ABSTRACT
There is increasing interest in the use of complex systems thinking and associated methods to understand sports performance. This chapter describes a study in which one such approach, causal loop diagrams, was used to develop a proof-of-concept complex systems model of football club performance. The causal loop diagram was developed using a group model building process involving football and systems thinking researchers and a subject matter expert. The resulting model suggests that there are multiple interacting variables that influence football club performance. These include variables related to players (e.g. skill, fitness level, personal lives), coaches and support staff (e.g. skill, experience), coaching and training programs, the club (e.g. finances, transfers, marketing, culture, academy), sponsors, other clubs, and supporters to name only a few. The model suggests that even the most successful clubs will experience periods of success followed by less successful periods based on opposition teams adapting and optimising their own practices and limits to success including player fatigue, injuries and contentment. In closing, we discuss potential future applications as well as follow on studies involving the use of computational modelling to simulate the performance of sports clubs over time.
