Football and Health Improvement: an Emergent Field An Emergent Field

There is developing interest in the use of sporting settings as a channel to connect people to health improvement services and an emerging body of research highlights football as being associated with positive motivational and social elements that support the maintenance of a physically active lifestyle. This text provides insights into a range of issues surrounding the role of football as a vehicle for health improvement for different groups.The contributors to this volume share some of the challenges and the benefits of using professional football settings as a channel for connecting people to health improvement opportunities. These chapters will be of interest to a range of stakeholders involved in research, policy and practice who stand to benefit from building partnerships with colleagues with expertise in (I) conducting evaluation and (II) reporting evaluation and research outcomes in peer-reviewed mediums, reflecting the value of partnerships between football-led health improvement and evaluators. This book was previously published as a special issue of Soccer & Society.

1. Football and health improvement: an emerging field Daniel Parnell and Andy Pringle 2. A perspective from key stakeholders on football and health improvementAngus Martin, Simon Morgan, Daniel Parnell, Matthew Philpott, Andy Pringle, Michael Rigby, Andy Taylor and Jon Topham 3. Supporting lifestyle risk reduction: promoting men’s health through professional footballS. Zwolinsky, J. McKenna, A. Pringle, A. Daly-Smith, S. Robertson and A. White 4. Effectiveness of a community football programme on improving physiological markers of health in a hard-to-reach male population: the role of exercise intensityAndrew Thomas Hulton, David Flower, Rebecca Murphy, Dave Richardson, Barry Drust and Kathryn Curran 5. Evaluating conflict mitigation and health improvement through soccer: a two-year study of Mifalot’s ‘United Soccer for Peace’ programmeTal Litvak-Hirsch, Yair Galily and Michael Leitner 6. The pursuit of lifelong participation: the role of professional football clubs in the delivery of physical education and school sport in EnglandDaniel Parnell, Sarah Buxton, Des Hewitt, Matthew J. Reeves, Ed Cope and Richard Bailey 7. Can ‘English Premier League’ funding for PE and school sport achieve its aims?Stephen Zwolinsky, Jim McKenna, Daniel Parnell and Andy Pringle 8. The influence of club football on children’s daily physical activityGlen Nielsen, Anna Bugge and Lars Bo Andersen 9. Football for health: getting strategicSimon Lansley and Daniel Parnell

Daniel Parnell is a senior lecturer in business management at Manchester Metropolitan University. His research interests cover the sport and leisure sectors within the UK and he works globally on a number of projects, in particular on the social role of sport. Andy Pringle is Reader in physical activity, exercise and health at Leeds Beckett University. He researches the impact of physical activity and public health interventions. He is ‘Fellow’ of the Royal Society of Public Health and a Topic Expert, (physical activity) for the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence.