Suchergebnisse

The intention of this paper is to examine the range of interdependent processes that influence the decisions of Irish footballers to migrate from teams based in the League of Ireland to English Premier League and Football League clubs. Using data derived from a series of qualitative interviews conducted with a group of Irish players that had relocated to English clubs at different points over a 20-year period, the analysis reveals that the players' decisions to migrate are predicated upon the interdependency of a number of processes that push the migrants from Ireland and pull them to England. The paper shows how these processes are reflected in a series of migrations where the players are not simply passive social agents but, rather, dynamic interlocutors whose decisions must be framed within the local contexts between which their movements are situated.

The intention of this paper is to offer a preliminary analysis of the migrations of professional footballers to Poland's top division – the Ekstraklasa. Based upon a series of interviews conducted with migrant players located at an Ekstraklasa club, the paper focuses specifically on the factors that influence the players' decisions to migrate to that particular league. The paper identifies that whilst the Ekstraklasa might sit outside of Europe's core football economies, it still offers much as a migration destination for certain sorts of players. Specifically, the paper shows how 'pull' factors, such as financial gain and the opportunity to play in Europe's elite club competitions, are juxtaposed with a number of structural factors that 'push' migrants from particular locations and that are contoured by the players' desires to progress in their careers. The paper concludes by showing that the motivations of the migrants cannot be reduced to any single causal factor, but rather, to be more meaningful, a series of interdependent processes should be seen to be at work.