27 - 28 November 2025 The Football Collective Conference 2025

In keeping with the Football Collective’s mission to become ‘the academic voice of football’ and ‘bring critical debate to our game’, the 2025 Conference, organised by Ulster University’s Centre for Sport in Society, invites papers that build on and offer new directions in shaping critical agendas in football.

Informed by Karl Marx’s inspirational call to move beyond merely thinking about or interpreting the social world but rather to inform and transform it, the conference will provide opportunities for scholars, policy makers and practitioners to address key issues in football related (but not limited) to: hyper commodification; ownership; player welfare; health and wellbeing; identity politics; inequality and underrepresentation; discrimination and hate and to set out how these might be better understood and tackled.

As such, we welcome papers and panels that have an ‘applied’ dimension alongside those that seek to theorise topical, emerging and contentious issues in the game. Recognising that no single academic discipline should be prioritised in identifying, explaining and tackling issues in football, we particularly encourage papers and panels that stimulate and enhance interdisciplinary dialogue across the social sciences and humanities, performance sciences and business and management.

Belfast is an ideal location to reflect on football’s trajectory, past, present and future. It is home to the oldest football club in Ireland (Cliftonville) formed in 1879. Football in the city has long been implicated in the politics of division in Northen Ireland while also featuring as a site for cross community reconciliation.

As the broader peace process continues on its often-troubled trajectory, the game has not only come to reflect more progressive attitudes towards the ‘other’ but continues to be a locale where contested local and national identities still play out. The conference venue constitutes a physical and social space where both of these dynamics have been evident. Investment from wealthy new owners has reshaped the higher echelons of the domestic game in the city and across Northern Ireland with a shift to full-time professional status being eagerly pursued by leading clubs. New strategies and directions for the women’s game and youth football have emerged in recent years.

The city is also home to diverse fan allegiances that are local and transnational, aligning in particular to the old firm and some of the most storied clubs across England.

We welcome 15-minute papers, multimedia, or documentary presentations. We also welcome abstracts for posters and panels. As per previous Football Collective conferences, submissions may approach football from a variety of disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspectives, and might focus on topics including but not limited to:

• Women’s football
• fandom & football culture
• football and identity
• equality, diversity & inclusion
• discrimination and hate in football
• football tourism and heritage
• football and politics
• sustainability & corporate social responsibility
• football and sportswashing
• football (mega) events
• football and human rights
• gambling (practices and regulation)
• football violence
• football migration
• football academies
• football, refugees and belonging
• football and peacebuilding
• player welfare
• mental health and well-being
• psychological support strategies
• child rights in football
• Governance & regulation
• strategy, finance & accounting
• branding & marketing
• stadiums & spaces
• technology
• agents & recruitment
• football & law
• media & broadcasting, digital & social media.
• Officiating
• Football tactics and coaching

Abstracts should be sent to: football.collective@ulster.ac.uk with the subject header: “Abstract: Football Collective 2025″ by 25 July 2025 and should:

1. Be written in English
2. Be sent in the form of a Microsoft Word document (.doc, .docx)
3. Not exceed 300 words
4. Include the title of the paper/poster/panel
5. Include the author/co-author(s) full name, title, position and institution
6. Include a brief professional biography (not exceeding 50 words)
7. An indication of preferred format (paper, multimedia, documentary or poster presentation)
8. If proposing a panel, please provide a brief outline of the theme/issues to be addressed (200 words); outline the proposed contributors (with a brief biography for each, not exceeding 100 words); state the preferred format (workshop, roundtable discussion, paper delivery).

It is intended that the event will lead to an edited collection as part of the Critical Research in Football series, published in association with Routledge.