Great Expectations: Grimness or Glamour? The Football Apprentice in the
                                  1990s
                                    
                                    
                              Andrew Parker
                                    
             Department of Sociology, University of Warwick



Introduction 

Football is an accepted and celebrated element of popular culture.
Its stars have become contemporary heroes. At its simplest it represents
a game watched and played by millions. Exactly where its popularity
stems from is open to debate. What is certain is that, in reality,
we know relatively little about the inner-workings of the `People's
Game'. In fact, although a vast literature now surrounds the football
industry, insightful and substantive revelations regarding the day
to day activities of players, coaches and managers are few and far
between.

As far as English football is concerned, the emergence of such data
has been hindered largely by the insular atmosphere created and perpetuated
by those living and working in and around the game. On occasion the
inner sanctums of major professional clubs have been penetrated.1
Yet these attempts to capture the `realities' of the football world,
have been unconvincing. Nevertheless, what is clear from these sources
is that apart from the physical rigours of training and playing, life
inside the professional game revolves around a strict diet of authoritarianism,
ruthlessness, and an assortment of hyper-masculine occupational codes.

Probably the best known, and certainly the earliest expose of English
football's hidden secrets is Hunter Davies's (1972) The Glory Game
in which, from the viewpoint of journalist and supporter, the author
charts the fortunes of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club during the
1971/72 season. Described by one critic as a book of `missed opportunities'
incorporating all the faults of `impressionistic journalism', (See
Taylor 1972), this `fly on the wall' account, Davies (1972) argues,
is an attempt to transport the reader into the world of the professional
footballer in order to provide an understanding of the `pains and
pleasures' of that occupation.

Not that issues of access remained unproblematic here. On the contrary,
the depth to which Davies actually infiltrated the research setting
was made outwardly apparent when on completion and publication of
his findings an unhappy Tottenham Board threatened legal action on
account of the explicitness of his observations.

But what is more important is that in gaining such insight Davies's
(1972) work dispels many of the myths which accompany conventional
media portrayals of the professional football lifestyle. Granted,
images of individual affluence are included, and are, in one sense,
unavoidable. However, it is obvious throughout, that such material
conditions are available to but a fortunate few. Moreover, Davies
illustrates plainly that professional football is not all about fame
and glamour, rather, insecurity, loneliness and rejection emerge as
key themes in relation to both personal and professional circumstance,
as do equally poignant issues concerning recruitment and retirement.

Of course, Davies (1972) does not tell all. Keeping references towards
`.. girls and hotels to a minimum..', was, in hindsight, wise, given
the threatened litigation stimulated by his published version of the
`truth'.2 Furthermore, judging from comments in a more recent edition
of his work, (See Davies 1985: Introduction), it would seem that Davies
is under no illusion as to the dramatic effects which his findings
have had on the football world in general, particularly as regards
subsequent research;

The strangest thing of all is that no one has done a similar book
since. Perhaps I ruined the pitch for everyone else. The word got
round in football that I had done a hatchet job, been nasty about
them, revealed things which they preferred to keep secret, so perhaps
other clubs have been determined to keep nosy wr i ters out of their
dressing rooms. Whatever the reason, a similar book, with similar
access, has not appeared.

Unlike the work of Davies (1972), the study under consideration here
was not fuelled by the author's penchant for a specific club, nor
as a consequence of a wider football fanaticism. What is more, it
is not concerned with the habits of `professional' footballers. Instead
the focus is the `apprentice professional', or football trainee. It
does however, bear some similarity to Davies's (1972) work, in that
this research was carried out over the course of a full footballing
season, (1993/94), its primary qualitative aim being to explore the
world of the apprentice professional in order to provide insight into
the ups and downs of that occupation. 

This is not the first time that academic research has been directed
towards the fortunes of apprentice professional footballers (See Garland
1993; Houlston 1984; Hughes; 1990; Laycock 1979; Roderick 1991; Wilshaw
1970). But what makes this project unique, is that throughout, the
data was collected by the method of participant observation. This
allowed the author to live out and share in the everyday professional
and social experiences of the individuals concerned. In short, I became
a football apprentice for a season.

Developments in Football Apprenticeship 

In general, there is a paucity of information relating to the historical
development of football apprenticeship. Because of this it is difficult
to assess exactly how, and when, formal recruitment procedures began
to enter the professional game. Certainly, references to early player
enrollment show little sign of formality or standardization. Indeed,
because English football league clubs have traditionally operated
on a rigidly autonomous and insular basis, apprenticeship within the
game has until recently differed markedly from the methods of recruitment
and training found in other industries.3 In this respect early recruitment
schemes within football appear to have been relatively ad hoc affairs,
fluctuating from club to club, similar only in their commitment to
the basic ingredients of facility maintainence and a negligible exposure
to the pleasures of training and playing.

That is not to say that prior to the developments of more recent years
apprenticeship within football has been devoid of regulation and consistency.
On the contrary, Mason (1980) has shown how in the late 19th Century,
clubs began to advertise for players in local newspapers and the popular
sporting press, demanding expertise in some kind of trade in conjunction
with the desired level of playing skills. In addition, from 1904,
recruitment was also fostered by the English Schools Football Association
(ESFA), which acted as a kind of administrative structure overseeing
the way in which suitably skilled individuals made the transitional
step from schoolboy to amateur/professional status.

Furthermore, the `scouting' activities of professional clubs seem
to have intensified from the turn of the century onwards in accordance
with the increasing cultural and financial importance of the game.
The extent or organisation of early scouting networks is difficult
to determine, as is the degree to which such activity was itself professionalised.
But implicit here is the notion that recruitment was not purely an
issue of chance. Rather it probably revolved heavily around personal
recommendations, word-of-mouth `tip-offs', and the obligatory promotion
of individual players amongst friendship and/or family networks.

In time recruitment became more structured. By the 1930s, for example,
apprenticeship had taken on a more formal pattern. Yet, as Wall (1965:
55) states, the degree to which these modified trainee arrangements
benefitted the development of the game, or the players concerned,
was debatable.

It is true in the 1930s there was a scheme whereby a professional
club could employ a small number of boys on the ground staff after
they left school but they had to work as ground staff during the day
and did their training on two evenings a week, at which time they
received what coaching was available. By and large such coaching was
non-existent.

Such disquiet was undoubtedly grounded within a more general discourse,
prevalent at the time, surrounding the relative decline of the English
game as a whole, and for this reason fails to elaborate on the practical
details of apprenticeship life. However, one only need consult the
accounts of old, (or former), players to gain some understanding of
the way in which this early system of indenture operated at a personal
level.

Amidst his footballing memoirs, Tommy Lawton (1946), (ex-Burnley,
Chelsea, Everton and England forward), for instance, recalls how in
1935, at the age of 15 he was taken on as an `office boy' at Burnley,
rising at 17 to the heights of Assistant Club Secretary as well as
full-time professional. Likewise, whilst recounting his own autobiographical
experiences ,Harry Johnston (1954: 26), (ex-Blackpool and England
centre half), describes how, during a similar period, he was employed,
at the age of 15, as a `groundstaff boy' at Blackpool, where he was
expected to be `... a paper-picker-upper, a cleaner of boots, and
a washer up of baths and dressing rooms'.

Of course, such sentiments constitute a familiar tale. Indeed, at
this time it was illegal for clubs to employ boys under the age of
17 as practicing professionals. For these players, and others like
them, the status of `ground staff' or `office boy' was a kind of apprenticeship
in itself, and represented the hallmark of occupational entry. Indenture
into this physical and seemingly glamorous profession traditionally
revolved around the fulfillment of menial tasks and subservience to
others. In fact as Tommy Smith (1981: 22) (ex-Liverpool fullback)
clearly explains, even by the late 1950s, the actual enactment of
football itself still played a distinctly minor role in the life of
apprentices.

I'd all the visions of football clubs as illustrious places where
everything is gleaming and shining and all you do all day is play
football. I was so put off it was untrue... Before the season came
up we'd be painting the toilets, painting the stands. We'd also paint
Melwood (Liverpool F.C. training ground) and Shanks's house. Any annual
job that needed doing we'd tackle it ... The only time I got to see
a football was on Friday mornings when we'd play against the bin-men
in the car park..

As far as clubs were concerned this two year apprenticeship arrangement
seemed little more than a way round F.A. regulations prohibiting the
employment of professionals under the age of 17.4 However, in 1960
this position changed. For in order to legitimise this trainee period
the Football Association and the Football League jointly introduced
an officially recognised Apprenticeship Scheme, thereby allowing those
undergoing indenture to be recognised as a new category of player.

Such implementation represented a significant breakthrough within
the profession in that it authorised individual clubs to recruit a
total of 15 young players as opposed to the 12 allowed previously.
In addition, it meant that boys could join clubs at the age of 15
without having to shroud the true nature of their employment.5

Again the exact details of what this scheme entailed are few and far
between. Yet it would seem accurate to suggest that no immediate or
dramatic change occurred as regards the day to day functioning of
apprentice training post 1960, save the fact that the new scheme was
directed towards improved coaching provision and guaranteed support
for those wishing to continue educational and/or vocational training
(C.I.R. 1974).6 In this respect apprentice footballers of the 60s
and 70s may be regarded as almost direct descendants of their predecessors
in terms of their employment responsibilities and working relations.

Having said that, it would be naive to assume that during the post
war period changes within society, and within the game itself, did
not have some influence on the life of apprentices and the way they
were nurtured. Following the spectator boom of the late 1940s and
early 50s, the economic condition of the game appeared to enter a
stage of decline in the 1960s. Crowd attendance figures did rally
with the advent of the World Cup in 1966. However, expanding car ownership,
and developments surrounding the use of television as a medium for
the presentation of sport, coupled with an increasing choice of leisure
activity for the public at large, left football clubs under increasing
economic pressure.

Furthermore, the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961 placed additional
strain on the financial resources of the game as a whole, a factor
which undoubtedly influenced the industry to gradually reduce its
number of professional players by one fifth during the 1960s (See
D.E.S 1968; Douglas 1973). What this meant in terms of recruitment
was that some clubs came to depend more readily on the employment
of cheap apprentice labour. Indeed, although during the first season
of the apprenticeship scheme (1960/61), English league clubs registered
only 220 apprentices against 3022 professionals, (or 1 apprentice
for every 14 senior players), by 1966/67 the number of apprentices
had increased to 592, whilst the number of professionals had fallen
to 2395, or 1 in 4 (D.E.S. 1968).7

Neither did issues of financial adversity confine themselves to the
1960s. The 70s too witnessed a much broader economic crisis which,
in turn, shaped the future of recruitment within the professional
game. Having sampled the discomfort of these recessionary waves the
football industry began to look towards the State in order to construct
strategies of redevelopment particularly concerning its methods of
youth training. Cost cutting exercises not only meant less frequent
manoeuvres within the transfer market for many clubs, but in addition,
some were forced to scrap their Youth Development policies also.

Unlike the 60s, the depth of such problems could not always be solved
by the availability and expansive employment of apprentice labour.
In addition, concerns had been mounting for some time over the provision
made for all players in terms of post-career employment.8 Thus, the
arrival of the New Right, and its New Vocational policies appeared
to create the conditions under which the Professional Footballers
Association (PFA) were stimulated to consider further the overall
welfare of players and their `industrial' entitlements.

Admittedly, such measures had already been initiated as far back as
1968 when, in partial response to suggestions made within the Chester
Report (D.E.S. 1968), the PFA Education Fund had been established,
charged with the responsibility of providing educational and vocational
opportunities for apprentice professional players. In 1971 the PFA
then set up its own Education Department, and subsequently, in 1973,
appointed the late Bob Kerry as its first full-time Education Officer
(See PFA 1993a; PFA 1993b; Kerry 1977).

Another significant development took place in 1976 when a meeting
of the Professional Football Negotiating Committee agreed that an
independent educational and vocational training unit was needed within
the game. Thus, in 1978, amidst rising concerns for the plight of
young players in particular, the PFA, in conjunction with the Football
League, launched the Footballers Further Education and Vocational
Training Society (FFE and VTS), an organisation specifically designed
to oversee the educational and vocational needs of all PFA members.9
Following on from this, and seemingly in accordance with wider industrial
trends, such developments culminated in June 1983, with the introduction
of the Youth Training Scheme into professional football, under the
auspices of this new governing body.

The implementation of this scheme had two main benefits. Firstly,
it gave more youngsters the chance to `make the grade' in the professional
game, as a result of their training being Government funded. And secondly,
it enabled clubs to assess the ability of players, who, on account
of incurred cost, might not have been considered previously (See Neary
1989). Indeed, as with the introduction of the 1960/61 scheme, the
number of apprentices registered with the 92 clubs constituting the
Football League has soared since the inception of the scheme, from
approximately 200 per year to over 600 (PFA 1993b).10

There is a need for such figures to be placed in the context of economic
recovery, both in relation to professional football and the wider
industrial sphere. Nevertheless, in terms of providing youngsters
with initial opportunities within the game, the effects of the modern
day apprenticeship scheme would seem strikingly evident. But unlike
other industries, football in more recent years appears to have escaped
criticism in relation to its educational and vocational practice.
Presumably, this has something to do with the fact that present provision
far outweighs prior arrangements, and is thus accepted as adequate.

The general tone of academic work in this area has not helped (See
Hughes 1990; Roderick 1991; Garland 1993). In fact these studies have
tended to glorify and celebrate the efforts of the PFA/FFE and VTS,
rather than offer a forceful critique of its shortcomings. Few questions
have been raised, for example, as to the extent to which this particular
apprenticeship scheme matches those within more conventional industries.
After all, because it has been vastly modified to suit the seasonal
and cultural format of professional football, the scheme does not
act as an employment `safety net', but rather, as an elite route to
occupational entry. Likewise, serious consideration needs to be given
to the fact that, even though the implementation of YTS within football
has meant that more youngsters have been taken on, the proportion
being released at the end of apprenticeship has increased.11

Moreover, this trend is likely to continue. Indeed, because a career
in football has such a magnetic attraction, and because the young
boys concerned have graduated through a multitude of trials and selection
procedures to reach the YT stage, the majority refuse to contemplate
failure. For them, this is it. This is the big-time. They've already
made it. From here on in its plain sailing.

The Realities of Football Apprenticeship in the 1990s

`Colby Town' is a prosperous professional English football league
club, whose First Team play in the Endsleigh First Division. On average
the club maintains a professional playing staff of approximately 35,
and in the 1993-4 season had a youth team squad of 20 players. Of
these, 8 were first year Youth Trainees, 11 were second year Youth
Trainees, and 1 player, although employed on a one-year professional
contract, was eligible to play for the youth team on account of his
age. 

The vast majority of trainees were interviewed twice over the course
of the fieldwork, which lasted the full duration of the 1993/4 season,
from early July 1993 until May 1994. For the most part, I attended
the club three days each week, spending two days training, working
and socializing with the trainees, and one day at a local college
of Further Education experiencing the range of educational opportunities
on offer to them.

Interview sessions were mainly conducted on a one-to-one basis. However,
one group session was carried out with second year trainees at the
end of the fieldwork at their request. All interviews were tape recorded,
and in addition to those completed with trainees, interviews were
also carried out with the apprentice hostel proprietors, the Youth
Team coach/manager, and the college staff directly involved with Colby
Town apprentices on day-release courses. To supplement interview data
a detailed fieldwork diary was kept throughout the research period.
Because of the amount of physical activity involved, and because of
the `insular' nature of the research setting field notes were written
up each evening on return from Colby Town.

A Day In The Life...

Irrespective of the time of year, each day in and around Colby Town
football club followed a similar routine as far as Youth Trainees
were concerned. First year trainees reported to the players entrance
at the ground for 9.00 am, whilst second years arrived at 9.30. Prior
to this, breakfast was available at the club hostel between 8.00 and
9.30 am.

From the time trainees entered the ground they were expected to set
out kit and clean boots in anticipation of the arrival of the professional
players. `Pro's' arrived between 9.45 am and 10.30 am, by which time
they had to be ready to train. Each trainee was allocated specific
professionals to `look after', cleaning their boots and generally
servicing their needs in and around the club. First year trainees
were required to cater for two, or sometimes even three professionals
each, whilst second years duties were concentrated around only one
professional player. In addition, first years were compelled to carry
out the more general daily cleaning tasks within the club itself,
ie. mopping, and/or sweeping, the toilets, dressing rooms, showers,
bootroom, weight room, sauna room, managers room and adjacent corridors.
Second year trainees were excused all such duties. Morning training
sessions for apprentices usually lasted from 10.30 am. until approximately
12.00 noon, when all players returned to the ground for lunch. In
the case of the professionals morning sessions lasted from anything
between half an hour and an hour depending on match commitments and
injuries, and afternoon training sessions between 2.00 and 4.00 pm
were only the norm during the month of pre-season training lasting
from early July to early August. For the trainees, afternoon training
was occasionally added to the weekday routine during the regular season,
usually on days following a poor weekend display in the league.

On normal weekdays, second year trainees would be free to leave the
club from 1.30 pm onwards, after lunch and showers, whilst first years
stayed behind to carry out their extra cleaning duties. The completion
of these chores meant that first years would usually be free to leave
the club around 4.00 pm. Dinner was served at the hostel at 4.45 pm.

Individuals were allowed to relax as they wished in the afternoons
and in the evenings providing they did not drink alcohol, frequent
public houses, or bring food, girls or members of the general public
into the hostel. All trainees had to be in the hostel by 10.30 pm
(10.00 before match days), and had to be in bed in their own rooms
by 11.00 pm.

My initial assumptions on entering the Colby Town club environment
were that all boys achieving the status of apprentice professional
footballer would thoroughly enjoy their occupational tasks and the
whole lifestyle with which they were involved. However, on interviewing
a number of individuals I found this not to be the case. Indeed, the
following statement by first year Nick Douglas aptly summarises the
general feeling amongst the Colby youth team squad.

A.P.: The media would have everyone believe that being a footballer
is a great job,.. Having done a year what would you say to that?

Nick: ...it might be once you get passed 18, but up to 18 I think
its a nightmare. I think its an awful way to start at 16 `cos there's
so much pressure and you get treated that much like a kid as well.
Its so regimental... there's that many rules, you're not left alone
to grow up or to be called a man, you're just treated like a kid.

Common amongst first year trainees were complaints about the menial
tasks and chores which they were expected to carry out on a daily
basis. Like others before them, many felt that these duties were irrelevant
in terms of their development as players, and thus resented having
to clean and scrub the baths, the showers, the boots etc. This situation
was compounded by the fact that some pro's were lacking in sympathy
towards their inferiors. At times trainees were summoned to the first
and reserve team dressing rooms only to be humiliated and questioned
in relation to their inadequacies as `boot-boys'. Moreover, the fact
that second years did not have to fulfill the same amount of chores
as first year trainees, created some tension between the two year
groups. First years, it seemed, were anxious to graduate from this
most subordinate of institutional positions, and thereby enjoy the
privileges of second year status.

Charlie :..its hard 'cos you're always on your feet all the time,
you finish one job and you've got to start another one or something
else crops up that you've got to do, an a lot of the time ...  whereas
football should be the main thing, the jobs seem to be the main thing
and the football seems to fit around the jobs you do. I know we've
got a lot of jobs to do but we're primarily here to play football
not to clean peoples boots or to clean the toilets or whatever.

Barry: I think the worst part about it is all the horrible jobs you've
got to do really. But I mean its gone on or I don't know how long,
20 years, and its part of the life isn't it at YT level.

According to the PFA (1994:59), menial work of this kind should take
up `... no more than ten hours per week.' of football youth trainee
occupational time, yet in the case of first year boys at Colby Town
much longer hours were involved. Typically, in addition to the daily
duties mentioned, first years were also required to act as ball-boys
each time the club's Reserve Team played a home fixture, and were
then expected to clean the dressing room area again after these games
had taken place.

Work was hard, but once the normal working day was over and players
were allowed to return to the more relaxed confines of the trainee
hostel, spare time also became a troublesome issue. Part of the problem
here was that, (unlike their second year counterparts, who earned
a considerable amount of money), first year boys did not earn much
and therefore suffered the economic constraints of trainee status.
Such circumstances limited access to constructive leisure pursuits12.
What is more, because the majority of trainees lived quite a distance
from home they also found it difficult to adjust to the fact that
less expensive leisure options, such as spending time at a friends
house, were also out of the question.

Equally, when morning training sessions had been particularly demanding
many boys did not have the energy or motivation to do anything but
relax in their rooms, listening to music or watching television. In
order to combat boredom, satellite television was provided by the
club in the trainee hostel, along with a video recorder and dart board.
However, these luxuries considered, some first year boys in particular,
still found the mundane nature of their new lifestyle difficult to
cope with.

Neil: Its so boring. I suppose if you stayed here you'd be bored.
Y'know you get sick of seeing each other, y'know all the lads. You
get bored sometimes. I mean normally I'd come in.. and go to sleep
and pass the time away... We could go to the pictures and stuff like
that but I've got no money so I can't really go.

Davey: Its really boring 'cos you get so much time and you just don't
know what to do, but still you can just relax and you don't have to
worry about doing anything, but you do get too much time on your own...

As well as airing a general disillusionment about the non-footballing
aspects of apprenticeship the individual perceptions of many trainees
regarding coaching and training routines were also negative. A number
of boys from both year groups, for example, were continually frustrated
by the fact that they were not allowed to stay behind after training
sessions in order to practice certain skills. Requests of this nature
were always declined by the Youth Team coach in the name of over exertion,
and the unavailability of supervision. Many trainees also felt that
the quality of coaching was not what they had imagined it would be
in a professional football club. `Set piece' and individual coaching
sessions were few and far between. The onus being on fitness training
and small sided games.

One of the most outstanding and surprising features of trainee life
for many first year boys was the way in which they were spoken to
by their Youth Team coach. The daily atmosphere at Colby was authoritarian.
But the majority of first years expressed a major difficulty in coming
to terms with the way in which such language and behaviour was indiscriminately
employed, particularly the frequency with which public reprimands
were handed out to them and their team-mates. Such events appeared
to contrast sharply with the relatively relaxed and jovial atmosphere
they had left behind in Schoolboy and Sunday league football. Indeed,
comments were frequently made towards the way in which the whole game
had suddenly become much more serious for them, and how, for the first
time in their careers, they actually felt under pressure to perform

Adrian: Well when I was playing for Devonshire boys you wouldn't really
get a bollocking but now if you had a bad game they'll punish ...
well not punish you, but shout at you... I think, y'know there's a
lot more pressure this year than there was last year and the years
before...

This is not to say that all second year trainees accepted such treatment.
On the contrary, some of them also voiced a considerable amount of
concern over the attitude of their coach.

Damien: I mean you're bound to have a bad game now and again but he
... hauls you off and says `Oh you'll be lucky to get in my side..'
an things like that which you don't wan'na hear when you've had a
bad game, you wan'na hear things like `Well its best just not to say
no'wt and leave it..' You don't want people comin' in and sayin' `Oh
you were shit you were'. ... Like he's just a shit-head. I've never
really hated anybody in my life apart from him, but well I mean he's
your boss isn't he... I suppose he's the one I have to bow down to.

Such comments varied in frequency and intensity. During actual Youth
Team matches, for example, when parents and members of the public
were in attendance, regular criticisms towards individual and team
performance were made, but these were not as explicit or severe as
those handed out within the confines of the club or during training.
The following extract from my field notes provides a typical illustration
of this more `privately' administered form of authoritarianism.

31.08.93. (Afternoon Training Session). 

After the training session and five-a-side Terry (Terry Jackson, Youth
Team Coach/Manager) keeps Gareth (Gareth Procter, Second Year YT),
back and grills him in front of me and Year 1. He says he's not hard
enough. Not nasty enough. `You'll never make a fuckin' footballer
tacklin' like that..' He sets up a practice and sends each first year
boy into the grid to try and get the ball past him. `Make the fuckin'
tackle. D' ya wan'na be a footballer or what? Where's the aggression?'
His voice is booming, he stands over Gareth and talks to him like
dirt. I've never seen such a dressing down. I'm astounded. Neil Morrisey
(first year YT) reminds me that `.. this is when Terry's a bastard.'
He works Gareth to illness. Not a word of encouragement. It's about
75 degrees and we must have been training solid for two hours. Gareth
looks on the verge of passing out. Then we move to the full-size goals.
We knock the balls into the box and he has to head them out past the
18 yard line. We're going nowhere until he does it properly.

These experiences were a far cry from the boys' early perceptions
of life at Colby Town. The majority had attended the club on a regular
basis for a number of years as Associate Schoolboys, and had grown
used to being treated well in terms of the attention and perks bestowed
upon them. Amongst the range of teams which individuals had visited
on trial, Colby had been the one that stood out because of its `homely'
and generous atmosphere. Talk of `sweeteners' such as free tracksuits,
bags, boots, coats, and tickets for games was commonplace during interviews.
In addition, some boys had also been impressed by the way in which
their parents were treated around the time that they signed as YT
apprentices. Indeed many families were invited to the club on `all
expenses paid' weekends to view for themselves the world which their
sons/brothers were about to inhabit. But as far as the boys were concerned
this image was dashed soon after arrival. Once at Colby the attention
waned. The river of treats ran dry. This was reality.

Colin: ... I came down one day and I wasn't actually going to sign
and I couldn't believe what a friendly atmosphere it was. It was totally
different to everywhere else I'd been, it was really nice.. and I
just signed. Totally spur of the moment stuff. And by the time I'd
got home my mum had got a massive bunch of flowers ... chocolates
and everything. So like, I mean, they did it right. A little later
... and they just introduced me to all the players and like I'd had
that nowhere else y'know and it shocked me, and I thought like, well,
bloody hell if they're like this now what they gon'na be like when
I've signed y'know. But once you've signed y'see you're just a number,
y'know, not somebody they want to get anymore, you're actually there.
They've got you. You get here as a YTS player and you start you're
first training session and you're no different to anyone else. They're
not really interested in what you're doing.

Yet, such preferential treatment, it seemed, did not stop for everyone
on arrival at Colby. Indeed, during several interview sessions feelings
were aired towards the way in which some trainees were treated much
more favourably than others. Discussion here revolved mainly around
three second year boys who, prior to arriving at Colby, had completed
the two-year F.A. Football Scholarship Programme at the Lilleshall
National Sports Centre in Shropshire.

Rumours suggested that these boys were given positions of responsibility,
such as youth team Captain, Vice-Captain or warm-up leader in training,
on account of their elite reputation, and that they were continually
consulted on team selection. Moreover, it was alleged that they had
received larger signing-on fees, and that they enjoyed particular
perks, such as more pairs of free boots than other boys, being sent
straight home when ill or injured, and not having to carry out the
more degrading jobs around the ground.

A.P.: Do you think there is favour?

Nick: At this club there is yeah, whether its with other clubs I'm
not sure, but at this club there is a lot of favouritism. If you've
played at Lilleshall I think you've got a better chance of getting
in the team or being his favourite person, 'cos you'll find that round
there (at the ground) those that have been at Lilleshall or played
for England they're all in the team, and they're all the Captains.

Gareth: There's some ot' lads who he'll get to do all't shitty jobs
an' that, an' some ot' lads its `Oh ger'off home an' you can `ave
an' extra day at home..' an' stuff like that which is,.. its not re'yt
good for't lads, if one lads gon'na do one thing you're gon'na want
same are'nt you? .. Its like they gi'yer all this `Oh there's nob'dy
better than any'yt others..' like he (Terry Jackson Youth Team Coach)
gives yer all that rubbish and then he treats some people better than
others.

Coupled with the authoritarian club culture these disappointments
and discrepancies, served to reinforce the `realities' of life at
Colby and in some cases reduced the motivation and enthusiasm of trainees.

However, on a more general level the majority of boys also talked
about the way in which their enthusiasm for the game had waned since
their arrival at the club partly due to the way in which they had
come to experience `football overload'.

For some trainees, particularly those in their second year, such feelings
had reached the point where they felt they could no longer bear to
watch televised games or those concerning the Colby Town First and
Reserve Teams which they were compelled to attend. Indeed, as the
novelty of the new season wore off, daily dressing room conversations,
ceased to revolve around anything to do with football, and instead
focussed on the social prospects of the coming weekend, and the relief
which would be gained if Saturday's Youth Team game was to be cancelled!

From once being the activity they most looked forward to, football,
for most boys, had quickly become nothing more than a chore; a compulsory
and never-ending cycle of training, playing and recovery. For them
it was an all-encompassing and all-consuming occupation involving
a life of total institutional commitment, from which one could never
fully escape.

Pete: I suppose its just getting away from football, 'cos like when
you were at home you used to love football and you used to like playing
- training a couple of times a week - playing once a weekend or maybe
twice a weekend, but you used to put all your effort into you training
and all your effort into your game. And then you were away from it...
Whereas here... even football isn't really that strong a topic in
the digs it's still there. All the people you play football with.
So there isn't that big a change.

Yet if the refuge of the `digs' failed in its bid to provide a clear
cut break from the everyday monotony of football, attendance at Walton
Grange College of Further Education did not. Here, day `release' took
on an altogether more literal meaning, as the ideal opportunity arose
to enjoy a day off.13

In general, classes and class teachers were merely tolerated to a
greater or lesser degree, whilst break-times and lunch-times provided
the real pleasures of the day in that they allowed a comprehensive
screening of college `skirt' to take place. In fact, for the first
year boys with whom I attended college, this was primarily what day
release was all about; the assessment of local female `talent', and
the establishment of relationships which would both attract masculine
kudos from their peers, and facilitate the demand for places to visit
during the evenings.

A.P.: Do you see college as a relevant part of being an apprentice
footballer?

Pete: I don't think it has anything to do with it really. Its just
a day off training really, its like a day away from the regular routine.
It isn't that strenuous is it really? We have a good laugh in class
an' that, we hardly do any work, its just a day away. I quite enjoy
it ...

Certainly, as far as the gaining of academic qualifications was concerned,
few boys were interested. After all, college work, it seemed, was
completely irrelevant to the occupational experiences of the trainees
and held little interest in terms of future employment. Furthermore,
the majority of the boys had already convinced themselves that they
would soon be `star' players, and in that respect would not need the
academic skills on offer. In turn, many became disillusioned with
the work demands of the courses they undertook, and as the academic
year progressed lessons consequently became a time where any form
of `learning' took a back seat, the whole aim instead being the destruction
of teacher morale.

Conclusions

What I have attempted to construct throughout this paper is a view
of how football apprenticeship has progressed from its somewhat informal
beginnings to a more standardised and regulated form of indenture.
In many respects there can be little doubt that progress has been
made, in that present day recruitment methods appear much more systematic
in their organisation and implementation.

Nonetheless, there are still questions to be asked as to whether much
has changed in terms of the everyday experiences of the football apprentice.
Certainly, as we have seen, the importance of menial physical chores
would still seem to outweigh the development of football skills themselves.
Moreover, with the help of Government incentives during the 1980s,
the employment of cheap apprentice labour appears to have remained
a major attraction to those clubs struggling for financial survival.

Wider industrial traits are prevalent here. The mass screening of
talent, is obviously taking place. But the reality of this situation
is heavily masked by the fact that football apprenticeship is talked
about as if its sole purpose is the interests of the boys themselves.
Indeed, notions of exploitation, are conveniently dismissed as a consequence
of the fact that so many young boys are keen to enter the industry.
Thus, even if individuals fall at the first hurdle the blow is somehow
softened in the sense that youngsters can remain secure in the knowledge
that they have at least had some connection with the professional
game. In this respect, many boys seem content to have been given the
chance to `make the grade'.

For the vast majority who drop out of the industry between the ages
of 18 and 21, the `blame' is inevitably reduced to the level of the
individual. Few see further than their guaranteed period of employment,
and as such fail to consider there future prospects, or that football
clubs may employ apprentices with little or no intention of offering
them a professional contract at the end of their YT programme. Nor
do apprentices seem to realise that even if they are one of the chosen
few, the club concerned may view them more in terms of lucrative transfer
value than as individuals. But then again, as my experience at Colby
Town proved, football apprenticeship is not about feelings or personal
dignity. It's about opinions, authoritarian attitudes and domination.
About discipline, tradition, superiority and respect for professional
reputations. And it is definitely not for the faint hearted. Funny
old game.

Acknowledgements 

The author would like to thank Dr. Tony Mason for his constructive
comments on earlier drafts of this paper.



Notes 

1. Recent examples of such analyses are the BBC2 production United
which, through a series of weekly episodes, followed the fortunes
of Sheffield United Football Club during the 1989-1990 league season,
and the Channel 4 documentary That's Football, which similarly charted
Swindon Town's progress during the 1991-1992 season.

2. These comments are taken from the introduction to the 1985 edition
of Hunter Davies's The Glory Game, which are featured in the 1992
edition also.

3. For more information on the history and development of apprenticeship
within England see, Dunlop and Denman 1912; Davies 1956; Leipmann
1960; Childs 1992.

4. For a brief resume of the reasons behind the implementation of
the 1960 apprenticeship scheme see; F.A. News, XIII, 11th June, 1964.
pp.395.

5. Although the 1960-61 apprenticeship scheme facilitated an increase
in the number of young players at any one club, Douglas (1973:80)
has suggested that these numbers may have been bolstered by the continuation
by clubs of the employment of `office boys' or `programme sellers'.
See Best (1990), for a descriptive example of how clubs acted to shroud
the employment of young players.

6. As regards initial recruitment the Apprenticeship scheme of 1960-61
was additionally bolstered in 1964-65 by the emergence of the Associated
Schoolboy Scheme; a Football League venture which aimed to eradicate
elements of financial irregularity and illegal inducement on the part
of club scouts by formalizing schoolboy/club relations and thereby
refining further the processes surrounding professional entry (C.I.R.
1974).

7. The C.I.R. (1974: 20) gives a similar statistical description of
the increases in apprentice employment covering the period from the
onset of the apprenticeship scheme to the 1973-74 season.

8. The Professional Footballers Association had been strongly criticised
in the mid 1960s for its shortcomings in terms of the overall welfare
of players and ex-players, particularly in relation to educational
and vocational provision (See P.E.P. 1966: 106).

9. Amongst PFA literature there are contrasting views of exactly when
the FFE and VTS came into operation, but it appears that it was launched
in either 1978 or early 1979. The FFE and VTS is a registered charity
which is now financed jointly by the PFA, the Football League, the
F.A. and the Premier League, and provides assistance for any player
preparing for a career when his playing days are over. Assistance
is also given to ex-professional players. The Football Association
joined the venture in 1990 and the Premier League in 1992. (See FFE
and VTS 1993).

10. Again figures vary here depending on source, seemingly due to
the way in which estimates have been rounded-up. Roderick (1991: 58)
has suggested that the number of apprentices per year between 1984-1990
multiplied fourfold to a total of 1548. Neary (1989) on the other
hand argues that the numbers of apprentices rose from approximately
290 per year, prior to the implementation of the scheme, to 650 per
year after. Whereas, Garland (1993: 25) suggests the annual intake
onto the scheme is around 700 apprentices. Because the scheme functions
over two years PFA figures state that at any one time approximately
1350 trainees are registered with the Football League (PFA 1993a:
75).

11. A popular figure of the success rate of those entering football
over the years has been 1 in 10 (See Garland 1993). That is to say
that 1 in 10 people entering the industry at 16 will be employed playing
professional football at the age of 21. PFA/FFE and VTS figures suggest
that 60% of trainees do receive professional contracts at the end
of their YT experience, although about half of these are one year
contracts only (See Garland 1993: 54). Barclay (1983: 47-8), has stated
that prior to the introduction of the Youth Training schemes within
football 50% of apprentices were not offered professional contracts
by clubs, and of those that were a further 50% found themselves out
of the professional game by the time they were 22. Providing a more
historical view Dougan and Young (1974: 99) declare that in 1966 65%
of apprentices at league clubs were granted professional contracts,
whereas by 1970, only 38% received contracts. In addition, Pawson
(1973: 157), has stated that within the first 10 years of the apprenticeship
scheme nearly half of those taken on as apprentices had slipped out
of the game.

12. Trainee wages at Colby Town were not in accordance with Government
standards for YT employment which were œ31.50 per week for first year
Youth Trainees and œ37.00 per week for second years (See PFA 1993b).
Up until their 17th birthdays trainees were paid œ31.50 per week (with
free food and lodgings). At 17 this rose to œ160 per week, with a
monthly payment of œ225 for food and lodgings. Second year trainees
were then paid œ200 per week, with the same payment expected for food
and lodgings. In addition, all trainees were paid some kind of signing-on
fee by the club which they received in three equal installments during
their period of apprenticeship. These fees were variable and ranged
from œ1600 to œ4000 per trainee.

13. First year trainee attendance at college was split between two
courses. Those with 4 GCSE's or more followed a BTEC. HNC/GNVQ level
3 course of study in Leisure and Tourism, whilst less academically
able students undertook a more practically based GNVQ level 2 qualification
in Leisure. In all class situations trainees from a variety of local
professional clubs were integrated together. For additional information
concerning the attitudes of YT football trainees towards educational
provision, see Hughes (1990), Roderick (1991), and Garland (1993).

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