To Örebro University

Since the dawn of modern sport, Swedish athletes and leaders have made a significant impact in the global sport community, and Swedish scientists and entrepreneurs have contributed to the development of coaching and training. But when it comes to football, Sweden has rather taken influence from others. Two names contradict this relative anonymity - Sven-Goran Eriksson and Pia Sundhage. They both have had long and successful careers which have brought Swedish coaching ideals to an international audience. The purpose of this study is to investigate how their respective coaching philosophies have developed over time and how they have been shaped by education, previous experiences, and influences in the coaches' own lives. The developments of Eriksson's and Sundhage's coaching philosophies are analysed through the lens of theories about scientisation, specialisation and professionalisation. We build on their own publications, as well as interviews and archival sources.

Sport promotes enjoyment, social interaction, embodied learning, and health. At the same time, it serves as a setting where people learn and navigate certain ideals and norms. Given the physical nature of sport, body norms and their impact on performance are particularly central. These body norms are intrinsically linked to gender norms. Most sports follow a binary structure, categorizing athletes as male or female, shaping expectations of how bodies should look and perform. Coaches play a key role in reinforcing these norms. For example, they have been shown to encourage weight-controlling behaviors and demand extreme weight loss, arguing that it enhances performance. Research on the athlete’s body and its role in body-critical coaching practices has primarily focused on women’s sports. This study aims to provide in-depth knowledge about the positioning of elite athletes as masculine-gendered beings in sports in relation to norms surrounding the masculine body.

Building on the importance of the coach, 12 Swedish elite coaches from 9 different sports were interviewed about the role of body weight, shape, and size in their respective sports. Imaginary positions were used as a lens to map and understand norms of the masculine sporting body. Exploring imaginary positions empirically involves analyzing patterns of what are known as practical ideologies—described in this case by sports coaches—and how these ideologies shape what is considered possible or impossible in sport.

Elite athletes construct themselves as masculine-gendered beings by navigating five imagined positions: the performing athlete, the fit athlete, the ironic athlete, the social athlete, and the self-regulated athlete. The greatest tension arises between the performing and fit athlete positions, as societal ideals of fitness can conflict with the demands of peak performance. However, in general, these positions largely reinforce one another. Athletes are expected to see their bodies as tools to calibrate, maintaining a detached and carefree attitude. This detachment is expressed through irony, joking about their own and others’ bodies, and being social. Athletes who are introverted or sensitive about their bodies face barriers. Some exceptionally skilled athletes may bypass certain expectations, but few can resist hegemonic masculinities. Interestingly, female athletes, perceived as more sensitive, may challenge norms and influence body ideals in sport.

The findings present an argument for sport organisations to reconsider the traditional practice of organizing training along gendered lines. While such an approach is more feasible in individual sports, we encourage team sports to explore opportunities for mixed-gender training sessions as well.

Nevertheless, working with mixed-gender groups alone is insufficient. To effectively challenge gendered stereotypes, coaching practices must adopt what Pederson and colleagues (2015) term a “gender-transformative” approach, which involves actively reshaping harmful gender roles and relations. While our study does not provide concrete examples of such practices, we aim to encourage coaches and other key stakeholders to critically engage with gender issues related to the masculine sporting body.

During the last few decades, technologies to monitor, test, and analyze athletes’ performance have been developed, such as global positioning systems (GPS), stadium camcorders, and heart rate monitors (Cullinane et al., 2024; Svensson & Svensson, 2021). Data from these sources is central to sports clubs’ management of athletes’ performances, and Robertson (2020) argues that the development of data gathering in sport has led to a new scenario for coaching staff, athletes, and performance analysts, where adaptive tools are essentially required to understand the needs of sports performance. At the forefront are economically strong clubs in the major leagues (Krizkova et al., 2021), but considerable growth is occurring as technologies become more affordable (Brink & Lemmink, 2018).

However, there is a growing body of literature that points to negative consequences. ‘Tech-data’ tends to govern too much, resulting in a distortion of lived experience and the dehumanization of both athletes and coaches (Gamble et al., 2020; Woods et al., 2021). Ultimately, what is at stake is who and what should make the decisions regarding athletes’ performance. Studies in this area have mainly been conducted in the Anglosphere on men’s sports, which limits the relevance of the conclusions drawn (Mulvenna, 2024; Nicholls et al., 2018). To provide more informed recommendations to sports organizations, research is needed on contexts with different conditions and resources, as well as on women’s sports (Barker-Ruchti et al., 2021; Martin et al., 2018).

This study responds to this call. Using Swedish men’s and women’s elite football as an example—a context that has recently begun to invest in emerging technologies (Barker-Ruchti et al., 2021)—the purpose of this study is to advance the understanding of the effects of using technology in the management of athletes’ performance. The specific aims are: 1) to map the landscape of performance analysis technologies in Swedish elite football in terms of a) what is used, b) why it is used, and c) how it is used; and 2) to illuminate how the use of technology affects the power relations between managers, coaches, analysts, and athletes.

To collect data, a questionnaire has been sent to all elite clubs in Swedish men’s and women’s football. Analytically, the study builds on the perspective of governmentality (Foucault & Faubion, 2002; Walters, 2012), which facilitates an understanding of how governing processes constitute subject positions and the power relations between them (Primus, 2024). This study will analyze what subject positions (i.e., managers, coaches, analysts, and players) and power relations the ‘governmentality of technology’ constitutes in the context of Swedish elite soccer.

Data analysis has just started and has so far only focused on the mapping (aim 1). Preliminary findings show that most Swedish elite soccer clubs use GPS, video, and heart rate monitors to track tactical and physiological aspects, respectively. It is mostly the physio or the analyst who collects, interprets, and communicates the data. However, the scope depends significantly on the resources and number of individuals in the coaching staff of the club.

Stories of body shaming in sports coaching are becoming widespread, and can intentionally, unintentionally, or inadvertently be used in different sports coaching practices. These practices do not necessarily intend to harm athletes. The aim of this paper is to explore body critical and body sensitive sport coaching practices that have the potential to be shaming, or as we call it in the title, the ‘anatomy’ of body shaming. The study used photo elicitation interviews including vignettes for data generation with 12 coaches from nine different sports. The results demonstrate that body criticality and body sensitivity function in different subtle ways and that coaches were well-aware of the potentially damaging influence that they can have on athletes. The article concludes with recommendations for further research exploring how athletes experience the most subtle and invisible ways of body critical and body sensitive practices, and how they internalize this well-intended but still potentially shaming advice.

In recent decades, new technologies for tracking and analysing athletes' performance have emerged, primarily adopted by financially strong clubs in major men's team sport leagues. However, diffusion is now more widespread. While previous research highlights both benefits and drawbacks of these technologies, it has largely focused on men's sports within the Anglosphere. This study aims to provide an overview of the use of performance analysis technologies in Swedish men's and women's elite football. Findings from the online survey show that while uptake is higher in men's football and in the top divisions, over 80% of the respondents report that their clubs use one or more forms of technology. Video analysis is the most common, followed by GPS and mobile apps. Strength and conditioning coaches play a central role in implementation, whereas players are rarely involved in data processing. Drawing on previous research, unlocking the potential of big data and avoiding digital divides requires that Swedish club management allocate sufficient resources and equip stakeholders not only with technological competence but also with pedagogical and communication skills. However, to provide more specific recommendations, further research is needed on the implementation phase and on how stakeholders, particularly players, experience the use of performance analysis technologies.

Alltsedan den moderna tävlingsidrottens födelse har svenska ledare haft en betydande inverkan på den internationella idrotten, och svenska forskare och entreprenörer har bidragit till utvecklingen av träning och coaching. Men när det kommer till fotboll har Sverige snarare tagit intryck från andra. Det finns ett antal undantag från denna relativa anonymitet och bland dessa är det två namn som lyser extra starkt – Sven-Göran Eriksson och Pia Sundhage. Båda har haft långa och framgångsrika karriärer som har fört svenska tränarideal till en internationell publik. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur deras respektive tränarfilosofier har utvecklats över tid och hur de har formats av utbildning, tidigare erfarenheter och influenser i coachernas egna liv. Utvecklingen av Erikssons och Sundhages tränarfilosofier analyseras utifrån teorier om vetenskapliggörande, specialisering och professionalisering. Vi bygger på deras egna publikationer, intervjuer och tränarutbildningsmaterial.

Since the dawn of modern sport, Swedish athletes and leaders have made a significant impact on the global sports community, and Swedish scientists have contributed to the development of coaching and training. However, when it comes to football, Sweden has largely drawn influence from other countries. Two names stand out as exceptions to this relative anonymity – Sven-Göran Eriksson and Pia Sundhage. They represent a shift in the role of coaching in football and have had long and successful international careers, bringing Swedish coaching ideals to a global audience.

In this paper, we conduct a biographical study of Eriksson’s and Sundhage’s coaching in both theory and practice. The purpose is to investigate how their respective coaching philosophies have developed over time, and how they have been shaped by education, previous experiences, and influences from their own lives. How have they built upon their own playing careers? What aspects of the political and social context have influenced their coaching? How have their international experiences and encounters with other national football cultures shaped their views on coaching and football? We will then make a comparison to identify similarities and differences.

The development of Eriksson’s and Sundhage’s coaching philosophies is analyzed through the lens of theories on scientisation, specialisation, and professionalisation. We draw on Eriksson’s and Sundhage’s own publications, as well as interviews and educational materials from the Swedish Football Association’s coach education programs.

What Eriksson and Sundhage have managed well is the balance between tradition and innovation, drawing both on the officially sanctioned Swedish coach education and their own experiences from coaching in different cultural contexts. Both coaches state that they have become increasingly flexible, allowing for more individual freedom rather than relying on a rigid, dogmatic system. This highlights how personal experience, built over many years, has been integral to their success. In tandem with this growing experience, the effects of professionalisation, scientisation, and specialisation have enabled Sundhage and Eriksson to take a step back and assume a more managerial role. They have both been pragmatic, gradually evolving their coaching philosophy as new technological, scientific, and economic developments have opened up new opportunities.

Until the 1960s, the elite coach was shadowed by elected representatives and amateur players. Since then, the professionalization process has transferred power to the coaches. As this process is intertwined with the commercialization of sport, the aim of this article is to advance the understanding of the impact of commercialization on the elite coach in a Scandinavian context. Through the lens of governmentality, and the Swedish men's elite football coach as the example, the study shows how commercialization has impacted the coach's power and responsibilities in the club, the relationships with the athletes, and with external stakeholders. The study draws on the board minutes and annual reports of a football club, education material from the Swedish coach education programme, and interviews with six former coaches. The results show that the governmentality of commercialization has placed the coach in the limelight, that they are responsible for guiding the players' actions to enhance their economic value, and are the club's outward face to convince external stakeholders to invest in football.

In the late 19th century, football entered Sweden's coastal cities, such as Malmö, Halmstad and Gothenburg. The sport grew quickly, and the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) was founded in 1904. In the following decades, the popularity of football increased and in the 1950s it was perceived as the national sport of Sweden. However, at that time the sport was non-professional and in practice only for men. In order to keep up with hardening international competition, SvFF overturned the amateur regulations in 1967. Professionalisation was slow due to the lack of revenue but accelerated for male players after the Bosman ruling in 1995. Women's football developed gradually from the 1960s and in 1972 a national league organised by SvFF was formed. Youth football also grew substantially. Despite the differences in resources football became well-established amongst both men and women. However, the tensions between idealism, voluntarism and inclusion on the one hand, and commercialism, professionalism and selection, on the other hand, remain. This is best exemplified by the 51% rule, which states that clubs must be majority-owned by the members. This is hailed by some as a guarantee for democratic football, while others argue that it restricts clubs’ financial development.