ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of previous playing experience and coaching qualifications in the recruitment and appointment of managers. It explores the views of players and managers regarding the skills, competencies and qualifications necessary for football managers to possess. The chapter explores the impact of formal education on managerial success and performance and how it may assist managers in dealing with the many problems they face. This is important because, in addition to identifying the knowledge and skills that managers need to develop, one need to understand how this knowledge is applied in the football management process. A key element of football management, and one clearly indicative of the resistance to professionalisation, is its traditional practical orientation, with an emphasis on learning on the job, rather than on formal training and qualifications. In professional football in the UK, undertaking formal coaching and management training is seen as a desirable, although unnecessary, job requirement.
