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A very precarious profession:

Uncertainty in the working lives of professional footballers

Durham University

Based on semi-structured interviews with 47 present and former professional footballers, this article explores the uncertainty that is a central feature of the professional footballer's workplace experiences, contributing to sociological understanding of insecurities stemming from the social relations of this type of work.The professional football industry has always been marked by a competitive labour market, and players quickly grasp the limited tenure of contracts, the constant surplus of talented labour, and their vulnerability to injury and ageing.To deal with the feelings of insecurity that arise from these working conditions, players develop networks of a) friends to whom they can turn if they perceive their status to be under threat, and b) dramaturgical selves(Collinson, 2003) in order to maintain stable, masculine workplace identities. Addressing feelings of uncertainty is an everpresent dimension of their working lives.

Key Words: conditions of work • labour markets • professional football • uncertainty

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