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Management

In business terms, management involves extracting the maximum potential benefit from available resources. In football's production process a manager's real impact is rather less that the media sometimes suggest. Players score goals and make tackles, and the quality of players a club is able to buy is dependant on its financial situation. Yet management can be the essential ingredient that makes the difference between success and failure. The functions of the football manager seem to be an ability to judge players and provide them with additional motivation, together with a sound knowledge of tactics.

Most clubs today are still small businesses, although some have become relatively sophisticated organisations. At the top there are the directors, with responsibility for the club's overall strategy. Below them the operations of a club are broadly divided into two: a football section and a commercial section. On the football side, managers are now supported by a host of specialist assistants such as coaches, fitness trainers, physiotherapists and dieticians. Most top clubs have also established their own academies to groom younger players. With clubs recognising the need to maximise their income, many employ a chief executive who directs the marketing and financial performance. This can entail the management of sponsorship and corporate hospitality, as well as the marketing of a range of branded goods. A recent development has seen media companies investing in football, with some clubs possessing their own television channels.

In contrast, football's origins were humble. Early football clubs from the 1870s and 1880s were moulded by Britain's voluntary tradition. They were run by members who formed committees which amongst other things selected the team. Concerns over how clubs were run surfaced during the 1880s due to the increase in competition, and in particular the legalisation of professionalism in 1885. Football clubs were now businesses, albeit small one. With players being paid, clubs had to increase their revenues. Grounds were developed to meet the game's rising popularity, and in the 1890s many clubs turned themselves into limited liability companies.

Directors were then in overall charge of team affairs, but daily supervision of the players was divided between the trainer and the secretary, who was usually the club's only paid official. Many secretaries, like George Ramsay of Aston Villa, has played for the club during its amateur days. He was a clerk by trade and had overall responsibility for the club's administration, and also occasionally recruited players. Ramsay was the club's secretary from 1886 to 1924 but was responsible to a directorate which was dominated by Fred Rinder for much of the time.

Managers were rarely called managers before 1920, and held various titles. Some were secretaries, others secretary-managers. However, there were early pioneers in the art such, as William Sudell at Preston North End and Tom Watson at Sunderland and Liverpool. By the early 1900s more football clubs began to employ secretary-managers as the demands of the job increased. Directors also had to run their businesses and gradually devolved more responsibilities to them. Some directors were also aware of the game's increased media coverage, and the growing trend to look for scapegoats when results were poor.

Football managers often employed the military model of management in dealing with players, and this continued throughout the twentieth century. They also reflected British management's tradition of the 'practical man', as no qualifications were required for the job. During the inter-war period managers were appointed in increasing numbers, most of whom were former players. Some were given responsibility for both administrative and football matters. The man who did the most to change the perception of the football manager was Herbert Chapman. He established the manager as the fulcrum of the club, particularly at Arsenal between 1925 and 1934, when it was claimed he 'organised victory'. Chapman's career marked an early change from the amateur/voluntary tradition towards a more professional approach to football management.

Interference by directors, however, was an everyday fact for most managers. Only a handful, like Jimmy Seed at Charlton Athletic, enjoyed Chapman's autonomy. At Sheffield Wednesday in the 1930s, for example, Billy Walker's attempts to emulate Chapman were frustrated by the club's conservative directors. Some directors, such as James Taylor at Preston North End in the late 1930s, still felt team matters were best left in their hands. At Newcastle United this thinking persisted into the 1950s and, overall, directorial interference has never disappeared, as it is directors who carry the ultimate responsibility.

After 1945 there was an increase in the scale of business of leading clubs. One consequence was the secretary-manager's post being gradually split in two. The secretary now dealt with the club's administration, while the manager had responsibility for the team, if not complete control over it. More managers, however, were beginning to follow Chapman's lead. At Tottenham Hotspur, for example, Arthur Rowe was credited with inventing the 'push and run' style when his team won the Championship in 1951.

Managerial expertise came to be recognised by directors and players alike as a vital ingredient of the football business. Players increasingly expected managers to demonstrate a knowledge of coaching and tactics, and directors began to realise an expert was required who could 'play' the transfer market and/or had renowned coaching or motivational skills. Managers came to be regarded as technical experts and were rewarded with a greater autonomy. But with these extra responsibilities came more stress. The job was very public and a football manager was consumed by his work, leaving him with little time for family or leisure.

With the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961 there was a gradual economic rationalisation as big city clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Leeds United began to dominate. Liverpool's success may have been the result of a dynasty of managers, beginning with Bill Shankly, but it was the astute financial management of Peter Robinson which provided these managers with the necessary resources. The increase in autonomy coincided with the rise in football's coverage on television. By the 1970s managers were clearly identified (if arbitrarily) by the media as being responsible for a team's results. Some managers, such as Malcolm Allison and Ron Atkinson, attained celebrity status due to their charismatic personalities and 'quotability'.

The last 30 years have probably seen the manager at the peak of his powers. His role may now be coming to be more narrowly defined as clubs become larger enterprises. The Hillsborough tragedy; satellite television; the Premier League; the stock market flotation of many leading clubs; all have contributed to football's growing commercialisation in the 1990s, and this in turn has increased a player's power in the marketplace. The Bosman ruling of 1995 brought a deluge of foreign players who, like domestic players, demanded large salaries. Players were now seen as valuable assets who required careful handling. British managers were forced to adopt a more scientific approach to details such as fitness and diet. With so many foreign players, it is perhaps inevitable that some clubs, such as Chelsea, have engaged foreigners as managers.

Consequently, English clubs are now following, if not imitating, the European model where the manager is regarded as a tactician, with the wage negotiations of players taken out of his hands. The job of a football manager remains insecure, as illustrated by the job's very high turnover. A manager's importance will perhaps increase due to the need to give teams an edge in an increasingly competitive environment, but this may make managers more expendable as clubs search frantically for that vital quality which could make the difference between winning and losing.

Sources

Fishwick, N. English Football and Society, 1910-50 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1989)
Mason, T Association Football and English Society, 1863-1915 (Brighton: Harvester Press 1980)
Russell, D Football and the English: A Social History of Association Football in England 1863-1995 (Preston: Carnegie Publishing, 1997)
Wagg, S The Football World: A Contemporary Social History (Brighton: Harvester Press, 1984)