Covid-19: Reflections on threat and uncertainty for the future of elite women’s football in England

Abstract

This commentary offers an analysis of the implications of Covid-19 on the future of elite women's football, with the intention of reflecting on and illuminating the threat and uncertainty facing the game. Topics covered include (1) organisational and economic repercussions; (2) consequences for player contracts, migration and investment; and (3) player wellbeing. These significant challenges require swift and decisive action in order to mitigate their potential effects. Recommendations are made for governing bodies, parent clubs and practitioners, in addition to possible future research directions for academics. We reflect upon what can be done during and postpandemic to continue the momentum and growth of women's football in England, highlighting the need for football clubs to learn from previous crises by embracing innovation and entrepreneurship.

Subjecting pandemic sport to a sociological procedure

“…Therefore, just as the pandemic has had more serious consequences for the already disadvantaged, such as infection and fatality rates, it has predictably created greater problems for the less well-resourced parts of the sport system. For example, pre-pandemic women's sport has been gaining a stronger position in terms of opportunities and rewards in relation to men's, but the sudden shrinking of sport's surplus threatens to reverse those gains following retrograde institutional judgements about the distribution of scarcer resources (Clarkson et al, 2020). There has been much more media focus on the restoration of men's professional sports leagues than on many other forms, including women's, non-elite and community sport.…”

Written Emotional Disclosure Can Promote Athletes’ Mental Health and Performance Readiness During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Reports from athletes suggest that the COVID-19 cancellation of sport championships (e.g., 2020 Olympics) was experienced like a death (Schinke et al, 2020). The wider implications of discontinued competitive sport seasons were perceived by some athletes to have killed their career (Clarkson et al, 2020) as well as the development of their self-identity as an Olympian (Stephan and Brewer, 2007). WED is noted as an opportunity for individuals to process emotions induced by events occurring within social contexts (e.g., exclusion) that can impact upon self-identity (Cangià, 2014).…”

Return to community sport: leaning on evidence in turbulent times

“…A number of recent commentaries in this journal have reflected on how COVID-19 may fundamentally change the way sport operates (Clarkson et al, 2020;Fitzgerald et al, 2020;Ludvigsen & Hayton, 2020;Parnell et al, 2020). Some form of transformation across the sport ecosystem is predicted with, for example, the need to prioritize inclusion (Fitzgerald et al, 2020) and embrace a more innovative and entrepreneurial approach (Clarkson et al, 2020). Our paper connects several of the key issues facing the community sport sector in particular with empirical knowledge of those issues, supporting an evidence-based management approach to the challenging resumption of community sport that is based on informed decisions (Barends & Rousseau, 2018).…”