Football Apprenticeships in England

This book examines the vocational socialisation
processes that young people must undertake in order
to be offered a full time contract by an English
professional football club. Aspiring young
footballers often make speculative decisions about
career choice during the years which Ginsberg
described as the 'fantasy period'. This work looks at
early career choice and also the factors that
influence an aspiring elite performer. After
surveying recent developments within professional
football at youth level, a case study of an English
football league club draws upon documents,
interviews, privileged insider observation, and a
sustained qualitative and ethnographic study of the
socialisation process into the incipient occupational
culture. The findings identify the conditions of
habitus for a professional footballer, the changing
dimensions to social class within the game and the
effects recent changes have had on clubs and young
players hoping to enter professional football as a
career. This book should interest sports academics
and parents wishing to gain an in-depth
understanding of the English professional game at
youth level.