Complexity in the beautiful game: implications for football research and practice

Abstract

Like many other sports, football is increasingly being described as a complex system. To date, however, there has been little explanation of complexity beyond the team level, and no formal examination of the extent to which the known characteristics of complex systems are present in football. This commentary reviews known characteristics of complex systems and discusses the extent to which football match, club, and league sub-systems exhibit them. It is argued that all three football sub-systems do indeed exhibit the characteristics of complexity, and as such, it is concluded that football can be described as a complex system. The implications for future football research and practice are discussed. Applications of complex systems modelling techniques are encouraged, both to model football systems and to identify how different systemic variables interact to influence performance. A paradigm shift away from reductionism toward holism in football research is advocated.