[...]... maximize the chances of career success So, against this background understanding of the sociology of careers, the object of this next section is to provide an initial examination of the careers of male professional footballers in England The careers of professional footballers As noted, there is a great deal written about footballers, the football industry in general and the careers of professional. .. colonization of self in the foreword to a study of the history of professional footballers entitled Living to Play (Harding 2003) Focusing on the way in which the culture of the professional Professional football in context 17 game may come to be part of the very essence of a player, Taylor argues the following point: It can safely be said of heroes past and present, as well as of the many thousands of paid... of the process of work, the end products of work, the prestige associated with the work of a particular occupation, the prestige of the social contexts within which work occurs, and the position that work is allocated relative to other pastimes In football, these dimensions feature strongly, for individuals in the professional game derive a sense of self not only from the work in which they are engaged... reactions to their stories – many of Introduction 11 which focused on their insecurities – or my subsequent questioning? Readers of this study will judge whether I achieve an adequate understanding of the culture of work in professional football, the fragile and uncertain nature of playing careers, the ways in which the orientations of players to their work change over the course of their careers and the transformation... each week of each football season about professional football and the players, most of which emphasizes the glamour of the game and dramatic and decisive moments on the pitch (Gearing 1997) It would be difficult to argue against the notion that professional football is a relatively prestigious occupation Many supporters of the game would not hesitate to describe the work of professional footballers... understood as inseparable from the development of their working lives as professional footballers just as these are inseparable from the development of professional football overall Players continually attempt to orientate themselves within the social networks in which they are bound up in the hope of dealing or coping better with the problems that continually arise The focus of this book will be on career... detail an overview of the research process and the study sample The research This study involved interviews with forty-seven male professional footballers.2 Of these players, thirty-seven were, at the time of interview, contracted to clubs in one of the four professional football divisions in England Ten (recently) retired professional footballers were also interviewed The ages of the thirtyseven current... about the careers of professional footballers One of the central themes of this study concerns the orientations of players to their work In Chapter 2, I describe, and offer some initial thoughts concerning, what constitutes a good attitude in professional football. 6 I examine also a number of circumstances and contexts in which the display of a good attitude is meaningful; for example, I focus on the. .. seduced by the possibility of a career in professional football, even though they have little chance of success: Taylor indicates that three out of four players who join the game at the age of sixteen have departed from professional football by the time they are twenty-one years of age (Harding 2003: foreword) Even so, players understand that talent alone will not guarantee professional contracts in the long... players, most of which focuses overwhelmingly on the ‘heroes’ of the game and often exhibits a nostalgic and sentimental attachment to past eras Before examining the careers of players in relation to the explanatory models discussed in the previous section, it is worth detailing initially a number of salient properties and conditions of the work of professional footballers Professional football in context . former professional footballer. The work of professional football