In the unforgiving world of professional football, team crises are an inevitable nightmare. Characterized by unexpected and long-lasting failures within a season, they have a devastating effect on the club and the players. Escalating pressure, excruciating job anxiety and existential concerns are just a few of the horrors at the individual level. In addition, looming relegation, massive revenue losses and loss of the club's reputation are just a few of the consequences at the club level. Despite the dramatic nature of these consequences, we know surprisingly little about how crises arise and what factors cause them to persist over multiple games or even a whole season. This project therefore aims to explore the conditions and influencing factors of perfprmance crises in professional football, with a focus on psychological aspects. To investigate this, the conditions of origin and influencing factors of these crises are first carefully identified using qualitative studies, after which a model is created that comprehensively explains these phenomena. Based on this, an innovative measuring instrument capturing the central constructs of such crises is developed and evaluated. At the end of the project, the initial model will be tested in an empirical study. Through sophisticated data analysis the correlations and mechanisms driving the vicious circle of team crises in professional football will be revealed. This ambitious project promises exciting insights for the public and a breakthrough for researchers in this field. It will challenge our imagination and open the door to a deeper, more captivating understanding of the dark side of professional football. Further information

Duration

• 36 months

• Start: 08/2023

• End: 08/2026

Study endpoints

• Development of a model to describe the conditions of origin and determinants of crises in professional football

• Development and testing of a questionnaire to describe and predict crises in professional football
  

A qualitative study is carried out to identify central conditions and determinants of team crises in professional football as well as the creation of an associated model. In order to examine the phenomena from different angles, interviews with various representatives of a club (coach, players) are conducted, whereby they are asked to share their own experiences and perceptions regarding the crisis. The evaluation of the interviews is conducted using the approach of qualitative content analysis, with the objective of developing a model from the data. Further information