Stress and Coping Experiences of U.K. Professional Football Managers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Guided by transactional stress theory, this study aimed to explore elite U.K. soccer coaches’ perceived stressors, the situational properties, appraisals, and coping during COVID-19 pandemic. This also any variation in experiences across football league standards A total of 13 professional first-team male association coaches between 38 59 years age ( M = 43.00, SD 6.94) participated telephone n 5) or online 8) semistructured interviews. Informed philosophical position critical realism, Braun et al.’s six-phase approach thematic analysis was used generate competitive, organizational, personal stressor themes. Deductive generated themes reflective all properties stressors identified Lazarus Folkman an array appraisal strategies. Future research recommendations for supporting coach performance well-being post-COVID-19 pandemic are offered.