ABSTRACT
Trust has been an underlying theme within the networks of interdependent relationships in professional football. This chapter examines the relationship between the managers and directors/owners of professional football clubs and attempts to provide an understanding of this relationship from the managers' perspective. Hostility and distrust is a common feature of the relationship. The chapter explores how football managers' hostility towards and distrust of directors and owners emanates from both managers' perceptions concerning the limited football knowledge at boardroom level and directors' and owners' interference in the manager's role. The growing influence of directors and owners of professional football clubs in England is currently attracting considerable media attention. The influx of new owners is having huge implications for both the role and tenure of the football manager. The chapter identifies hostility and distrust as a common feature of the relationship between managers and directors/owners in professional football.
