UEFA Research Grants for 2014/15

The jury for the UEFA Research Grant Programme – supporting the work of doctoral and post-doctoral researchers studying European football – has chosen research grant proposals for the 2014/15 season. The jury has also heard the final presentations of the researchers who received grants for 2013/14.

The jury carried out a comprehensive review of the 48 applications received, and has chosen four proposals for the 2014/15 season – the fifth edition of the programme:

- Intentions to drop-out in adolescent female footballers from five European countries: The role of the coach-created motivational climate, Paul Appleton, University of Birmingham, UK

- A comparative perspective on European football: Organizational capacity of European football clubs, Christoph Breuer, German Sport University Cologne

- Risks versus benefits: Should youth football players be encouraged to take creatine?, Pascale Kippelen, Brunel University, UK

- Player load monitoring: Protecting the elite player from overload using miniature high frequency triaxial accelerometers, Mark Robinson, Liverpool John Moores University, UK

The researchers will now devote the coming nine months to research and prepare to report to European football's governing body next year.

"This initiative was launched by UEFA a few years ago to encourage and support academic research in topics dealing with European football," said Research Grant Jury chairman William Gaillard (UEFA). "I think this programme has been more than successful, and I am always surprised by the variety of topics and proposals that we receive.

"Football attracts a lot of interest in all kinds of disciplines and academic fields, and this is very encouraging. I am convinced that the work will help European football prosper and develop further – which is UEFA's central mission."

The UEFA Research Grant jury meeting also saw the chosen researchers for the 2012/13 season present the results of their work:

- Does anti-racist activism by fans challenge racism and xenophobia in European football?, Mark Doidge, University of Brighton, UK

- The effects of mental fatigue on repeated sprint ability and cognitive performance in football players, Samuele Marcora, University of Kent, UK

- Player development and coaching using an age-stage holistic PPSTT approach in youth football in the performance pathway in six European countries, Julian North, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK

- Football as a novel therapeutic approach to pediatric obesity. A randomised controlled trial and its effects on fitness, body composition, cardiometabolic and oxiadive markers, André Seabra, University of Porto, Portugal

- Reciprocal effects involving the recipients of social engagement by football associations and clubs, Stefan Walzel, German Sport University Cologne

The UEFA Research Grant Programme has a number of invaluable attributes. Firstly, the research in question helps to produce interesting new information on European football and, secondly, also helps the European football family fulfill its mission, thereby making its decision-making more effective and informed.

The UEFA Research Grant jury comprises a chairman, four representatives of the European football family and four academics known internationally for their work linked to European football/sport. Proposals may be made in the following areas: economics, history, law, management, political science, sociology and medical sciences.

Although all research proposals concerning European football are welcome, proposals addressing the eleven UEFA priority topics listed below have been especially encouraged.

• A comparative perspective on European football (compared with other sports, other continents)

• Accreditation, ticketing and hospitality (best practices; how will people want to buy tickets in future; future economic and legal challenges of hospitality)

• Doping (food supplements and food contamination)

• Environmental issues in European football (reducing the environmental footprint of UEFA competitions)

• Evolution of the game (long-term trends from outside football which could affect its future development)

• Footballer's optimum load (appropriate number of games per season)

• Format of UEFA club competitions (sporting and economic impact of a regional approach to qualifying rounds; competitive balance in group stages)

• Interactions between sports and state legal systems

• Management of football events (development of key performance indicators to asses operational activities)

• Participation in football across Europe (methodologies for comparable measurements)

• Women's football (retention of players and other parties)