LYTA1014 Football Through an Academic Lens (3 cr)

Students will attend a series of interactive lectures delivered by football experts. The sessions will provide a blend of academic and practitioner aspects. The course encompasses 2 main areas:

1. Off the pitch - Socio-cultural and economic perspectives

• The emergence of modern football
• Football within contemporary society: Issues, challenges, and trends
• The football industry: Professionalisation and commercialisation
• Global and local contexts in football.

2. On the pitch - Technical perspectives

• The context of coaching in different levels of the game
• Performance analysis for football
• The use of technology in football
• Health and safety issues in grassroots and professional football.

On successful completion of this course, the student is able to:

• Understand and discuss the development of modern football
• Identify and explain issues and challenges in contemporary football
• Identify and compare various perspectives through which to examine football
• Evaluate and reflect on key academic and industry literature
• Be effective as well as inclusive as part of a task-oriented team
• Communicate effectively and appropriately in writing and verbally.

Spring term.

Szerovay, M., Nevala, A. & Itkonen, H. (2023). Football in the Nordic countries: Practices, equality and influence. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003280729

Chadwick, S., Parnell, D., Widdop, P. Anagnostopoulos, C. (2019). Routledge handbook of football business and management. Abingdon: Routledge.

Hughson, J., Spaaij, R., Maguire, J. A. & Moore, K. (2017). Routledge handbook of football studies. Abingdon: Routledge.

Relevant peer-reviewed journals, such as:

Soccer and Society; Sport in Society; European Sport Management Quarterly; International Review for the Sociology of Sport, International Sport Coaching Journal; Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport; Journal of Sport Sciences.