PERSONAL CIENTIFICO

The accounts that follow are about the players’ psychological space, where the use of spatial metaphors is given to give a feel for their experience. However, this space

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is seen to be different from their experience of the physical environment of the club- e.g. what it’s like to play on the field, or to be in the changing rooms, or ‘penned’ in their room. The players’ lived space was occupied with a sense of uncertainty and this was demonstrated by a distinct lack of control over their surroundings. It would seem that for young professional footballers the spatiality that they live in, in

particular in and around the club, was one that felt limiting and directionless where players at times felt as if they were lost as well as transparent. However, despite this the players felt a certain source of comfort within their environment and the familiarity of their surroundings, in particular, the camaraderie and friendship was important to them as this served as a means of keeping them happy within what was, at times, a difficult space to occupy.

8.2.2.1 Standing on uncertain ground

For some of the players expecting the culture of professional football and indeed the possibility of career transition can leave them in doubt and with limitations:

“It’s hard, it’s a difficult situation, really, and a lot of people might go through that. It’s hard like. One day you think I might have a great chance here and then another day you might think not and you just do not know what you’re doing really. You’re just stuck in the middle between getting one or not [a contract]…” (Richard)

From Richard’s lived experiences, we can see how difficult it can be at times to be a professional footballer due to the uncertainty that surround the

environment they occupy. For him, his position as a footballer is confusing and is ever changeable, where he can one day feel that he has a ‘great chance’ of becoming a successful player, whereas the next he ‘might think not’. There is a level of uncertainty and a lack of consistency in the space that he is in, almost like he is ‘stuck in the middle’ and not knowing which way to turn. This way of being and position, in the end, can be seen to leave professional footballers in a state of confusion, as Richard suggests ‘you just don’t know what you’re doing’, as if professional footballers are almost constantly in limbo and, therefore, uncertain without any immediate hope for a solution. For Lee, at times, professional football felt even more limiting than that:

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“You just felt like you’d just sit in your room or something and it felt like a prison camp. You’ve got your room and then you just down a beer and you feel so shit about what you’re doing and you’re wasting your time…” (Lee)

We get a sense from Lee’s lived world how, at times, professional footballers can feel like they are being penned in without hope. For him, his lived space as a professional footballer can sometimes feel like he is in a ‘prison camp’, as if he has been captured and confined in a space that he cannot break free from. Living in this space, in the end, leaves Lee feeling confused and bewildered, where he questions what he is doing there and whether he is just ‘wasting his time’.

8.2.2.2 Looking ahead: holding on to the familiar

However, for some of the players the development and opportunity of a second career pathway offered them some security and hope in what was an uncertain and uncontrollable environment:

“Well the reason why I think a Plan B is more important is that, as we’ve already mentioned, you don’t have full control of your own career because it can be influenced by one person’s opinion so that’s why I see it

important to get a Plan B […] you’ve got to make something happen yourself because it’s not going to fall on your knee…” (David)

“I’m playing my football and I’ve got a Plan B in place now. I’ve been offered two scholarships in America to go there to play so I just kind of relax and I’m quite happy being here…” (Lee)

For David, developing a Plan B and having something in place for career transition is significant for him, as it allows him to empower himself in an uncertain place, for him ‘it is important’ to plan because as a footballer you never ‘have full control’, almost like planning has allowed him to grasp back control of his life somewhat.

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However, when discussing why others in professional football do not seek to plan-ahead, David talks about how in his experience professional footballers at times want to hold onto their familiar space:

“It’s coming out of their comfort zone because for 2 years they were in quite a positive environment, like the banter with the lads, a close support network so I think they’re just scared to come out of that comfort zone…” (David)

When putting himself in the position of others from his experience, David

highlights how professional footballers are in their ‘comfort zone’, where football has become a safe haven for some. In essence, it is a familiar space for

professional footballers because it is what they know. However, this place would seem in sharp contrast to the difficult space that the players discuss across their accounts in previous extracts. In essence, it would seem that they would much rather hold onto that which is familiar, despite the difficulties that accompany this, than let go of the dream and the discomfort that is perceived would come with this.