ABSTRACT

This article offers a comparison between management systems of children and youth football departments in England and in Israel. Following a series of football disasters, the British authorities were able to reposition football as a game based on aristocratic values like integrity and delicacy and create a well-organised management system. Israeli football, which is particularly inspired by English and European football, struggles to develop similar mechanisms due to a constant state of scarcity. A new programme in Israel, the Shield of Honour, offers a new model that facilitates and motivates football managers and coaches in youth and children departments to adopt more European-like management practices.