ABSTRACT

The structure of football can also be conceived as a form of ecosystem, or even a social world, constructed through a network of individuals, within a division of labour, that interact under a set of specific conventions. In this commentary we describe that socially constructed world – Football World. The nature of this structural world makes network theory an appealing framework to explore processes of the football ecosystem during COVID-19. While we focus on the English Premier League, notably this league is embedded within a European and international marketplace it offers relevance for the broader global football ecosystem. We proceed to explore this dynamic Football World by considering how the different collective forms – specifically fans, players and clubs – have been affected by COVID-19. We comment on the potential implications for the connective fabric of the broader network and what these observations mean for potential future research.

摘要

足球的结构也可以被认为是一种生态系统，甚至是一个社会世界，它是通过劳动分工内的个人网络构建而成的，这些网络根据一系列特定的惯例相互影响。在这篇评论中，我们描述了社会建构的世界-足球世界。这种结构世界的性质使网络理论成为探索COVID-19期间足球生态系统过程的诱人框架。尽管我们专注于英超联赛，但该联赛已嵌入欧洲和国际市场，因此与更广泛的全球足球生态系统息息相关。我们将通过考虑COVID-19如何影响不同的集体形式（尤其是球迷，球员和俱乐部）来探索这个充满活力的足球世界。