Organizational stress in professional soccer coaches

In this study, we explored the organizational stressors experienced by professional soccer coaches. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 first-team coaches who worked in the top 4 leagues of English soccer. Inductive content analysis revealed that stress was experienced in relation to 8 higher-order themes. Specifically, coaches identified stressors associated with: job role (i.e., lack of time, qualifications, low salary); players (i.e., complaining injuries, counseling disruptive behaviors, lack of respect, managing egos, reliance on performance); manager (i.e., autocratic decision-making, giving support, lack of respect); support staff (i.e., lack of staff lack of quality, physio injury reports); training environment (i.e., poor facilities, poor equipment); away matches (i.e., long journeys, travel delays, disruptions at the team hotel); governance (i.e., job security, selling players without consultation, being told how to do things, lack of infrastructure, lack of transfer funds) and soccer culture (i.e., the results business, fans, media pressure). The findings provide an in-depth insight into professional soccer coaches' stress experiences and have important practical implications for stakeholders in professional soccer.