A club in transition: An exploration of organisational change at a League Two football club

Whilst a growing body of research has explored organisational change from the perspective of sport science and medical practitioners, this study aims to present the experiences of a whole performance operation when experiencing organisational change. Tending to recommendations for examinations of professional sports teams, this study examines the change experience of one professional football team playing in the fourth tier of the English football pyramid. Participants were all paid employees at the organisation and represented departments of senior management, first team staff, sport science and medical, recruitment, academy, and young professionals. In total six focus groups were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis. Four overarching themes were identified: uncertainty?, the structural puzzle, keep the ball rolling and negative appraisal. Results indicate support for literature in regard of uncertainty during organisational change, and provide a need for further research in the areas of emotional labor and organisational change within elite sport. The adoption of ethnographic methods utilising multiple data collection techniques to give an account of how individuals and organisations experience change and how this evolves with time, may also be necessary.