ABSTRACT
This chapter examines specific competencies that distinguish the more successful professional football managers from their less successful counterparts. It looks at the managerial recruitment and appointment process in professional football. The chapter explores traditional forms of authoritarianism in football management, such as the establishment of managerial roles and responsibilities and the process of appointing backroom staff. For professional football managers, developing personal contacts and gaining membership of particular networks 'can be seen as a deliberate pursuit of goals in which such membership may provide expectations of an immediate or some future benefit'. Personal contacts not only provide managers with information about potential employment opportunities but also assist managers in making more informed decisions about whether or not to apply for, and if offered, accept particular managerial positions. Quite often, a newly appointed football manager will bring with him to his new club many backroom staff with whom he has worked at one or more previous clubs.
