Redhead, Steve (1984) The legalisation of the professional footballer : a study of some aspects of the legal status and employment conditions of association football players in England and Wales from the late nineteenth century to the present day. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The argument in this thesis maintains that despite the
official recognition of professional football players
in England by the highest law-making body within the
sport (the Football Association) in 1885, it can be
seen with the benefit of a century of hindsight that
this act of legislation was merely a step towards legal
rights for footballers which are more generally recognised
in other branches of industry. It is further argued that
the history of the legal status of professional footballers
cannot be adequately conceptualised by the frequently
employed schema 'illegality - legality - freedom',
representing a three stage teleological evolution of the
professional player as outhw prior to 1885, then as
legitimate and respectable between 1885 and 1963 and
finally as free and bourgeois from 1963 onwards. The
denial of such a fictitious history involves the detailed
historical and sociological investigation of the various,
often contradictory, legal and social statuses of the
professional footballer since his initial constitution
as a legal subject in the late nineteenth century. Such
investigation involves the major theoretical question in
the study of law, that is, what exactly it is that is
involved in legal 'recognition': in other words in being,
or not being, a legal subject or legal 'person'. It is
hoped that this thesis sheds some light on this question
from a general and specific viewpoint.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Soccer players -- England -- History -- 19th century, Soccer players -- England -- History -- 20th century, Soccer players -- Wales -- History -- 19th century, Soccer players -- Wales -- History -- 20th century, Professional sports -- Law and legislation -- England, Professional sports -- Law and legislation -- Wales
Official Date:	February 1984
Dates:	Date Event February 1984 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Law
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Foster, Ken
Sponsors:	Social Science Research Council (Great Britain)
Extent:	[9], 261, [42] leaves
Language:	eng

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