rights in a Win Maximisation League S. Kesenne 6. Football Finances S. Morrow 7. Insolvency in English Football S. Szymanski 8. Sponsorship and Football S. Bridgewater 9. Econometric modelling of Match Results and Scores I. McHale and Rose Baker PART 2 THE LABOUR MARKET 10. Team Performance : Production Efficiency in Football F. Carmichael and D. Thomas 11. Management Ability, Strategy, Tactics and Team Performance C. Pestana Barros, E. Couto and A. Samagaio 12. Achieving Transactional Efficiency in Professional Team Sports The Theory and Practice of Player Valuation W. Gerrard 13. The Footballers' Labour Market after the Bosman Ruling B. Frick and R. Simmons 14. International Migration of Professional Footballers R. Poli 15. Labour Market Discrimination B. Reilly 16. The Football Manager J. Goddard PART 3 COUNTRY STUDIES 17. English Professional Football P.Downward 18. French Professional Football: How Much Different? W.Andreff 19. The Decline of Professional Football in Italy T. Boeri and B. Severgnini 20. Professional Soccer in the Netherlands R. Koning 21. Major League Soccer in the USA T Jewell 22. Professional Football in Japan W. Manzenreiter and J. Horne PART 4 POLICY ISSUES 23. Football and Betting D. Forrest 24. Refereeing and Infringement of the Rules P. Dawson 25. Detecting Corruption in Football J. Reade Index

From Sportswear to Leisurewear: The Evolution of English Football League Shirt Design in the Replica Kit Era

The football shirt is of iconic significance, defining a club's visual identity through its role as sporting uniform and fan identifier, providing a canvas for commercial interactions and increasingly acting as the focus of nostalgia and collector culture. In this article we focus on the football shirt's extension from sportswear to a replica product worn as cross-generational leisurewear. We first consider how a replica's authenticity, its principal attribute, exists in objective, constructive and existential contexts. We then demonstrate how the subsequent focus of kit manufacturers and clubs on satisfying these differing interpretations of authenticity has influenced football shirt design. For two decades, replica kits were marketed as sportswear to children, with attempts to enhance the football shirt's authenticity through distinctiveness and exclusivity leading to copyrighted designs, manufacturer's logos and increased patterning. However, as the replica football shirt became adult leisurewear, the changing customer base led to retrospective and recycled shirt designs proclaiming a club's distinct identity through its heritage, fulfilling fans' nostalgic interpretations of a club's authentic kit, and reflecting fans' use of replica shirts to display their authenticity as a genuine fan. These ideals have also inspired a parallel retro-replica industry and, we argue, caused stagnation in the development of the aesthetic elements of contemporary kit design, which had previously demonstrated innovation interspersed with periods of consolidation, but had taken few retrospective turns. Genuine innovation in football shirt design has increasingly become restricted to technological advances and marketing strategies.

The migration of Irish-born footballers to England, 1945–2010

This article will look at the experiences and achievement levels of Irish-born post-war football migrants to England using player interviews and secondary sources. The problems of cultural adaption, ‘bullying’ and anti-Irish abuse will be examined. The majority of Irish footballing migrants between 1945 and 2010 have not played in English football’s top division or gained senior international honours. Increasing recruitment of foreign players means that the number of Republic of Ireland-born footballers featuring in top-flight English football, and gaining senior international caps, has declined significantly over the last two decades. In addition, there has also been a decrease in the number of Northern Ireland-born footballers playing at the highest level of English league football since the 1986–1995 period. Despite this, there are no plans in place at government level or within Irish football’s administrative bodies to create an alternative structure to English professional football strong enough to prevent Ireland’s aspiring players from migrating at an early age and without sufficient education to fall back on should they fail to make it in the game.

Trends in Demand for Acute Medical Care at Two Football Clubs over an Eighteen-Year Period

Introduction. Following the Hillsborough disaster, there is a requirement for crowd doctors to be present during football matches. However, there are little data on long-term trends in utilisation of crowd doctor services at sporting events. Methods. A retrospective service evaluation of presentations to the crowd doctor for 18 consecutive English Football League seasons: 13 seasons at Northampton Town Football Club (NTFC) followed by five seasons at Leicester City Football Club (LCFC). Data were analysed to determine the reason for, and severity of, presentation and the magnitude of the intervention required. Results. There were 429 recorded presentations to the crowd doctor over the 18 seasons. Patients’ age ranged from 3 to 93 years. 76% of presentations were due to an injury or illness arising at the match. The majority of presentations were with minor ailments (76%) requiring only minor intervention (88%); there were a small number of life-threatening presentations (1%) including three cardiac arrests. Conclusion. Crowd doctors may see patients in all age groups, presenting in a variety of ways. Most patients will have minor symptoms, but occasionally patients present with life-threatening problems. The crowd doctor must be competent assessing and treating all of these potential patient groups and pathologies.

Gate-Sharing and Talent Distribution in the English Football League

Using a database of the movements of more than 2,000 professional footballers in the top two divisions of the English Football League between 1969 and 1995, this article examines the impact on talent distribution via the movement of players after abolition of gate revenue sharing in 1983. We compare the results with the predictions of the Walrasian and Nash theoretical models presented in the sports economics literature. Our key finding is that the termination of gate revenue sharing brought about increased rates of transfers of quality players towards top division teams. We also find that there is an increased probability that better quality players will be transferred within divisions to bigger teams. These results go against one of the main theoretical predictions of the sports economics literature – that gate sharing will have no effect on competitive balance. Instead, they offer support for models based on win maximisation rather than profit maximisation.

Catch Me If You Can: Referee-Team Relationships and Disciplinary Cautions in Football

The central hypothesis of this study is that relationships develop systematically between referees and teams, and affect referees’ decisions. Referees’ travel distance to respective stadiums and count of matches refereed for respective teams are used to measure long-term relationships. We find some evidence that the count of referee-team interactions affects disciplinary cautions in Divisions 2 and 3 of the English Football League. This is less evident in the Premier League and in Division 1 where, however, geographic distances between referees’ hometowns and stadiums appear to play a role. Referees’ perception of the distance appears to further increase with the extent of referees’ experience with the teams. The effect of the relative distance on team advantage is stronger the higher the team’s relative stake in the game.

Bad for Business? The Effects of Hooliganism on English Professional Football Clubs

Football hooliganism, defined as episodes of crowd trouble inside and outside football stadiums on match days, is commonly perceived to have adverse effects on the sport. We are especially interested in the effects of football-related fan violence on a club’s potential for generating revenues. In this article, we measure hooliganism by arrests for football-related offenses. We analyze two distinct periods in the history of hooliganism in the English Football League: an early period, during which hooliganism was a fundamental social problem (seasons from 1984-1985 to 1994-1995), and a more recent period, in which hooliganism has been less prevalent (2001-2002 to 2009-2010). In the early period, we find evidence of an adverse effect of arrests on football club revenues for English League clubs. This effect disappears in the more recent period, showing that hooliganism, while still present but at lower levels, no longer has adverse effects on club finances. Our results support a hypothesis that recent “gentrification” has reduced hooliganism and thereby has had a positive influence on revenue generation.