The English Game: Boxing Day, the social life of Premier League managers
By: Iquii Sport
Tags: Football Marketing, Social Media, Football Management, Social Media Marketing, Football

Boxing Day is a national holiday celebrated in the UK and in the entire Commonwealth. On December 26 people spend their time with the family, even though the consumer society associates this day with the beginning of the sales period. However, most of the people dedicate this day to sport. This year, on Saint Stephen’s Day, there won’t be only football matches to watch, but also rugby, cricket and horse racing. The BBC, Sky and BT (British Telecom) will broadcast English football games: 6 Premier League fixtures, 4 Championship games, 2 matches from League One and 1 from League Two, which makes a total of 13. The first official football match ever was played, not by chance, on Boxing Day in 1860. Both the opponents came from South Yorkshire: Sheffield, the oldest football club founded in 1857, and Hallam FC.

Boxing Day 2020 will begin with Leicester FC facing Manchester United (12:30, GMT). Other five Premier League fixtures will be played right after. Fans will be involved through the media, that will cover live all the sport events scheduled on this day. Boxing Day is known worldwide, therefore its events will be broadcasted in different countries and in many languages. Clubs and athletes are expected to be the main characters, but there is somebody who is gaining importance on TV, newspapers and social media, too: the football manager.

Football managers on Instagram: analysis and advice/suggestions

We are all football managers. Traditionally, Italian fans tend to criticise the choices of their club’s coach, always trying to find their own solution to a problem. It’s always been this way, even before the widespread use of social media. Nevertheless, Facebook & co. helped us to emphasize this particular “football culture”. Through the Italian Fantacalcio (Fantasy Football) Italian fans plan their own team, putting a lot of effort on building the best fantasy online squad possible. However, how do real managers deal with social media? Since we approach the Boxing Day, let’s find out how top class managers interact on social media. The Italian tendency to act like football managers will enable us to give managers advice to improve their accounts.

Tottenham — José Mourinho

With more than 1M followers, José is an example of how to use Instagram in order to be disruptive outside the pitch, too. He makes his comments on the games played and sends out clear messages to his players, criticising them if needed. Hence, he showcases his real essence. Mourinho’s fans want him to become a Vlogger. Guess they’re right? We would suggest him to experience more live-videos and benefit from IGTV to launch a new format!

Arsenal — Mikel Arteta

Arteta, born in San Sebastián (Spain), is one of the most followed “instaManager”, boasting 837K followers. Despite his blue tick, he doesn’t post so often (his last post dates back to last summer). Moreover, the Arsenal coach is not keen on using IGTV. As for Lampard, football fans ask him to intensify his online presence. So why not take advantage?

Chelsea — Frank Lampard

Although he has one of the broadest fanbase on Instagram (even broader than Mourinho), Frank Lampard could do more: his 4.4M followers are mostly a consequence of his former career as a player and are eager to interact with him. They posted more than 13K comments on his last post on June 2nd, 2020, asking him back on the platform.

Everton — Carlo Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti, iconic player of AS Roma in the 80s, is the king of Instagram. His 5.2M followers are constantly feeded with content. Little effort, but amazing results in a football world that has evolved throughout the years. Ancelotti has gone through 40 years of football history, both as player and manager: this reminds us that age doesn’t matter. What is more important is the ability to understand the world we live in, which allows us to stay connected with fans. Ancelotti’s website highlights and strengthens this concept. Just one brief criticism: Carletto could benefit more from the “real time” presence and/or the IGTV feature to “humanise” the relationship with his fans.

What about other Premier League managers? Someone is missing in this social media list, someone else has nearly a thousand followers, while for some other coaches you can find a fake account. The truth is, Premier League managers (many of them are former players) should rely much more on social media to build a strong and effective relationship with their fans.

The English Game: the Netflix series on the rise of professional football

If you haven’t watched “The English Game” on Netflix, then you should! Based on a real story, with small plot adaptations, the series deals with the spread of football in the Centre and in the North of the Kingdom. In fact, football originally used to be played only by the upper classes in the South of the UK. You’ll learn the story of Fergus Suter and Jimmy Love at Darwen FC and at Blackburn Rovers, working-class teams, constantly but fairly struggling with Arthur Kinnaird, playing for Old Etonians, a prestigious club from Eton. Kinnaird is also supposed to be the founder of the FA Cup. The English Game portraits the first steps of professional football in all its appeal, emphasized by players wearing woolen t-shirts and suspenders to prevent their shorts from falling down.

“Only gentlemen lifted the Cup: wealthy people attending upper-class schools and wearing expensive clothes. Imagine men like us lifting that trophy”

Premier League fixtures on Boxing Day (Italian time)

13:30 Leicester v Manchester United 2–2

16:00 Aston Villa v Crystal Palace 3–0

16:00 Fulham v Southampton 0–0

18:30 Arsenal v Chelsea 3–1

21:00 Manchester City v Newcastle 2–0

21:00 Sheffield United v Everton 0–1

Premier League fixtures on December 27th

13:00 Leeds v Burnley 1–0

15:15 West Ham v Brighton 2–2

17:30 Liverpool v West Bromwich 1–1

20:15 Wolverhampton v Tottenham 1–1