Connections, conflict and (re)configuration: a relational analysis of the enactment of EPPP policy in academy football

Thomas, Ryan, Hall, Edward and Potrac, Paul (2025) Connections, conflict and (re)configuration: a relational analysis of the enactment of EPPP policy in academy football. Sports Coaching Review. pp. 1-17. ISSN 2164-0629

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Abstract

The relational and networked nature of policy enactment work in coaching contexts has received scant attention. This study addressed how interdependencies, ties, and co-constituted interactions shaped the enactment of the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) within academy football. Utilising Crossley's relational theorising as a primary sense-making device, we demonstrate how policy was lived through the everyday relations and interactions of those involved. Using a bricolage of recursive methods within a category 3 academy, the findings highlight how patterns of trust, conflict and homophilic clustering constrained the flow of new policy ideas and reshaped existing lines of influence. Coaches’ agency materialised in collective and contingent ways rather than as an individual act. Policy enactment was positioned as a negotiated and constantly shifting process sustained by the ties, emotions and dependencies of organisational life, with practical implications into how communication systems and organisational arrangements shape coaches' interpretation of policy.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Coaching policy, relational sociology, interaction, relationships, academy football, networks
Depositing User:	Ms Raisa Burton
Date Deposited:	24 Nov 2025 15:56
Last Modified:	24 Nov 2025 15:56
URI:	https://marjon.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/18040
Related URLs:	https://www.tan ... 29.2025.2591410 (Publisher URL)

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