Challenges to the Prototypical Model of Management in the EPL

For many years economists have recognised the importance of the manager in the production process, but rarely have they looked at how this translates to the context of elite team sports. In this paper I consider the emerging prototypical role of ‘Director of Football’ (DoF) and the challenges this presents to historical and traditional perceptions of the football manager. It is the contention of this paper that the effectiveness of the traditional managerial model is compromised by the divergent range of skills that modern day managers require. As such a prototypical model of football management needs to be considered within which the DoF is integral. This paper concludes that the DoF provides an effective mechanism of support within a transparent and efficient hierarchical delegation of responsibilities.