Being a Team Captain in Professional Soccer: Perceptions and Experiences from the Head Coach Perspective

In soccer, the team captain is the official on-field leader of the team, adding increased responsibilities to the captain and expectations from the coach. The relationship between the coach and captain must be strong to help the team function effectively. However, how the coach perceives the role of the captain has only had minimal investigation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 male professional soccer coaches. Thematic analysis created 11 higher-order themes, which combined to identify the advantages, disadvantages, and influencing factors of being a captain. Being team captain has the advantages to the individual of being more prominent than other players, and representing the club on and off the field, which can contribute to the transition to coaching after the retirement. Likewise, several negative aspects of being captain are incurred due to the increased pressure and challenges the role brings. These can be intensified when the club exhibits unprofessional approaches to management. The captain’s role can become undesirable, as it can be perceived as insignificant and worthless, and can impact their private life. On reflection, team captains are perceived as being in a disadvantaged position rather than by coaches. Training can be given to the captain through sports psychologists.