The lads who didn't make it: A view from the stands

• In Event: Critical Perspectives on Victims and Perpetrators

Abstract

This presentation shares preliminary findings from a series of interviews with professional football practitioners concerning the social harms attached to the English youth academy system.

This piece of research is part of a wider project examining youth academy players' experiences through a critical zemiological lens. Early findings include the professionalisation of youth football, the process and effects of release, the allure and seduction of the elite game, sacrifices made by players and their families, and the impact on friendships and relationships.

Interviewees include academy coaches, youth player care officials, senior figures in the sport's various professional bodies, those working in the charity sector supporting player transitions, and practitioners employed by several elite clubs' charitable foundations. We hope to highlight the need for critical sports criminology to engage with elite English youth football and add to a growing exploration of the embedded, normalised social harms in professional sport. Ultimately, we will argue that, despite both being enraptured by the beautiful game of football, the industry that scaffolds it is ripe for critical attention and honest dialogue with academics and practitioners alike.

Authors

• Nick Gibbs, Northumbria University

• Daniel Briggs, Northumbria University