Jimmy O'Gorman

Where is the implementation in sport policy and programme analysis? The English Football Association's Charter Standard as an illustration

Although there is an abundance of research into sports programmes and policies that inherently discuss implementation, most fail to explicitly address this phenomenon, nor do they consider theories and concepts associated with implementation evident in social and political sciences. It is contended that to ignore such a vital process may limit or constrain knowledge of not only how and why sport policies and programmes have been implemented, but also how we come to make assumptions and propositions as to their impacts and relative successes or failures. This article seeks to encourage the incorporation, generation and innovation of existing implementation theories, concepts and models into the sport policy analysis lexicon. It is hoped that this will not only generally broaden the sport policy analysis research agenda, but specifically generate and develop a theoretically informed literature on the practice of sport policy and programme implementation to enhance sport policy students, academics and policymakers knowledge of the implementation process. To illustrate this, following a critique of top-down/bottom-up and synthesized models, this article applies Matlands (1995) model of conflict and ambiguity to The Football Associations Charter Standard Scheme. This article concludes by suggesting that Matlands (1995) model is a potential way forward for analysing case study-specific sport policy and programme implementation analyses.

The impact of New Labour's modernisation agenda on the English grass-roots football workforce.

Since the late 1990s, the grass-roots sporting workforce in England has been subjected to increasing policy intervention, primarily due to Government desire to use the private and voluntary sector to deliver a range of political objectives. English grass-roots football is arguably the most important site for this policy delivery given its huge popularity – providing the largest numbers of volunteers for any leisure pursuit in the UK [Sport England (2003)]. Despite this popularity, little is known about the grass-roots football workforce, made up of a large pool of volunteers, some governance staff and football development professionals – less still about the impact that such incipient policy interventions have had on their roles. This article draws on the data collected during separate PhD research undertaken by the authors to illustrate the impact that such policy interventions have had on the grass-roots workforce. Two recent strategies – The English Football Associations Charter Standard Scheme and The Equity Strategy – provide the focus. The data collected from interviews across a broad spectrum of grass-roots football personnel suggest a general uneasiness around the imposition of modernisation at this level.

Respect? An investigation into the experience of referees in association football:

This article focuses on the response by 2056 football referees across all 51 County Football Associations in England, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey to an online survey conducted from 30 September 2015 to 30 November 2015 regarding their experience of officiating since the implementation of a Respect programme in 2008 by the English Football Association. In assessing the impact of the programme, whilst 54 per cent of referees felt that it has been somewhat successful, there remains a need to implement stronger sanctions and show greater support when dealing with cases of misconduct. Some 60 per cent of referees still experience abuse every couple of games and 19 per cent have experienced some form of physical abuse. With 42 per cent of our sample officiating for less than five years, there is an urgent need for the impact and effectiveness of the programme to be re-evaluated.

The Distribution of Power through a Media Campaign: The Respect Program, Referees, and Abuse in Association Football

ABSTRACT The launch of the Respect Program in 2008 was intended to improve the working environment for referees at all levels of the game. However, eight years since the launch, this article has identified significant issues with the organization and management of the campaign and the verbal and physical abuse to which referees are subjected. Findings are concerned with the experiences of 2056 referees across England, the Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey, who responded to an online questionnaire, and given the emergent themes from the data are linked to a figurational framework through location within Norbert Eliass Civilizing Process. Findings identify a disenfranchised workforce, an uneven distribution of power and wider issues connected with the very structure of the game itself within England. The article concludes with specific recommendations designed to review and reinvigorate the Respect Program and as a consequence the working conditions for referees.