Sport Entrepreneurship and Public

Policy: Building a New Approach to

Policy-making for Sport Vanessa Ratten
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://textbookfull.com/product/sport-entrepreneurship-and-public-policy-building-a-n
ew-approach-to-policy-making-for-sport-vanessa-ratten/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Sport Policy Systems and Sport Federations: A Cross-

National Perspective 1st Edition Jeroen Scheerder

https://textbookfull.com/product/sport-policy-systems-and-sport-
federations-a-cross-national-perspective-1st-edition-jeroen-
scheerder/

Entrepreneurship and the Community: A Multidisciplinary

Perspective on Creativity, Social Challenges, and
Business Vanessa Ratten

https://textbookfull.com/product/entrepreneurship-and-the-
community-a-multidisciplinary-perspective-on-creativity-social-
challenges-and-business-vanessa-ratten/

Sport and Development in Emerging Nations (Routledge

Research in Sport Politics and Policy) 1st Edition Cem
Tinaz

https://textbookfull.com/product/sport-and-development-in-
emerging-nations-routledge-research-in-sport-politics-and-
policy-1st-edition-cem-tinaz/

Sports Innovation Management Vanessa Ratten

https://textbookfull.com/product/sports-innovation-management-
vanessa-ratten/
An introduction to the policy process theories concepts
and models of public policy making Fourth Edition
Thomas A Birkland

https://textbookfull.com/product/an-introduction-to-the-policy-
process-theories-concepts-and-models-of-public-policy-making-
fourth-edition-thomas-a-birkland/

Operational Policy Making for Professional Security

Practical Policy Skills for the Public and Private
Sector 1st Edition Sondej

https://textbookfull.com/product/operational-policy-making-for-
professional-security-practical-policy-skills-for-the-public-and-
private-sector-1st-edition-sondej/

Evidence Use in Health Policy Making: An International

Public Policy Perspective Justin Parkhurst

https://textbookfull.com/product/evidence-use-in-health-policy-
making-an-international-public-policy-perspective-justin-
parkhurst/

Environmental Public Policy Making Exposed: A Guide for

Decision Makers and Interested Citizens Cynthia H.
Stahl

https://textbookfull.com/product/environmental-public-policy-
making-exposed-a-guide-for-decision-makers-and-interested-
citizens-cynthia-h-stahl/

Making Sport Great Again The Uber Sport Assemblage

Neoliberalism and the Trump Conjuncture David L.
Andrews

https://textbookfull.com/product/making-sport-great-again-the-
uber-sport-assemblage-neoliberalism-and-the-trump-conjuncture-
david-l-andrews/
Contributions to Management Science

Vanessa Ratten Editor

Sport
Entrepreneurship
and Public Policy
Building a New Approach to
Policy-making for Sport
Contributions to Management Science
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/1505
Vanessa Ratten
Editor

Sport Entrepreneurship
and Public Policy
Building a New Approach to Policy-making
for Sport
Editor
Vanessa Ratten
Department of Entrepreneurship,
Innovation and Marketing
La Trobe University
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

ISSN 1431-1941 ISSN 2197-716X (electronic)

Contributions to Management Science
ISBN 978-3-030-29457-1 ISBN 978-3-030-29458-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29458-8

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the
material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Also by Vanessa Ratten

Sole Authored Books

Ratten, V. (2019) Sports Technology and Innovation: Assessing Cultural and Social
Factors, Palgrave, United Kingdom.
Ratten, V. (2018) Sport Entrepreneurship: Developing and Sustaining an Entrepre-
neurial Sports Culture, Springer, United Kingdom.
Ratten, V. (2018) Frugal Innovation, Routledge, United Kingdom.
Ratten, V. (2017) Sports Innovation Management, Routledge, United Kingdom.
Ratten, V. (2017) Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Smart Cities, Routledge,
United Kingdom.

Sole Edited Books

Ratten, V. (2019) Entrepreneurship and the community: A multidisciplinary

perspective on creativity, social challenges and business, Springer, Heidelberg.
Ratten, V. (2019) Technological progress, inequality and entrepreneurship: from
consumer division to human centricity, Springer, Heidelberg.

Co-edited Books

Ratten, V., Jones, P., Braga, V. and Marques, C. S. (2019) Subsistence Entrepre-
neurship: The Role of Collaborative Innovation, Sustainability and Social Goals,
Springer, Heidelberg.

v
vi Also by Vanessa Ratten

Ratten, V., Jones, P., Braga, V. and Marques, C. S. (2019) Sustainable Entrepre-
neurship: The Role of Collaboration in the Global Economy, Springer,
Heidelberg.
Ratten, V. Braga, V., Alvarez-Garcia, J. and Del Rio-Rama, M. (2019) Entrepre-
neurship, Innovation and Inequality: Exploring Territorial Dynamics and
Development, Routledge, United Kingdom.
Ratten, V. Braga, V., Alvarez-Garcia, J. and Del Rio-Rama, M. (2019) Tourism
Innovation: Technology, Sustainability and Creativity, Routledge, United
Kingdom.
Tajeddini, T., Ratten, V. and Merkle, T. (2019) Tourism, Hospitality and Digital
Transformation: Strategic Management Aspects, Routledge, United Kingdom.
Ratten, V., and Dana, L.-P. (2019) Diversity and Entrepreneurship, Routledge,
United Kingdom.
Dana, L.-P. and Ratten, V. (2019) Societal Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness,
Emerald, United Kingdom.
Ratten, V. and Jones, P. (2018) Transformational Entrepreneurship, Routledge,
United Kingdom.
Ramadani, V., Dana, L.-P. and Ratten, V. (2018) Informal Ethnic Entrepreneurship:
Future Research Paradigms for Creating Innovative, Springer, United Kingdom.
Ferreira, J., Fayolle, A., Raposo, M. and Ratten, V. (2018) Entrepreneurial
Universities, Edward Elgar, United Kingdom.
Dana, L.-P., Ratten, V. and Honyenuga, B. (2018) African Entrepreneurship:
Challenges and Opportunities for Doing Business, Palgrave, United Kingdom.
Ratten, V., Ramadani, V., Dana, L.-P., Hisrich, R. and Ferreira, J. (2017) Gender and
Family Entrepreneurship, Routledge, United Kingdom.
Ratten, V., Braga, V. and Marques, C. (2017) Knowledge, Learning and Innovation:
Research Insights into Cross-Sector Collaboration, Springer, United Kingdom.
Ratten, V., Ramadani, V. and Dana, L.-P. (2017) Women’s Entrepreneurship and
Family Business, Routledge, United Kingdom.
Ferreira, J., Dana, L.-P. and Ratten, V. (2016) Knowledge Spillovers and Strategic
Entrepreneurship, Routledge, United Kingdom.
Ratten, V. and Ferreira, J. (2016) Sport Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Routledge,
United Kingdom.
Ramadani, V., Dana, L.-P., Gërguri-Rashiti, S. and Ratten, V. (2016) Entrepreneur-
ship and Management in an Islamic Context, Springer, United Kingdom.
Dana, L.-P., Han, M., Ratten, V. and Welpe, I. (2009) The Handbook of Research on
Asian Entrepreneurship, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar.
Dana, L.-P., Han, M., Ratten, V. and Welpe, I. (2008) Handbook of Research on
European Entrepreneurship: Internationalisation of Small Businesses,
Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar.
Acknowledgements

Firstly, I would like to thank Dr Prashanth Mahagaonkar for his expertise and
guidance with this book. Secondly, I thank my friends and colleagues for their
support and advice about sport entrepreneurship. Thirdly, but not least in importance
I thank my family. This includes my dad David Ratten, brothers Hamish Ratten and
Stuart Ratten, and my niece Sakura Ratten. My mum, Kaye Ratten, has been and
always will be the most influential person in my life. I am grateful to all the
opportunities she gave me and for always encouraging me to pursue my goals.
The world, particularly the sport world, has changed significantly from the time my
mum was born to the present day. Today, we live in a time of increased computer-
ization and connectivity, which has influenced the pace of entrepreneurship in sport.
Watching live games on television with sport analytics included is now considered
the norm. In addition, the gender pay gap between male and female sports whilst still
being significant has been lessened. This is the result of the entrepreneurial spirit of
sports clubs, athletes, fans, and supporters around the world. Another effect of
increased technology usage in sport has been the idea of co-creation. This will
further change the way sport is considered and used in society. I hope this book
will encourage more people to think of the myriad of ways sport can be entrepre-
neurial and take an entrepreneurship approach to sport. There are endless possibil-
ities if we open our minds and have an entrepreneurial mindset with regard to sport.

vii
Contents

Entrepreneurship in Sport Policy: A New Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Vanessa Ratten
Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility
in Team Sport Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Aila Ahonen and H. Thomas R. Persson
‘It Pays to Play’: The Emergence of Innovative Planning, Occupational
Devotion, and Lifestyle Entrepreneurship in Aotearoa/New Zealand . . . 23
Richard Keith Wright and Cindy Wiersma
Sport Innovation: An Opportunity for Technology-Based Companies
Stimulated by the Brazil Olympics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Branca Terra, André Ribeiro de Oliveira, Mariza Almeida,
Luiz Alberto Batista, João Alberto Neves dos Santos,
Jana Almeida Nogueira, and Leonardo Lehneman Agostinho Martins
Non-parametric Analysis of Factors Affecting the Competitive
Structure of Europe’s Advanced Football Leagues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Birol Erkan and Oğuz Kara
Brand Equity on Surf Destinations: Alaçatı Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Yavuz Yıldız and Kadir Yıldız
A Gender Perspective of Sport-Based Entrepreneurship . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Vanessa Ratten
Online C2C Interactions with Sports Brands: Insights
from the #Mo Salah Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Noha El-Bassiouny, Sara Hamed, Hadeer Hammad, Hagar Adib,
and Nesma Ammar
The Future for Sport Entrepreneurship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Ted Hayduk III

ix
x Contents

Sports Innovation: A Bibliometric Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

João J. Ferreira, Cristina Fernandes, Vanessa Ratten, and Dina Miragaia
High-Performance Management Work Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Vanessa Ratten, Joao J. Ferreira, and Cristina Fernandes
List of Contributors

Hagar Adib German University in Cairo, New Cairo City, Egypt

Aila Ahonen JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Jyväskylä, Finland
Mariza Almeida Federal University of Rio de Janeiro State, Urca, Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil
Nesma Ammar German University in Cairo, New Cairo City, Egypt
Luiz Alberto Batista State University of Rio de Janeiro, Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil
Andre Ribeiro de Oliveira State University of Rio de Janeiro, Maracanã, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil
Joao Alberto Neves dos Santos Fluminense Federal University, São Domingos,
Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Noha El-Bassiouny German University in Cairo, New Cairo City, Egypt
Birol Erkan Uşak University, Uşak, Turkey
Cristina Fernandes University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal
Joao J. Ferreira University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal
Sara Hamed German University in Cairo, New Cairo City, Egypt
Hadeer Hammad German University in Cairo, New Cairo City, Egypt
Ted Hayduk San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, USA
Oguz Kara Düzce University, Düzce, Turkey

xi
xii List of Contributors

Leonardo Lehneman Agostinho Martins State University of Rio de Janeiro,

Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Dina Miragaia University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal
Jana Almeida Nogueira State University of Rio de Janeiro, Maracanã, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil
H. Thomas R. Persson Kristianstad University, Kristianstad, Sweden
Vanessa Ratten La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Branca Terra State University of Rio de Janeiro, Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Cindy Wiersma Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
Richard Keith Wright Auckland University of Technology, Auckland,
New Zealand
Kadir Yildiz Manisa Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey
Yavuz Yildiz Manisa Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey
List of Figures

Sport Innovation: An Opportunity for Technology-Based Companies

Stimulated by the Brazil Olympics
Fig. 1 Companies’ innovation degree. Source: Authors’ own figure . . . . . . . . 53
Fig. 2 Companies’ innovation degree, per radar dimension,
and innovation environment. Source: Authors’ own figure . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Brand Equity on Surf Destinations: Alaçatı Sample

Fig. 1 Results of structural equation modeling of destination brand
equity. Source: Authors’ own figure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Online C2C Interactions with Sports Brands: Insights from the #Mo Salah
Brand
Fig. 1 Conceptualization of the research framework (Source: Authors’
own figure) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Fig. 2 Mo Salah brand resonance map (NVivo 12 output) (Source:
Authors’ own figure) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Sports Innovation: A Bibliometric Study

Fig. 1 Evolution in terms of number of references and citations . . . . . . . . .. . . . 156
Fig. 2 Network diagram of the core literature and clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Fig. 3 Network diagram of co-occurrence of keywords and clusters . . . . . . . . 164

High-Performance Management Work Systems

Fig. 1 Number of articles by year of publication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Fig. 2 Network co-citations and their clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Fig. 3 Reference network of the 161 cited articles and their clusters . . . . . . . . 183
Fig. 4 Network authors mentioned in 161 articles and their clusters . . . . . . . . 185
Fig. 5 Network sources cited in 161 articles and their clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Fig. 6 Collaboration network between countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
xiii
List of Tables

‘It Pays to Play’: The Emergence of Innovative Planning, Occupational

Devotion, and Lifestyle Entrepreneurship in Aotearoa/New Zealand
Table 1 The six distinguishing feature of occupational devotion . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Sport Innovation: An Opportunity for Technology-Based Companies

Stimulated by the Brazil Olympics
Table 1 Points criteria established for the companies’ responses . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Table 2 Specialist backgrounds .. . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 46
Table 3 Companies’ scores, per specialist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Table 4 Studied companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Table 5 Summary of the companies’ responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Table 6 Final score of the studied companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Table 7 Companies characteristics’ related to the innovation
degree—business model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Table 8 Companies’ Characteristics related to the innovation
degree—support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Table 9 Companies’ Characteristics related to the innovation
degree—entrepreneurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Table 10 Companies’ Characteristics related to the Innovation
Degree—Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Non-parametric Analysis of Factors Affecting the Competitive Structure

of Europe’s Advanced Football Leagues
Table 1 Definition of the variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Table 2 The Concentration index results of the football leagues
(2009–2018) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Table 3 Technical efficiency scores of the football leagues according
to the HHI . . .. .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. . 81
Table 4 TFP index scores of the football leagues according to the HHI . . . 82

xv
xvi List of Tables

Table 5 Technical efficiency scores of the football leagues according

to the EI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Table 6 TFP index scores of the football leagues according to the EI . . . . . 84

Brand Equity on Surf Destinations: Alaçatı Sample

Table 1 Validity and reliability analyses results of destination brand
value scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Table 2 Compliance with normal distribution test for destination brand
equity subscales results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Table 3 Analysis of subscales of destination brand value in terms
of sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 97
Table 4 Omnibus test results related to model coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Table 5 Logistic regression analysis result for the wish of visiting
Alaçatı again . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . 98

A Gender Perspective of Sport-Based Entrepreneurship

Table 1 Individual and sociocultural influences of female athletes . . . . . . . . . 108

Online C2C Interactions with Sports Brands: Insights from the #Mo Salah
Brand
Table 1 Total scores of brand attitude for brand resonance components
of Mo Salah fan comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Table 2 Total scores of brand image for brand resonance components
of Mo Salah fan comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Sports Innovation: A Bibliometric Study

Table 1 Journals with the most publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Table 2 Journals with more citations . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . 157
Table 3 Journals with the highest number of citations per published
reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Table 4 List of core literature based on total citations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Table 5 List of core literature based on citations by year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Table 6 List of top co-citations in terms of frequency . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . 159
Table 7 Top 10 articles with more centrality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Table 8 Groupings found cluster analysis of co-citations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Table 9 List of top co-occurrences of keywords in terms of frequency . . . . 163
Table 10 Top 10 keywords with more centrality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Table 11 Groupings found cluster analysis of co-word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
List of Tables xvii

High-Performance Management Work Systems

Table 1 The most cited articles in the field of HPWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Table 2 Clusters resulting from the cluster analysis of citations
of articles mentioning the 21 most cited articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Table 3 Clusters resulting from the cluster analysis of citations
of articles cited by 161 .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 182
Table 4 The most cited authors in the field of HPWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Table 5 Clusters resulting from the analysis of the most cited authors
in 161 articles resulting from research (in brackets shows
the number of citations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Table 6 Top sources with citations in HPWS domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Table 7 Group results of the most quoted sources in 161 articles resulting
from research (in brackets shows the number of citations) . . . . . . . . 187
Table 8 Top institutions with publications in HPWS domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Table 9 Top institutions with publications co-authored in HPWS
domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Table 10 Top countries with publications in HPWS domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Entrepreneurship in Sport Policy: A New
Approach

Vanessa Ratten

Abstract Sport has an entrepreneurial nature due to the way it can change depending
on market circumstances. Unlike other industries, sport has a unique combination of
profit and non-profit organisations that work together to create a competitive envi-
ronment. The aim of this chapter is to highlight how a new approach to sport policy
and practice is needed that incorporates an entrepreneurial dimension. There have
been recent changes in the nature of sport due to increased levels of technological
innovation, which requires a rethink by sport policy planners about how to incorpo-
rate entrepreneurial thinking. Automation and the use of robots are changing the way
sport is viewed and played, which has positive benefits but also results in an alteration
in existing practices. This chapter will focus on emerging issues regarding sport
entrepreneurship and public policy with a view to highlighting future research
suggestions.

1 Introduction

Sport influences all sectors of society but in different ways (Ratten & Tajeddini,
2019). For this reason, it is important to think about sport in an entrepreneurial
manner thereby focusing on the innovations that will potentially have profound
changes on society. Reform of the sport system is needed in order to take into account
current and potential changes. To do this is a hard task as it requires an entrepreneurial
mindset and a focus on performance outcomes (Bolton & Thompson, 2000). Despite
the increasing way sport is using entrepreneurship as a competitive tool, there has
been relatively few research studies conducted on this issue. This is interesting as it is
clear that entrepreneurship will provide new directions for sport that will shape
practice (Jones, Jones, Williams-Burnett, & Ratten, 2017). In order to safeguard the
role of sport in society, an entrepreneurial approach to change is needed. This
includes high levels and low levels of entrepreneurship depending on the situation.
Elite sport can provide a way to use high levels of technology innovation that by their

V. Ratten (*)
La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
e-mail: v.ratten@latrobe.edu.au

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 1

V. Ratten (ed.), Sport Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Contributions to
Management Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29458-8_1
2 V. Ratten

nature are entrepreneurial. There is funding and support for these technology changes
at the elite level so the entrepreneurship involved can be more intense than that
occurring at a grassroots level (Miragaia, Da Costa, & Ratten, 2018). Amateur sport
can also be entrepreneurial but in a different way that reflects its community nature.
There are many local sport clubs whilst still having sometimes the money to fund
technology can also fund other strategic initiatives. This includes using entrepreneur-
ship as a way to boost innovation and to build innovative capacity (Cunningham &
Lischeron, 1991).
Entrepreneurial sport policy is delivered through a range of structures including
government entities to other stakeholders such as education providers and interna-
tional sport committees. This means further detailed conversations regarding entre-
preneurship need to occur with each relevant stakeholder (Jones, Ratten, Klapper, &
Fayolle, 2019). Entrepreneurship does not necessarily mean major change but it can
occur through alternations in the sport structures and systems. Rather than repeating
past mistakes, entrepreneurship provides a way to take a fresh approach to sport. This
means moving sport policy in a positive direction and building on the good work done
in the past (Potts & Ratten, 2016).

2 Entrepreneurship in Sport

Sport generally defined means any form of physical activity that aims to improve
fitness or mental well-being. The emphasis is on physical expression but it can vary in
intensity from low impact sports like walking to high impact sports such as aerobics.
Most sport activities involve a form of competition either between other individuals
or with oneself (Ratten, 2017a). Team sports involve social relationships that often
rely on particular skill sets. This means people can specialise in certain tasks when
they are a member of a team. Individual sports vary in intensity and depend on
lifestyle preferences. For example, the practice of pilates is an individual sport but
practiced through a group approach. Other sports such as tennis rely on separate
predilections but are played against another person.
A long-term action plan is needed between sport entities to ensure they achieve the
required policy outcomes (Ratten, 2019). This means having specific policies in
place that cater to a need in society. Policies are written documents that include
statements about plans of action. Some policies are more stringent than others in
terms of the goals and outcomes needed. This means each policy needs to be assessed
on a case-by-case basis to understand the main priorities. To implement sport policy
there needs to be clear way of people understanding what is needed of them and the
time required (Ratten, 2017b).
The main ways to incorporate an entrepreneurial spirit in sport policy is through
program improvement, strategic leadership, awareness and knowledge development.
Program improvements involve finding ways for existing activities to have a more
entrepreneurial approach. This includes fostering more alignment with innovation
initiatives that enable foreshadowing of future events. It is important to refine
Entrepreneurship in Sport Policy: A New Approach 3

programs to make them more appealing in the marketplace. Due to increased usage of
social media in sport, it can help to have a more technological focus in sport programs.
The quality of sport activities will increase when there is more engagement with
stakeholders. Strategic leadership involves focusing on how to lead through taking a
transformational approach. By proactively thinking about change it can help sport
organisations become more resilient. This enables promoting sport experiences that
allow participants to lead by example. It is important to take initiative in training
programs as a way to strengthen leadership capabilities. This enables more individ-
uals interested in sport to learn about entrepreneurship. Awareness is needed about
the need to be entrepreneurial in the competitive global business environment. This
involves discussing the benefits of entrepreneurship in sport and why it is needed. By
involving others in the entrepreneurial experience it can further facilitate the process
of knowledge creation. Knowledge development involves sharing best practices
about the use of entrepreneurship. It is important that others learn through experience
about positive and negative events. This helps create a learning community that
enables further research and development.

3 Overview of Chapters

The second chapter titled “Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsi-
bility in Team Sport Clubs: Two Cases from Sweden and Finland” by Aila Ahonen
and H. Thomas R. Persson focuses on sport policy from a social perspective. This is
useful in terms of understanding the social implications behind sport entrepreneur-
ship. The third chapter titled “It Pays to Play: The Emergence of Innovative Planning,
Occupational Devotion and Lifestyle Entrepreneurship in Aotearoa/New Zealand”
by Richard Keith Wright and Cindy Wiersma further looks at the social aspects of
sport but through a lifestyle perspective. This provides an interesting way to under-
stand the use of innovation and lifestyle in a sport setting. The fourth chapter titled
“Sport Innovation: An Opportunity for Technological-Based Companies Stimulated
by the Brazil Olympics” by Branca Terra, Andre Ribeiro de Oliveira, Mariza
Almeida, Luiz Alberto Batista, Joao Alberto Neves dos Santos, Jana Almeida
Nogueira and Leonardo Lehneman Agostinho Martins focuses on how large sporting
events use innovation. This is important in determining the effectiveness of sport
policy with regard to innovation and technology management. The fifth chapter titled
“Non-Parametric Analysis of Factors Affecting the Competitive Structure of
Europe’s Advanced Football Leagues” by Birol Erkan and Oguz Kara focuses on
professional sports. As entrepreneurship occurs in a variety of setting it is useful to
understand how football, which is the world’s most popular sport is using entrepre-
neurial sport policy initiatives. The sixth chapter titled “Brand Equity on Surf
Destinations: Alacati Sample” by Yavuz Yildiz and Kadir Yildiz focuses on entre-
preneurship in the surfing industry. It provides a useful linkage between brand
associations in sport and entrepreneurial intentions. The seventh chapter titled “A
Gender Perspective of Sport-Based Entrepreneurship” by Vanessa Ratten examines
4 V. Ratten

the role gender plays in entrepreneurship. This is a relatively new area in the sport
entrepreneurship literature. The eighth chapter titled “Online C2C Interactions with
Sports Bands: Insights from the #Mo Salah Brand” by Noha El-Bassiouny, Sara
Hamed, Hadeer Hammad, Hagar Adib and Nesma Ammar focuses on athlete entre-
preneurship. This is important in understanding how sport policy affects individual
athletes.

4 Conclusions and Research Agenda

I conclude this chapter by presenting an overview of future research suggestions that

aims to discover new ways of thinking about sport entrepreneurship and public
policy. Ideas are discussed with the view of opening up new possibilities that will
provide fruitful research directions. Whilst there are a number of areas for further
research, I focus on the ones I think are most important at this current point of time.
While most focus on entrepreneurial elements of sport policy, it is clear that innova-
tion is another research stream. Thus, implicit in some of these suggestions is both an
entrepreneurship and innovation approach. In the past, the sport innovation and sport
entrepreneurship research have been seen as separate disciplines but I think they will
converge to form one discipline in the future. Therefore, following on from the
findings of this chapter a sport entrepreneurship approach that embeds innovation
in its process is taken. This will enable a better understanding of innovation for sport
in relation to entrepreneurial policy and management.
Sport entrepreneurs have a unique temperament that distinguishes them from other
types of entrepreneurs. Traditionally, entrepreneurs have been viewed as individuals
who find and capitalise on a business opportunity. This has emphasised the role of
owner managers in the economy and downplayed other forms of entrepreneurship.
Whilst many sport entrepreneurs own their own business there are others that work
for an organisation. This means there are various ways to understand the nature of
entrepreneurship in a sport setting. For example, there are international, environmen-
tal, technology and social types of sport entrepreneurs. This impacts policy as
different kinds of entrepreneurship need to be considered and how this affects various
stakeholders. For example, sport policy can take an international approach by being
entrepreneurial and entering into new technologies that will provide increased view-
ing platforms. However, at the same time, issues regarding international law need to
be considered in terms of intellectual property rights. Environmental forms of
entrepreneurship provide a useful way for sport organisations to incorporate sustain-
ability initiatives. All levels of policy planners from local councils to national
sporting bodies can incorporate initiatives that foster environmental considerations.
Due to the amount of resources such as water and land that sport entities use it is
important to think about new ways of fulfilling these needs. For example, future
researchers could consider how eco-entrepreneurship can be used in sport and
whether different policy practices are followed. Technology entrepreneurship is
critically important in sport due to the increased usages of social media. There
Entrepreneurship in Sport Policy: A New Approach 5

needs to be more research on how the internet-of-things in terms of increased

connectivity has influenced sport policy. Social entrepreneurship involves the use
of non-profit initiatives in addition to profit considerations in the pursuit of sport
ventures. The emphasis on financial feasibility is a hallmark of social entrepreneur-
ship and it can be used in a variety of sport setting. More research is needed on
understanding the unique aspects of sport policy that apply to social entrepreneurship.
In conclusion, this chapter has reviewed the literature on sport entrepreneurship
and public policy. I discussed the literature from both the entrepreneurship and sport
management disciplines thereby creating a new field of interest. Increasingly the
sport and entrepreneurship literature are being combined but much more work is
needed in this area. In both bodies of literature, little attention is given to policy
perspectives that involve the use of emerging technologies. This is a gap evident in
the literature that requires addressing given the importance of technology to sport
policy debate.

References

Bolton, W., & Thompson, J. (2000). Entrepreneurs: Talent, temperament, technique. Oxford:
Butterworth Heinemann.
Cunningham, J., & Lischeron, J. (1991). Defining entrepreneurship. Journal of Small Business
Management, 29(1), 45–61.
Jones, P., Jones, A., Williams-Burnett, N., & Ratten, V. (2017). Let’s get physical: Stories of
entrepreneurial activity from sports coaches/instructors. International Journal of Entrepreneur-
ship and Innovation, 18(4), 219–230.
Jones, P., Ratten, V., Klapper, R., & Fayolle, A. (2019). Entrepreneurial identity and context:
Current trends and an agenda for future research. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship
and Innovation, 20(1), 3–7.
Miragaia, D. A. M., Da Costa, C. D. M., & Ratten, V. (2018). Sport events at the community level: A
pedagogical tool to improve skills for students and teacher. Education and Training, 60(5),
431–442.
Potts, J., & Ratten, V. (2016). Sports innovation: Introduction to the special section. Innovation
Management, Policy & Practice, 18(3), 233–237.
Ratten, V. (2017a). Entrepreneurial intentions of surf tourists. Tourism Review, 73(2), 262–276.
Ratten, V. (2017b). Entrepreneurial sport policy. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics,
29(4), 641–648.
Ratten, V. (2019). Social innovation in sport: The creation of Santa Cruz as a World Surfing
Reserve. International Journal of Innovation Science, 11(1), 20–30.
Ratten, V., & Tajeddini, K. (2019). Entrepreneurship and sport business research: Synthesis and
lessons: Introduction to the special journal issue. International Journal of Sport Management
and Marketing, 19(1/2), 1–7.
Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate
Social Responsibility in Team Sport Clubs
Two Cases from Sweden and Finland

Aila Ahonen and H. Thomas R. Persson

Abstract Small and large sport clubs, in big cities or in the countryside, need to
respond to external pressures created by social, financial and environmental factors.
These pressures may come from the commercial environment, communities, national
governing bodies, or political stakeholders. This chapter introduces the reader to the
current pressures faced by Nordic sport clubs and the entrepreneurs’ role in the clubs’
development through the lens of entrepreneurship, and especially social entrepre-
neurship. This chapter addresses the role of the entrepreneur in relation to the triple
bottom line of corporate social responsibility (CSR)—economy, environment, and
society—in the context of Finnish and Swedish team sport clubs by using two football
clubs as examples.

1 Introduction

Sport has become one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. It is a significant
part of many people’s lives, as it touches their everyday life as participants, media
consumers, spectators, or through other types of engagements. This certainly applies
to the Nordic countries1 where the sports culture has always been very strong and
played an important role in the creation of their national identities. This is, perhaps,
not strange considering that the Nordic countries have historically been very suc-
cessful in elite sports on a global level, despite their small populations (Peterson,

1
Nordic countries include Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark. These countries face similar
challenges in terms of sports development, although the development tracks have been quite
different.

A. Ahonen
JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Sport Business School Finland, Jyväskylä, Finland
e-mail: Aila.Ahonen@jamk.fi
H. T. R. Persson (*)
Faculty of Business, Department of Work Science, Kristianstad University, Kristianstad,
Sweden
e-mail: Thomas.Persson@hkr.se

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 7

V. Ratten (ed.), Sport Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Contributions to
Management Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29458-8_2
8 A. Ahonen and H. T. R. Persson

2008). Notwithstanding certain differences between Finland and Sweden, the two
countries discussed in this chapter have traditionally been successful in the winter
Olympic sports, such as ice hockey, cross country, and downhill skiing and in the
summer Olympic sports, such as wrestling, track and field as well as in the equestrian
and aquatic sports. However, Sweden and Finland have over time with some excep-
tions lost some of their competitiveness in the professional Olympic sports (Andersen
& Ronglan, 2012). The number one sport in both countries in terms of participants
and spectators is football. In the mainstream debates, this is commonly explained by
the media focus on the sport. Football is a global sport, and for big clubs and national
federations, the international success of teams or individual players is often the most
visible measurement of popularity. Naturally, this gains the most attention, whereas
small- and medium-sized sports organizations mostly live an unnoticed life, at least as
far as the media is concerned. However, the sport sector tends to be dominated by
small organizations, and as such, the sector is best studied from an SME perspective
(Moore & Levermore, 2012). The importance of these sport SMEs is especially
remarkable in such small economies as Sweden or Finland. Hence, understanding
the external pressures that these clubs face with regard to economic, social, or
environmental aspects is important.
Both Finland and Sweden have gone through a major organizational change in
their sport systems in the past decades (Andersen & Ronglan, 2012). Although sports
have been traditionally based on non-profit sports clubs, amateurism and volunteer-
ism, the importance of sport enterprises or for sport organizations to behave like
enterprises and the need for entrepreneurially oriented leaders have risen due to the
rapid professionalization and commercialization of the sports industry. In the Nordic
countries, this development did not start until the end of the last century, since before
then, professional athletes were not recognized as real sports men and women. To be
paid as an athlete was, in fact, forbidden up until the 1960s (Peterson, 2008).
In both Sweden and Finland, football has been influential in the development of
the sport model and sports culture in terms of integration, welfare, and even democ-
racy (Andersson & Carlsson, 2009). Changes, such as when the Finnish public sector
is withdrawing from funding sport organizations (Rosbäck, 2012), pressures the
organizations at all levels of sports to find new sources of income. This has forced
sport clubs to renew their operations and professionalize their organizations and
actions. Moreover, it requires sport organizations to develop new business opportu-
nities and attract more or more generous stakeholders in terms of sponsorship. One
way of holding on to and attracting new sponsors is for organizations to develop a
corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda (Inoue, Kent, & Lee, 2011). CSR has
become an important topic among sport policymakers, and the pressure from com-
mercial, community, and political stakeholders, as well as from SGBs to deliver in
terms of social responsibility is increasing (Persson, 2008, 2014). When both small
and big sport clubs respond to this external pressure by implementing CSR, it can be
explained as an expression of the entrepreneurial nature of sport, a result from
constantly having to adapt to suit its own and society’s changing needs (Ratten,
2010b). This chapter focuses on the role of the social entrepreneur in relation to the
triple bottom line and sustainability, commonly associated with CSR and corporate
Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility in Team Sport Clubs 9

governance (Hernández-Perlines & Ibarra Cisneros, 2018). Hence, in similar fashion

to the distinction between an enterprise’s CSR and that of a social enterprise in terms
of primary goals and handling of profit (Persson, Biggeri, Testi, Bellucci, & During,
2018), a distinction is made between the sport entrepreneur and the social entrepre-
neur in this chapter.

2 Sport Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship, or entrepreneurial traits have become an important topic in the

context of the changing financial circumstances for sport, whether it is the state
funding that is changing, stagnating or disappearing, or whether it is managing in a
competitive environment where clubs compete both for sport results and sponsors.
The turbulent and rapidly changing environment creates its own challenges for
sport enterprises (Ratten, 2018). Sport as a business entity has certain unique
characteristics: the competition is often held in two arenas, in business and on
the field or pitch simultaneously, as teams in the same league and at the same time
need to cooperate with and compete against each other as the uncertainty of
outcome may affect the business unexpectedly. In all markets, but perhaps even
more so in small markets, such as Sweden or Finland, sport clubs and companies
need to seek new possibilities to grow their businesses and build their brands
effectively. Hence, sport clubs need entrepreneurs at the same time as sport—
specifically football and ice hockey—has become an interesting playground for
entrepreneurs interested in sport. In Finland, the changes in state funding have
created business opportunities for capable entrepreneurs willing to invest in sports,
take risks and operate in a changing environment, while the 51% rule in Sweden is
still an obstacle for big investments (Backman, 2018, p. 178, 183). This makes
Finland and Sweden, with their own national circumstances, two interesting cases
to study.
Moore and Levermore (2012) argue that the sport sector is primarily made up of
SMEs and that it should, consequently, be studied and analyzed accordingly. They
conclude that certain organizational characteristics of SMEs, such as resource con-
straints, short termism, informality, and authoritarian management, are also charac-
teristics of sport SMEs. In addition, innovations, risk taking, and proactiveness are
closely connected to both entrepreneurship and sport (Ciletti, 2012; Hardy, 1986;
Kreiser & Davis, 2010; Lumpkin & Dess, 1996). The fact that many sports, such as
football, are played on a seasonal basis, and the Swedish and Finnish football leagues
between April and November, creates seasonal challenges both in terms of income
sources and of how to be competitive in the European Cups. In other words, football
clubs need to be innovative to counteract these weaknesses. According to Ratten
(2010a), common characteristic to sports entrepreneurs is precisely that they are
innovative, willing to take high risks, and work proactively to meet these challenges.
Opportunity, recognition, and exploitation are core functions of entrepreneurship
(Shane & Eckhardt, 2003), and sport business offers multiple opportunities (Ratten,
10 A. Ahonen and H. T. R. Persson

2011a, 2011b) on different levels of society. The exploitation of these opportunities is

dependent on the individual entrepreneur and his/her personal entrepreneurial char-
acteristics and motivation. Although profit has historically been the motivator for
sport entrepreneurs (Hardy, 1986), more recent studies show that sport entrepreneurs
are often more motivated by non-monetary aspects (Ratten, 2011b). Hence, the
motivation of being an entrepreneur may change over time, and non-monetary
aspects, such as being one’s own boss, freedom of decision making, opportunities
of success, satisfaction, and personal rewards can become greater motivators than
money making (Alstete, 2008). Just as for sport enterprises, sport entrepreneurship
can also be seen as a tool for non-profit organizations to develop their business ideas
with a desire to respond to or create market opportunities (Ratten, 2010b) and to gain
market shares. Thus, even when the financial returns or profits are not the driving
force, they are a necessary resource for developing sport organizations and achieving
other goals.
The distinction between sport entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship may or
may not, depending on the definition of social entrepreneurship, be a gigantic leap, just
like the gap between CSR and social entrepreneurship. Miragaia, Ferreira, and Ratten
(2017) connect the two latter to the point of view of the enterprise and the sponsoring of
sport events at the community level. In their research, they place the social entrepreneur
in the midst of a for-profit company, instead of the social enterprise sector (see Testi,
Bellucci, Biggeri, & Persson, 2018). With its natural connection to social enterprises,
social entrepreneurship is commonly defined as a not-for-profit activity that generates
and maximizes social value while remaining economically profitable (Persson et al.,
2018). Social entrepreneurship can be about fulfilling a task that meets a certain need of
a community (Gallagher, Gilmore, & Stolz, 2012), which could be argued to be part of a
firm’s CSR actions. Social entrepreneurship in sport is often linked to small sport clubs
operating in the non-profit sport sector (Gilmore, Gallagher, & O’Dwyer, 2011).
However, in the context of this chapter, social entrepreneurship is not determined by
the size of the organization but viewed in the light of motivation. A social entrepreneur is
not motivated by the profits, but the opportunity to contribute to social change
(Audretsch, 2012; Miragaia et al., 2017; Ratten, 2010b). Gallagher et al. (2012) identify
social entrepreneurs in professional league sport clubs as entrepreneurs willing to assist
in the development of the club by bringing their experience and networks to use. They
offer their business knowledge and professionalism to improve the club’s development
and operations (Gallagher et al., 2012). Moreover, they use their networks, contacts, and
time in community projects that benefit the sport club and society (Gilmore et al., 2011).
These social entrepreneurs are often entrepreneurs who own other businesses, and sport
clubs are their side business, or they work on a volunteer basis for a sport club. Their
social impact can either be based on altruistic motivations or on a hope of increasing the
brand equity of the entrepreneurs and their companies (Shropshire, 2012). More impor-
tantly, it is argued in this chapter that the definition of the social entrepreneur and social
entrepreneurship in sport is context-specific, depending on a national context, the nature
of the organization, and position of the person.
Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility in Team Sport Clubs 11

3 CSR as a Development Tool for the Sport Club

The current pressures that (Nordic) sport clubs are facing and the different ways in
which they handle and respond to the changing situation can be understood through
the lens of CSR (Persson, 2008, 2011). CSR is not a requirement for sport organiza-
tions, but it is increasingly an expectation. A growing number of sport federations and
clubs are acting as if it was in their organization’s best interests to become involved
with CSR at some level. In line with Ratten (2010a, 2010b), it can be argued that sport
in general has an entrepreneurial nature as it is constantly, sometimes voluntarily, and
sometimes involuntarily, adapting to suit its own and society’s changing needs.
Besides Ratten’s contribution on social entrepreneurship and innovation (Ratten,
2011a, 2011b) and sport entrepreneurship (Ratten, 2010a, 2012, 2018), surprisingly
little attention has been paid to the entrepreneur in sport and even less to the
entrepreneur behind CSR activities in a sport club context. Hence, the attention is
on contributing to the knowledge of the role of the entrepreneurs behind the devel-
opment of CSR as a response to the pressures that sport clubs are facing. Although
these entrepreneurs might be viewed as sport entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, or
entrepreneurs in general, none of these views is predetermined. In the context of this
chapter, a distinction is made between CSR and social entrepreneurship in terms of
primary goals and handling of profits. While both may have similar social goals, in
the latter case the social goals are primarily for gaining profit and using the surpluses
mainly to achieve the social goals (Persson et al., 2018, p. 201).
From the sport horizon, CSR has been a research topic for less than two decades
(Babiak & Wolfe, 2006; Ioakimidis, Stergioulas, & Tripolitsioti, 2006; Irwin,
Lachowetz, Cornwell, & Clark, 2003; Persson, 2008; Smith & Westerbeek, 2007),
but CSR is far from being a new phenomenon. Formal studies on social responsibility
are the product of the twentieth century, and Bowen’s (1953) publication Social
Responsibility of the Businessman is commonly seen as the landmark book of the
topic. According to Bowen, CSR “refers to the obligations of businessmen to pursue
those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are
desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society” (Bowen, 1953, p. 6).
Sport scholars have brought a range of different foci to the study of sport and CSR,
partly colored by their parent disciplines, and the list of topics covered in sport CSR
literature is constantly growing. The focus has been ranging from CSR indicators
(Chen, Chen, Tai, & Hsiung, 2015), conceptual models (Breithbarth & Harris, 2008),
sector-specific frameworks (Fifka & Jaeger, 2018), CSR activities (Filizöz & Fişne,
2011), communication (Persson 2014), and implementation (François, Bayle, &
Gond, 2018) to stakeholder/consumer/fan perceptions and expectations (Alonso &
O’Shea, 2012). The focus list also includes decision-making processes
(Anagnostopoulos, Byers, & Shilbury, 2014), brand equity (Baena, 2018), sponsor
strategies (Djaballah, Hautbois, & Desbordes, 2017), entrepreneurship, and CSR
(Miragaia et al., 2017), media framing (Carey, Mason, & Misener, 2011), environ-
mental management initiatives (Babiak & Trendafilova, 2011), corporate and athlete
citizenship (Agyemang, 2014), as well as literature reviews (Breitbarth, Walzel,
Anagnostopoulos, & van Eekeren, 2015). With the growing amount of literature
12 A. Ahonen and H. T. R. Persson

stemming from different disciplines, it should not come as a surprise that there is little
or no agreement among scholars regarding the definition of CSR or whether it is at all
possible to measure and carry out an international comparative analysis of different
CSR activities. Despite this, since 2011 it has been possible to compare the interna-
tional ranking of one’s own national football league to others around Europe and
lately globally by studying the Responsiball Ranking (Responsiball, 2018). Despite
the comparative nature of the two case studies from different countries, this chapter
does not present a comparative analysis but, instead, a descriptive and reflective case
study approach.
The concept of CSR has since the first publications at the beginning of the twenty-first
century, started to appear in sport and gained increasing interest among politicians, sport
federations, and clubs. A double-voiced political discourse with a twofold purpose
(Bakhtin, 1999, p. 185) sets sport organizations challenging goals in terms of national
funding (Persson, 2008). Especially in Sweden, where sport funding is based on the
presumed benefits to the society in terms of public health and social integration, it is
simultaneously argued that sport clubs should take on a social responsibility beyond their
core activities, which makes them coproducers in the welfare sector. In the European
context, football has been at the forefront of sports by communicating its CSR policies,
agendas, and practices. National Football Federations have been signing up for UEFA’s
Good Governance principles for associations (UEFA, 2018) and developing their Cor-
porate Governance (FA, 2017) and their CSR agendas (DBU, n.d.; NFF, n.d.; Suomen
Palloliitto, 2019; SvFF, n.d.). Football is a big business, and like other businesses, top
football clubs in the different European leagues, such as Malmö FF from Sweden
(MFF, n.d.-a), Helsinki Football club (HKJ, 2019) from Finland, Manchester United
(Manchester United, n.d.) from England, and the German Borussia Dortmund (BVB,
2018) have long since had their CSR policies, agendas, and practices in their strategies.
When researching CSR in the European context, the definitions by the European
Commission should be drawn into attention. However, this chapter does not align
itself completely with the EC definition (n.d.)—“the responsibility of enterprises for
their impact on society”—or previous ones stressing the integration of social and
environmental concerns in the business operations in contact with stakeholders, since
these lack the financial aspect. Neglecting the financial responsibility of the organi-
zation results in an incomplete CSR concept in relation to the triple bottom line (TBL)
including economic, social, and environmental dimensions (Hernández-Perlines &
Ibarra Cisneros, 2018). In the context of this chapter, CSR is viewed as a concept
where the organization takes responsibility for its impact on society and environment
by integrating their own and their stakeholders’ social, environmental, and financial
concerns in their operations on a voluntary basis, not as a legal obligation.

4 Cases of Swedish and Finnish Football

Malmö FF (MFF) from Malmö, Skåne, Sweden, with a population of 339,313

(Ekonomifakta.se, n.d.) was formed in 1910, and it has played 82 seasons in the
Swedish Premier League (Allsvenskan). It has won the Premier League 23 times,
Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility in Team Sport Clubs 13

became the Swedish champion 20 times, won the Swedish Cup 14 times, and reached
as far as the European Cup final in 1979. During the past 10 years, MFF has won the
national title five times (MFF, n.d.-a). Although it has many similarities with sport
enterprises due to the 51% rule, MFF is a membership-based organization. Currently,
Malmö FF is a financially stable club with its own stadium, something that is not
common in the Swedish context. In 2018, Malmö FF had a turnover of SEK 342.9
million and a profit of SEK 39.6 million (MFF, 2019). Although a financially poor
club in comparison to the top tier of the European “Big Five,” MFF’s financial
situation—due to Champion Leagues and Europa League appearances in the group
stages and beyond—puts the club in a very favorable position in the Swedish context.
Malmö FF’s CSR Manager does not come from the club’s own ranks. Instead, the
manager has a long experience of cooperation between the public, private, and idea-
based sector because of being involved in adult education (folkhögskola) that has a
strong focus on social equality. The CSR manager is currently working with
employment questions on a local level through Malmö FF as well as on the national
level through the Swedish Elite Football as a member of SEF’s CSR steering group.
The manager’s motto is “Football is more than just football,” and she is convinced
about the increased importance of and opportunities created by sport and that
together with the idea-based sector they contribute to a better society (Personal
communication, April 2019).
MFF chooses, just like several other Swedish clubs, to what we call in this chapter
refer to as social responsibility or CSR as MFF in the community. MFF frames their
Football Academy, Career Academy, School Football against Racism, Football
network, Summer football, Autumn football, MFF supports, and Bengt Madsen’s
youth fund as part of their community engagement. To MFF, community engagement
is a key word in their description of their activities with a focus on children and youth.
Community engagement is about “positive and for the individual developing activ-
ities . . . spreading positive values . . . counteract violence and racism and increase
integration” and reducing drug abuse. It is about faith in the future and inclusion. This
they try to achieve through a variety of activities for different age groups. In order to
support its community engagement, the club has linked six companies as their main
partners (MFF, n.d.-a).
Three of the eight community engagement activities can be seen as CSR, if
defined as something that goes beyond a sport club’s core activities. That is a general
perception from the public point of view although the aim should be to integrate
CSR with the club’s core activities. In most sport clubs and SGBs, the core activity is
twofold: training and competing (in leagues officially recognized by the SGBs), and
the former leads to the latter almost independent of age, and this is not an example of
CSR. Accordingly, the three main CSR activities are the Career Academy, School
Football against Racism, and MFF Supports. MFF has run their Career Academy
since 2014, and it is based on collaboration with the City of Malmö through an IOP
(idea-based public partnership), the Swedish Public Employment Service in Malmö,
and several labor market policy projects. The Career Academy facilitates job
matching, such as sharing job ads through their own channels and networks,
providing and arranging opportunities for job interviews and other recruitment
14 A. Ahonen and H. T. R. Persson

events as well as providing their own online job search engine. On the Career
Academy website, the club highlights their latest achievements in terms of success-
ful internal and external job matching, and reports results, such as 200 successful job
matchings with MFF’s network of companies and nine career days arranged with
100 job seekers per meeting, out of which 50% have gone on to work, study or to
internships (MFF, n.d.-a).
The School Football against Racism project is run by Pedagogical Inspiration,
Malmö Municipality with support from Malmö FF and it is based on the four basic
principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The project includes
working with the children in their classrooms, visiting the Malmö Stadium, and
finishing with a football tournament at a local football arena. In 2018, 800 students
from 13 Malmö schools participated in the project. MFF supports LifeWatch in
increasing knowledge and understanding of autism, something they have done
since the beginning of 2019 (MFF, n.d.-a).
Even though MFF has chosen to place its Code of Conduct and policy (MFF, n.d.-
b) as part of their value base, instead of as part of MFF in society, their Environmental
Policy should be seen as part of MFF’s CSR work based on the TBL model. While
some parts of this environmental policy stress the importance of following the
environmental legislation, other parts are norm driven, such as being aware of our
environmental impact, working with energy saving measures, such as minimizing the
use of disposable items, limiting the consumption of supplies, using environmentally
friendly alternatives with transportation and communication, meetings, goods, and
services, as well as educating on environmental issues (MFF, n.d.-b, p. 19).
HJK Helsinki, from Finland’s capital, Helsinki is the most successful football club in
Finland. Helsinki is the biggest city in Finland with a population of 634,272. Moreover,
the Helsinki Metropolitan Area has around 1.5 million inhabitants (Helsinki, 2018). The
HJK football club was established in 1906, soon after football arrived in Finland, and it
has since 1911 won the men’s Finnish Championship (Veikkausliiga) title all together
29 times and the Finnish Cup 13 times. During the past 10 years, HJK has won the
national title eight times and been the second and third once. HJK has been successful at
all levels: men, women, and juniors (HJK, 2019). Most of the successful Finnish players
have played for HJK before going abroad, and HJK has been the best steppingstone for
players to gaining recognition by European teams. HJK is the biggest club in junior
football in Finland with 3100 registered players (Helsingin Sanomat, 2019) on multiple
different level teams around the Helsinki region.
HJK operated as a non-profit organization until 2000 when the current owner-
entrepreneur took over and established the limited company HJK Ltd. (Aalto,
Lehtola, Sulkava, & Tiitta, 2007). HJK is divided into two different organizations:
the team company and a non-profit association with recreational teams and junior
teams. In the same year, a new stadium was built, which gave the club possibilities to
develop its business further. Before that, HJK played in the Helsinki Olympic
Stadium, which had a far too big capacity, and the field was not suitable for football
matches in terms of atmosphere and functionality. HJK’s turnover in 2018 was 4.6
million euros and that of its stadium company was 1.9 million euros with profits of
0.2 and 0.3 million euros, respectively (Asiakastieto, 2019). HJK’s revenues have
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 2. Placoid Scale.[45]

3. Ctenoid Scale; as sole or

perch.[46]
 4. Cycloid Scale; as herring.[47]

1. Heterocercal.

The heterocercal fish, it will be seen, are unequally lobed, that is,
the spinal vertebræ are prolonged into the upper lobe of the tail, as
seen in the shark, and of which our own dog-fish is an example;
while the homocercal fish are equally lobed, and the spine does not
extend into either.
The fossil fish of the old red sandstone belong almost, if not
entirely, to the classes of fish that have ganoid or placoid scales, and
heterocercal tails; and of these fish we will now say a few words of
the four most remarkable specimens of the one thousand and
upwards fossil species that have been discovered, and which can only
be known familiarly by accomplished geologists in the ichthyolite
department.
1. Here is a drawing of the Cephalaspis,[48] or buckler-headed fish.
What an extraordinary looking creature this is! Like the crescent
 shape of a saddler’s knife without
the handle—broad and flat, with
points on each side running
down, ever fixed in warlike
attitude against its enemies—it
reminds one of an extinct
trilobite, and of a living sole or
ray, at the same time; and one
can easily fancy how hard it must
have been for its ancient foes to
swallow down so singular and so
knife-like looking a creature. This
is one of the curious organisms of
old life discovered in Cromarty,
Herefordshire, and in Russia, the
original of which, restored in the
2. Homocercal. drawing, seldom if ever exceeded
seven inches.
Let us look now at another
curiosity from the same quarter.
2. Here is a drawing of the
Coccosteus,[49] or berry-boned
fish. This creature is equally
singular with his long extinct
neighbour. Hugh Miller’s
description is the best, and as he
was its discoverer, let us give it.
“The figure of the Coccosteus I
would compare to a boy’s kite;
there is a rounded head, a
triangular body, a long tail 3. Homocercal.
attached to the apex of the
triangle, and arms thin and
rounded where they attach to the body, and spreading out towards
their termination, like the ancient one-sided shovel which we see
sculptured on old tombstones, or the rudder of an ancient galley. A
ring of plates, like the ring-stones of an arch, runs along what we
may call the hoop of the kite. The form of the key-stone plate is
perfect; the shapes of the others
are elegantly varied, as if for
ornament; and what would be
otherwise the opening of the arch
is filled up with one large plate of
an outline singularly elegant.”[50]
 3. Above is the Pterichthys,[51] or winged fish. We have here a fish
more strikingly different to any existing species than either of the
other two just passed under review. “Imagine,” says Miller, “the
figure of a man rudely drawn in black on a grey ground; the head cut
off by the shoulders; the arms spread at full, as in the attitude of
swimming; the body rather long than otherwise, and narrowing from
the chest downwards; one of the legs cut away at the hip-joint; the
other, as if to preserve the balance, placed directly in the centre of
the figure, which it seems to support. Such, at the first glance, is the
appearance of the fossil.”[52]
We will now turn to the fourth and last of the singular fishes of this
formation.
 4. The Osteolepis,[53] or bony scaled fish. Here we have in the old
red sandstone the first perfect specimen of a fish with pectoral,
abdominal, and caudal fins, ending as the others do in the
heterocercal tail. The vertebral column seems to have run on to well-
nigh the extremity of the caudal fin, which we find developed chiefly
on the under side. The tail was a one-sided tail. Take into account
with these peculiarities such as the naked skull, jaws, and operculum,
[54]
the naked and thickly set rays, and the unequally lobed condition
of tail, a body covered with scales that glitter like sheets of mica, and
assume, according to their position, the parallelogramical,
rhomboidal, angular, or polygonal form, a lateral line raised, not
depressed, a raised bar on the inner or bony side of the scales, which,
like the doubled up end of a tile, seems to have served the purpose of
fastening them in their places, a general clustering of alternate fins
towards the tail—and the tout ensemble must surely impart to the
reader the idea of a very singular little fish.[55]
Most hasty and superficial is this glance through the wonders of
the old red sandstone. On the economic uses of this formation, as
tile-stones and paving-stones, we need not dwell; apart from this,
these singular inhabitants of the seas of past ages, the mud of which,
elevated and hardened, has become solid rock, tell us stories of that
long since ancient time to which no poetry could do justice. Carried
away from the present into those remote eras, our minds revel in the
realization of scenery and inhabitants, of which now we possess only
the fossil pictures. At the British Museum, we gaze with feelings
approaching to repulsion on the stiff and unnatural forms of
Egyptian mummies, but with what feelings of profound wonder do
we look on these small fishes, so numerous that the relics of them,
found in the Orkneys, may be carried away by cartloads! No number
of creations can exhaust God, for in Him all fulness dwelleth. The
God in whom we now live, and move, and have our being, is the same
God who gave to these pre-Adamite fish their marvellous structures,
minutely but fearfully and wonderfully made, and who, when their
joy of life and functions of life had ceased, consigned them to a calm
and peaceful grave. He is the same God who now upholds all things
by the word of his power, and whom we desire to honour by the
attentive and reverent perusal of his manifold works. We are
tautologists; we say and do the same thing over and over again. God
never repeats himself: each successive creation—and how many,
extending through countless ages, does geology disclose!—only
reveals some new aspect of wisdom, love, and beneficence. To the
mind that cannot repose in God, we say, Study God, in his works and
in his word; yea, come back to this remote sandstone era and ask of
the “fishes, and they shall declare unto thee” the might and majesty,
the skill and contrivance of the Almighty; and though you and I were
not there, nor had Adam yet trod this blessed earth,—
“Think not, though men were none,
That heaven could want spectators, God want praise;
Millions of spiritual creatures walked the earth,
And these with ceaseless praise His works beheld.”
 CHAPTER VI.
THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM.

“As for the earth, out of it cometh bread, and under it is turned up as it were
fire.”—Job.

Suppose this lump of coal could speak, what would it say? Would it
not say something like this: “To get me up out of the earth involves
dirt, danger, slush, and much tallow-candle; but now you have me,
let me tell you my story, for though black I am comely, and but for
me—but I anticipate. Now and then I make a dust in your libraries,
and inadvertently shoot out sparks and firestones, but nevertheless I
am of more use to man than the old granite or the proudest Parian
marble; you may get a long way in philosophy, but you will never get
beyond coal. I am the real Koh-i-noor of the British empire; and
though I can’t, like my namesake, put on a white dress, I am
nevertheless worth the soiling of your whitest gloves. Chemistry
makes no discoveries without me: I light the fire of the laboratory,
and furnish man with the means of every crucial test. Civilization
wants me every day on land and sea, and though in one sense my
labours end in smoke, in another they end in commerce, progress,
national brotherhood, and interchanging productions of every clime.
The poor student needs me, for I light his lamp, warm his feet, and
cook his food while he is doing sweat-of-brain work for others. And
best of all, the poor man is a rich man when he has me; he knows
that next of kin to good food is good fuel, and man by my help is
making such progress, that the day will come when every man will sit
by his own blazing fire, instead of seeking joy elsewhere amidst false
and pernicious excitements.”
Something like this our friend Coal would be sure to say; and that
Coal may not complain of any aloofness on our parts, let us proceed
to an examination of the carboniferous system.
“’Tis very pregnant,
The jewel that we find, we stoop and take it,
Because we see it; but what we do not see,
We tread upon, and never think of it.”
Measure for Measure.

The carboniferous system is not all coal; underlying, and often

overlying, the coal measures, for the most part, is the mountain
limestone, a formation pre-eminently rich in marine fossils. During
the tremendous convulsions experienced by the earth immediately
after the deposition of the old red sandstone, a vast sea of lime, thick,
muddy, and hot, seems to have been poured out over a large portion
of the British islands and elsewhere. This flow of liquid lime covered
and encased many then existing animals, and we now find it full of
fossils of the crinoidean family, a few molluscs, and traces of fish. We
shall not, however, stay to examine these now, as we shall meet with
them again in the Oolite; our attention will be limited to that part of
the carboniferous system which includes only the coal measures,
properly so called.
Coal is a vegetable that, by chemical change and by mechanical
pressure, has become a bituminous mineral; and this will render it
needful to say a word or two on the ancient vegetable kingdom. The
vast quantities[56] of remains of leaves, ferns, and stems of trees,
found in the coal measures, are not in themselves evidence sufficient
of the vegetable origin of coal; we arrive at that conclusion in
consequence of the researches of modern philosophers, who having
applied the powers of the microscope to the internal structure of
coal, have discovered the cellular and reticular construction of
vegetable life beautifully preserved, and thus previous convictions
have become certainties. The examination of the ancient vegetable
kingdom is, however, attended with much difficulty, in consequence
of the total destruction in most cases of the stems and trunks of the
plants, and the entire absence, in consequence of pressure, of all
fructification on the fronds of the ferns. If we take an existing species
of fern, say the rare and delicate “maiden-hair fern,”[57] one of the
smallest and most elegant ferns of England, we find the fructification
very distinct on the under side, and the different methods in which
this fructification is arranged is now the principal guide in the
classification of ferns. But if we take a fossil fern, say the pecopteris,
found in the coal measures, we shall see that there has been so much
dislocation and crushing, that all appearance of seed-vessels has
disappeared. The following sketch will explain this.

EXTINCT FERN, AND MAIDEN-HAIR FERN.

“Nothing,” says Professor Ansted, “however, is more certain than

that all coal was once vegetable; for in most cases the woody
structure may be detected under the microscope, and this, if not in
the coal in its ordinary state, at least in the burnt ashes which remain
after it has been exposed to the action of heat, and has lost its
bituminous and semi-crystalline character. This has been too well
and too frequently proved by actual experiment to require more than
the mere statement of the fact.” And here let us say a few words,
which to a few perhaps may have the charm of novelty, about the
economic history of coal; for as Cowper says that the first curse,
“labour,” has, by God’s blessing on it, been “softened into mercy,” so
do we add also, in his words, heartily subscribing to their truth,—
“Thus studied, used, and consecrated thus,
On earth what is, seems formed indeed for us;
Not as the plaything of a froward child,
Fretful unless diverted and beguiled;
But as scale, by which the soul ascends
From mighty means to more important ends;
Securely, though by steps but rarely trod,
Mounts from inferior beings up to God;
And sees, by no fallacious light or dim,
Earth made for man, and man himself for Him.”

How long coal has been known and used, we cannot certainly tell,
but a writer in Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopædia states that the first
mention of coal is in the pages of one Theophrastus, who was, it
seems, a pupil of Aristotle. He says, “Those fossil substances that are
called coals,” (Greek, ἄνθραξ) “and are broken for use, are earthy;
they kindle, however, and burn like wood coals; they are found in
Liguria and in the way to Olympias over the mountains, and are used
by the smiths.” Cæsar, although he speaks of the metals of the British
isles, does not once mention its coal; but it seems more than likely
that it was both known and used by the Romans during their
occupation of Britain. Horsley, in his “Britannia Romana,” says of
Benwell, a village near Newcastle-on-Tyne, “There was a coalry not
far from this place, which is judged by those who are best skilled in
such affairs to have been wrought by the Romans; and, in digging up
the foundations of one of the Roman walled cities, coal cinders very
large were dug up, which glowed in the fire like other coal cinders,
and were not to be known from them when taken up.”
During the time of the Saxons, we find ourselves on less doubtful
ground. In a grant made to the monks of Peterborough Abbey for one
night’s annual entertainment, those good old souls had, we find, “ten
vessels of Welsh ale, two vessels of common ale, sixty cartloads of
wood, and twelve cartloads of fossil coal,” (carbonum fossilium.)
The Danes had so much fighting on hand, that they troubled
themselves neither with coal nor civilization; and we know little of
our English diamond until we come to Henry the Third’s reign,
when, in 1239, a charter was granted to the inhabitants of Newcastle-
on-Tyne to dig coals, and we find the coal called for the first time
“carbo maris,” or sea-coal, a term retained through all the
succeeding centuries. About this time chimneys came into fashion.
As long as people burnt wood they scarcely needed chimneys, but
coal introduced chimneys, to say nothing of steamboats and
railroads. The Archbishop of Canterbury, who at that time used to
reside alternately at Croydon and at Lambeth, had by royal
permission thirty cartloads of “sea-borne coal” annually delivered at
his archiepiscopal palace, because, says the historian, “for his own
private use in his own chamber he now had the convenience of
chimneys.”
The smoke nuisance of that day deserves a passing notice. Smoke
was then with many a grand luxury. Old Hollingshed says, “Now we
have many chimneys, yet our tenderlings do complain of rheums,
and catarrhs, and poses. Once we had nought but rere-doses,[58] and
our heads did never ake. For the smoke of those days was a good
hardening for the house, and a far better medicine to keep the good
man and his family from the quack or the pose, with which then very
few were acquainted. There are old men yet dwelling in the village
where I remain, who have noted how the multitude of chimneys do
increase, whereas in their young days, there was not above two or
three, if so many, in some uplandish towns of the realm, and
peradventure in the manor places of some great lords; but each one
made his fire against a rere-dose in the hall, where he dined and
dressed his meat. But when our houses were built of willow, then we
had oaken men; but now that our houses are made of oak, our men
are not only become willow, but a great many altogether men of
straw, which is a sore alteration.”
Leaving this digression, let us try and get a bird’s-eye view of the
coal-fields of the British Isles. If we commence in Devonshire, we
find there the Devonian culms, or Bovey Tracey coal, lying near the
surface of the ground, and of little except local use. Crossing over the
Bristol Channel, we come into Pembrokeshire, to the Welsh basin,
remarkable because thence we mostly get our anthracite coal. Thence
we pass on to the Derbyshire coal-fields, that go with little
interruption into Scotland, averaging 200 miles in length, and about
40 in width,—once mighty tropical swamps, jungles, and forests, now
become chief minerals of commerce. Included in this last immense
field is the great Newcastle coal district, the most celebrated of any,
supplying almost all the south of England, and nearly all London,
with their best coals; and the Scotch carboniferous system,
celebrated for its numerous fossils, and for its general base of old red
sandstone. In addition to which there is the Irish carboniferous
system, occupying as much as 1,000 square miles, but of an inferior
quality, and not likely to be of any great economical importance.
In the words of Professor Ansted, we add: “This account of the
coal-beds gives a very imperfect notion of the quantity of vegetable
matter required to form them; and, on the other hand, the rate of
increase of vegetables, and the quantity annually brought down by
some great rivers both of the eastern and western continents, is
beyond all measure greater than is the case in our drier and colder
climates. Certain kinds of trees which contributed largely to the
formation of the coal, seem to have been almost entirely succulent,[59]
and capable of being squeezed into a small compass during partial
decomposition. This squeezing process must have been conducted on
a grand scale, and each bed in succession was probably soon covered
up by muddy and sandy accumulations, now alternating with the
coal in the form of shale and gritstone. Sometimes the trunks of trees
caught in the mud would be retained in a slanting or nearly vertical
position, while the sands were accumulating around them;
sometimes the whole would be quietly buried, and soon cease to
exhibit any external marks of vegetable origin.”[60]
There are various kinds of coal on which we may bestow a few
words. There is anthracite, or non-bituminous coal, and which,
therefore, burns without flame or smoke, and is extensively used in
malting; and sea-coal, which is highly bituminous, and which gives
forth so much flame and smoke, that in the good old times of 1306,
Parliament forbad its use in London by fine and by demolition of all
furnaces in which it was burnt, because “this coal did corrupt the air
with its great smoke and stink;” and cannel-coal, the etymology of
which, they say, is firm the word candle, because in many parts of
Lancashire the poor use it in place of oil or tallow for lights; and jet,
sometimes called black amber, which in France employs about 1,200
men in one district, in making earrings, rosaries, and other
ornaments; and last of all, there is wood passing into coal called
lignite, found only in the Devonshire culms.
Having thus glanced at the natural history and varieties of coal, we
may here try and realize the flora of the carboniferous era. An
examination of the fossils of this period enables us to come to
undoubted conclusions concerning the trees and plants of that era,
so that it is no mere dream to look upon a picture like the following,
and see in it a landscape of the coal-forming time of the British
islands.

FLORA OF THE COAL MEASURES RESTORED.

The sun then poured down his golden beams of heat and light, and
a tropical climate prevailed in our now cold and humid England. The
mountain tops were gilded with his rays; a vast ocean studded with
islands, and these crowned with gigantic palms and ferns, then
covered our northern hemisphere. In that ocean but few fish were to
be found, though many rare molluscous animals swam to and fro,
enjoying their brief term of life, and discharging all their appropriate
functions. Mountain streams discharged their muddy waters into
this ocean, leaving along their margin course broken trees,
vegetables, grasses and ferns. The giant Lepidodendron looked like a
monarch of the ancient world, while around him smaller ferns, vying
with each other in beauty and grace, grew, “first the blade” and then
the ripened frond, until, in obedience to the great law of organic life,
they died and decayed, and became material for the coming man’s
future use. But amidst all this prodigal luxuriousness of the vegetable
world, there appears to have been neither bird nor beast to break the
monotony of the scene; all was silent as the grave—rank, moist
verdure below; magnificent ferns and palms above, and the stillness
of death on every side.[61]
 Let us, however, glance at the principal ferns, whose fossil remains
we have often found at the mouth of many a coalpit thrown out
among the waste. The uncouth names given to them, uncouth only in
appearance, must not deter the reader from his acquaintance with
their peculiarities; for are not the names of botanical science almost,
if not quite, as repellent at first? This star-shaped beauty, (1) the
asterophyllite, (from aster, a star, and phyllon, a leaf,) was a
common one; this (2) is the sphenopteris (from sphēn, a wedge, and
pteron, a wing), so named from a fancied resemblance of the petals
of the frond to a wedge; the next (3) is the pecopteris (from pekos, a
comb, and pteron, a wing), from a resemblance of the frond to the
teeth of a comb; the next (4) is the odontopteris (from odous, a
tooth, and pteron, a wing), and in this the frond is something like the
jaws of a shark bound together by a central stem, from which they
diverge; and the last (5), our favourite, is the neuropteris (from
neuros, a nerve, and pteron, a wing), on account of the exquisite
beauty with which the fibres, like nerves, distribute themselves.
“Besides the ferns, then growing to a great size, there were other
plants whose modern representatives are uniformly small; but as the
resemblance in this case is simply one of general form, and the great
majority of other trees seem to possess no living type to which they
can be referred, it is by no means impossible that these also may be
completely lost. One example of them is seen in a plant, fragments of
which are extremely common in the coal measures, and which has
been called calamite.[62] The remains of calamites consist of jointed
fragments, which were originally cylindrical, but are now almost
always crushed and flattened. They resemble very closely in general
appearance the common jointed reed, growing in marshes, and
called equisetum, or mare’s tail; but instead of being confined to a
small size, they would seem to have formed trees, having a stem
more than a foot in diameter, and jointed branches and leaves of
similar gigantic proportions. They were evidently soft and succulent,
and very easily crushed. They seem to have grown in great
multitudes near the place where the coal is now accumulated; and
though often broken, they seldom bear marks of having being
transported from a distance.”[63] The fossils of the carboniferous
system here figured we found not long since in the neighbourhood of
Stockport.

CALAMITES.
 CALAMITE.

STIGMARIA FICOIDES.

This chapter on the carboniferous system must not be further

lengthened. We do not aspire to teach the science of geology; we aim
only to impart such a taste for it as shall lead the reader to consult
our master works on this subject, and if we succeed in this humble
but useful aim, our purpose will be fully answered. Only in reference
to the economic uses of coal, we will quote the following, copied, we
believe, from the “Athenæum” some time since, but unfortunately
copied without reference to its original; a lesson for common-place-
book keepers. The writer in speaking of coal-gas says: “The
consumption of gas is enormous. The following statistics give us an
insight into the extent which this branch of industry has attained. In
England 6,000,000 tons of coals are annually employed for the