AAGS 2021

61 approximately a third of responses. Medical and performance data are integrated within the same data management system in the majority of clubs (68%), yet only in approximately a third-to-half of national federations (40%). Research and development Activities inherent to research and development were reported by the majority and approximately half of the clubs and national federations respondents, with the staff leading this process having heterogeneous organisational roles and educational/ professional backgrounds. Approximately a third of club respondents indicated ideas suggested by staff members, strategic departmental decisions, and the presence of specific staff members as very important to identify areas for research and development. Perceptions on the role of external consultants to inform this process were unclear. National federations respondents indicated unclear perceptions on factors relevant to research and development activities at their organizations, with approximately a third identifying strategic departmental decisions as very important to this process. The majority of clubs undertake research internally via club staff and academic collaborations, whereas external consultations and industrial partnerships with companies accounted for approximately half and only a minority of responses. Research and development at national federations generally takes place internally via club staff only. Approximately half of national federation respondents indicated external consultations guide research and development processes, with academic collaborations and industrial partnerships accounting for only a minority of responses. Frontal presentations and workshops represented approaches adopted to disseminate knowledge developed from research and development activities in the majority and approximately a third-to-half of clubs and national team federations. Concluding Remarks In theeraofmodern football, this studywas the first to investigateperceptions onhow tasks in professional clubs and national federations are broken down and organized. Our study revealed the technostructure of contemporary football organizations has a vertical differentiation and follows a general machine bureaucracy model. In this context, clubs and national federations are characterized by specific levels of standardization, formalized procedures, a functional grouping of tasks, a clear delineation of relationships, precise operating and pragmatic staff allocation for routine task processes. Our findings be used to guide current practices as well as identify certain practices that can be targeted for future research and to inform real-world practice. We anticipate outcomes of this investigation to extend current knowledge and understanding of organisational structures and working practices of elite youth football academies and will be of interest to coaching staff of elite football club across the world. Future Perspectives The football industry evolved remarkably over the last century, with tangible effects onplayer performanceand, implicitly, the larger andmoreheterogenous composition of modern support staff in medical and performance areas. The outcomes of our latest investigation substantiated further how football organizations, no matter the association type, reached a multifaceted degree of specialization required for player support provision yet adding a fine line of complexity to organisational coordination. The intricacies of player performance enhancement resulted in football associations broadening their internal expertise and integrating it as part of strategic business units at the corporate level. From a practical perspective, the transformation of football organizations over these years highlighted the need for adopting a pragmatic and harmonious approach to the coordination of the different sources of information relevant to player development and performance enhancement. What resulted from such a contextual metamorphosis is ultimately the necessity to establish formal audit processes for Clubs and Federations to remain competitive as business and sporting units in the years to come.